rlibkind

Actually enforced regular hours are mostly a modern mall thing. Retail businesses, outside of a mall environment, typically set their own hours and days of operation based on sales potential, profitability, return on investment and the amount of time the owner of a small retail business wants to spend with family and such. ← Of course retailers outside of a mall location typically set their own hours. There's no one, other than the store owner or manager, to enforce uniform hours. But uniform hours are not just a "modern mall thing". Merchants in many downtowns, by common consent (and peer pressure), stay open late one night a week. That's been going on at least since World War II, probably longer. My wife's family moved frequently to different small towns in Wisconsin, and the first thing her mother asked upon arriving in town was: "What night are the stores open?" That happens in towns large and small, wherever downtown retailers want to remain viable. Even in Philadelphia. In Center City it's Wednesday night when many retailers stay open.

Thanks for the report, Chowfun. I'm heading up to MDI in less than two weeks, so your info is very useful. So far, the only spot I'm sure of is XYZ and Thurston's. Maybe I'll try Havana again; two years ago I found much of the food very tasty, but the sheer number of ingredients in a couple of dishes seemed like overkill. Still, it may be a candidate for a "last night on the island" blowout dinner to replace the departed George's.

Those figs purchased last week at Fair Food made a great dinner (photo above) when served with some of Northland Dairy's Bergeré Bleu from Upstate New York, Faragallo's sesame seed bread, Serrano ham, olive oil and Hermann Wiemer's dry riesling. I didn't spot any figs today at Fair Food, but they still had plenty of Mirai corn. Pennsylvania General Store now offers two, count 'em, two different potato chips fried in lard: 18-ounce bags of Diffenbach's for $3.99 and 12-ounce bags of Good's for $2.99. Benuel Kauffman had added help at his produce stand today: That's Emma Rose, Ben's eighth grandchild, six months old, posed here with mom Mary and the head of the clan. In chatting with Benuel today he says his craft items designed for the convention/tourist market and jarred and dry goods have been selling quite well (photo below). He used to close during the winter when he started at the market 15 years ago, but about half a dozen years ago started experimenting with winter hours. The first couple of seasons went slowly, but business is solid now, he reports. As for the produce end of his stall, Benuel has pretty much given up growing his own fruits and vegetables for sale and instead relies on other Lancaster County growers. He tries not to buy from "farmers who grow everything" but instead source his produce from those who specialize on just a couple of products. For example, his supplier of white corn is just about done for the season in order to move on to his pumpkin and squash crops. So Benuel will be turning for his corn supply to his bi-color supplier. (Still no unpasteurized apple sider, but Benuel says it will arrive "anytime soon".) Rieker's German-style cold cuts, sausages and other products will be added to the mix at Dutch Country Meats soon. Although the former owner of DCM added some German-style products after Siegfried's closed, the new owner eliminated those items. Shoppers asking him for the products convinced him they would be worthwhile adding. (L. Halteman's also offers some similar German style products.) Rieker's Prime Meats is located in the far, far Northeast, practically Fox Chase (where Oxford meets Rhawn). I've only been there once, but the selection is astounding and it's well worth the trip. But the convenience of getting at least some of their wursts at the RTM is most welcome. Joe Nicolosi of DiNic's reports that among customers asking for greens on their sandwich, slightly more go for broccoli rabe than spinach. Until recently, only spinach was available at the roast pork sandwich mecca. (Pork mecca? Something's wrong with that.) There's a sign hanging in the former Foster's saying it will be occupied soon. RTM GM Paul Steinke says he's close to a deal that will bring a kitchen hardgoods merchant to the space (no, not Kitchen Kapers). As for the demonstration kitchen in the rear, Steinke says that will remain completely separate from the store and will be operated independently. With space for about two dozen students, he hopes to resume cooking classes after the store is up and running, which should be by the end of October. There's another large vacancy: Natural Connection/Juice Connection, which went out of business Friday. No tenant, but Steinke hopes to sign a retailer selling groceries (canned goods, dry food goods, etc.) and environmentally-friendly household cleaning products. Steinke said the latter is a small but growing segment nationwide. Traditional grocery sellers who concentrate on canned and box goods haven't done well at the market -- that's one of the reasons why Nell Margerum closed her store in the same space about a half dozen years ago. The thinking, yet to be proved, is that there will be enough demand for the "natural" household items that it would support the grocery end of the business. It would also give RTM shoppers one less reason to patronize Whole Foods. One other significant vacancy remains at the market: the former LeBus stall near the 12th and Filbert. Nothing brewing for that space yet. It's also likely that L. Halteman, under the terms of its new lease, would absorb what's currently a display area for historic photos of the market. The Parking Authority has adopted the new regulations for the south side of Arch Street and will put them into effect soon. That means it will be truck-loading only from 5 a.m. to 12 noon weekdays; 30-minute max meters from noon to 8 p.m. weekdays, with a 30-minute limit on weekends, too. There's a trade magazine for everything: the August issue of Sign Builders Illustrated featured photos and an article on the restored RTM neon sign at 12th & Filbert. A postcard promotional mailing to go out later this month, targetted to the residents of all the new center city condos, will feature this year's Harvest Festival. It's on the RTM calendar for Saturday, Oct. 13. RTM traffic is up eight percent for the year, notching 3,446,196 through Aug. 12. For the week ending Aug. 12, traffic was 126,563 vs. 111,670 the previous year (no conventions either week). Here's this week's shopping list: GIUNTA PRIME SHOP $21.74 Delmonico steaks Turkey bacon IOVINE $1.00 Limes KAUFFMAN'S LANCASTER COUNTY PRODUCE $5.27 Honeydew melon (half) Bell pepper Onion FAIR FOOD FARMSTAND $16.00 Sugar Baby watermelon Mirai corn Cubanelle peppers Angus burger LIVENGOOD'S $2.45 Tomatos HERSHEL'S EAST SIDE DELI $4.50 Lox LANCASTER COUNTY DAIRY $3.75 Milk LE BUS $3.75 Rolls SALUMERIA $1.69 Olives

Three Brothers, 2414 S St Clair St. is usually cited as the go-to Serbian restaurant in Milwaukee. I've not been there, but friends did take me to Old Town Serbian Gourmet House, 522 W. Lincoln Ave., about 10 years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hearty food, well-prepared. I urge you to spend half a morning for a quick round-trip to Racine, about half an hour south on I-94. Take the Washington Avenue (Rt. 20) exit and head east about five miles to Bendtsen's Bakery, 3200 Washington Ave. for some of the best Danish pastry in the world, including Denmark. Forget Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson Wax buildings -- Racine is famous for its kringle, the ultimate danish pastry, and among Racine's kringle-makers Bendtsen's is the best -- the only one that relies on real butter. The kringles from O&H and Larsen's are very good, too, but only Bendtsen's has that old-time buttery flavor. They have a cafe attached to the bakery, so get there in the morning or during the day for a treat. You'll want to bring some home or back to your hotel room. For the flight home, I recommend avoiding most of the fruit kringles, not because they aren't delicious (especially the classic raspberry), but because they don't travel as well as the pecan or almond (which is marzipan-like and my favorite). TSA and Midwest Airlines give special dispensation to MKE travellers exporting kringles. Do not, under any circumstances, get a generic "Racine Kringle" or a Lehmann's. The Entenmann's coffee cake you get at the Shop Rite is supeior. If you insist on a taste-test, Larsen's is just across the street and down the block from Bendtsen's. To my tastes, Larsen's does best on its cakes, though there are plenty of other tempting goodies. O&H's Danish Uncle store is about a four or five minute drive away at 4006 Durand (just head back west on Washington to Lathrop, turn left onto Lathrop, then turn right on Durand and you're there). My wife, a Racine native, favors O&H's poppyseed sweet rolls. I always walk away with a couple of pounds of rollepolse, a classic Danish cold cut, usually from lamb, but not always, in which the meat is rolled with Scandinavian spices, brined like corned beef, then simmered and pressed for slicing onto sandwiches. I've got about a pound and a half still in the freezer from this past spring's trip to Racine. The reason for this wealth of Danish pastry is that once upon a time more Danes lived in Racine than any other city in the world, save Copenhagen. No longer true, but the Danish presence remains strong, especially in the West Racine business district where Bendtsen's and Larsen's are located. Wherever you eat (or drink), be sure to get some Spotted Cow on tap. This brew from New Glarus Brewing is one of the nation's great beers.

If "the market" means the Reading Terminal Market, no, uniform hours do not radically affect the traditions of the market. As it is merchants are required to remain open, so in that sense it's "uniform" hours today. The problem has been some merchants disregarding the requirement and/or objecting to extensions of those hours. Philadelphia isn't Barcelona any more than Barcelona is Philadelphia. And having regular hours is not a mall thing: it's a business thing. Malls haven't trained us to expect predictable hours; customers demanded it long before the modern mall existed.

Gee, Holly, why don't you let us know how you feel about this?

Anything goes in Netanya.

Argggghhh! MAYO!!! Please, mustard only! That said, while I am in Melkor's corner and also would have recommended it be turned into hamburger, it does look beautiful.

Like Katie says, they're pretty obliging. I'm sure if you asked you'd get it that way. Not my preference, though.

Lord Chesterfield is cheap and good. A British-born friend who likes his beer and spent most of his adult career in Pittsburgh turned me onto it. Never knew they had offered it in kegs -- had to be even better. But it's my go-to beer when my small stock of Spotted Cow expires.

SSOH. Service was disappointing last time I was there, but they always do fried well.

That was probably Blooming Glen, which on my past visits was located just at the southerly entrance on the same side as North Star. I didn't know that! Thanks for the info, Sandy. Let's face it, Schimmel doesn't know an avocado from his . . . . navel orange.

Just to close the loop since I started this thread, I satisfied my craving at a neighborhood spot, London Grill. The wings, separated, were large and, best of all, the classic: fried plain then served with a suitably peppery oil- (butter?) based sauce. Not at all dry, but not soupy, either. Only fault: they were parsimonious with the celery for dipping into the blue cheese dressing. Go figure, celery is cheap. For $7, it was a satisfying portion.

Two trips to the RTM this week, experiencing (and buying) the best of summer, but also getting a sneak peak of fall: Sweet potatoes and apples at Benuel Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce (photo above) were one sure sign of fall. But Benuel's corn remains at peak perfection (the ears I purchased Saturday were full, defect-free and tasty), and the stone fruit remains plentiful and sweet. It should be only a week or two until Benuel starts selling unpasteurized apple cider. I also picked up a couple Bartlett pears from Benuel. Fun with fruit. (Yes, eggplant is a fruit, not a vegetable.) This Pinocchio white eggplant was found Thursday at Benuel Kaufman's, which also boasts a fine selection of colored bell peppers (also a fruit) and onions (not a fruit, despite it's vibrant purple color.) Pears are especially in abundance at Iovine Brothers which offers wide selection: Red Anjou and Bosc ($1.99), Forelle ($2.99), Red Bartlett and Comice ($1.99) and a relative newcomer, originally an Australian variety, Packham (99-cents). In the fungi department, Iovine's was offering black truffles for $300, but sold in $12-$18 packs. California table grapes have hit the market, and Iovine's has a deal for you: a four-pound clamshell of green seedless for $2.99. The individual fruits looked just a tad small, and I didn't taste them, but that's still a bargain since they rarely go below 99-cents a pound. Iovine's also had Michigan blueberries (the local harvest in NJ and PA has been over for weeks). But if you want local produce at Iovine's there were plenty of offerings from their contract farm, Shady Brook in Bucks County: wax beans 89 cents, corn 25-cents an ear, cantaloupes (musk melons) $1 apiece. Jersey field and plum tomatoes both priced at 99 cents. I don't know where they come from (but I suspect it's New Jersey), but the fava beans are in for $1.99. Another good deal is the seedless cucumbers, two long specimens for a buck. My gem catch of the week was at Fair Food Farmstand: figs picked that morning from the tree in . . . South Philly. I don't know the variety, but they were green with serious purple blotches/streaks that covered two-thirds of the surface. Half a dozen packed in an egg carton, $3. Very delicate fruits, absolutely sublime. One of the Farmstand staffers recommended halving the figs, topping with a little crumbled blue cheese and a few drops of good olive oil. Gotta try that! Also picked up blackberries ($3.75/pint) to mix with melted leftover peach sorbet for a new peach-blackbery sorbet. Turkey London broil from Godshall's provided the protein for a simple summer meal last night for visiting cousins from Syracuse. The turkey went on the Weber gas grill for indirect cooking after an hour in a simple brine and a quick drying and coating with a homemade rub (hot and sweet paprika, cayenne, black pepper, garlic powder, salt, ground cumin). Served with tomatoes and cucumbers, cornbread (I forgot to add the kernels of fresh corn! Oh, well, those will be sauteed tonight), and the last of my homemade kosher dills, followed by the sorbet with pizzelles. (Wine: Hermann Wiemer Dry Rosé) Earlier in the week I made a great lunch of soft shell crabs ($6 apiece) from John Yi's: dredged in flour, dipped in egg wash, coated with breadcrumbs, sauteed in butter, served on plain white bread with remoulade. (Beer: Lord Chesterfield Ale) I can heartily recommend the whitefish salad at Hershel's East Side Deli. Freshly made and fresh tasting. Here's my combined shopping list for two visits at the RTM Thursday and Saturday: GODSHALL'S POULTRY $20.00 Turkey London broil Turkey bacon KAUFFMAN'S LANCASTER COUNTY PRODUCE $2.49 Cucumber Corn LANCASTER COUNTY DAIRY $3.70 Milk JOHN YI $12.00 Soft shell crabs AJ'S PICKLE BARREL $3.25 Sauerkraut (which they spell "Sour Kraut") HERSHEL'S EAST SIDE DELI $8.10 Lox Whitefish salad SALUMERIA $3.99 Pizzelles EARL LIVENGOOD $5.90 Tomatoes Basil FAIR FOOD FARMSTAND $17.25 Figs Blackberries

Nothing like a straight fruit puree sorbet! I've found the most important part of making sorbet (beyond the quality and ripeness of the fruit) is to have enough sugar. Too little and it lacks the smooth, creamy texture I seek. How much to add varies with the inherent sugar of the fruit. Given that honeydew doesn't have the sugar density of strawberries, I wonder if this was responsible for the less than ideal texture of your melon sorbet? How did the honeydew sorbet taste? I would imagine the hardest part is picking out a good ripe melon. A couple weeks ago I found some super ripe peaches that, because of their condition, I obtained at a very cheap price from a local farmer who sells at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market. Only had to cut away a very minute portion of the fruit. The sorbet was just the fruit (put through a Foley) and sugar syrup (2 sugar : 1 water) to taste. Came out luscious. Other fruits I've done with success over the past two years: cherries (both pie and sweet; I prefer the pie), blackberries, prickly pear, lemon, lime, orange. It's not a fruit, but cocoa makes killer chocolate sorbet; earlier this summer I added cocoa to pie cherry and it was astounding. Depending on the fruit, you might want to consider adding compatible spices on occasion, though pure fruit is still my go-to sorbet. I've put blackberriers through a fine strainer, which is a pain, but I wonder if doing it with the Foley will keep the pesky seeds out? Anyone tried this?

Buy fat. Grind beef and fat together. Hamburger.

Fugedaboud Wheaties -- that's the breakfast of champions.

A couple of other possibilities: Mark Bittman had a great recipe in Times Feb. 9, 2005 (if you can access the archives, which have a fee attached if you're not a subscriber, search for "Tabak Maaz") which basically involved first braising three-inch pieces of rib. The milk-water braising medium includes various central Asian-inspired spices (cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cloves, fresh ginger, cayenne, tumeric, bay leaves, fennel seeds). After braising the meat is removed but the remaining liquid reduced and pan deglazed 'til almost dry, removing the spices but keeping the good bits, then browning the ribs in butter and garlic in the same pan to crisp, then removing meat and adding water to create a pan reduction sauce. (This recipe could also be made with shoulder chops, but I think nice fatty lamb ribs are best.) Earlier this grilling season, I had my butcher give me the trimmings from rib chops -- the meat and fat he trims away in "frenching" chops and usually grinds into lamburger. I had him save that, attached to some of the breast rib, and he prepped them into roughly 2-3" bits. I marinated them in full-fat yogurt for 24 hours, then rinsed and dried and created a dry-rub with cumin, coriander seed, garlic, pepper, etc., and let that sit in the fridge for another 24 hours. It then went on the gas grill for indirect cooking.

Some photos from today at Headhouse Square Market: Peppers and scallions at Blooming Glen Stone fruit at Northstar The red cherry tomatoes at Blooming Glen are tiny, but they are flavor-packed. About as sweet as can be without being pure sugar, but still some tomato acid bite. Great for just popping in the mouth, adding to salad or just barely warming up and adding to vermicelli or the pasta of your choice. Nicky Uy, market manager, says she hopes to add additional dairy purveyors, if not this season then next, especially one who sells milk and cream rather than just cheese, and raw milk if at all possible. Here's my brief shopping list: WENK'S FAMILY FARM $10.80 Watermelon Peaches, nectarine Pears BLOOMING GLEN $8.75 Cherry tomatoes Heirloom tomatoes Leaf lettuce

So why did the market not offer Rick a lease? Was he generating too much income and adversely skewing the rents of the other less profitable sandwich purveyors? ← My point was of providing the information regarding lease was not to resolve the whys and wherefors of the Rickviction (heavens knows, we've discussed that ad nauseum; I have enough difficulty figuring out my own motivations, let alone Rick's and Ricardo's) but to provide some factual perspective on the structure of the leases and why the statement that Rick's lease payments would go up "hundreds of percent" does not appear to meet the common sense test.

The new lease structure is geared so that sandwich vendors like Rick would pay 10 percent of the average revenues of all sandwich vendors. So it would not be 10 percent of Rick's revenues; it would be 10 percent of the average that Rick and his direct competitors register. That's why RTM management requires individual vendors to report revenue, so the averages can be computed. I would find it difficult to believe that Rick's revenue levels are less than average; I would imagine he has among the highest revenue levels, if not the absolute highest, so while he would bring the average up, he's still ahead of the game vs. sandwich vendors who don't have his revenue volume. If the rental increase bringing the rent level to 10 percent of revenues represents an increase of "hundreds of percent" in rent for Rick that bluehensfan avers, then previous RTM management should have been strung up by their private parts by permitting Rick such a sweet, sucrose-laden deal until now.

Whether it's because tourism is growing or the inceased Center City population because of all the new condos and condo conversions, both or some other reason entirely, visitors at the Reading Terminal Market continue to grow at a hefty pace -- well in excess of 10 percent. For the week of July 30-Aug. 5, the number of visitors to the market reached 127,582, an increase of more than 15 percent compared the same week of the prior year. For the week of July 9-15, visitors totaled 116,105 this year vs. 104,474 last year, an increase of more than 11 percent. (There were no major events at the convention center or the Marriott during these weeks this year or last year.) There may be another change in the works for on-street parking. The Philadelphia Parking Authority notified the RTM that it is considering changes along the south side of Arch Street adjacent to the terminal. Under the proposal what's currently a loading zone open to both trucks and passenger vehicles (20 minutes, if I recall correctly) would become 30-minutes for trucks only from 5 a.m. to 12 noon; from then until 8 p.m. it would be metered for 30-minute maximum stay. Market management is still looking for a tenant for the former Foster's space. Although there's been talk of Kitchen Kapers moving in, there's no deal right now. In his monthly newsletter to merchants, RTM GM Paul Steinke says a priority will to bring back to the market a kitchen hard goods retailer. As for the demonstration kitchen, originally installed under Steinke's predecessor Marcy Rogovin in the late 1990s and later taken over by Foster's when they moved into the space, Steinke says its future is being evaluated in light of the need to repair and upgrade its facilities. Speaking of upgrade of facilities, Tom Nicolosi says he's purchased the additional ovens, refrigerators and other appurtenances for his capacity expansion. When everything is installed DiNic's will expand hours to 6 p.m. daily as well as start opening on Sundays. Over at Fair Food Farmstand today, lots of different colored cherry tomatoes, including tiny Black Cherokees (very sweet, hardly any acidity). Although I wasn't in the market for it, there was a nice hunk of boneless lamb shoulder from Meadow Run in the freezer case. Pomegranites have made their seasonal debut; smallish fruits are available at Iovine Brothers for a buck apiece. I'll be cooking spare ribs on the Weber kettle tomorrow, hence my trip to the RTM today so I could apply the dry rub well in advance of cooking. As I write they are in close contact with a Memphis rub made from hot and sweet paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, celery salt, black pepper, brown sugar, salt and cumin. I'll probably do a mustard-vinegar mop while they're cooking. This week's shopping list (not heavy on the produce 'cause I've got a little left and I plan on a Headhouse Square visit Sunday): FAIR FOOD FARMSTAND $2 Mint HARRY OCHS $14.39 Spare ribs Turkey bacon IOVINE BROTHERS $0.62 Banana Lemon SALUMERIA $6.70 Olives Capers in salt AJ'S PICKLE PATCH $4.53 Potato salad Pepper hash LE BUS $3.75 Rolls HERSHEL'S DELI $6.00 Lox Cream cheese

Uh, "hundreds of percent"? Are we overstating the case, just a little? Like by a gazillion percent? But you're right, it's about money.

Semantics is meaning, Holly. So say what you mean the first time. My questioning of your initial statement challenged what you said as fact. I will continue to hit you over the head whenever you make what is an obviously a false statement. So if you intend to continuing to state as fact something which clearly isn't fact, get a helmet, mate.

I am most definitely certain that Tommy is not happy to have Tony Luke come to the market. Exactly what are you concluding about his adding ovens and expanding capacity? ← I'm concluding that by making a significant investment after this brouhaha surfaced, that if Tommy had an opportunity to "unsign" his lease without penalty at this point in time, he wouldn't. (I think I was clear in stating that Tommy is unhappy about how Rick is being treated and wants him to stay; but that doesn't mean Tommy is going to give up a thriving business for that. Clearly, he has no such intention, even if he had the opportunity. You said "I personally know merchants who have recently signed long term leases at the market who wished they have not done so seeing recent goings on there." Did Tommy express that opinion to you or are you just making what you think is a reasonable assumption?