rlibkind

Garden Fresh it is. Katie, when were you at London?

Thanks for the word on these new (to me) Hatfield franks, John. I'll check the local purveyors, especially those at the Reading Terminal Market who deal in Hatfield product, and ask about its availability here in Philadelphia.

I haven't tasted this wine, so I can't comment on its relative merits. But to my humble taste, I think you have have made a mis-match by pairing this wine with the pork belly. I love pork belly and find that if you must have wine (I prefer a good hard apple cider. perhaps Pur Pom or Doc's), go with a Riesling, German preferred; people sometimes think these are delicate wines, but they go beautifully with a lot of pork and ham dishes. The Alsatian Rieslings and some Finger Lake products made in the German style work well, too. In fact, tonight's dinner is ham steak (no water added!) and one of the last bottles from my stash of Hermann Wiemer.

Nope, there was no Russian dressing. ← One more example why the subject to this topic is so apt.

Off-topic, but . . . I used to use the Septa-NJT combo regularly in the distant past. Only problem is that neither operator guarantees the Trenton connection; if your Septa train is late, NJT won't delay departure, and vice versa; that means at least a half-hour wait, sometimes an hour. And woe to those who are returning and miss the last connection of the night -- then you've got up to a six-hour wait in the middle of the night.

There have always been some true entrepeneurs in the business who either start a new establishment or rescue a dying or under-performing one, get it up and running or turn it around, then sell it out to someone who just wants to be an operator. I had a cousin in NYC who did that in the 1950s and 1960s with coffee shops.

The meat makes a difference, especially in Italian hoagies. Salumeria at the Reading Terminal Market uses my favorite brand of domestically-produced Italian deli, Volpi products, imported from "The Hill" in St. Louis. A few years back I was visiting friends in St. Louis originally from Reading, and one of them craved a hoagie from Philadelphia; so, I "re-imported" the Volpi meat back to St. Louis by picking up at Italian hoagie at Salumeria on my way to the airport. Now, if only Salumeria would switch to Sarcone's bread, it would be the best hoagie in town rather than merely one of the best (especially when you add the artichokes)!

I concur completely. The CB and pastrami were overrated at best. Worse, the service was beyond awful. I had been there about half a dozen times over the course of four or five years, suffering through lackadaiscal service each time. But an experience in 1990 ended my occasional patronage forever: we waited 30 minutes for a waitress to even take our orders while she was busy serving "regulars" who came in long after we did, despite my repeated efforts to gain her or any other any server's attention. Yes, it was a busy Sunday morning, but the service was inexcusable as well as excreble. As we stormed out I told David (and all who could hear me; I speak loudly) we wouldn't be back. I've kept my vow. I will, however, be happy to give it a try when it's up and running under new management. I've only stopped by Kibbitz on Chestnut once, soon after Cowan opened it. The pastrami was good, but overly salty. It turns out he wasn't using NY/NJ style pastrami at all; he was "importing" it from Vienna Beef in Chicago. He said the Philadelphia customers preferred that style. (I don't; like Sfuffy, I'm a North Jersey native raised on the likes of Goodman's and Kartzman's.)

unfortunately no, we got there too late, at about 2. ← Sometimes Tommy even runs out of pork about 2-2:30 p.m. if it's been a particularly hungry lunch crowd. The oranges I've picked up lately at Iovines have been fine. The Chilean grapes are sometimes okay. As far as veggies go, go for the greens: the turnip greens I got last week were just fine for something that traveled cross-country.

March 19 visit Spring has yet to appear, though there are signs: $1 for a big box of California berries at Iovine's. Certainly not nearly as sweet as what we'll see in late May and June from local berry patches, but a good deal for a welcome treat. At least they taste like strawberries. Iovine's has had some decent, small, non-woody celeriac. I picked some up a week ago and boiled them with potatoes and mashed them together. Nice fresh tasting, lighter bodied mashed potatoes. Excellent with hearty meat dishes; in this case I served it with a carbonnade flammande. The Haas avocados were ripe and ready at $1 apiece, considerably less expensive than you will find at Whole Paychek. Fair Food Project is considering moving from center court to part of the space formerly occupied by John's and then D&D produce, directly across from Foster's. Not a done deal, by any means, but it is a strong possibility. The lunch vendors would love to see that happen, and have the other farm stands move to that area, too; that would open up more tables in center court for the lunch crowd, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. The farm stand vendors, however, like center court's high traffic. Some great looking wild striped bass at John Yi's today. I picked up a filet at about $8/pound. Served it simply: broiled with lemon butter. This is fish like a steak: hearty, meaty, doesn't need to be gussied up. The mackeral run should start soon. Shad from Georgia and the Carolinas has been displayed for a couple of weeks. (Restaurants have taken notice; shad roe was a special last week at Sansom Street Oyster House). And carp is available for the gefilte fish makers. Now, if we could only get fresh smelts, rather than frozen. Just in case anyone doesn't get enough fat, the potato chips sold by Glicks Salads are fried in lard. Boy are they good. You can buy a one-pound bag for $3. Foster's is selling local food writer Aliza Green's new "Field Guide", following her success with "Field Guide to Produce". The new one is devoted to meat. mrbighas – did you get that brisket sandwich?

Excellent hoagies and bread to be found at Sarcone's; cheese at DiBruno Bros.; and Vietnamese/Mexican food along Washington Ave (see above posts). ← Hey, don't forget the tripe sandwiches at George's!

I stopped by SSOH for the first time since Katie joined that esteemed establishment and she greeted my party of three effusively and regally! The food, of course, was everyting I expected, but Katie's wine choices helped make the meal for me (I was the only drinker tonight). Especially a bubbly from the extreme western Loire Valley she insisted I try with my oysters. I split an order of half a dozen between Fanny Bays from British Columbia and Moonstones from Rhode Island. Both were good but the Rhode Islands were more to my taste. For the remainder of my meal I enjoyed a cup of rich snapper soup (splashed liberally with sherry to moderate its unctious richness) and an appetizer order of calamari, perfectly fried, virtually greaseless. My dining companions went for the scallops and the Maryland crab cake. The scallops were perfectly done, and the crab cake had the maximum amount of crab and minimum amount of binder you can have and still call it a crab cake. Thanks again, Katie (and Cary, and our server, Annamaria) for a splended supper!

That would be Tommy DiNic's. I hope you order that sandwich with greens and provolone! Who's got the best cheesesteak is a continual debate in these parts. I prefer Pat's to Gino's, and Jim's to both. And there are plenty of other contenders. Funny piece! Alas, I don't even try to be on the anti-Atkins and put it on! Of course, I make a weekly stop at Sarcone's Bakery two doors away from Ralph's for the best Italian breads and rolls in PhiladelphiaBTW, the railroad station is, indeed, as Deborah illustrates, 30th Street Station. Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and very similar in style, though larger in scope, to that same railroad's station in Newark NJ. There was an attempt to put a "food court" and market at the station with meat, fish and produce vendors as well. The "market" part of it was pretty much a bust. The food court, with its McDonald's, lives on. This has gone way off topic (and I'm to blame for that), but I probably enjoy the food life of my fair city as much as all of you do yours. Places like Granville Island Market are among the things that make urban, and particularly downtown, living worthwhile. (Good art museums and restaurants don't hurt, either). I was a bit surprised to read in one of the posts that a lot of the produce is imported. Given BC's mild clime, I would imagine there is lots of good local fruits and vegetables. And given the large Asian population, has an agricultural industry developed to supply that market. In southern New Jersey a number of Asian farmers (since imitated by other farmers) started about 20 or 30 years ago to grow produce that the oriental markets of NY, DC, Boston and other Eastern cities crave.

Thank you, Jamie, for educating me. Vancouverites it is! Since you invite some further outlander thoughts, here goes. The "tourist" issue is probably more acute at the Reading Terminal Market than GI. It's located under the convention center. (A bit of explanation. The RTM is a former outdoor "High Street" market which the Reading Railroad enticed to come indoors when it built its grand terminal in downtown Philadelphia more than a century ago. The market has, since 1892, occupied the space underneath the terminal's train shed. When the train system was rebuilt there was no more need for the terminal, but rather than tear it down, which was a real possibility, the terminal headhouse and trainshed was incorporated into the design of the new convention center.) There are probaby on the order of 1,000 hotel rooms within two blocks of the market. So, whenever there's a convention in town, guess who descends on the RTM? (This week will be particularly bad, as the convention center hosts the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, the world's largest indoor such show, which draws a couple of hundred thousand visitors from the region and farther afield.) In addition, the market is only six blocks away from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, so from spring through fall the area is innundated with tourists. The RTM copes well with this. First of all, it's large. I don't know the comparative square footages, but I'd guess the RTM is twice as big as GI. In addition, the market managers have strict rules about the type of busnesses they permit. Although a few vendors sell "tschokes", the market limits the number of non-food vendors as well as restaurants. There are certainly plenty stands to get a sandwich or slice of pizza of any number of other goodies for breakfast or lunch, but the market managers go out of their way to encourage and nurture purveyors of meat, fish, produce and other cook and/or eat-it-at-home food necessities. I, too, stop by markets whenever I travel. My last trip to London, three years ago, included an early Saturday morning visit to Borough Market. Truly a wonderful place (and the bacon on bats are superb) but, last time I checked, it is only open Fridays and Saturdays. And while the quality of what is offered is top notch, the variety and depth could be considerably better, especially in the produce department. The meats, though, are hard to beat. GI gets a higher overall score in my book. I think the answer to preserving and improving what we've got, both in Vancouver and Philadelphia, resides in putting our money where out mouth and stomachs are. The more people who shop for their weekly food needs at public markets, the more they will outnumber the tourists and encourage the vendors to serve our needs. Sure, you've got to overcome transportation issues (in Philadelphia, it's parking), and other impediments. But if we make the effort to take advantage of the offerings, perhaps the merchants will be encouraged to cater to our needs.

Fiddleheads. A sure sign of spring today: packages of fiddlehead ferns at Iovine's. At $14.99/pound, pricey; also, the quality didn't look as good as it will in five or six weeks. Some additional mushrooms are showing up: Oregon truffles, horse mushrooms. Earl's return. Last Saturday Earl Livengood was back at the market, with a limited supply of potatoes, rutabagas and spinach. However, his location was a different: part of the space formerly occupied by John's Produce (now mostly a seating area) directly opposite Foster's and Metropolitan. Whether he stays there for the full season or not, I don't know. Earl also doesn't expect to be there every Saturday until the spring crops start coming in, so he probably won't be there tomorrow (March 5). New sandwich. I noticed a small sign at Tommy DiNic's at the Reading Terminal Market, advertising "brisket of beef" sandwiches at $6.50. When I asked Tommy if this was new, he said he'd had it occasionally (never every day) for a few weeks. He got in some brisket today, so it will be available for lunch tomorrow. I assume its oven roasted like his other meats, not bbq. I don't think I'd put provolone and greens on it, either, but I'll have to tear myself away from the pull of pork soon and give it a try.

I've found this discussion fascinating, and I hope you Vancouverites (Vancouvereans? Please educate me) don't mind a Philadelphian sticking his two cents in. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I'm a regular (at least once a week, usually twice) shopper at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market (RTM), and it's very much like the Granville Island Market in that (1) the hours are limited, and (2) the merchants have a large say, naturally, in its operation. In the RTM's case the hours are Mon-Saturday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., except for the Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) merchants, who are there on Wednesday from 8 'til 3 and Thurs.-Sat. 'til 6 p.m. That said, most of the merchants start closing up at 5:30 p.m. Philadelphia has one of the largest residential downtowns in North America, yet, the market merchants refuse to stay open later. And if the market ever extended its hours to Sundays, the Amish merchants would not only not show up on Sunday, they've threatened to pull out altogether in protest. The merchants themselves are an irrascable bunch, and trying to get them to change their ways and act in a more logical manner is like herding cats. I love them and what they purvey, but they sure don't make it easy to patronize them. A few of the more enlightened vendors (particularly the greengrocers) recognize that their real competition is Whole Foods (a.k.a. Whole Paycheck) and similar urban/suburban chains, but they are unable to convince their colleagues that they are there to serve the customer, and the customer needs them to be open an hour or so later in the day. As an aside, I've visited your fair city only once, about six or seven years ago, and I made it a point to visit Granville Island Market. While I'd be reluctant to give up all the pleasures of the Reading Terminal Market, GIM would go a long way to easing the transition. It's a lovely amenity for a lovely city.

I'll continue to watch Boiling Point, though I thought it not quite as riveting as two later programs, "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Hell's Kitchen" (the latter as broadcast by ITV last spring, not the forthcoming US version). In "Kitchen Nightmares" you actually learned something. In "Hell's Kitchen" you could enjoy the wonderful upbraiding second tier celebrities suffered under GR's lashing tongue; I especially loved his run-ins with Edwinna Currie, former Tory MP and TV commentator. Watching Gordon take off at kitchen underlings on Boiling Point just doesn't have the same panache. Angus Deayton, the presenter, is the best part of "Hell's Kitchen" with a tongue sharper, though less profane, than Gordon's.

Herb: Here's my post about Bell's, the Eastern European (mostly Russian) food emporium on Bustleton Avenue. Andrew: A year in Rome? Tough to take! We'll expect regular e-mail reports on your food adventures, as well as regular commentary on all things Classical.

Made yesterday, eaten tonight after slices reheated (very gently) in its own reduced gravy: Rolled boneless veal shoulder braised in riesling. dried porcinci and a sweated minced shallot. Nothing else but salt and pepper plus butter to blend in with the reduction.

Where will he be coming from? For example, if he's coming from a city with a paucity of good Italian restaurants (highly unlikely, I admit), then a trip to South Philly is in order, either for red gravy for more sophisticated fare. If he's from the Heartland and doesn't often have access to good seafood, well, then a visit to Sansom Street Oyster House would be in order. It's essential if he's an oyster lover. Especially if he's going to be staying in Center city, I'd say the Reading Terminal Market is a must-stop (but then again, I always do) for breakfast and/or lunch. There are only a handful of cities in North America that can match the RTM. And certainly you'd be hard-pressed to find another place to order scrapple as your breakfast side dish (Down Home Diner or the Dutch Eating Place). In addition to Tommy DiNic's for roast pork, other RTM establishments worth checking out: Salumeria for hoagies (get the house dressing and pay extra for artichokes), Pizza by George for one of the city's better by-the-slice pizzas, Down Home Diner, Nanee's Kitchen (the new Pakistani stand), 12th Street Cantina, Delilah's (get the chicken), or even just a bowl of duck or roast pork soup with noodle at Sang Kee. Normal hours at the RTM are 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Sat., though a number of stands will be open Sunday and later during the annual flower show in eary March. Check out Reading Terminal Market's website for details on the extended hours. Likewise, a stroll through the Italian market (Ninth Street north two or three blocks Washington) is always worthwhile. A tripe sandwich at George's. A slice of Sicilian pizza from Sarcone's Bakery (if they haven't sold out). A fresh-filled canolli or sfogliatelle from Isgro's. For red gravy Italian, hard to go wrong with Villa di Roma in the heart of the market. And visits to DiBruno's and Claudio's for cheeses and Italian delicacies are absolutely essential, especially Claudio's new fresh mozzarella facility. So much to do, so little time!

That's no fluke, sounds fine to me. I'm no pork belly cookery expert, but the meat/fat is so rich that you really don''t need complicated prep. I roasted a 1 kg (2.2 lb) salted and peppered fresh belly with rind and bone-in at 150C (300F) for about three hours over roughly chopped onions (and about half a head of garlic thrown in for good measure) and it came out succulently devine. The bones practically slipped out. Nothing wrong with a more extensive prep and cooking process either, either, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Well, nomenclature is related to location. I was giving the NY-NJ Jewish appetizer store definitions. You go to Tabachnick's and ask for lox, and you'll get unsmoked brined salmon.

As much as I'm a Zin head (and I am, I am), I can never bring myself to try a red at SSOH. I'm usually drinking beer with my oysters or fried whatever, though sometimes I'll go for a white of whatever's by the glass. As for the Schuetz Oles, I tasted their "Esther's Reserve' '99 during a Cactus League visit to Roaring Fork Restaurant in Scottsdale last spring. Wow! Pricey, but delish, so I can understand why you won't be offering it at SSOH; besides, like me, I can't imagine a lot of folks there go for fuller reds -- though I've been enjoy Zin with grilled salmon. I saw LaBan's review this morning. Based on his comments, seems like we should have gotten some salads! My lamb must have been better than his, but his fish was better than my companions'.

Smoked salmon is smoked. Lox is not, it's just brined. "Nova Scotia salmon", sometimes called "nova" or "novy" "lox" is lightly smoked salmon; the loxmania 30-35 hour process looks a lot more like nova to me than traditional belly lox. Gravalax is cured in salt and sugar (dill and other flavorings dependent upon to your taste/whim). The addition of liquid smoke to "smoke" salmon sounds terrible;' liquid smoke may be a "natural" product, but that doesn't make it good.

Went to Farmicia tonight with two cousins and their spouses, and the six of us were decidedly underwhelmed. We only ordered mains, so I can't report on the salads and small plates, nor desserts. But the only successful main was the stewed lamb, which I and another diner ordered. Nicely flavored broth-like sauce, tender lamb chunks, good veggie mix and, of course, the white beans. The rest of the party ordered two different fishes and the vegetarian pot pie. Both fishes were overcooked (dry) and hardily sauced. The pot pie was 90% potatoes, with what only appeared to be some carrots and little onion. As the person who ordered it complained: "If I wanted potato pie I would have ordered it." The server must have divined the general lack of enthusiasm, because she never stopped by to ask how our meal was. I must say, though, that I enjoyed my Schuetz Oles zinfandel.