mrbigjas

Yeah, I definitely see what you're saying, although the uneven cooking didn't happen that night. There definitely wasn't a texture issue with these--the ones I tasted (they were my wife's dish, and she thought they were great as well) were all cooked evenly and were light as they could be, which made me not really think twice about the shape. Perhaps I should've, because I see your point. Hm....... something to think about.

Excellent! We had a couple of interesting experiences this weekend as well. On Friday it was Pif, which I'm glad to see is keeping up the standards that it started with--I had duck two ways that was perfectly cooked; my father in law got a filet that he was practically licking the plate after finishing (he's on atkins so no potatoes or nothing--just meat for him). The mrs got a skate wing that was super. The funny part of it was that the FIL was given this fork for cutting his meat that was straight out of a junior high cafeteria--just bending all over the place. I couldn't stop laughing. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, Saturday (this is the part that I was reminded of by your post) we had dinner at Cucina Forte, where I had a leg of lamb that was freakin transcendent. And the "maria's dream soup." I mean my god. And the gnocchi? Were everything everyone said they could be. However, it was earsplittingly loud and service was so slow that dinner took nearly three hours. I think I'll go back there on a Tuesday instead of a weekend night.

yea, i gotta agree with T there. in fact, that's what i wanted to say originally, before I got distracted. not enough good stuff in between the bread. Do these giant pics of cheesesteaks remind anyone of the desktops available at chickenhead.com? Because I can't stop laughing every time I open this thread up.

He's right, you know. Really he is. It's downright frightening sometimes.

They often have them at Iovine's in the terminal. Look for them in the "food on styrofoam wrapped in plastic" section.

Probably just crossed paths. I think when Andrew said they were still working out the kinks, he was probably right, though--most of our stuff wasn't real warm when we got it. Man those pastries, though. It reminded me of the things I liked about eating in greece. The only thing that just can't be the same here is the dessert they have in Greece, which is that real thick yogurt, with tangerine pieces and honey. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

You got sharp eyes there, awbrig! The bartender kept playing peek-a-boo, and I had to ask the church ladies to summon somebody so we could get our wine. I think they were still getting the kinks out; there weren't any lamb shanks there either. All the more reason to head over there again tonight... The lamb shanks were the highlight of the evening for me. No wait, the spanakopita was. No wait, the favas and artichokes were. No wait, the pastries were. (I went with several friends--we were supposed to go out for drinks but I convinced them to go to there instead--I don't think I saw you guys, judging from the pic, but we went about an hour after you said to meet).

Ha! Nice. I'll try to make it down there, although I'll probably get there later than y'all. I'll keep an eye out for yous... uh, I only know what Katie looks like, and only from her pic on here, so if you don't wear a hat... uh... OK nevermind, I give up.

Here's a fun article: NYT on traditional Philadelphia food

Zorba's will give you patsa if you ask for it though mmmmm patsa. And no one knows what happened to him. I keep asking and no one can tell me. That's screwy. A trip to Chef Theodore's in high school was my first experience with greek food outside of the gyros at Olga's Kitchen in the Oxford Valley Mall, and it was a real eye-opener. All I've had there was appetizers. They were good, but it's not that hard to make good hummus, taramasalata, grape leaves, calamari, etc. I don't know about the other stuff. You know what someone should open, is an ouzerie-style restaurant: simple, rustic, with those great sausages they give you that are served in a dish of ouzo, which is then set on fire and burns for like 10 minutes, by which time the sausages are cooked and the outside is kinda charred, and you're halfway through a carafe of ouzo yourself and kinda hammered and.... oops I've said too much already. Good times, good times... Yep. That's why I'm psyched for this week... probably head over Thursday evening. This is sort of like Greek haggis, is it not? I think it's more of a traditional Easter dish, and not the usual sort of thing. There are grilled "Meats of many varieties" at the Annunciation fest, but no offal from what I could tell... Yeah, it's the heart lungs kidneys etc. wrapped in the lamb chitterlings and herbed and grilled. I've only ever had it once, at a greek easter celebration at a friend's house (where I also had the best ouzo I've ever had from his private stash, homemade by his friends), but I really enjoyed it that time. In other news, I just got back from Moore Bros. and really don't know how I'd never been there before. Y'all were so right--that was probably the most pleasant wine-buying experience I've ever had. Makes me wish I had a car.

Nice. I've been craving greek food lately (which is really stupid considering that I work two blocks from Zorba's and could go over there anytime--why I haven't is beyond me) and was wondering when this one was going on. mmmm I wonder if they'll have kokoretsi.

Ahhh. The infamous Bob & Barbara's "Happy Meal"! Yeah, the special. It's a beautiful thing, gettin all liquored up on about $12 tops with a decent tip. And they will let you order in decent bar food from Tritone across the street--or if you wanna bring in some of the densest vegetarian food you'll ever eat, you can bring in a sandwich from "gourmet to go," the takeout place next door. It's a very south of south scenario that is repeated many times every week, and it's a beautiful thing. Speaking of this neighborhood, though, I'm still waiting to smell ribs when I walk by Ron's... I'm stoppin in the first day I smell 'em and seeing what's up.

In a way I agree with you--I also think Newman has made some nice changes already, and I think he's the best thing that's happened to the LCB in a long long time. But see, it's just that I like to rant about the LCB. It's one of my few pleasures in life, along with sunday lunch at a pho place and getting drunked up on Jim Beam and Pabst at Bob & Barbara's.

Well, today's paper has this article: Inquirer article about the LCB So, let me get this straight: to keep people in PA, instead of expanding their wine selection, storing it properly, making it more reasonably priced across the board, and eliminating the bullshit beer restrictions, they're going to sell half-gallons of liquor to people at the state borders for cheap, all while maintaining their neopuritan attitude toward alcohol in general. mm hmm. That makes sense.

Chicago is a freakin blast. I highly recommend it to everyone. It's one of those places I've had to go back to every year and a half or so since the first time I went, just because I have so much fun every time. yup, one of the most well known outdoor sculptures in US, from what i hear. most people refer to the building it's in front of as the clothespin building. didn't know it was rusty though, i figured they woulda thought of that ahead of time when building it. Yeah it's a pretty famous sculpture, by a guy named Claes Oldenberg, who has done many sculptures of large versions of everyday objects. There's a giant broken button up at Penn that's also by him. And I don't remember if it's rusty or just painted brown--I think the latter, although if it's rusty, it's on purpose. I mean, not that anyone cares. OK nevermind, who wants to hear about the copper river salmon that just came in while we were in Seattle? no one? OK nevermind.

I've noticed, actually, that this spring it tastes worse than it usually does. I been swilling philly water straight out of the tap without ice for years, but this spring for some reason it suddenly started tasting more like ass than usual--I'm currently deciding between a water purifier and getting onea them spring water things.

Yeah, likewise. (posting from Seattle--you guys ever been? I'm about to go check out the forums on this city; I hear there's great korean food here, among all the other stuff it's known for.)

Have you tried Dwight's, out at 47th & Lancaster or Parkside or something? How about that rib truck that I see when driving up Broad St., around Broad and Germantown? (I haven't tried either of them--I'm asking, not being rhetorical or something)

I'll go back again for another try when it's reopened. I had the same experience as Andrew there, several times, before I gave up on it and just went to Phoebes. I really want it to be great, though, because it's just steps from my house, and I love good ribs and whatnot.

Hm, good point. It's not on the level of Vetri or DiPalma, no. I was thinking more of the wine thing.

How about Panorama? Italian food, 100+ wines on tap oops I mean cruvinet. It's at Front and Market, so it's not too far from your hotel either.

Considering the state of most supermarkets hereabouts, you might instruct your realtor to locate you within a reasonable drive of a Wegmans. Speaking of fancy supermarkets, if you guys ever happen to get to Texas, don't miss a chance to stop in a Central Market. We went to the one in Dallas, and holy moly.... If Wegman's is like that, then more power to them.

I had the greatest tuna sandwich of my life at Bar Rinelli in Rome, just off Piazza Barberini. Just tuna, olive oil, and pepperoncino. The tuna may have been seasoned with additional things; I don't know. But it sure didn't need cheese. A tuna melt is a wonderful thing here in the USA (I recommend the one from Kitsch'n on Roscoe in Chicago, where they brown the cheese on the griddle so it actually acts like the top half of the sandwich), but once I tasted this sandwich in Rome, I understood how superfluous cheese would be on it.

"odd" is exactly the word that kept coming to mind last time I was sitting at Kreuz trying to chew my way through that brisket. It WAS "odd" - kind of spongy, even. I kept looking at it to see if perhaps they had cut my portion WITH the grain rather than against it, but that wasn't the problem. It was just weird. Dry and tough and chewy with a very weird, odd texture. Beats me. That's weird. This tasted good, and had the right texture overall, although it strikes me that it wasn't quite as tender as the first few times I went there, before they moved. I thought that last time as well, which was the first time I went to this new place. I keep meaning to try Black's, but a tradition is a tradition and we keep going back to Kreuz's. It was certainly less smoky than the brisket I had at the Railhead in Ft. Worth, which had me burping campfire flavor the whole rest of the night. I don't like things THAT smoked. However, this is all very intriguing. Perhaps several more days down there in the near future are in order, to do some more testing.

I actually did bring some home for a friend of mine. Next time (there's always a next time with family in the area) I'll bring back more. Also, I should mention that it is available online at http://www.kreuzmarket.com -- for the same price as it is at the actual place: $8.90/lb. However, 2-day shipping and materials will run you $48 for up to 16 lbs. Yes, $48.