Andrew Fenton

Word on PG's mole. Good stuff. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that so many have had bad experiences at La Lupe. I've been there a few times now (drunk and sober) and have always been happy with it. Tacos are good (though Veracruzana's are better), burritos are good, tortas are terrific. I've had a fine enchilada there as well. I think you mean north? Do you mean the burrito place at like 5th and South (next to McDonalds?) They do have pretty good, Mission-style burritos.

With two, two and a half hours to eat, you can make it over to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. Take a cab if you're short on time: it'll only run you about $6. For lunch near Penn, I just today heard raves about the sloppy duck sandwich- like a sloppy joe, only duckier- at La Terrasse. I've never tried it, but my friend was amazed; and it's only $7 or thereabouts. The White Dog is excellent for all meals, but pace Jas, I'd stay away from most West Philly Thai food; it's unexceptional in my opinion. Most of the food trucks are underwhelming (plus you'll have to find a place to eat; no fun in winter), but there are a few pretty good ones, like Casablanca on Spruce St. between 36th and 37th. You should also check out the recommendations on this thread. Most will still be up to date.

More on Starr and SB in the current City Paper. click here Nice cartoon of Starr as octopus, (at least he isn't shown encircling the Philadelphia restaurant world...) but overall a sympathetic article.

Gaaah. (On the other hand, I loved peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. So who am I kidding? )

Constrain, shmomstrain (?) You keep on keepin' on, Katie! Can you pass along any of CLB's comments? I'd be interested to hear his side.

Damn skippy! Gives it a good crunch. My wife makes peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. Now that is wrong.

Wise's Cheez Waffies? PMS 'must' food. Much like that, but a different brand; also, the ones I tried were square. And I suspect that even if I got PMS, these'd still be a mustn't...

I think we know what the real insult is here.

Holly, have I mentioned recently that you're my heeeeeeeero?

Great minds, eh?

Good topic. I have a weakness for picking up random packages of junk food I find at stores. Sometimes that turns out well; other times it turns out to be a fiasco. One of the nastiest snacks I've had were little waffle sandwich crackers (each about the size of a quarter) with cheese. Sort of like Ritz Bits, only wafflier. It was such an odd concept that I had to try them; but as any sensible person could have told me in advance, it was also a mistake. They were tiny gut bombs: extremely salty, with a pronounced chemical taste in the "cheese", and greasy as hell. Ugh. I've never seen them since- my guess is that the product launch was a failure- and my wife STILL brings them up every so often, just to say "I told you so."

And many trips to the restroom, afterwards...

This reminds me of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, where he feeds Tamora a meat pie made of the blood and bones of her sons Chiron and Demetrious. In this case, it was to avenge the rape of his daughter. A good trope, and one borrowed from classical antiquity (especially Ovid and Seneca's tragedies), where youngsters are forever getting turned into vengeance dinners. I'm also a big fan of all the food in Petronius' Satyricon, especially dishes that look like other dishes (the best being a roast pig stuffed with sausages. When it's carved, they spill out like guts): Petronius anticipates El Bulli by two thousand years...

The menu will have changed by then. The only recommendation I have is to definitely follow Katie's advice and bring a bottle of dessert wine if you're going to get the cheese plate. (If you really want to do the wine up right, call them and get them to fax you the menu, then take it over to Moore Brothers...) When we were there last week I liked both the seafood soup (more like cioppino than bouillabaisse) and the braised lamb dish I had. Lamb shank, I think, but with the meat pulled off the bone and served in a sort of stew. It's a good way to serve shank, and one I'll copy: cuts down on the amount of fat, cartilage and so on that come with the meat. Beth had a lobster/noodle appetizer; I can't remember what it was called, or even that much about it. The bite I had was pretty good, but she didn't feel like the combination held together all that well. The duck and polenta that she had as a main course was outstanding, though.

Unfortunately, they don't have a website (geez, who doesn't have a website nowadays? ) But I do have a price list: it's about a page long. Basically, they have- eggs chicken (whole bird, breasts, legs, other parts) turkeys rabbit (whole) beef (lots of different cuts, including a dozen or so kinds of steak, plus roasts and ground beef) pork (chops, ham roast-smoked and fresh, spare ribs, pork roasts, sausage, bacon, lard and tenderloin) lamb (leg, shoulder roasts, chops, ground) But they have small enough production that they run out of things: chicken and pork are pretty consistent year-round, but it's worth checking on the availability of beef and lamb. I haven't had Stoltzfus' bacon, but have had Haltemann's (though not recently). I'd describe Meadow Run's as less smoky and less salty, with more of the natural piggy flavor. Different, and while I prefer the stripped-down flavor, YMMV.

I was introduced to Meadow Run Farm's meats- beef, chicken, lamb, pork, sausage and cute li'l bunnies- at the South & Passyunk farmers' market. Bought a lot of meat from them over the course of the summer and fall, culminating in a Thanksgiving turkey (free range, gently massaged once a week, elocution lessions, semester abroad spent in Florence) which was a big hit. They've decided to experiment with monthly dropoffs (a Tuesday afternoon, in Head House Square), and a couple of weeks ago I picked up a few items. I was especially happy with the eggs: beautiful dark yellow yolks and that super-fresh eggy flavor. But the best was the bacon. I've never had their bacon before, and it's been a long time since I last had bacon this good. Lots of meat, not too salty and with a noticeable porky flavor. Part went for eggs & bacon, part did a heroic job flavoring bean soup, and the rest made admirable BLTs. At $5 a pound, it ain't cheap, but also worth the money. If you're interested in their stuff- I'm also a fan of their sausage- they should be coming into Philly once a month and you can rendezvous then; they also supply the White Dog, so that might work for West Philadelphians. If there's interest, I'll post when I find out when they're coming into town next; otherwise, their number is 717-733-3283. (Disclaimer: I have no financial interest, of course. But I do want to see this winter delivery scheme succeed: for one thing, I don't want to wait until May to get more of that bacon! )

I agree with this. I've no problem with LB building a ceiling into his reviewing system; that's one way to define his job, and you can take it or leave it. But that ceiling shouldn't be glass; rather it should be... um, whatever non-transparent ceilings are made out of: plaster, I guess. And it should have signs clearly marking how high it is, and maybe some Mötley Crüe posters attached.

I ate at Django a week ago; actually, it was pretty easy to get reservations this time around, but that won't be the case again for a while. Everything was wonderful, as it always has been for us there. I walked away sublimely happy, which is something that doesn't happen to me all that often when I go out to eat. (Pizza Club excepted, natch.) Katie, I agree with you that LaBan's metric is problematic. I have no problem with Django getting four stars. It's head and shoulders above any other BYOB in the city, and in my opinion outclasses many of the FOUR STAR FINE DINING ESTABLISHMENTS at which I've eaten: in creativity and execution of food, in the staff's knowledge of the food, and in general ambience. (In the seven or eight times I've eaten there, I've never noticed the noise being particularly bad, but I'm not especially sensitive to that.) That said, the F.S.F.D.E's do provide an experience that Django- or any other such restaurant- can't match. I can understand why LaBan might judge that to be the standard to which all other places need to live up; it's an understandable metric, anyway. But I would like to see him make his rating system explicit: that'd be preferable to the sort of inference (like that of Kremlinologists during the cold war) involved in reading his reviews.

Ah, my thought on seeing the topic was "banana peels." Actually, smoked banana might be pretty good. If I had a smoker- soon, soon, my preciousss- I would definitely try that.

Tradition does count for something, though; same reason why politicians visiting Philadelphia go to Pat's Steaks. Not the best cheesesteak, but the oldest. (Er, the restaurant, that is.)

Also, try adding some to your stew.

No doubt; but the phrase is definitely singular: "President's", not "Presidents'". Have you ever been there? From the looks of the place, I wouldn't rely on the expectation of proper punctuation. Good point. Nonetheless, there's a fair amount of writing on the label (including a blurb about the restaurant's history, that namechecks two presidents), and no grammatical errors that I noticed.

Well, the bbq is that good, but you're right that it can't be the sole reason. If it is a particularly political spot, I'd love to hear about it, but my hunch is that it's just one of those spots that attracts visiting politicians: good food, and tradition associated with it.

Yup, braising it is. Pot roast, lamb shanks, osso buco. Tagines. For my money, there's no finer way to cook meat; in the cold months, anyway.

No doubt; but the phrase is definitely singular: "President's", not "Presidents'".