Usually when something food-related really excites me, writing about it is enough to get it off my mind. But after my recent potato skin posting, I still could not stop thinking about Barclay’s spuds. Apparently, I wasn’t alone because my husband suggested we throw an Eagles party just so we could attempt Skins a la Barclay at home.
Chances are you know about Parc Bistro, the much-anticipated French eatery from our omnipotent Lord of Foodness, Stephen Starr, set to debut in the ridiculously opulent Parc Rittenhouse condominiums sometime next spring. But one person who was apparently unaware of Starr’s plans, which were announced sometime in 2006, was David Markel, a big Montco developer and owner of a cozy ten-year-old steak and seafood restaurant on Skippack Pike: Parc Bistro.
According to Bob Repass, general manager of the suburban Parc Bistro, he and Markel first read about Starr’s Parc Bistro in Michael Klein’s Inquirer column last week. “We were pretty shocked when we read the paper,” says Repass. He indicated that they were keeping all of their options open, presumably including their legal options. So we decided to consult a lawyer.
Scott Patterson, intellectual property law guru at Saul Ewing, says of the prospect of Starr opening his own Parc Bistro, when the other one has been in business for a decade and is only a 40-minute drive away: “It would be quite an uphill battle, to say the least.” Patterson explains that the test the courts use is whether there is a substantial likelihood of confusion, “and because suburban Philadelphia and Philadelphia have a lot of interchange of workers and diners, the restaurant with the existing trademark would be in a strong position to defend its trademark. The only thing [Starr] could do would be to conduct surveys and try to say that the suburban restaurant had no reputation in the Philadelphia market. But it would be a very tough case for them to make.”
Starr, reached for comment via e-mail, said he had never heard of the Skippack restaurant, but noted that his restaurant is “not called Parc Bistro … the name is simply Parc,” which contradicts not only previous press reports but also the Parc condominium’s website. He added that the name has not been finalized. It seems the other Parc Bistro can rest easy for now in their suburban anonymity.
Tired of the greasy, mushy and generally bland eggplant parms that pervade this city’s red-sauce spots, we fanned out to find worthy uses of the versatile vegetable, in season locally through October.
Vegetarian (shown)
“Eggplant is a vegetarian cliché food,” says Rich Landau, chef of vegan-friendly Horizons. But Landau updates it successfully with a savory lasagna featuring smoked eggplant mousse, layered with a pistachio onion confit between wide noodles with a creamy porcini sauce.
I’ve been hearing an increased amount of chatter about the possibility that legendary Philly jazz guitarist Pat Martino is looking to open a large jazz club/restaurant in the vein of (but hopefully much better than) the defunct
Zanzibar Blue and that Joe Pesci (Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Lethal Weapon), himself a decent jazz vocalist (he goes by the pseudonym Joe Doggs), wants in on it.
It may very well be the original comfort food. At dinner, it completes a square meal; it’s a better partner to cookies than butter is to bread; and there it is again in the morning, cool and creamy, to soften our coffee and our Cheerios. So why do I now have to do a double take before grabbing my gallon of 2 percent? Well, because I might be grabbing anything but. At my three go-to markets I’ve spotted some serious milk-shelf competition.
On a recent trip to Great Scott’s Rittenhouse Market (1733 Spruce Street, 215-985-5930), I encountered multiple varieties of Lifeway’s Kefir ($3.49 for 32 oz.). The popular Eastern European product has a pasteurized milk base with kefir cultures added. People who love it, love it, especially those who have an allergy to cows’ milk, but be forewarned: the texture and taste are crème fraiche thick and tangy. (Might be good in a smoothie, but notsomuch in a glass.)
At Whole Foods on South Street, I grabbed the last container of goats’ milk ($3.69 for 32 oz.), and was shocked that it has 8 grams of fat (5 of those are saturated) per glass, until I realized that’s because it’s almost identical to whole cow milk, though its not homogenized and ideal for the lactose intolerant.
And at Sue’s (114 South 18th Street, 215-241-0102), I found the most adventurous option: raw cows’ milk ($6.99 for 64 oz.). It’s organic, from Lancaster County, and sells out quickly. And it’s good: Creamy, fresh and appealingly adventurous. Plus, fitting in with its back-to-basics ideals, if you rinse and return the bottle to Sue’s, you get two bucks back.
The dramatic dining room in Nineteen on the, you guessed it, 19th floor of the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue is a perfectly lovely place to dine on formidable seafood presentations. But those in the know have been slipping out onto the recently and quietly opened southern balcony, which extends off of Nineteen’s more casual cafe into the open air and which is, at least until that restaurant at the Residences at Two Liberty Place finally opens, the highest place in the city for public dining.
So, is David Katz cooking at Silk City or what? My chronological guide to this confusing saga …
June 2007:N. 3rd owner Mark Bee (pictured) reopens Silk City after a long cleanup and renovation, with N. 3rd chef Peter Dunmire in the kitchen.
August 22, 2007: The Philadelphia Weekly calls the new Silk “stellar.”
August 28, 2007: I report in Taste Daily that Dunmire will likely soon head back to N. 3rd, handing the Silk kitchen over to David Katz, formerly of M Restaurant. Later that day, the Inquirer’s Michael Klein reports on eGullet that Katz was not going to Silk City. Apparently, Katz had misled Klein.
September 4, 2007: The City Paper declares that Silk is “much more than anyone ever hoped for,” and goes on and on about Dunmire’s cooking.
September 6, 2007: I report in Taste Daily that I had just had dinner at Silk and that Katz was, indeed, in the kitchen.
September 12, 2007: Mark Bee leaves me a voicemail, stating that “crazy” Katz just threw a frying pan at him. I call him back. He said he was just kidding. I have dinner at Silk later that night with Katz still in the kitchen, though he hints that all is not well.
September 19, 2007: David Katz e-mails me, explaining that his last day at Silk City was Monday, September 17th. He complains that Silk is heading in a direction too similar to Applebee’s, that the kitchen was “out of order,” and that Bee is “strange.” Reached on his cell phone, Bee says that Katz was “unreasonable,” that he “dismantled the menu too fast,” and that “he always said ‘no way’ instead of ‘no problem.’” Dunmire will be helping out temporarily, but Bee expects a replacement within a week.
September 20, 2007: Who knows? Steel-cage death match?
The recipe is the same year-round — has been for more than three decades — but somehow the apple-cider doughnuts for sale in Highland Orchard’s crowded market taste best on a sunny September afternoon. There are just a few ingredients: Highland’s apple cider, pressed each autumn from its 17 apple varieties; doughnut flour; and spices that owner Dave Hodge won’t reveal. (But there’s no ignoring the nutmeg.)
The popular image of Portuguese wine is one of startling extremes: famously expensive vintage port, a perk of the good life, and infamously cheap rosés like Lancers and Mateus, staples of ‘70s college life. But Portugal offers a full range of styles that fall in between that are just now beginning to appear in the American market. Now that Spain and Italy are getting over-exposed, fans of European wines at bargain prices are discovering the delicious rainbow of flavors Portuguese wines can offer.
Believe me, tasting is not nearly as fun as eating. But I’ve persevered through several tasting panels recently, including a Absolut Mandarin vodka cocktail competition at a Rittenhouse Row gathering (I was a presentation judge, not having the stomach for 18 drinks before happy hour) and the National Constitution Center’s “cake-off,” to celebrate Constitution Day, which is, I’m sure you know, today.
The winner of the first taste test was the Westin’s retooled restaurant City Grange, with a vibrantly orange carrot and mandarin concoction, speared with a locally grown baby carrot. I couldn’t resist sipping this one: a balanced pairing of earthy sweet carrot and slightly bitter citrus.
And the top cake-off contestant was Cherry Hill’s under-new-ownership Classic Cake Company. The hazelnut crunch of this chocolate-chocolate-chocolate cake (pictured) was winning, but it was the elaborate details – rich chocolate replicas of the liberty bell, a white chocolate scroll etched with the preamble of the Constitution, broken Tootsie Roll-like chains to symbolize the Thirteenth Amendment – that, well, took the cake. Among the judging criteria: “relation to the founding document.” You can get a taste at the Constitution Center today, from noon to 1 p.m.
Usually when something food-related really excites me, writing about it is enough to get it off my mind. But after my recent potato skin posting, I still could not stop thinking about Barclay’s spuds. Apparently, I wasn’t alone because my husband suggested we throw an Eagles party just so we could attempt Skins a la Barclay at home. 
Chances are you know about Parc Bistro, the much-anticipated French eatery from our omnipotent Lord of Foodness, Stephen Starr, set to debut in the ridiculously opulent Parc Rittenhouse condominiums sometime next spring. But one person who was apparently unaware of Starr’s plans, which were announced sometime in 2006, was David Markel, a big Montco developer and owner of a cozy ten-year-old steak and seafood restaurant on Skippack Pike: Parc Bistro.
Tired of the greasy, mushy and generally bland eggplant parms that pervade this city’s red-sauce spots, we fanned out to find worthy uses of the versatile vegetable, in season locally through October.
I’ve been hearing an increased amount of chatter about the possibility that legendary Philly jazz guitarist Pat Martino is looking to open a large jazz club/restaurant in the vein of (but hopefully much better than) the defunct
It may very well be the original comfort food. At dinner, it completes a square meal; it’s a better partner to cookies than butter is to bread; and there it is again in the morning, cool and creamy, to soften our coffee and our Cheerios. So why do I now have to do a double take before grabbing my gallon of 2 percent? Well, because I might be grabbing anything but. At my three go-to markets I’ve spotted some serious milk-shelf competition.
The dramatic dining room in 
So, is David Katz cooking at 
The recipe is the same year-round — has been for more than three decades — but somehow the apple-cider doughnuts for sale in Highland Orchard’s crowded market taste best on a sunny September afternoon. There are just a few ingredients: Highland’s apple cider, pressed each autumn from its 17 apple varieties; doughnut flour; and spices that owner Dave Hodge won’t reveal. (But there’s no ignoring the nutmeg.)
The popular image of Portuguese wine is one of startling extremes: famously expensive vintage port, a perk of the good life, and infamously cheap rosés like Lancers and Mateus, staples of ‘70s college life. But Portugal offers a full range of styles that fall in between that are just now beginning to appear in the American market. Now that Spain and Italy are getting over-exposed, fans of European wines at bargain prices are discovering the delicious rainbow of flavors Portuguese wines can offer.
Believe me, tasting is not nearly as fun as eating. But I’ve persevered through several tasting panels recently, including a Absolut Mandarin vodka cocktail competition at a Rittenhouse Row gathering (I was a presentation judge, not having the stomach for 18 drinks before happy hour) and the National Constitution Center’s “cake-off,” to celebrate Constitution Day, which is, I’m sure you know, today.