Andrew Fenton

I don't doubt that's true. But they did have a swingin' theme song: click here for the MP3 and here for the album cover art (scroll down to #23).

Say, does anybody ever make banana pudding with flavors of custard other than vanilla? Chocolate, butterscotch, lemon custard: all might be worth experimenting with, but I've never seen them.

Jas: Haven't flour prices been going up too? At least, that's what the Metropolitan folks claimed when they raised their prices. Greg: welcome. By the way, can I be your new best friend?

In his book North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time, Bob Garner offers two recipes for banana pudding: a winter pudding, topped with meringue and allowed to mellow at room temperature, and a summer pudding, which is layered with whipped cream and softened in the refrigerator. Me, I like meringue. I like how it gets slightly browned and caramelized; I like the elegance and economy of using the yolks for one part of the dish and the whites for the other; and I like its airiness, and the tiny bubbles that pop on your tongue.

"Ducklava." Ladies and gentlemen, I have a new favorite recipe. (And not just because of the name, but it's close.)

A shame, a shame. Nonetheless, at $1.35, still a pretty good deal. Especially, as noted above, if you get 'em first thing in the AM.

Old joke, less appropriate this year than most- What's the difference between Yankee Stadium hot dogs and Fenway Park hot dogs? You can get Yankee Stadium hot dogs in October...

I'll second this recommendation; though I agree that, while there's a mystery (in the sense of a secret) at the core of the book, it's only a "mystery novel" in the way that Pale Fire is. Probably the best description would be a combination of Nabokov and Brillat-Savarin. Very dark, very funny.

So I bought a couple of nice thick pork chops the other day. Following the advice in this thread, I brined them for about two hours, then took one, rubbed it with salt, pepper and rosemary, and then sauteed in it a little EVOO. Meh. The meat was good quality, and I didn't do anything technically wrong: it was nicely browned and plenty juicy. But still, it wasn't much more flavorful than a chicken breast prepared in the same way. Looking to pimp it up a little, I ate the second chop with a balsamic reduction. Better, but still not particularly interesting, especially compared to a good veal or lamb chop. On balance, I think I'll just leave pork chops alone from now on: more for the rest of y'all...

All rightie, now. I finally got to spend a weekend sampling some of the many and varied culinary delights of Carlisle. First, Empire. This is a really good restaurant: not as in, "really good for Carlisle", but really good, period. Lovely sophisticated decor, interesting food, good service. They also have a very talented bartender and a solid wine list, and I was in the mood to celebrate, and wasn't paying... so I had a fine ol' time, you betcha. Highlights included the gazpacho, with cumin-scented shrimp and a wee little scoop of tomato sorbet (brightened up with orange juice) and the rack of lamb with artichoke-preserved lemon slaw. Nice cheese selection, too. It's also a pretty expensive restaurant (around $25 for entrees), so get somebody else to take you to dinner. Lunch at Salamandro. Little pizzas (too much cheese for my taste) and okay salads. Brunch at Fay's Country Kitchen, which is everything you could ask for, breakfast-wise, including a really superb pumpkin pancake. And scrapple!

No mention yet of Miel's cheese danishes? Such a good danish: flaky, cheesey, not too sweet. And with just about the best prize/size ratio you could ask for: one dollar for a nice snack-sized treat. Not too big, not too small.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. For twenty-six bucks, they'd better throw in the motorcycle, too! I think that, as with all empires, it's reached its point of decadence and decay. What with Starr lounging around on pillows being fed $20 grapes by nubile slave girls, et cetera...

As far as I know, Sandy is right: the website is left over from the 2002 exhibition. It wouldn't surprise me if, when he retires or at another suitable moment, Chef Blank donates his collection to Penn, but that hasn't happened yet. (The exhibition, like the website, was very cool. To this day, I regret missing the opening reception, and the, um, free food...)

I'm glad to see this topic, because I have a question: I've only had pork chops maybe three or four times in my life, and I've always been disappointed: bland, sometimes dry, always boring. Nothing like what you get from good pork shoulder (in stew, carnitas, or, of course, barbecue). So what am I missing? What should I look for?

Thanks for asking, OrmIrian. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've basically not eaten out at all in Carlisle: combination of being out there by myself and only during the week, and being too busy to eat much besides reheated leftovers from the weekend... Once I can get my wife out there with me, I'll probably eat out more. And I've gotta go to the Camp Hill farmers market before it's too late in the year. Had a burger at the Hamilton, which was okay. But it looks as if I ordered the wrong thing: the dogs are clearly the way to go, especially (as Mr. Blister recommended) the Hotchee (sp?)- pimped up with chili, onions, cheese, etc. I've also eaten a lot of the frozen custard at Massey's, which was pretty damn good. I'm breaking the dry spell tomorrow night with dinner at Empire, which I've heard is quite good. Will report afterwards...

It seems to me that tradition is one of JD's strongest assets. A bad idea to risk damaging that tradition, a la New Coke...

According to the OED, "coffee shop", at least in the US, refers to a "café or restaurant, usu. attached to a hotel, where meals as well as light refreshments can be bought". They have a few citations, e.g. a 1940 letter from Groucho Marx: I'd never heard of coffee shops being specifically attached to a hotel; this seems like an out-of-date usage. Interestingly enough, in British India, "coffee shop" meant something somewhat different:

When I was in DC this summer, I was really impressed by Cafe Atlantico. I'd think the Minibar would be the way to go if you want something for which there's no Philly equivalent. (But then, I didn't eat there; just stood off to the side feeling jealous...)

True, true. I was thinking mostly "head"... but we'll just leave it at that.

I've heard positive reports about the restaurant before (though not, in truth, from anybody I actually know). But even without your comments, I'd be suspicious, just from their lack of focus: ribs! crab bisque! gnocchi! sandwiches! Seems like too many things to do and be able to do well. Still, I like the story behind the place. And it sounds like they'll do fine, even without me showing up...

I believe the difference is an historical and architectural one: "diner" is short for "dining car", and originally referred to a prefabricated, metal building: lots of them were, in fact, converted railroad cars. A "coffee shop" serves the same kind of food, but in a regular building. As diners qua diners have disappeared, there's been a convergence between the two, and I don't think most people make much of a distinction now.

Indeed. Doesn't scrapple come from the other end of the pig?

That's a real shame. They had great food and nice owners, and were a perfect lunch stop midway between NYC or north Jersey and Philly. I stopped there every so often on my way back from Rutgers and always went away happy. I blame the curse of the DDC...

I agree that the article is well-written, and good bitchy fun to read. Its problem isn't that Grimes is a food snob; it's that he's a class snob. The melon and prosciutto is a good example of how he misses the point. Grimes presumes that all post-college folks (and note the assumption that only college graduates are interested in good food) are already familiar with the idea of melon and prosciutto. I'm sure that that's true, at least among inhabitants of the Upper West Side. But he doesn't seem aware that there are lots of folks who aren't aware of the melon/prosciutto concept, and he doesn't understand that the recipe is for them: open-minded people who are haven't encountered the idea of melon/prosciutto, but don't know how it ought to look on a plate. Similarly, the canned peaches thing is nonsense. Grimes admits that the dish, even with canned fruit, is pretty good. So why does he devote three paragraphs to criticizing it? I guess so he can express his shock that a master chef like Jacques Pépin might have betrayed his class by admitting canned peaches into his cupboard, and imply that Pépin must have been bought off. That's gratuitous, and again misses the point of the dish.

Try the store at 40th and Chestnut (next to the 7-11). It's called "International Market" or something like that, and they've got a good selection of Indian groceries.