rlibkind

Any attorneys out there with commercial landlord-tenant expertise who would like to comment on the relative tactics of both sides? I'm no attorney, but here goes anyway. RICK: He'll open tomorrow and serve customers, hoping RTM physically removes him with cameras rolling. Build additional public sympathy so the politicos put pressure on Dunston and other board members to reverse the eviction. RTM: They willl let Rick open Wednesday, then tell him he's got to close because he has no lease and was properly notified more than a month ago that he had to vacate the premises July 31. When he refuses to kill his grill, they won't physically remove him or bring in security. No physical confrontation for the cameras. Instead, they will go to court and get an eviction order. At that point Rick will comply because his attorney will tell him he has to; if he doesn't comply, RTM will then go back to the judge and seek a contempt finding. Of course, as I write this, the RTM may have carpenters hard at work making it impossible for Rick to open. Or maybe they've just shut off his gas, electric and water and padlocked his freezers and refrigerators. Another question for anyone who can answer or hazard a guess: if Rick was seeking a TRO, did his attorney fail to file for an emergency hearing, or did he file and get turned down? Or, despite what he told the news media, did he not file at all? Or his is attorney waiting for an actual eviction attempt before seeking a court order?

Like I said earlier, I'm not convinced replacing Rick's with TL advances the market's mission, but I'm equally unconvinced that it harms it. We totally agree here. O'Neill established the foundation; it's been getting even better since then.btw, I started shopping at the RTM in 1982, and iirc, there were puddles on the floor whenever it rained even before the train shed work for the convention center started, before Jack took over the old Market Diner in the space most recently occupied by Foster's. For those who have started shopping at the RTM more recently, the Market Diner was a stainless-clad free-standing diner, just like you'd fine along Jersey highways in the 1950s; much of the current Down Home Diner's fixtures, booths and walls were salvaged from the original. Over the last 10 or 12 years, including just the last two years, RTM management has brought in a number of different farmers to sell their product directly. Few have been successful: I'm sure there were as many reasons for their failures as there were sellers, but from a customer's point of view (mine) most of them had extremely limited offerings and did not reliably appear. Earl Livengood, who's been at the RTM about 10 years, iirc, is the only one who succeeded, and I think that's because his product quality is not only high, but his variety is a bit broader. He doesn't just sell salad greens, as one failed vendor did, as good as his salad greens were. (Indeed, I believe Earl sells those very same salad greens produced by the very same producer, Paradise Organics. While much of what Livengood sells comes from his own farm, some originates with other Lancaster County growers.)I think in an environment like Headhouse where you've got a dozen different produce vendors, with somewhat but not completely overlapping product lines, someone who sells produce as limited or esoteric as Queens Farm can make a go of it. As far as bringing a lot of farmers in, one challenge the RTM would face is space; any space they devoted to the farmers during the season would become empty and uninviting from late fall through mid-spring. Or they could displace existing merchants to make room for a larger crop of farmers. Or they could take away the seating, but that would kill all the lunchtime sandwich vendors. In any event they'd still face the wintertime emptiness problem, especially from January through mid-April. I imagine this is the reason why RTM offered the Food Trust the dark, uninviting Filbert Street underpass area for the market which located to Headhouse Square: they didn't have anyplace else to put it. Parkway Corp. sure as heck wasn't going to give up its open air parking area for four or five Sundays! If market management is unable to regain the trust of its merchants, it's not just the merchants and market management who suffer. We do. That's why, beginning now, even before the dust settles, the market has got to begin earning that trust back.

He would have. As I recall the conversation, Rick told me that if RTM had offered him a lease, "I'd have been stupid not to sign it." Not by that name, but a similar concept is why many of the lease changes have been sought by RTM management. All merchants, no matter what they sell, pay a Common Area Management (CAM) fee, based on their square footage. The roughly dozen purveyors at the market (the produce, meat, dairy vendors, etc.) pay only CAM. All the others (lunch counters, trinket sellers, etc.) pay the CAM plus an additional fee. That additional fee is being restructured based on the average revenue of particular classes of non-purveyors, for example, all lunch vendors, or all crafts vendors. Under the new leases the additional fee a particular non-purveyor pays is based not on his or her revenue, but the average revenue for all similar vendors. The fee is in the form of the percentage of average revenue for the class of vendor; sandwich vendors, for example, might pay a higher percentage of average revenue than craft vendors. Could that be because RTM management has done a good job at keeping costs economical for the purveyors by tilting the burden upon those in more remunerative lines of business? That's what the restructured leases are all about, to make sure the more prosperous businesses (by virtue of what they sell, rather than their skill) support those in less prosperous lines of business. The less prosperous lines of business are those that are most compatible with the market's century-old tradition. There are lots of reasons for the market's success, going back to David O'Neill's leadership as market manager and the public outcry when the razing of the terminal to make away for the convention center was a distinct possibility. Important contributors have been the market's Mission Statement and, even more important in my opinion, the Operating Policy Guidelines. These two documents set forth principles that support and further the true traditions of the market, and the actions by market management I've witnessed over the past 25 years (including those of current managerial personnel) have been overwhelmingly supportive of those traditions. I have yet to be convinced that Rick's eviction furthers those goals, but at the same time, I do not see it as undermining them. If by "effective" you mean selling drop-dead gorgeous produce at drop-dead prices, RTM will never compete with Headhouse or any of the other farmers' markets selling $3/pound tomatoes, $2 a head lettuces, and $8 a pound chickens. The Reading Terminal Market is not a "showcase" selling designer fruit nor is it meant to be. It's a public market designed to provide consumers a wide range of affordable foods. The produce vendors at the RTM serve more people with good quality produce, at considerably lower prices, than Headhouse could ever hope to provide. At the same time, the RTM is still able to offer "high-end" produce, meat and dairy products of the same or better quality than that found at the Farmers' markets. Don't get me wrong, I love the Headhouse market, and all the other seasonal farmers' markets I patronize. I'm lucky, because I can afford to spend my disposable income this way. But just as the RTM isn't Headhouse Square, Headhouse Square isn't the RTM. (It's like comparing a down-and-dirty copy shop that gets the job done efficiently, quickly and cheaply with artisans who use hand-set type and a flat-bed press; yes, they both reproduce printed documents, but their respective markets compete only on the margins.)

Generally, yes. Practically? As I pointed out, it can be done and done well, though you're right to question TL's ability to do this, based on the track record. If he continued to be the owner-operator, or if he sold the RTM outlet to another owner-operator, I don't see any issues: continuing businesses get sold at the RTM on an irregular but not rare basis. A franchise, however, in which a franchisor dictates operating requirements to a franchisee, even if that franchisee was an on-premises, full-time manager, would be a clear violation. I haven't been privvy to the RTM-TL talks, so I don't know. But I do know RTM has the right to approve/disapprove product lines. I'm not convinced this is to the market's advantage. But I don't see it as being to its disadvantage, either. If Rick's running at capacity now, there's no way that TL is going to harm other sandwich vendors. Even if he finds a way to expand capacity in the existing use and space configuration (I'm doubtful he could, but if he did that's a prima facie case for his superiority as an operator vs. Rick). Given the long lunch lines at Rick's, Tommy's, and Carmine's today, my hunch is a modest expansion of noontime capacity won't hurt anyone's business. An exponential capacity expansion, which could be possible by converting Rick's current seating area to production and sales, would cause me considerably grater concern.

Interesting point, and one addressed by the market's Operating Policy Guidelines: "Leases shall require the owners to be actively involved in the management and operation of their businesses within the Market." Of course, "actively involved" is a matter of interpretation. The owner of Downtown Cheese splits his time between the RTM and his Ardmore store. Ken Foster only showed up at his RTM outlet once a week. But not physically being there all or even most of the time doesn't mean you're not actively managing it. If TL does take over the space, my guess is he'll be there most of time during the first few weeks or couple of months of operation, then cut back once he's satisfied the operation no longer requires his minute-to-minute supervision. Conceivable, but highly unlikely. Market management has the power to veto any item in a product line, so they could limit TL to cheese steaks, prohibiting TL from selling roast pork to protect DiNic's or hoagies to project Carmine's, Salumeria and Spataro's. In any event, Carmine's thrives on the overflow of long lines at Rick's, and if TL or another operator is as successful, Carmine's will do at least as well. Salumeria, as jtnicolosi and his dad explained to me, relies a lot more on olive oil and grocery sales than hoagies. The only possible threat I see would be to Spataro's cheese steak business, which they added last year when they moved to their new location; but at the same time, they expanded their breakfast hot sandwich business.

Location, Location, Location! Any seller of a decently made cheese steak will mint cash at that location. Rick makes a decent cheese steak, and it's obvious from how hard he's fighting that he doesn't want to give it up: it's a great business. No reason to believe that TL, or any other competent maker of cheese steaks, wouldn't do as well.

iirc, the flank steaks at Giunta's sell for about $8 or $9. (I haven't tried the flank steak from Giunta yet, but the hanger and skirt steaks, which are a little less expensive, are very tasty.) The one I bought at Harry Ochs this past Saturday went for $8.95. I'll try to double-check the prices on my next visit and post them.

New article today in the Metro: Tony Luke's, Rick's already squaring off at Citizens Bank Park, from today's paper, keys off on their ballpark competition (by volume of customers, TL wins), to provide an update on the RTM-Rick's brouhaha, including Rick's plans to a news conference this afternoon where he will presumably discuss his legal tactics.

I think Beiler's Bakery carries them (in the Pa. Dutch section in the Arch/12th Street corner). They're closed Sunday-Tuesday; open Wednesday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.; Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (though it's possible they might shut a bit earlier). You might also want to visit Flying Monkey. No whoopie pies, but your friends (or you) might like the cupcakes!

The only space large enough the RTM could offer was Filbert Street. Let's face it, the Filbert street underpass is dark and unappealing -- even when the RTM spreads hay and tries to make it festive. It's a space that defies beautification. Whereas Headhouse Square is open, sunny and inviting. No contest for these reasons, not Schimmel's uninformed speculations. Sure Headhouse Square looks a lot busier on Sunday that the RTM. It's also about 20 times smaller, so why is that a surprise? Yet, RTM is hardly unpatronized on Sundays as Schimmel would have you believe. This spring the hourly count for Sundays was 1,500. That's 10,000 people over a seven-hour session. (Not all of them are produce buyers, of course, but Jim and Vinnie Iovine are thrilled with the Sunday business they get, and the Sunday hours have been a worthwile endeavor as far as other merchants I've spoken to are concerned.) No doubt the count is down this summer: a lot of city dwellers head to the shore, and the critical mass of great growers Nicky has lured to Headhouse Square is a siren song to anyone who lusts after the season's offerings. Schimmel's comment that on Sundays the RTM's aisles seem almost empty may have a lot to do with the fact that only about half the merchants open on Sundays. The RTM board continues to call Sundays an "experiment"; the Iovines want to see the board quit pussy-footing and make it permanent. Schimmel writes: Fair enough, I agree more signage would be better. But if he bothered to make even the simplest inquiry, Schimmel could get some answers. In addition to a single Amish greengrocer (Benuel Kaufman) and Fair Foods, both Iovine Brothers Produce and OK Lee have cut contract deals with local producers in New Jersey and Bucks County for produce (Iovine's usually labels their bins with local product as coming from Shady Brook Farms). In addition there's also L. Halteman which, although primarily a butcher and deli, sells a nice selection of seasonal produce at very nice prices. So, while there is lots of room for improvement in local produce at the RTM, it's hardly the desert Schimmel contends. Schimmel also writes: Schimmel "can't figure" the reasons because he either never asked or never listened. RTM told six merchants they would not be renewed unless they met the terms of their existing leases: the failures to meet terms were either serious arrears in rent, or inability to meet other existing lease requirements. Two of those merchants, Tokyo Sushi and Franks A-Lot, rectifed the problems, and as a result RTM renewed their leases. (I'll leave the Rick's Steak issue to its own thread rather than introduce it here.) None of this takes anything away from Headhouse Square. It's an awesome market. In fact, I would have been there again today, except Earl Livengood, who has thrived as a local farmer selling at the Reading Terminal (and, on a less successful but still profitable basis, two other farmers' markets in the city) was holding his annual corn roast for customers at his Lancaster County Farm, and I didn't want to miss it. Edited to fix name of Iovine's contract farm to Shady Brook.

Are you going to make the ratatouille from RATATOUILLE, THE MOVIE ? I just bought ingredients for the same reason...... ← Haven't seen it yet (I intend to), though certainly just reading the reviews and being innundated by all the publicity made me think of it, especially when I saw all the gorgeous summer vegetables. The end result was delicious. But since I'm the only one in the house who will eat it, I had more than enough. Tomorrow I'm going to a corn roast/pot luck in Lancaster County PA hosted by one of the farmers from whom I bought some of the ingredients (Earl Livengood at the Reading Terminal Market), so today as my contribution I chopped the pint-and-a-half of leftover ratatouille with some Israeli canned olives I bought on sale, another clove of fresh garlic, capers, additional herbs and four or five boquerones (white anchovies) to turn it into an appetizer spread for baguette slices.

In addition, as noted upthread, at least one regular on this board has steered visitors away from Rick's. FWIW, re: the Amish killing this year's Pa. Dutch fest, one of their number decided it would be all right to participate in today's ice cream festival created by RTM management. So much for moral outrage.

At Headhouse Square last Sunday, I completed my shopping begun the previous day at the RTM for ratatouille incredients by hitting up North Star for peppers and onions, Wimer's for roma tomatoes and more eggplant, Blooming Glen for bell peppers (as well as cherry and heirloom tomatoes for pasta, sandwiches and just plain enjoying by themselves). The biggest score of all for the ratatouille, though, was at Urban Girl: fresh savory. As one of the Urban Girls herself said, it smells like pizza! Here are some photos from Blooming Glen's stand:

Between being out-of-town and being sidetracked by some community issues in my neighborhood as well as the Rick's Steak brouhaha, I've been neglectful of reporting on my shopping excursions. So here's a report on my visit to to the RTM today, as well as a bit on last weekend's visit. Over at Hershel's East Side Deli, Andy is hand-slicing salty belly lox again rather than relying on Acme's inconsistent pre-sliced product. Hooray! Earl Livengood (hosting his annual corn roast tomorrow at his farm on the outskirts of Lancaster; call 717 464-2698 for more info) still has some sweet, dark cherries which he's been storing since the bountiful harvest ended a couple of weeks ago. While not as pristine looking as when fresh off the tree, they remain sweet and delicious, even at $6.50 a quart or $3.50 a pint. Earl also had sour (pie) cherries for $2.95/pint, and blackberries and blueberries at $4.25/pint. If you want a Hass avocado for guacamole or any other purposes, OK Lee wants 99-cents each, while Iovine Brothers is up to $1.49; last week Iovine's only sought 50 cents each. (Prices almost as volatile as the stock market.) Figs are in season. Small black figs, roughly 12-15 packed high into a half-pint carton, $4.99 at Iovine, with green figs $2.49. All red and green grapes, seedless or seeded, $1.99. Cucumbers are plentiful. Persian cucumbers at Iovine's were $1.99 a pound, which gets you about three of these smaller, six or seven-inch "seedless" cukes ideal for chopped salads and other uses. Greenhouse grown English seedless cukes were priced at two for a buck. Over at OK Lee big, fat kirbys, about two inches in diameter and six inches in length, were selling at five for a buck. While the organic and heirloom varieties of tomatoes at Livengood's and Fair Foods will cost you $2.49 or more, the Jersey and Lancaster County standard field tomato (no slouch in the taste department at the height of the season, as it is now) are a bargain 99-cents at either Iovine's or OK Lee's. Local canteloupes (musk melons), watermelons and peaches are also in abundance. Everyone's got good local corn now, including Iovine's. But, as anyone who has tasted it will tell you, the Mirai corn sold at Fair Food is special. Only a few ears were left when I stopped by at 10 a.m., most of it having been sold Thursday and Friday. So plan your shopping schedule accordingly next week. Iovine bell pepper survey: Green 50-cents, yellow $1.49, red $2.99, orange, $3.99. OK Lee: red and green, 99-cents, yellow and orange $2.99. This time a year, I buy whatever color sweet pepper looks good at Benuel Kaufman's stand; today it was a small purplish variety. John Yi continues to have a nice selection of wild salmon, as well as farmed-raised Atlantic salmon from Norway and other sources. The Alaskan wild varieties included king at $16.99, sockeye (Copper River) at $10.99 (up from $9.99 last week), and Coho at $12.99. Last week I tried the Coho, but its exceedingly mild flavor disappointed me; others, however, might find this just right. Meanwhile, with demand for soft shell crabs at its seasonal high, the price shot up to $6 per. (Come on you crabs: Molt!) Returning to John Yi is char filet at $7.99; char is mostly farm raised in Canada and Iceland, but the farming techniques used for this salmonid are among aquaculture's most eco-friendly. Later this week I plan to buy some lamb, so I priced it today. Harry Ochs asked $9.99 for a boneless leg, while Giunta's (for what they told me was New Jersey lamb) priced it at $6.99 on-the-bone, $7.99 off. Before applying this week's 15% discount, the frozen Meadow Run lamb at Fair Foods is priced similarly to Ochs; with the discount it's more in line with Giunta's price. I didn't check Martin's, but in the past they've generally been the least expensive lamb purveyor, sometimes pricing leg as low as $3.99 on the bone, $4.99 off. This week's shopping list: HARRY OCHS $26.47 Flank steak Ground sirloin Turkey bacon KAUFMAN'S LANCASTER COUNTY PRODUCE $2.42 Bell pepper Onion FAIR FOOD PROJECT $2.20 Mirai Corn EARL LIVENGOOD $10.65 Cherries Plum tomatoes Field tomato IOVINE BROTHERS $2.07 Bananas Garlic White and red onions HERSHEL'S EAST SIDE DELI $4.60 Lox Here's my shopping list for the previous Saturday, July 21, where most of the vegetables purchased this day, and the following at Headhouse Square, went into ratatouille. SPICE TERMINAL $4.25 Pine nuts GIUNTA'S PRIME SHOP $5.09 Turkey bacon HERSHEL'S EAST SIDE DELI $4.50 Lox SALUMERIA $6.58 Olives Cream cheese JOHN YI $11.30 Coho salmon OK LEE $0.99 Cilantro EARL LIVENGOOD $9.60 Blueberries Squash Eggplant Yellow squash Onion Lettuce TWELFTH STREET CANTINA $2.99 Tortilla chips IOVINE BROTHERS $2.99 Bananas Avocados Scallions

Holly, I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on some of our interpretations of "facts". But many of the issues you raise don't appear out of the mists as if by magic; they are real and important concerns which cause the high levels of passion we've witnessed. The most critical is the one most recently raised and succintly put by bluehensfan, but stated by you and others previously: Who's Next? That is what, imho, drives all the merchants who signed the petition. The very point you raise about taking away their livelihoods, and the perception (correct or incorrect) that it is being done to Rick in a cavalier manner creates an atmosphere of mistrust and fear. Although I do not impute all the dark, evil motives you do, clearly the burden falls upon market management to demonstrate that they are acting in the best interests of all the market's constituencies, merchants included. Management must assure merchants they will not use the nuclear weapon of non-renewal lightly; when they do, as they have in Rick's case, they've got to forthrightly explain why. Through this point in time, market management has been either unable, unwilling, or constrained from doing so. Even before the dust settles on this episode, whatever the outcome, market management must allay those merchant fears and rebuild trust.

I also have faith in good attorneys; but you can have good attorneys on both sides, and unless they settle before a verdict is rendered or an order entered, one of them has to lose. Rick may have a good attorney; I know RTM has a good one. As for public opinion trumping "arrogant, unjust management stances," not everyone holds the same opinion as you. Public opinion doesn't give a damn who makes their cheesesteak; it only counts to a couple of score of crazy foodies like us. Rick will get a one-day shot with the media come July 31 (or August 1), and then the press and public opinion will move on. In the words of George Washington Plunkett, "Reformers are only morning glories." You need to talk to more of the merchants, Holly, including those who haven't been quoted by the press. While all the signatories to the ad certainly would rather RTM management had handled this better, many also believe that Rick was hardly a model of virtue and planted the seeds for his own demise. They support him . . . to a point. What matters more to each individual merchant is what RTM management does to help their individual businesses. As for Tony Luke, (1) I doubt he will care much what the other merchants think and (2) I don't think most of the merchants will think less of TL for taking advantage of an opportunity. I doubt any one of them, if offered, would turn down the opportunity to take over a cheese steak stand at Rick's location. More than one merchant has told me he covets the ability of Rick's business to mint money.

It's my understanding that the Board Chair personally communicated to Rick this afternoon that the board will not revisit its vote not to renew his lease. The chair also communicated that it would work with him so he could exit in an orderly fashion (in other words, if you need another month or two, you can have it), but that if Rick was going to act like a jerk about it, he will be evicted July 31. Is this much different from what Holly reported? No. But there are lots of ways you can convey a message. All depends on your point of view. The part of Holly's report that I find difficult to believe is that RTM told Rick not to tell the press. The word is going to get out there -- indeed, if I were the PR counsel to RTM, I'd tell them to get it to the press before Rick did. What I understand they told him is that they would work with him if he didn't make a stink about it, and that's slightly different from simply not informing them. Rick's not going to win the legal battle. He could, if he wishes, hold a rally. But it would be a one-day wonder. He can either tilt with windmills, or he can move on. Although I do not believe he will succeed in keeping his RTM venue, as I've said before Rick is a good operating guy and he'll find another location where he can prosper. It may not be as sweet a deal as he's had at the RTM, but he'll do well once he concentrates his energies.

<a href="http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1185499387/gallery_7493_1768_359527.jpg"><img'>http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1185499387/gallery_7493_1768_359527.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1185499387/gallery_7493_1768_359527.jpg" alt="Cold Tomato Soup" border="0"/></a>Here's a delayed report on my recent visit (July 13) to Dano's on Seneca, complementing rather than duplicating, I hope, Philadining's wonderful reports and photos. (The next morning we visited the Ithaca Farmers' Market; you can find my report here.) Dano's Heuriger approach emphasizes simple foods, cooked perfectly. Nothing fancy or ornate, just good, hearty, stick-to-the-ribs fare perfect for casual dining. Heck, even the house wine is served in a mug (glass mug, to be sure). As conceived by Dano, it's the Vienese equivalent to an Italian red gravy establishment serving homemade fare and wine in glasses. She Who Must Be Obeyed was tired after a day's ride and a quick Hermann J. Wiemer winery stop (where we purchased two cases of various rieslings, plus a couple of extra bottles of Pinot Noir rosé), so for our early supper she limited her order to the cold tomato soup, three scopes of spreads (sun-dried tomato/garlick, pumpkin seed, and green olive tapenade) and sharing the bread basket. The soup was perfect for a mildly warm, sunny summer afternoon, and while all three spreads were delicious the unique pumpkin seed variety stood out. I started with the herring salad. I was expecting herring finely chopped with apples, potatoes, beets, etc. Instead, I enjoyed chunks of herring mixed with potatoes, onions and seasonings mixed with homemade mayonnaise atop some leaf lettuce. Since I wanted to taste everything, but had neither the stomach capacity nor wallet to support such a desire, I went for the jokingly-named "Bento Box". In it I found a farmers' sausage served the the riesling mustard Philadining so adored, a small pork shank (I didn't know they came that small!), red cabbage, spaetzle, liptauer spread, potato salad, cabbage salad, and cucumber salad. As much as the jokey-named "Bento Box" brought a smile to my face, so did its contents. The sausage was suitably porky and pleasantly seasoned, not overly spiced. The shank's meat melted in the mouth; a lot of care went into its cooking. The spaetzle and salads were perfect accompaniments. The liptauer spread is noted on the menu as "Austrian house specialty". And special it is. Dano said it's a combination of cream cheese and feta with seasonings, primarily paprika. Indeed. Lots of sweet paprika, perhaps just a bit of hot paprika. A neighbor who hails from Budapest told me that recipe sounded right: her family made it with Quark (a very thick fresh cheese not dissimilar to cream cheese, but a bit more akin to a thick yogurt cheese or fromage blanc) mixed with a soft sheep cheese, with lots of paprika and some onion. I'm going to try to duplicate this at home, because the liptauer spread is a great taste. I think the secret is paprika that hasn't sat on the shelf too long. After a long, tiring day driving and hauling cases of wine, we were in a hurry to get back to our motel room, but I couldn't pass up ordering dessert to go: kugelhopf. The staff packaged the rich cake with separate containers of freshly whipped sweetened cream and the freshly made sour cherry sauce. My only regret upon consuming it later that night was the unavailability of some good Viennese coffee! Should you find yourself anywhere within shooting distance of the Finger Lakes from spring to fall, make a point of visiting Dano's on Seneca. So long as you aren't expecting knock-your-socks-off cutting-edge cuisine, but are looking forward to a highly satisfying, personal, well-prepared, relaxing meal, you will not be disappointed. Herring salad 'Bento box'

Another update here, from The Metro. In it, Rick opines some degree of optimism. Please note the conditional in the following comment: If, as earlier reported and speculated, Rick was trying to get a better deal for himself than the merchants on whose behalf he negotiated, and as the end result of this brouhaha he commits to what the merchants association agreed, then both Rick and the RTM and, most important, those of us who shop for groceries there, win. If Rick doesn't commit to that and he leaves, well, the RTM and those of us who do our grocery shopping there win, Rick loses his gamble, and tourists and office workers will have to "settle" for another cheesesteak seller.

And they're the original. But they ain't between the rivers or Girard & Wash.

I've got a craving for your basic Buffalo wings: deep fried, lavishly bathed in a Franks or Crystal-spiked sauce, served with blue cheese dressing and celery. And cheap but good beer. Which bars between the rivers, Washington to Girard, would you visit to satisfy that craving?

Today's Metro adds some interesting info to the mix. Read about it here.

The meeting between Rick and the RTM board's leasing committee has been postponed until tomorrow.

I was there for lunch a couple weeks ago and enjoyed it: had the roasted veg apps and the pizza lombardo. Enjoyed both. But, quite honestly, I've had pizza its equal in both Phoenix (Bianco) and Sheboygan (Il Ritrovo). Yes, Sheboygan. Tried to go back last Friday for lunch arriving at 1:25 p.m. But they wouldn't seat us: no lunch seating after 1:15, they said. Geesh!

No question the boss knows his oysters... Google him for something very funny! ← I couldn't find anything obviously funny, Charlie. Are you talking about the "Naked Chefs With Their Blenders" Vita-Mix ad with our Cary Neff and the other Chef Cary Neff from the West Coast? I downloaded a copy four or five years ago, but lost it when I switched operating systems. It used to be in the Vita-Mix web site, but isn't there anymore.