Reading Terminal Market (Part 1)

[MarketStEl]

Let me put in another rave for Giunta's meats.

Yesterday, I purchased a pre-sliced cured ham from Giunta's for a welcome-home dinner for a roomie who had requested ham for the occasion. After I went through the supermarkets on the previous Saturday, I decided that if I was going to have to spend $3.99 a pound for ham regardless, I may as well get a good one.

It was $3.99 a pound very well spent. All I did was brush the ham with tulip poplar honey from Halteman's and bake it for a couple of hours.

The roomie has been raving about the ham since last night. So have I. This is without a doubt the best tasting ham I have eaten in years. I know where I'm heading for the Easter ham next spring.

[rlibkind]

Just shy of 50 vendors now open on Sundays through the end of the year:

Flying Monkey Patisserie

LeBus Bakery

Metropolitan Bakery

Termini Brothers Bakery

Cookbook Stall

Miscellanea Libri

Down Home Diner

Profi's Creperie

Flower Basket

Market Blooms

Young Botanicals

Andro's Fine Prepared Foods

Carmens Famous Italian Hoagies

Delilah's

Golden Bowl

Kamal's Middle Eastern Specialties

Olympic Gyro

Original Turkey

Sang Kee Peking Duck

Tokyo Sushi Bar

Tootsie's Salad Express

Fair Food Farmstand

Giunta's Prime Shop

Harry G. Ochs & Son Meats

Amazulu

Amy's Place

Don't Forget Your Pet

De' Village

Foster's Gourmet Cookware

Terralyn - Body, Spirit

Fair Food Farmstand

Iovine Brothers Produce

Ok Lee Produce

Golden Fish Market

John Yi Fish Market

Wan's Seafood

Andro's Fine Prepared Foods

Bassetts Ice Cream

Bee Natural

Blue Mountain Vineyards

Chocolate by Mueller

Downtown Cheese

Famous 4th St. Cookies

Natural Connection

Old City Coffee

Pennsylvania General Store

Salumeria

Spice Terminal

Tea Leaf

[rlibkind]

A tower of collard greens reaching toward the rafters, lovingly built by the staff at Iovine Brothers Produce prior to opening today, was decimated by mid-morning into a pile of rubble. Collards are popular for Thanksgiving, and these exemplary greens were snatched up fast. But don't worry, there are plenty of crates weighing down the pallets in storage, so there will be plenty if you show up any day prior to Thanksgiving.

Hormone-free, natural turkeys are very poplar this season. Even Martin's Quality Meats & Sausage had a case filled with the au naturel birds.

Martin's brother, Charles Giunta of Giunta's Prime Shop appears to be doing just fine with his new store. Last week I picked up some veal loin chops and broiled them simply. Delicious flavor, though if you prefer the unnaturally-raised "white veal" you'd be disappointed since the natural, humanely-raised product comes from slightly older animals which have been allowed to roam, hence, their muscles are more developed and meat is firmer, though tastier.

A new pie maker appeared today: Wooden Spoon Bakery. She's a home baker. I tasted a sample of the apple and it was very nice with a buttery crust.

One of the better fish bargains today over at John Yi's was the haddock filets, at $5.99/pound. Once home I took some fish stock out of the freezer, put some of Cope's Dried Corn (available at Pennsylvania General Store, Benuel Kaufman's and most local supermarkets) in milk, and later today plan to make some fish chowder. Black sea bass looked good and nicely priced at $3.99/pound for whole fish. Dry scallops also a relative bargain at $11.99/pound (they were two bucks more at Wegman's yesterday).

Didn't spy any cactus pears at OK Lee's today. I'm going to keep checking.

L. Halteman continues to have the largest variety of apples. Local Barlett pears starting to look a little long in the tooth. Benuel Kaufman says he'll start selling Arkansas Blacks next week. This variety is one of the best storage apples available; buy them now, put them in your fridge's crisper and you'll still have sweet, crispy apples in February. Benuel continues to be well stocked with preservative-free cider.

[rlibkind]

Mayor Street is reported opposed to Sunday openings. I've posted at length Here.

Edited November 18, 2006 by rlibkind (log)

[Dorine]

Mayor Street is reported opposed to Sunday openings. I've posted at length Here.

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He is crazy and inappropriately interfering in free enterprise, as I pointed out after clicking on our link and seeing the new discussion.

Whom can we flood with protesting emails, and at what address?

Thanks!

Edited November 19, 2006 by Dorine (log)

[rlibkind]

Le Bus moved into its new quarters last week, opposite Bassett's Ice Cream.

Work progressing on Hershel's East Side Deli, but as of this past weekend opening is still a bit off. It would be nice to see it in business before New Year's.

Cactus (prickly) pears were back at OK Lee; deep, dark purple specimens which made great margaritas. Figure one fruit (79 cents) yields enough pulp/juice for two margaritas if you don't skimp on the booze.

Benuel Kaufman had Arkansas Black apples in stock last weekend. This hybrid is a great storage keeper.

[JanMcBaker]

Le Bus moved into its new quarters last week, opposite Bassett's Ice Cream.

Work progressing on Hershel's East Side Deli, but as of this past weekend opening is still a bit off. It would be nice to see it in business before New Year's.

Cactus (prickly) pears were back at OK Lee; deep, dark purple specimens which made great margaritas. Figure one fruit (79 cents) yields enough pulp/juice for two margaritas if you don't skimp on the booze.

Benuel Kaufman had Arkansas Black apples in stock last weekend. This hybrid is a great storage keeper.

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hmmm...... On reading about the Le Bus move, I immediately pictured an ice cream sandwich---- a croissant stuffed with some Bassett's IC. weee-haa!

[wkl]

any reccomendations for roasted chicken? is dineers the place for this or are there better options. thanks.

[Holly Moore]

For my taste, Dienner's it is. Great wings too.

[wkl]

i made my first purchase at giunta's on thursday, after picking up a roast chicken at dienners.

i guess i got lucky because, mr giunta, was trying to get rid of whole chicken legs, and at 5 lbs for 5 bucks, it was quite a deal. the legs were huge, a little over a pound a piece. must have been older birds as the skin was thick and firm. perfect for braising. so last night coq au vin for dinner. the chicken was excellent. i'm not sure if these were bell and evans or not. the other chicken all had the bell and evans sign in front of the trays but these didn't. whatever, they were really good.

ground turkey was also delicious. i didn't ask but, i'm pretty sure it was ground thigh. the meat was a dark rosey color and flecked with a little fat.

as if i needed another reason to drive to philly from wilmington to do grocery shopping!

Edited December 4, 2006 by wkl (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

Heads up. I saw a coupon on p10 in the Center City Weekly Press and University City Review (free weekly papers). 10% off anything at Iovine's (expires 12/31).

[rlibkind]

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the RTM's fish stores. This past weekend Golden offered whole sardines at $3.99, John Yi spearlings at $1.99. Expect to see greater variety as we approach Christmas.

The capon I purchased from Giunta's Prime Shop ($3.79/pound iirc) was absolutely delicious: this big bird, which tipped the scale at over 10 pounds, cooked up incredibly juicy after a less than two hour visit to the oven (first 20 or 30 minutes breast down at 450, remaining time breast up at 375; basically you roast until internal temp at thickest part of the thigh hits 165). Minimal basting with olive oil, thyme, black pepper, salt mix over first 30-40 minutes; after that the bird renders plenty of its own fat to keep it moist. It was an Eberly-branded bird. Served with a potato-celeriac puree from veggies sourced at Earl Livengood's.

Glad to see Fair Food has added Valley Shepherd Creamy cheeses from Long Valley NJ. I've been meaning to get up there to buy some; now I don't have to.

[rlibkind]

Surveys of merchants show overwhelming support for the Sunday hours. Here are a few of the results from the survey of merchants who have been open one or more Sundays during this evaluation period:

49% say their Sunday sales have exceeded expectations; 40 percent say they have met expectations. Fewer than 11 percent say sales have been below expectations.

Asked whether or not it's been worth it to be open on Sundays, nearly 92% of the merchants said yes.

When asked their druthers on continuing Sunday openings, more than 60 percent responded with an unqualified yes; 27 percent wanted only a limited extension of Sunday hours; the remainder opposed Sunday hours.

The results of shoppers surveyed were also overwhelmingly positive.

[Jim Charles]

The capon I purchased from Giunta's Prime Shop ($3.79/pound iirc) was absolutely delicious: this big bird, which tipped the scale at over 10 pounds,

It better be delicious at $37.50 for a freekin chicken.

[KatieLoeb]

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the RTM's fish stores. This past weekend Golden offered whole sardines at $3.99, John Yi spearlings at $1.99. Expect to see greater variety as we approach Christmas.

There ought to be lots of interesting stuff at the fishmongers this upcoming week with the Feast of Seven Fishes coming on Xmas Eve...

[rlibkind]

The capon I purchased from Giunta's Prime Shop ($3.79/pound iirc) was absolutely delicious: this big bird, which tipped the scale at over 10 pounds,

It better be delicious at $37.50 for a freekin chicken.

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Well, you're paying for the skill of the surgeon .

fwiw, I think it's worth it. Yes, a capon is just a castrated rooster, but it makes all the difference. Much juicier, fatter bird, higher proportion of meat to waste, etc. And a taste that can only be described as über chicken. And considering that good quality humanely raised chickens go for close to $3/pound, not that outrageous.

[rlibkind]

More new fishies for the season today, Katie, including octopus. Also, over at John Yi's there were fillets marked "Black Cod (Pollock)" for $3.99/pound. Now, if this were truly black cod, a.k.a. sablefish, that would be a bargain, since sable goes for three or four times that price. But this wasn't Black Cod, which isn't a cod at all. It might have been one of two cod-type fishes, however: Alaskan Cod or Alaskan Pollock, the latter being a different variety from North Atlantic Pollack. In any event, the price was hard to resist, so it will be dinner tonight, broiled with a brush of soy (as if it were sable) and served with sauteed bell peppers (a bag of five medium sized mixed colored peppers from O.K. Lee purchased for the grand sum of ninety-nine cents) and tiny sauteed fingerling potatoes from Earl Livengood.

Discount parking rates will go up on or about Jan. 15 at the Parkway garage across 12th street from the market. Instead of $2 for two hours, it will be $3. As noted here in my Oct. 15 post, the fee per car charged to the RTM Merchants Association by Parkway will increase to $5.50 from $5.25; the merchants decided they couldn't eat the increase and wanted to cut the size of their subsidy somewhat. Market Manager Paul Steinke, looking to the bright side, observed that other than the RTM there isn't a single other multi-vendor shopping venue in the city that offers discount parking. Even with the increase, though, the parking discount is substantial versus what lot/garage rates usually are in Center City. However, it's no longer at a par with street meters. As I've cautioned before, don't overstay the two-hours or you'll face the normal exorbitant fees.

[Jim Charles]

The capon I purchased from Giunta's Prime Shop ($3.79/pound iirc) was absolutely delicious: this big bird, which tipped the scale at over 10 pounds,

It better be delicious at $37.50 for a freekin chicken.

←

Well, you're paying for the skill of the surgeon .

fwiw, I think it's worth it. Yes, a capon is just a castrated rooster, but it makes all the difference. Much juicier, fatter bird, higher proportion of meat to waste, etc. And a taste that can only be described as über chicken. And considering that good quality humanely raised chickens go for close to $3/pound, not that outrageous.

←

I should never have left the family farm back in the mid-west. I could have become unbelievably wealthy selling ‘humanly grown” castrated roosters to the green horns in the eastern cities at insane prices.

[serpentine]

I should never have left the family farm back in the mid-west. I could have become unbelievably wealthy selling ‘humanly grown” castrated roosters to the green horns in the eastern cities at insane prices.

If you could'a pulled off any kind of "humanly grown" chicken, you could'a made a nice dime from Weekly World News, too.

[rlibkind]

The capon I purchased from Giunta's Prime Shop ($3.79/pound iirc) was absolutely delicious: this big bird, which tipped the scale at over 10 pounds,

It better be delicious at $37.50 for a freekin chicken.

←

Did you have many 10-pound chickens back in the Midwest, Jim?

[Jim Charles]

The capon I purchased from Giunta's Prime Shop ($3.79/pound iirc) was absolutely delicious: this big bird, which tipped the scale at over 10 pounds,

It better be delicious at $37.50 for a freekin chicken.

←

Did you have many 10-pound chickens back in the Midwest, Jim?

←

To be honest I don’t remember, Bob. I left home almost 45 years ago and haven’t been back. I got really tired of chasing down those roosters and opted for a life as a multiple KFC franchisee. I dedicated my life to chickens.

[rlibkind]

Reading Terminal Market has launched its redecorated website to match its new marketing campaign ("Make It Your Market"). Not much new in the way of content, but the redesigned merchant finder map is useful.

[Bluehensfan]

Reading Terminal Market has launched its redecorated website to match its new marketing campaign ("Make It Your Market"). Not much new in the way of content, but the redesigned merchant finder map is useful.

←

Does this website crash in the middle of using it for everyone else or is it just my computer?

Off the record, I think the merchant finder is helpful but the website itself is too generic and devoid of pictures that make RTM what it is. If looks as if they have squeezed out the "heart and soul" out of the market and made a website that looks too "Whole Foodish" to me, but the intent of the new ad campaign is to compete for local business versus trying to attract tourists. It's just a shame that if I were planning on visiting from out of town and saw the website, it would be less-than-compelling.

Other than that, the new website looks fine to me...

Edited December 20, 2006 by Bluehensfan (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Stopped by RTM this afternoon for a surgical strike of groceries for the next few days. O.K. Lee Produce had such a nice selection of .99 bags and styro trays of stuff I never made it over to Iovine's. I got:

Two trays of ripe plum tomatoes (1.98)

One tray with three ripe avocados (.99)

One bunch of three large leeks (.99)

One Sugarbaby watermelon (.99)

One bag of washed baby spinach (.99)

One bag of ripe pears (.99)

One 5 lb. bag of potatoes (2.49)

Two Vidalia onion (1.20)

Altogether just over $10 and enough to have my parking ticket stamped for $2.00 parking. A steal!

I also picked up half a pound of smoked gouda cheese at Downtown Cheese and made some delicious whole wheat angel hair pasta for dinner this evening that contained minced garlic toasted in some good olive oil, the chopped fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped spinach, grated smoked gouda, a bit of grated parmesan, some of the pasta water and a bit of white wine. Very tasty and the easiest dinner I've thrown together in a while. And I've got leftovers for tomorrow!

[hathor]

Katie...that was a score! At those prices it would be cheaper for me to drive down from NYC!!