mrbigjas

yeah, the first thing that came to my mind was (click) snockey's. but then i looked at their prices and realized it's not really all that cheap.

oh, definitely! i didn't mean to imply that i wouldn't shop there; i still do, and i really appreciate the strides forward they've taken so far. and really i'm pretty psyched that you've finally started the 'great bargains from the palcb' feature that i've been awaiting for so long. hope you can keep it up!

i'm still concerned about warehousing/storage conditions, up to and including the stores themselves, which in the winter (yes, the winter) hover around 80 degrees.

i'd say shoofly pie too. i wouldn't bother with strawberry rhubarb pie--both main ingredients are totally out of season now. and besides, good rhubarb pie shouldn't be bastardized with strawberries. don't forget the whipped cream. man, i could go for someathat RIGHT NOW.

hey i used to know joey, back in the day. he IS a damn good pastry chef.

wait, you guys went for pho at the choo choo? damn. now that's what i call making the effort. did anyone get the spicy tom yum? anything living when you walked in? damn, it's been too long since i've been there.

aw damn! i'm sorry to hear it. i recommend washing down that medicine with martinis--best of both worlds. (kidding! feel better)

IT'S FUNNY CUZ IT'S TRUE

you're going for a mojito first and you'll still get there just past five? wish i had your schedule...

i'll be a little late, but yeah that's fine. i've never been there.

so who's going where? any decisions?

well, whatever it resembles, it was damn tasty. the only problem i had with it was that the 'health salad*' i got on the side was tossed in the clamshell sideways and it dripped brine on my bread making it even soggier than before. damn good. spensive though. *i ordered this hoping for something a little more interesting than two tablespoons of shredded cabbage with a slice of cucumber and two slices of carrot--maybe something more like the old 'health sandwich' they used to have at foodtek on 2nd street, which was the 2nd best vegetarian sandwich EvAr. but whatev.

this is all kinda depressing. mainly because of the chef bailing from philadelphia entirely. the food i had there the one time i went was first rate. the service was great (one of our party of four was over 20 minutes late, and they held our table without making us sit down or even a hint of annoyance). oh well, i guess some things are just a bad idea from the start.

devon actually sounds good, especially with that cheap lobster deal. i do like to support local places over chains in general, but that may be irresistible. assuming i can make it of course.

yeah, let me know if you find out how to rock this scene. because i want in.

i was there a couple times when it opened. 15 different 'martinis' on the menu served in giant 10 oz glasses, $4.50 bottles of warm lager, insanely loud music, a bunch of overdressed center city scenesters lookin to score... i wouldn't bother again, unless i get significant indication that it's changed. edit: where by 'changed' i mean 'sucks less.'

is most sambuca in italy not as cloyingly syrupy as the sambuca romana that people drink here in the usa? i've always wondered that. it's so damn sweet here.

that's sad. i have to wonder, though, how much of it was the chef deciding to retire again. he wasn't young. i'd been there three times, which about as much as i've been to any restaurant in town, considering that i have a compulsive need to try new and different places all the time.

as it turns out i have an appointment on washington square on monday at noon. i think i'll head over to kibbitz and pick up lunch then. in the meantime, i'll have to sate my cravings (which i wasn't having before we started talking about this) with a pastrami on rye from garden fresh.

pernod and ricard from france, and raki/arak from turkey are the first things that come to mind.

i'm still not seeing the problem with this. thanks, abra. nice job.

OK for some reason my quoting tags aren't working today... so anyway: re kibitz: wtf? how long has it been there? i've just not noticed it all these years? weird. maybe i'm insane. re rye bread becoming flabbier over the years: i noticed recently that i couldn't keep a sandwich together--i suspect you're right. i wonder what the difference is. re dmitri's: the other nice thing is that maybe you can sit with your niece at the bar. the guys who cook there are fun to watch and nice to talk to, as well.

anastasi's is an italian seafood place in the same building as their fish store--which is excellent, btw. i've seen the menu, and it's pretty standard stuff. i haven't eaten there, but if they highlight the quality of their fish with decent prep, it should be pretty damn good. i think craig laban reviewed it last year or the year before--you might want to check the inquirer archives at www.philly.com.

wow, what a weird coincidence--i just noticed this place for the first time this morning. i must have walked by it a hundred times and never really seen it. what's it like? there's some other place on that corner that i saw too that i never noticed before. weird.

What adult wouldn't?