High Steaks

When Plotkin hammered at the difference between his lunch and dinner steaks and asked for a retraction, LaBan refused. Instead, the critic offered Plotkin the chance to attend his February 6th online chat session at Philly.com. At first, the restaurateur agreed. But when he arrived in the chatroom, he saw the following lines of text posted by LaBan and another user:

LaBan: “I got an upset — though quite professional — call this morning from a restaurateur who bristled at an unsavory two-sentence capsule review of his place that appeared recently in my column. I hope he writes in today, as I encouraged, so we can discuss the issue in the forum. … ”

Don: “Let me guess the angry restaurant guy. Alex Plotkin CHOPS. You were right on the money there though. I’m curious on the grade of beef they are serving there.”

LaBan: “You might be right there, Don. But I’d like to let Alex speak for himself. He plans to write in, he says, but we may not get to it until next week.”

The defense flatly denies that LaBan arranged for anyone to be in the chatroom to confront Plotkin. But Plotkin felt duped. “I thought he was trying to punk me,” he says. “First he wasn’t going to run a correction. Now he was trying to embarrass me.”

He signed off without typing a word.

On February 15th, the suit was filed.

A DECADE AGO, such a dispute would never have captured the public’s imagination. But today, Philadelphians enjoy a more intimate relationship with the food they eat. The evidence of this revolution often comes walking right into South Philly’s D’Angelo Bros. Meat Market. “Customers are so much more sophisticated than they were five years ago,” says proprietor Sonny D’Angelo. “They don’t ask for lamb chops. They ask for Colorado lamb chops, or New Zealand lamb chops, because they know which regions are producing quality.”

Foodies like David Snyder, of Philafoodie.com, and Sandy Smith, a regular on the eGullet site, spend hours each day monitoring message boards and reading about good eats. And the revolution includes our children. D’Angelo says he is aware of five- and six-year-olds who already demonstrate foodie tendencies. In July, a customer in his store spun a tale about trying to get his nine-year-old daughter to turn off a food show and go to bed. “But, Daddy,” the little girl cried, “they’re getting ready to plate!”

Food culture may also prove just another outlet for people desperately seeking a higher social stratum. “You see 20-somethings now who think of where they eat as a kind of status symbol,” says Holly Moore, a former Center City restaurateur now best known for his blog, HollyEats. “It’s not just what kind of bag they’re carrying, but where they’re going for dinner.”

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