rlibkind

Geez, I've only not lived in New Jersey since 1979 (a mere flick of time), you'd think I'd be able to keep Edison and Iselin (Woodbridge) straight!

Lots of South Asian (Indian) restaurants along Oak Tree Road in Edison, less than three miles from downtown Metuchen.

I'll reinforce what Katie and 18/10 have already already established: the Reading Terminal Market will be pandemonium on Wednesday. But if your kids are okay with crowds, it still might be fun. A warning on the parking. There are any number of garages on the blocks by the market. The only one that offers a discount is the Parkway Corporation garage on the block bounded by Arch, 12th, Filbert and 13th Streets. Entrances ramps on all four streets. When entering, DO NOT use a credit card to open the gate; if you do, you won't get a discount. Take a ticket and bring it with you the Market. Once you make a $10 purchase (or show a merchant receipts totalling $10) ask to have it validated. Upon return to the garage, insert the ticket into the machine which, after it reads the ticket, will show a $2 fee (payable in cash or credit card). Pay and get the ticket back, because you'll need it to exit. Be forewarned: if you are parked for more than 2 hours, the rate increases exponentiially. I think the suggestion for Benuel Kaufman's unpasteurized cider is brilliant. But Mummer Charlie makes a good suggestion for Italian pastry at Isgro's; if the cannoli is pre-stuffed, I'd go for my fav, sfogliatele (looks like a flaky clamshell). Termini's has a location in the Reading Terminal Market (expect long lines). Downtown Cheese at the Reading Terminal Market offers an excellent selection. Becaue Downtown Cheese is so good, we tend to forget that Salumeria offers a nice range of cheeses, too; maybe not as broad as Downtown or DiBruno's, but one that almost any other city would covet. The 9th St. Italian Market can be a lot of fun, too. In addition to Isgro's, DiBruno's and Claudio's, you can always pick up a house gift at Fante's. And where else can you get a tripe sandwich (George's)? For dinner with the kids, a red gravy Italian place would probably work out well. I can't think of any in Society Hill, but Ralph's and Villa di Roma aren't that far. If the kids will go for Indian food there's Karma, just a block or two from your hotel. Chinatown isn't that far away (about a baker's dozen blocks away). Also, Headhouse Square and South Street are just south of Society Hill and within walking distance. Dark Horse Pub on Headhouse for English-style fare (shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, steak pie, etc., as well as burgers and sandwiches) and South Street Souvlaki for reliable Greek grill and salads. At Fourth and Bainbridge, a block south of South, can be found the Famous Deli. Huge kosher-style corned beef and pastrami sandwiches and Jewish platters; open breakfast, lunch and dinner. On your way out, pick up some two classic American colonial desserts, halvah and rugelach, to bring for Thanksgiving!

Reading Terminal Market will be open the first three Sundays in December. About half the merchants will be open. About half the merchants and vendors will be participating. Alas, Tommy DiNic wants to take Sundays off. Follow this link to get the full list. Mike, can you give us a better idea of your food preferences. There's lots of choose from.

← LaGaviola is after my time, but Kampy's Korner is a sandwich place a couple of blocks away from Cleveland. Haven't been there so can't speak to it. As I said earlier, I think Jerusalem is the best bet for veggie in the immediate neighborhood. Now, if you want to go down the Garden State Parkway 10 or 12 miles, there are probably lots of vegetarian Indian offerings in Edison. Most of them are clustered on Oak Tree Road. Here's the Google map of them.

When I was working a block or so away from Primo's (Commerce Square), the Old Italian was my fav! Thanks for reminding me, Charlie. Gotta go back!

Any updates or more recent reports on the Annapolis spots mentioned in this topic? We'll be in Annapolis on a Thursday in December for a show at the Rams Head, and looking for a place to eat that won't be overwhelming, i.e., we like to avoid huge, rich meals before we go to a show, so a place like O'Leary's would probably be nixed. Seafood is good, however, especially raw oysters so long as She Who Must Be Obeyed can find some reasonable land animals to consume, though crab cakes are more than acceptable to her. (Appetizer portion -- a big plate with fried potatoes would probably be overdoing it.) Perhaps Buddy's? We're staying at the Loew's and although we'll have a vehicle venues within an easy (and I mean easy) walk between there, Loews and the Rams Head would be ideal. Can't seem to get to 49west's web site to check their offerings -- are they still in business or just server problems?

I don't know the technical reason, but I would imagine "breathability" is the key. If you aren't using mushrooms as soon as you bring them back from the store, they keep best in a paper bag. The paper bag lets the moisture escape so they don't get slimy. Of course, keep them for more than a day and they'll start to dry out, but that's a problem you can cope with (lots of mushrooms are dried then reconstituted, after all) as opposed to going rotten due to excess moisture.

Sauteed the hedgehogs tonight (along with two big domestic whites) and they were just fine. Hardly needed any trimming at all. Sometimes those plastic package specials are less than they seem, but as good merchants the Iovines, as you discovered, believe the customer is always right. Of course, Jimmy still hasn't supplied paper bags for the loose mushrooms, a topic I have repeated discussed with him for at least five years, to no avail. Often, I bring my own (or get one from another merchant) and brazenly open it with a broad downward arm movement through the air beside his computerized post at the head-end. Why don't you badger him too, mrbigjas, and maybe he'll starting supplying small paper bags for us! I mean, at $19.95 a pound and more for the exotic fungi, that's the least he can do.

Actually, I think one of the issues is that, indirectly, it works the other way now. But it should work the way you describe. In case anyone missed it, a more balanced piece than Schimmel's in today's Inquirer. You might have to register to see it. My favorite quote from this article: As I mentioned earlier, I would be surprised if any other vendor at the RTM comes close to Rick's margins.

Arkansas Blacks made their appearance this week at Benuel Kaufman's produce stand. These are small, hard, excellent storage apples. Put them in your fridge's crisper and they'll stay crisp at least until February. I find they get even a little sweeter over time. Benuel is selling them for $1.69/pound, the same price for Pink Lady and Rusty Coat apples. I haven't tried them, but Pink Lady is a relatively new cross of Golden Delicious and Lady William varieties (I never heard of the latter before). The Rusty Coats are a flavorful russet variety; the "bite" is crisp, though the flesh is tender once you get through the skin. Benuel also had the unpasteurized cider this morning. Not much new at the fish stores, though John Yi has "white" tuna fillet at $9.99. On the salmon front, sockeye and king were selling at $9.99 and $11.99, respectively; both have to be from frozen this time of year. Norwegian farm-raised going for $6.99, domestic for $5.99. Mahi Mahi was $4.99. Iovine's has once again rearranged its layout and aisles to keep customers on their toes. Didn't see any porcini today, but the packaged hedgehog mushrooms were $9.99 vs. $14.99 for the loose variety, if I recall correctly; I repackaged the hedgehogs to a plain paper bag when I got home and other than being broken up, they looked just fine. This time of year we like to try pumpkin ravioli. Pasta By George has it frozen. Not inexpensive, but a whole lot easier than making it myself. I serve them topped with a melted butter sauce flavored with fresh shredded sage leaves added just before serving. Last week I remarked how Tokyo Sushi was dark at 11 a.m. and wondered whether they had shut the door on operations early now that their lease isn't being renewed. Not the case, they are open. Problem is, they've always been a bit sporadic about their hours. No doubt that was a contributing factor in market management's decision not to renew.

The Reading Terminal Market will be open on Sundays for the three weekends prior to Christmas: Dec. 4, 11 and 18. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (though individual merchant hours will vary.) Of the 76 merchants at the RTM, about three dozen (nearly half) will be open, including Iovine's Produce, Harry Ochs, all three fish vendors, Coastal Cave, Salumeria, Downtown Cheese, and Termini Brothers. The Pennsylvania Dutch merchants, of course, will not be open. Among other purveyors who, as of today, are not participating: Metropolitan, Le Bus, OK Lee Produce, Martin's Quality Meats & Sausage. It should surprise no one that the six vendors whose leases aren't being renewed will not be open. For a full list of Sunday vendors, visit the RTM website.

If they are so concerned about those lobsters, why do their bakeries still incinerate yeast!

Best bet for vegetarian would be Jerusalem, which offers a wide range of Middle Eastern salads as well as vegetarian pizza. Since it's dairy kosher, there will be no meats.

I couldn't agree more with Sandy's Smith's (MarketStEl) Food Media and News Forum analysis of Schimmel's City paper piece. I posted some further thoughts on that forum, but realized they would be more pertinent in this topic on the PA board. So here goes: The merchant who is crying the loudest, at least according to Schimmel, is Rick Olivieri, even though he is not one of the six whose leases aren't being renewed. Rick is crying for good reason. The very idea that he would have to let market management know how much money he is minting is anathema to Rick. He runs a very, very profitable business. And he doesn't want anyone to know how profitable. What's funny is that it wouldn't take too much effort to figure out his gross. All you have to do is count the cartons of rolls delivered each morning and multiple that by what he charges per steak and add in soda (translation: pure profit) sales. He has a relatively small staff, largely predictable costs and long lines of lunchers and tourists waiting to fork over some greenbacks for what is, at best, a passable chesesteak. My guess is that his gross is second only to the Iovines, but that Rick's margins far surpass the produce guys. If the RTM's goal is to foster locally produced foods, which have difficulty competing with industrial products, then it makes perfect sense to be a little bit socialist about it and take from those who can to subsidize those who can't. Using revenue as one of the factors in determining rents is no crime, and could significantly support the market's larger goals. No one, certainly not me, would deny Rick the opportunity to be as profitable as he can be. But, indirectly, the smaller vendors of the market are subsidizing Rick's profits through their rents. If Rick had to run his business in a private-sector building elsewhere in Center City, the landlord would have jacked up his rent a long time ago. He should be grateful that he pays sub-market rents at a very high traffic location with a very amenable environment for his business. It's not in market management's interest to price Rick out of business through an exorbitant rent increase. The market needs a cheesesteak vendor for both the tourists and the lunch crowd. But highly profitable businesses like his need to pay rents that help suport the less profitable vendors who are the very fabric of the market. Otherwise, we'd be left with nothing more than a quaint food court.

As of this morning, Fair Food has already sold out of heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving -- and that's after Ann ordered 10 additional birds to try to meet demand. They still have organic birds, I believe. The oyster mushrooms looked particularly good today. At Iovine's, lemons back down to a dime apiece (they were a quarter last week); limes still 20-cents, avocados $1. The great colored pepper sale, however, is over. Red peppers back up to $1.49, other colored peppers even more. Looks like Iovines has expanded their organic section; in addition to the vegetables they have a fair selection of apples and some other fruit. Clementines have made their first appearance of the season at $6.99/box. Benuel Kaufman still has unpasteurized cider. Good-looking cauliflower, broccoli and romanescu (that's a funny-looking cabbage family member that appear to be a cross beteen cauliflower and broccoli. Here's a great image of one. I stumped Harry Ochs a couple of weeks ago when I asked if he could get me a piece of beef navel. He never heard of it. (I wanted it so I could try curing my own pastrami; beef navel is the preferred cut among Jewish delis). But he checked with his supplier and he can get it: I ordered some at $2.99/pound and will report back when the experiment is concluded in three or four weeks. I may also corn some. Navel is cut from the short plate, which is immediately behind the brisket as you go toward the animal's rear. Short ribs can be cut from the plate. At 11 a.m. today Tokyo Sushi Bar did not show any signs of life. This is one of the vendors whose lease will not be renewed. Wonder if they've already given up the ghost? Did anyone else read Rick Nichols piece yesterday? He said what I couldn't, because I only had it second hand: at least a few of the merchants whose leases won't be renewed were behind in their rent. Separately, I've posted info about the chocolate and holiday confections classes Robert Bennet will be giving at the RTM Dec. 5 and 12.

God bless Gibbons v Ogden and John Marshall and the Commerce clause.

Actually, the location should work well: easy walk from either Fitler or Rittenhouse, plus there are a number of high density office towers within a few blocks, too, for a large lunch business base. I was by the corner Monday and I'm surprised they'll be opening as soon as Friday. My quick glance led me to believe they had a bunch more interior work to go. But it was only a quick glance.

In Center City and environs, a hole-in-the-wall in Northern Liberties, Kaplan's New Model Bakery, 901 N. Third St., 215-627-5288. I still prefer Pechters (the rye bread of my youth), but this is good.

Picked up the apple-smoked bacon from Harry Ochs last Friday, and it is, indeed, very good. As reported, not a strong smoke, so I think it works better as a side to pancakes, eggs, etc., than on a sandwich, though it might also work in some salads. Hard to imagine there's a bacon that might be considered "subtle," at least in comparison to other bacons.

Nothing like being near the source. Alas, I don't think too many people in eastern Pennsylvania try to supplement their incomes by fungi-hunting; if they did, maybe we'd get better quality 'shrooms at more reasonable prices, like they do in the PNW and at the Dane County Farmers Market around the statehouse in Madison WI every spring.

If you don't find a cheese shop (I don't know of any in Central NJ) your best bet among supermarkets is Wegmans: Woodbridge, Bridgewater, Princeton, Manalapan, Ocean. One of them has got to be within a 20-minute drive of wherever you are.

It's not illegal per se, but the onerous requirements mean, for all practical purposes, that you cannot produce spirits for personal consumption. Here's what the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the US Treasury says: I suspect whoever "made" the grappa actually added flavor to commercially-obtained spirits.

You forgot to mention Norwegian: two grocery/delis and one bakery remain from this once teeming Norwegian neighborhood.

It's at Fairmount and N. 22nd, alongside the Eastern State Penitentiary historic site, Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m. At this point, Earl is the only vendor showing up, and that will probably be for only a few weeks more.