mrbigjas

oh wait i had another thought, which might work better with an all-subway option: what about campo's at 2nd & market? get out of your meeting, catch the broad street subway at spring garden or race/vine, go south to city hall. switch to the el, take it eastbound to 2nd street/old city. get your steak, go back down to the subway stop and get the el westbound to 30th st. alternately what might be faster is to get a cab from your meeting to campo's, get your steak and then take the el back to the train station--taking the el to the train station from old city will alway be faster than a cab, but at 8 p.m. getting the subway and then transferring might waste precious minutes.

mottmott, i've bought the same stuff. the first time i got all nervous about dying and simmered it twice, and was fine. then i read andrew's post, so the second time i quickly blanched and then sauteed it. then the time after that i blanched it and served at room temp with hollandaise. it's tasty enough, but i buy it more to just buy fun things at livengood's than anything else. it's not like the pawpaws they have in the summer, which are awesome and that i crave sometimes.

ok then, here's an idea. it's not the greatest steak, but at least it's the big ol' tourist thing, so you'll get a taste of it: 1. tune your walkman to 1060am as you leave your meeting at 8. at 8:02 they'll give you the traffic info. listen for center city, 30th st station traffic--tieups on streets that sound like trees could be issues (walnut, chestnut, arch, pine, spruce). 2. assuming that you don't hear much, grab a cab. tell him to take you to 9th & passyunk--tell him you're going to pat's steaks. this should take about 10 minutes assuming you get a decent cab driver who drives like a maniac. 3. when you get there, have him wait. go to geno's*, at the first window get a whiz with**, at the second window get a cheez fries and a birch beer. this should only take a couple minutes--if you're feeling pressed for time, skip the fries and drink. even with a line you should get your sandwich about 15 seconds after you order. 4. get back in your cab, tell him to hightail it to 30th st. station, and you'll be golden. the cab ride should cost you about ... ah.... let's say $12 with tip, but maybe a little more. how's that? *pat's is the original. i like geno's better. just to test my opinions about this, i had a cheesesteak from pat's just last week and it was... there were pieces in there that you had to give up chewing and spit in your napkin, they were so tough. geno's may be average, but i haven't had that happen there. **i like american cheese but most people consider whiz the real thing. 'with' means with fried onions--if you don't like them don't get them.

all of those places would fit the bill, it seems to me. la baia is less so with the creativity--it tends to turn out relatively standard italian dishes. it's a very reliable place in my experience, with very good food, but not on the level with the other places you mention when it comes to creativity. chloe is the first one you mention that strikes me because they specifically don't take reservations. you could add southwark to your list as well.

OK folks, a quick lee how fook question: we're going there tonight, what should i order? any must-haves? salt-baked something or other, right? anything else? (edited to say nevermind, it's closed on monday; peking duck instead!)

the lorenzo's-jim's challenge is legendarily difficult. but i bet you could do it, herb.

the makers of crestor® thank you for boosting their profits, andrew.

i don't see the chicken liver appetizer on that menu. why must everything i love be taken from me?

rembrandt's. clams, prosciutto and parmigiana on a white pizza, super thin, charred well--sometimes a little too well--and liberally doused with olive oil. the only thing is that those three ingredients are salty, so it's like a triple shot of salt. damn good, though.

well, you start by wrapping it around a cheesesteak from jim's...

why would they open a shop at 19th or 20th & sansom, when they're selling their product in dibruno's at 18th & chestnut? just curious.

tahini in taramasalata? well i never! i find zucchini fritters are always like that. it's kind of the beauty of them--when i was a kid zucchini was one of my least favorite things in the world, but fritters i'd eat right up. can't go wrong with fry!

i had a feeling i wouldn't be able to make it (and i won't, except maybe to stop by for the first half-hour or so), so we stopped by on monday after seeing this totally twee pop show at the ethical society, and everything philadining just said is true. could it be that the pizza's gotten BETTER since they announced they were leaving? sure seems like it. i've had lombardi's a bunch of times, and this one could have been one of the better pizzas i've ever had.

have you tried using a thicker steak and starting off with it colder? like, directly out of the fridge and into a ridiculously hot cast iron pan? or even freezing it for 10-15 minutes? i mean, i don't know this from doing it; it just seems to make sense that if it was colder to start with and the pan/grill was still way hot, you'd have a much better chance of charring the outside while the inside stayed cool--because the outside would in contact with the heat, but the inside has a much larger temperature range to go through before it gets to 115 or 120 or whatever you consider barely rare.

whoa--i'll be sure to watch out for that. thanks for the tip.

haha, i keep forgetting i don't have my name in there--it's james, or jas, whichever. i really should do something about that. your sandwich looks great, and from your report it sounds like a big hit. i was glad to be of help--and i may be out there in early june, so look for me in the heartland forum soon...

man oh man, i can't believe i forgot to check this thread for a couple of days. well? did you take one? how did that turn out? i haven't even really thought about how to go about doing this.

i do plan on doing one! or more! so far i have only used that pan to make vegetable-based pates for office parties (i always make vegetarian food for office parties, on the theory that everyone can eat it if it tastes good). it doesn't have a method for pressing the contents, which is why i think it's advertised as a pate pan rather than a terrine--although my mental concept of what each of those is could be way off. the only funky thing about it is getting the gelatin off/out of the bottom and back on top of your pate (i've used agar in the past, to keep it veg). you have to heat the pan a little with some hot water, and still it doesn't come out with the pate--but then again, also, vegetable pates are, in my experience, looser and harder to deal with than the meat pates i've had. the only problem is, it really does kind of produce a lot of food, and there are only two of us. so i'd have to experiment on guests. which i'm not averse to doing, if i know things are going to turn out OK. it seems like terrines are a good one-dish (plus condiments) meal, if you can get meat and vegetables all in one terrine.

And what happens when you assume, dear boy? You make... ← <sigh> i know, i know. someday i'll learn. for the moment though, i'm just going to encourage you to plan another one, and soon! hurry! summer's bounty is almost upon us!

i didn't go because i wasn't sure about it and then i was sure it would be filled. d'oh...

i have a similar pan to that, ian, but it's not an $80 brand name like that. i think it cost about $17--as a matter of fact, this one is the one i have. i've only made pates in it, but i've been reading this thread and am considering a terrine soon. i just gotta get my aspic topping up to speed...

excellent. i did end up grilling the eggplant, because i was out gardening and got started late, and didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of frying. combo of mint and basil (because that's what i had) and a lot of pecorino instead of parmigiana--it was a great meal for a warm day. thanks for the tip.

kevin, your eggplant there looks like it's battered rather than breaded before frying. true? i have an eggplant at home and your pic is looking great to me--not as heavy and mushed together as the italian-american breaded/baked version.

to me, that's definitely a sharing dish--get a plate for the table, and everyone gets a couple. unfortunately, if you're the only one who likes them, you're screwed.

i really don't know, but if i had to guess i'd suspect it's the same reason they can carry those ferro-china italian bitters or something--because of some quirk in the law that allows it to be classified as a bitters--something to add to a drink--rather than a drink itself.