We were feeling under the weather yesterday and didn't get a chance to get around to this. But now that it's Halloween... It's totally time for a special holiday edition of Service Tuesday.

• A "new restaurant/tavern" seating between 210 and 240 people near the Italian Market needs an exec chef who "will be able to keep costs down while maximizing productivity." Hmm.

• Old City Indian resto Cafe Spice needs dishwashers and bussers.

• Deuce needs a p/t bartender for the day shift.

• A masochist for being around drunk Jersey kids? Then a line cook gig at the South Street Copabanana might just be the world's most perfect job.

We hate to write about another crime in a restaurant, but a police officer was shot at a Dunkin Donuts in West Oak Lane this morning. Officer Charles Cassidy, a 25-year veteran of the Philadelphia PD, was shot when he unknowingly walked into a robbery in progress at the Dunkin Donuts on North Broad St & 66th Avenue. The shooter was described as a heavyset African-American male in his 20s, approximately 5'11"-6' tall, with a dark hoodie, tan khaki pants, striped tan boots and a spider tattoo on his left hand.

La Salle University has cancelled all evening classes as a result.

Phila. Police Officer Critical After Shooting [CBS 3]

Popular Main Line BYOB Meridith's is offering a special fall prix-fie menu:

AUTUMN PRIX-FIXE MENU
3 COURSE $30
Sunday - Thursday

1st Course
(Choice of)
Mushroom Soup
Or
Classic Caesar Salad

2nd Course
(Choice of)
Butternut Squash And Gorgonzola Risotto
Or
Crispy Chicken Breast
Mashed Potatoes, Baby Spinach, Pan Jus

Or
Grilled Salmon
Shitake Mushrooms Braised Red Onions, Cranberry Demi Glaze

Or
Flat Iron Steak
Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Baby Spinach,
Cranberry Demi Glaze
($4 Supplement Charge)

3rd Course
(Choice of)
Tahitian Vanilla Bean Crème Brulée
Or
Bosc Pear and Golden Raisin Bread Pudding
Cinnamon Crème Anglaise

Meridith's [Official Site]

• Clementine's Bistro: The Passyunk Ave. BYOB is a lovely bistro in desperate need of atmosphere.

• We need a copy of the Food Snob's Dictionary.

• All about Tuaca.

We've got to admit that we never thought about what squirrel tastes like. We don't even know if its available in Philadelphia. When we were attending Temple University, we knew a few kids from western Pennsylvania who would admit while drunk to having eaten a few in their time... but that's about it.

But, God bless 'em, the New York Post did a squirrel taste test:

DeGroat says he might be a little hesitant about eating squirrel because of the mixed messages.

Not that he's squeamish. He explains that he skins squirrels, pulls the fur off, then guts and cleans the animal. Then he puts it in salt and lets it sit overnight.

"I boil it in water and then toss it in a pan," DeGroat said. "I serve it with rich or mashed potatoes. I like my squirrel with barbecue sauce, garlic, mustard and ketchup," he said. "It's not a whole lot of meat. You have to put three or four squirrels together for a good meal."

Mayor Joanne Atlas of Ringwood, where more than half of the Native American population dines on squirrel, offered a recipe that included salt, pork, lima beans, onion, ears of corn, tomatoes and butter.

"You have to skin it first and cut off its tail and its head," said Atlas, who borrowed her recipe from Robert W. Pelton's Colonial-era book, "Historical Christmas Cookery." "You have to clean it and gut it and prepare it like rabbit."

Eww eww eww.

Want to eat me? [NY Post]

We got more info from Dan Gross on the fight between the chef and a customer at Collingswood's Blackbird Dining Establishment. Surprise, surprise... The customer was a lawyer who's a partner at prominent firm Pepper Hamilton — and he was verbally abusing a visibly pregnant hostess:

Capasso told us yesterday that he did sock Zemaitis once, with a left, but it was "in self-defense," while he was being restrained from behind by a friend of the lawyer. Police arrested Capasso, 33, who filed a criminal complaint against Zemaitis, 56, for harassment/offensive touching. He also faces a hearing today. The fight was reported yesterday by Philadelphia magazine's Victor Fiorillo at phillymag.com. Capasso says Zemaitis, upset about a long wait for a table, became "verbally abusive to our hostess, who's seven months pregnant," and when Capasso confronted him, Zemaitis "cursed at me . . . threatened to have the restaurant shut down . . . and slammed me against the wall with both hands," the restaurateur says. Zemaitis denies throttling Capasso or saying anything about shutting the place down. Although he'll never eat there, he doesn't want to see the restaurant "closed over this." Capasso is embarrassed over the situation, which took place in front of a full dining room of about 70 people. Capasso says that he's 5-8, weighs 165 pounds and that Zemaitis is "about 6-3, 250 pounds." Zemaitis, who says he's 5 feet 9 1/2 and a "pudgy" 220 pounds, says he's "not a tough guy" and had "never been in a fight" until last week.

Hooboy.

Chef, lawyer in NJ dustup [Daily News]

Until 5pm, Taco Bell is offering free hard tacos.

Major League Baseball (the promotion's co-sponsor) has the info.

Free Tacos [MLB]

From the "who woulda thunk it department": Philadelphia is the birthplace of candy corn:

Philadelphia was once the candy-making capital of the United States, says Jack Lees, owner of Casani Candy Company, who used to deal with the firm that came up with the treat in the 1880's:

"Wunderle came into existence in 1869 and they were the original manufacturers of candy corn and they made the pumpkins and the mixes."

Lees says, back in the day, Philadelphia had maybe 200 family-owned candy makers in the city, but one by one most folded, Wunderle in 1980. Candy corn itself has done much better. Once a Halloween seasonal offering, Lees says it's now available year round.

Mmm... Halloween.

Remember, Candy Corn Was Born in Philadelphia [WKYW]

[Image via KYW]

Holy crap. We've written about the South Jersey restaurant Blackbird Dining Establishment before, but never expected the restaurant to be the site of a full-on brawl between Alex Capasso and customers.

Philadelphia magazine's Victor Fiorillo has the inside scoop on what happened out in Collingswood:

According to Collingswood police captain Richard Sarlo, a dispute took place on Wednesday, October 24th, between Capasso and a group of hungry customers who felt that he had given their table away to another party. A confrontation ensued in front of a packed room of diners, and Sarlo says that Capasso “pushed and shoved” the customers. Eventually, the fight went outside, where, according to the police report, Capasso punched one of the men in the eye. The man was treated by an ambulance but refused to be taken to the hospital. Police were called, and Capasso was arrested and charged with simple assault. The punched man was also arrested and charged with harassment.

We can't vouch on whether the report is accurate (Capasso said that he was the one who was assaulted), but yeah... we're glad we don't work the kitchen at trendy restaurants with pint-size seating capacities. For so, so many reasons.

Chef Alex Capasso Charged With Assaulting a Customer [Taste Daily/Philly Mag]
Blackbird Dining Establishment [Official Site]

Sad news for longtime Philadelphians — TV food show host, Swedish Chef inspiration and ex-restarateur Friedman Paul Erhardt, aka "Chef Tell", died at 63 of a heart attack:

Chef Tell wasn't about to stay in any kitchen. He was out there with his big smile and his Teutonic-tinged accent that some found almost unintelligible. He was born in Stuttgart and dropped out of school at 14 to learn cooking under a strict European apprenticeship program. (He got his nickname "Tell" after playing William Tell in a school production.) In no time, he was winning gold medals for his cooking, and earned a master's degree in cooking from the University of Heidelberg in 1970. He was named West Germany's Chef of the Year before he met Nicoletti. (She was the second of his three wives.) As the chef at the Marriott, he made his first TV appearance on the locally produced "Dialing for Dollars." After that, he appeared on KYW's "Evening Magazine," "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," specials for the QVC network in West Chester and the PBS program, "In the Kitchen with Chef Tell." He liked to tool around town on a motorcycle and eventually was hobnobbing with the rich and famous. His citizenship application was personally submitted by Richard Nixon in 1984. He gained national exposure with appearances on such shows as "Regis and Kathie Lee" and comedy skits on "Saturday Night Live." He was also said to be the inspiration for the Swedish chef on "The Muppet Show."

RIP.

Friedman Paul Erhardt, 'Chef Tell,' dies at 63 [Daily News]

[Image via Daily News]

We just got word that an open casting call for season 4 of The Next Food Network Star is being held at 707 on Monday, November 12.

Potential applicants should bring an application, photograph, resume and bio to 707.

Open Call [Food Network]

We're proud to announce that the MenuPages San Francisco Blog has a new editor, Adam Martin. A former reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, Martin will be covering the Bay Area food beat.

This is awesome. NPR recently dedicated a segment of Morning Edition to the history of Friots. This is awesome — they go crazy for everyone's favorite pre-Dorito corn chip:

Charles Elmer Doolin is one such man. Possessed by a vision. By corn. By creating snack food. Doolin was obsessed with Fritos, his daughter Kaleta said. During the Depression in the 1930s, Doolin had a confectionery in San Antonio. Always an innovator, he got a bug to put some kind of corn snack on his counters. Tortillas staled, so Doolin went on a mission. At a gas station, Doolin found a Mexican man making an extruded corn chip out of masa, frying it and selling little bags of the fried corn chips. They were fritos, "little fried things" — the beach food of Mexico. Doolin bought the patent and 14 customers from the man and began to make the chips in his own kitchen at home, with his mother perfecting his recipe. "His life was one big hidden kitchen," his son-in-law Alan Govenar said. Doolin had kitchens in his factory, kitchens in his lab, kitchens with test tubes and beakers in his house.

If that's not enough, they also have the audio from a classic Mitch Hedberg sketch.

The Birth of the Frito [NPR]

Hey, does this guy look familiar? Yeah he does. It's Marc Vetri, the chef behind Vetri and Osteria, posing for the Chef's Catalog.

Vetri Heart All-Clad [Blogalicious]

We love crabcakes. We also love the Inquirer for their shortlist of Philly crabcakes:

Had a big, meaty blob of a crabcake at Oceanaire on Washington Square not long ago. Hope it's hanging in there (along with Susanna Foo's singular One-Hundred-Corner Crabcake). A recheck of Striped Bass turned up a sweet, tender rendition, unbreaded shreds of Dungeness crabmeat packed in a ring mold, paired with julienned green apple and fennel frond. (Note to chef: Lose that feathery fennel; it's like chewing wet fur.) So you try a few newcomers. At Honey's Sit 'n Eat, the retro-chic eatery in Northern Liberties, the crabcake is a mistake - a vile, inedible pancake. At Knock, the refitted, straight-friendly dining room at 12th and Locust, on the other hand, the baked crabcakes are hefty, tasty scoops, kicked up a notch with creole mustard. Which brings me to Sang Kee Asian Bistro, the busy Wynnewood duck house. Owner Michael Chow says crabcakes were an afterthought on the otherwise Asian menu. But they've turned out elegantly, two tall plugs (about the size and look of diver scallops) seared to a crispy edge on the top; sweet, creamy and crabby inside. They're animated with tangy tangerine dipping sauce. Sang Kee's cakes, like most locals, are made from canned pasteurized crabmeat from Indonesia. But that's hardly the whole story: At Anastasi Seafood, the warm Italian Market fish house (where the hard-shells don't make it into the cakes), the broiled crabcakes had a mildly metallic aftertaste. Not so at Devon Seafood Grill on Rittenhouse Square, which uses three parts super-jumbo-lump "premium, pasteurized" crabmeat to one of regular backfin in its pristine, virtually all-meat broiled cakes. Nor was there any chemical hint in the beautifully seasoned and presented (though disconcertingly under-heated) mini-crabcakes at Nineteen (XIX), the dining room atop the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue. Chef Marc Plessis says he looked to the Old Bay spicing and flavors of a Louisiana crab boil (with added garlic, peppers, onion) to season his cakes, using a shrimp mousse - reminiscent of the style of the Le Bec-Fin classics - as his binder. Dotted with sweet-tart tomato-pepper jam and on a dab of tarragon mayonnaise, they're the most flavorful contenders I've had in the city.

So. Much. Seafood.

Whither crabcakes? [Inquirer]

[Image via Philadelphia Inquirer]

What would the world look like if it were made entirely out of meat? Italian cold cut producer Negroni just launched a new ad campaign portraying a delicious porcine world:

Created by DDB in Milan, the ads show a world made of meat. We’re especially fond of the Tuscan landscape (above, left) with its cypress trees crafted from prosciutto and a picturesque salami road that winds its way up to a hilltop villa. Equally clever, however, is the snow scene (above, right), with mortadella drifts of snow and icy evergreens crafted of pancetta.

Eating Italy [Eternally Cool]

How's this for esoteric food hunts? Craig LaBan headed to deep Southwest Philly to try out Liberian cuisine, and it's all thanks to LaBan's French skills and some friendly parking attendants:

My African journey began, unexpectedly, in a Center City parking garage. I overheard the banter of French behind the register, where the attendants' conversation had turned to lunch. Of course, I couldn't help butting in.

So where was the best West African cooking in Philly, I wondered. A little fufu or jollof rice, perhaps a spicy mafe peanut and mutton stew? They gave me a startled look, then the cashier gushed: "Oh, there are soooo many! Just go to Woodland Avenue!"

So I left the garage with my car - and a couple of new addresses scribbled on a receipt. The next day, I headed with my colleague and fellow fufu fiend, Rick Nichols, on a quest to the great Southwest, a neighborhood where I hadn't spent nearly enough quality eating time. We turned left from Gray's Ferry onto Woodland Avenue, and a world of diverse storefronts unfurled - Caribbean, Vietnamese, a rib shack, and yes, numerous African eateries.

In case you were wondering, the fufu's awesome.

Memdee's [Inquirer]

The most mildly offensive cocktail in Philly? According to one blogger, it might be Shouk's guido cocktail:

Flavored with pomegranate, cardamom, and mint, Shouk’s cocktails are bold and, in the case of the Guido (Sambuca and Kahlua), mildly offensive.

Make Me Wanna Shouk [Blogalicious]
Shouk [MenuPages]
Shouk [Official Site]

City Tavern chef Walter Staib (pictured) is off to Germany. He will be filming several episodes of his CN8 series World Cuisine of the Black Forest from Deutschland. Shoots skedded include:

German butter cake is safe!

From the Daily News:

Score one for the mom-and-pop bakeries that want to turn out trans-fat-laden pound cakes and cannolis. City Council, in a 16-to-1 vote yesterday, exempted the small businesses from the city's relatively new trans-fat ban. Even if health-conscious Mayor Street decides to veto the legislation - and his views were not forthcoming yesterday - Council has a veto-proof majority as long as 12 members vote to override any mayoral veto. Only Councilman Juan Ramos, the sponsor of the original ban, voted against the bill granting an exemption to any city-based bakery with no more than three retail-sales locations. In defeat, Ramos pointed out that a number of bakeries had pledged to identify their trans-fat-free products, "and I would encourage them to continue that on their own." But city bakers were able to make a strong case that Ramos' bill created an unlevel playing field by allowing large bakers selling packaged goods in the city to continue using the artificial trans fats. Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, sponsor of the exemption, said local bakers who asserted that trans-fat substitutes reduced the quality of their products faced economic ruin if they were forced to give up trans-fat-based recipes.

Local bakeries win right to use trans fats [Daily News]

Man. So just a few weeks after the Italian Market got a commemorative plaque, someone goes ahead and knocks the plaque into the ground, destroying it.

See what happens when we give you nice things, Philadelphia?

Author/historian Celeste Morello, the woman behind the efforts to get the plaque up, suspects it's over the naming. The plaque commemorates the "South Ninth Street Curb Market," not the Italian Market. In the past, Jewish, Irish & African-American vendors had a significant presence at the predominantly Italian street market... the same way that Mexicans and Vietnamese do today:

"It's a shame," Morello says, calling the culprit a "small-minded, cowardly person with an evil heart." Morello, herself an Italian-American, and some members of the Ninth Street Curb Market Businessmen's Association didn't have a problem with the state's decision to leave the word Italian out of the marker.

According to the Streets Department, the plaques are designed to withstand hurricanes and "absolutely" had to have been removed by someone with tools.

Vandals damage market marker [Daily News]

[Image via Philadelphia Daily News]

Unbelievable. A fight between two patrons at 13th Street Pizzeria escalated into a gun fight.

One man is dead, 22-year-old Derrick Williams. He was shot multiple times following an argument. A suspect was apprehended shortly afterwards.

Phillyblog is the place to go for more info.

Activity on 13th Between Locust and Chancellor [Phillyblog]
Young man shot to death in Center City pizzeria [Inquirer]

Step 1: Take a comedian in New York.

Step 2: Have him read reviews from our New York site.

Step 3: Have him be all deadpan and stuff.

Step 4: Bask in the private satisfaction as a MenuPages editor that we have unprintable reviews that he's never even seen.

MenuPages [YouTube]

The Daily News is going ga-ga for cheese. This week, they stopped for a visit with some of Philly's artisan cheese makers and spoke to chef Jenny Harris of Tria about how to make a good cheese plate.

Cheese whizzes [Daily News]
A plate you'll go nuts for [Daily News]

[Image via Philadelphia Daily News]

Don't mess with the blogger behind The Sneeze's pizza. He recently discovered that you can order Domino's Pizza online.

But there's a catch... The pizza chain's web ordering technology allows patrons to specify specific toppings for the left half and right half of their pizza. He decided to test whether he could order a perfectly-aligned mushroom & pepperoni pizza:

The dividing line was exactly 90 degrees up the middle, but mushrooms were on the left!

I realize it's all arbitrary and the options are presented for clarity, but if you're going to force me to make the choice, then that's what I think I should get.

He could not.

The Great Pizza Orientation Test [The Sneeze]

Adorably old school Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky is getting all up in arms about the trans-fat ban ...and having to see fat girls in Spandex:

Here's what I don't want:

I don't want to eat trans fat.
I don't want to smell cigarette smoke with my food.
I don't want to see fat girls in Spandex.

Here's what I do want:

I want government to make restaurants display the calories, fat and salt content in the food they serve, so I can make an informed choice.
I want government to make businesses post signs saying if they permit smoking or not. I will decide if I want to enter.
I want government to leave fat girls in Spandex alone. And fat guys in Speedos.

Preach it, you crazy libertarian codger. Because, after all, they are after our cheesesteaks. Except for banning the foie gras. That stuff is great.

No trans fat... still want those fries? [Daily News]

[Image via Philadelphia Daily News]

• Zinc, Zinc, Zinc. The CP has a meal at Center City's newest French resto.

• Bowling + food = ??? Exploring the jazz brunch at Lucky Strike.

• Mmm... Halloween beers.

• Puerto Rican food at a gay bar? Why the heck not.

• A University City church is offering a fair trade food tasting next Tuesday.

• Exploring the Francophilic world of Philly crepes.

• Local stops for "quality" buffalo wings.

• If it's fall (and feels like it), it's time for the obligatory article on comfort food.

• The decline and fall of Chesapeake Bay crabbing.

• Hey, even though we might slowly be turning into The Most Crime Ridden City In America (TM), at least we've got a hell of a lot of restaurant openings.

• Who wants to pay $4 for salt? Maybe you do.

• OMG, it's the cheese of the month.

• MP: Boston is like our team is in the World Series, yadda yadda yadda. Stupid Red Sox.

• MP: Chicago is on the trail of the elusive white peppercorn.

• MP: San Francisco discovered that Taco Bell is, wait for it... expanding to Mexico.

• MP: South Florida has discovered the horror of French pizza. Pickle-and-potato pizza? May God have mercy on our souls.

Those delicious cheeseburgers? They're from Langhorne's Cheeseburger in Paradise, which is part of a national chain (owned by Jimmy Buffet, no less). Chain restaurants are sprouting up all over the suburbs of Philly... But very few are opening up in the city. In fact, Buca di Beppo is shutting Down. Why is this?

According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, it's all about demographics... and parking... and the fact that city dwellers with money to eat out aren't really the chain restaurant types:

"These are casual-dining restaurants, so if you tack on $25 or $30 to park, that's a big factor. They want free parking," said Ron Gorodesky, president of Restaurant Advisory Services, a Paoli consulting firm. While Center City does have some chain restaurants, particularly steak houses, most of the big casual dining chains have swarmed to the suburbs. To the point, the nation's two largest owners of casual dining restaurants -- Darden Restaurants Inc. of Orlando and OSI Restaurant Partners LLC of Tampa, Fla. -- have a combined 48 restaurants in the eight-county Philadelphia market, but only three are in Center City. Among the most popular destinations for casual dining chains: Exton, King of Prussia, Springfield (Delaware County), Cherry Hill and Deptford, N.J. It's no coincidence that all of those locations have a strong retail component nearby. [...] Cheesecake Factory is known for drawing hordes of people, and often has a line of more than an hour to get a table. As a result, Gorodesky said, the restaurant chain can command status as an anchor tenant, and with that receive improvement dollars toward renovations. Plus, they need households. "Center City has a strong residential population," Gorodesky said. "It's mostly young and old, but not the middle, which is the market for casual dining."

As for us, we're happy we live in a place where restaurants don't make up their menu via focus group.

Chain restaurants expand in the suburbs, not in city [Philadelphia Business Journal]

• Good Japanese food... In Jersey? Maybe (possibly). Check out Haddonfield's Fuji.

• Xochitl's offering a special Day of the Dead menu.

• A guide to Philly's best hummus. However, we think the (not mentioned) variety at Mama's Vegetarian is the best. Viva Israeli hummus!

This looks amazing: Coffee-flavored Twix. It's hitting Philadelphia candy counters in time for Christmas as well. Not too shabby.

Twix Java coming in December [Slashfood]

Taste Daily swung by old-school Center City joint Bliss and gave us a good capsule review:

I love eating out. I hate making reservations. Okay, okay, I just never plan ahead. So where do I eat when I decide I’m hungry at 8:30 on a Saturday night? A forgotten restaurant, those no-longer-new, not-quite-classic places where the food is still solid and the atmosphere is still up-to-date, but the crowds are gone. [...] The vibe here — like it’s what-neighborhood-is-this? Broad Street location — is hard to define. Dress up and enjoy a three-course, big-wine meal (like a baby lettuce, Maytag blue and spicy walnut salad, followed by braised short ribs with Parmesan polenta and housemade sorbet). Or dress down, sit at the bar, and mix and match from their bar menu (cheesesteak empanada or tuna sashimi) with a trendy drink concoction from the cute bartenders.

A cheesesteak empanada does sound good right now.

Bliss [MenuPages]
Bliss [Official Site]
Restaurant You Forgot About: Bliss [Taste Daily/Philly]

• If you're the NoLibs type, Deuce is hiring for a hostess/host.

• Join the Starr empire... Continental needs a bartender.

• Have Open Table experience? Than the Striped Bass might be interested as hiring you as a hostess/host.

• Live the dream... and work as a line cook at the Outback Steakhouse in Springfield.

• The Manhattan Bagel in Willow Grove needs counter help.

Campo's Deli in Old City serves up cheesesteaks and hoagies in a neighborhood where tastes run more towards Thai and tapas. We've never had the opportunity to eat there, but the bloggers behind FoodADelphia did. They found out that there's quite the sandwich there:

His friend Paul, however, went with something worth discussing: The Stockyard. The Stockyard is a hoagie made with chicken, steak, both american and mascarpone cheeses, bacon, pepperoni, and fried onions. We watched them throw all of the meats on the grill, allowing the fats to meld, as they spread the bread with mascarpone. Then, melting the cheese, they put the entire heart attack on the bread. Now, Paul is not a small guy (he's probably around 6'4"), but he only got about halfway through what he called a great hoagie. On the flip side, when he brought his tray back in to have the other half wrapped to go, there was a big puddle of grease on the table.

Chicken, steak, American cheese, mascarpone cheese, bacon, pepperoni ...and onions? Sweet Lord. We know who's keeping the cardiology unit at Thomas Jefferson in business now.

Campo's Deli [MenuPages]
Campo's Deli [Official Site]
Campo's & Overpriced Denim [FoodADelphia]

Food manufacturer JTM specializes in selling items to warehouse clubs. Among their offerings, we found this gem. We're just not gonna comment on this one... except to say we've never heard the term "hoagie pattie" before.

JTM Food Group [Official Site]

We reported a few days back that new-to-Philly burrito chain Chipotle was giving away free burritos at the opening of their City Avenue location. The fearless crew from Foodzings decided to head down and, as you can see from the pic, it was a madhouse:

People Love Them Some Free Burritos... [Foodzings]

[Image via Foodzings]

This is pretty cool. The White Dog Cafe is hosting a Native American Thanksgiving Dinner on November 18th. Here's the official word from the restaurant:

Native American Thanksgiving Dinner co-hosted by the Lenape Nation, Sunday, November 18, 6 pm – Celebrate the many important and delicious foods in our diet that were originally cultivated by Native Americans and join a discussion led by members of the Lenape Nation, the indigenous peoples of our region. Proceeds from the dinner benefit the Lenape Nation to help with the purchase of former homelands.

White Dog Cafe [MenuPages]
White Dog Cafe [Official Site]

We somehow forgot that Domino's Pizza offers a new cheesesteak pizza. In the video above, a few enterprising types give it the taste test. Mmm... corporate cheesesteak with rubbery cheese.

Domino's Philly Cheesesteak Pizza [YouTube]

Blogalicious just got the special menu for Ansill's Halloween meal:

First Course Eel and Squid, Squid Ink Sauce Second Course Beef Heart, Veal Kidney and Bacon Brochettes Third Course Lamb’s Tongue and Veal Cheeks, Sautéed Pumpkin

$15 pp = not bad at all.

Trick or Meat [Ansill]
Ansill [MenuPages]
Ansill [Official Site]

Moonshine is, of course, against the law. Moonshine is also not impossible to find in Philly if you head to North Philly neighborhoods with a decent amount of first-generation arrivals from the South (bars with backrooms, yadda yadda yadda...). But why is moonshine illegal? Slate attempts to answer the question. It all comes down to economics:

Because the liquor is worth more to the government than beer or wine. Uncle Sam takes an excise tax of $2.14 for each 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof spirits, compared with 21 cents for a bottle of wine (of 14 percent alcohol or less) and 5 cents for a can of beer. No one knows exactly how much money changes hands in the moonshine trade, but it's certainly enough for the missing taxes to make a difference: In 2000, an ATF investigation busted one Virginia store that sold enough raw materials to moonshiners to make 1.4 million gallons of liquor, worth an estimated $19.6 million in lost government revenue. In 2005, almost $5 billion of federal excise taxes on alcohol came from legally produced spirits.

Why is it against the law to make moonshine? [Slate]

[Image via Washington City Paper]

We've writtten about popular Fishtown restaurant Ida Mae's Bruncherie a few times before. Now they're getting the full-fledged Craig LaBan treatment:

Ida's chef and co-owner, Mary Kate McCaughey, always knew she wanted a "bruncherie" because of the sense of community that morning meal taps. And she's a local, having grown up in Port Richmond and Fishtown, where as a girl she used to buy penny candy at the grocery Ida's eventually replaced. That corner space, most recently a coffee shop, was transformed by Mary Kate's husband, Feargus McCaughey, into a charmingly cozy cafe, with a bustling counterside grill in front, and a rear dining room that feels like a well-kept parlor, with stained-glass windows, wooden banquettes, arty photos, and granite cafe tables.

[...]

The fluffy buttermilk pancakes, made with a recipe from Feargus' mom, were all the better with blueberries. And in addition to the authentic meats on the hearty Irish breakfast - the rasher bacon and banger sausage - the soft soda and potato breads were griddled fresh by Feargus, once a baker's apprentice in Belfast.

McCaughey, who has also cooked at Standard Tap and Royal Tavern, doesn't limit her inspiration to Ireland. She turned out a tasty parmesan from grilled chunks of heirloom eggplants grown in Lancaster. Her "black Russian," a cornucopia of fresh sprouts and veggies gratineed beneath Swiss over toasted pumpernickel, is an homage to her Silk City days. McCaughey also makes an excelente huevos rancheros over house-fried tortilla chips, good black beans, and tangy tomatillo salsa streaked with avocado coulis.

I doubt many expected anything streaked with coulis to fly in Fishtown, a traditionally blue-collar neighborhood weaned on the $1.75 breakfast special. But the gentrifying mood has embraced the notion that better ingredients cooked with care could be worth $5 to $10 a plate, for breakfast or lunch.

Ida Mae's Bruncherie [Inquirer]
Ida Mae's Bruncherie [MenuPages]

West Chester's Eclat Chocolate is getting the Rick Nichols treatment:

That three years ago, at age 39, chocolatier Christopher Curtin would open a jewel of a chocolate shop - Éclat, by name - offering "free weekend parking above the shop" in the villagelike heart of West Chester does not seem immediately logical, given the nomadic history he is recounting. In his production room - enrobers flowing and depositors depositing and cooling tunnels cooling - he shows me photos of the grand cakes he helped prepare for the royal wedding in Brussels, and of the noodle shops of Osaka he frequented with his girlfriend while working at Poire, the chocolate shop there ("Osaka is the Lyon of Japan!"), and from his adventures among journeymen pastry chefs across Europe where, in Cologne, he was certified as a master German chocolatier. He talks of growing up in Madison, Wis., where his father, historian Philip D. Curtin, was a renowned scholar of the African slave trade. His resumé includes pit stops in Vermont, New York and, briefly, Switzerland. I had run into him a few days before at the 10th anniversary party for Fork, the handsome Old City bistro. Fork's adjoining specialty shop is his only retail outlet outside West Chester, and for the event he'd made 3,000 custom chocolates - buttery ganache coated with a beefed-up 73 percent Tanzanian cacao, fruity and dark and sharp and, in a word, awesome.

Recommended: The mendiant - a French chocolate waer topped with raisins, hazelnuts, dried figs and almonds.

Chocolatier lands here [Inquirer]
Eclat Chocolate [Official Site]

The following item about Franco & Luigi's Pizzeria in South Philly from Michael Klein at the Inquirer caught our eye:

The main phone number at Franco & Luigi's pizzeria in South Philly got slammed last weekend, apparently by a scammer who conned Verizon into releasing 215-755-8900. Patrons got "this number has been disconnected" messages, owner Frank Borda says. Verizon retrieved the number last week; a rep says it's investigating.

Rival pizzeria owners up to no good? South Philly pranksterism? Who knows.

Franco & Luigi's Pizzeria [MenuPages]
Franco & Luigi's Pizzeria [Official Site]
Inqlings [Inquirer]

Philadelphia mag has put together a list of smoker-friendly bars in Philadelphia

Smoking Bars in Philadelphia [Philadelphia]

DailyCandy has the scoop on yet another Philly restaurant opening. This one is called Supper and is located at 9th & South:

Supper, the brainchild of Mitch and Jennifer Prensky (The Global Dish Caterers), is organized around the concept that eating should be both comfortable and invigorating. With two full bars, lounge seating, and a menu of inventive rustic options, Supper is the perfect American brasserie.

Want a quick bite? Peruse the tartine selection. Or mix and match tasting plates, such as the lump crab terrine with chilled basil noodles and grapefruit. Dinner for two? Try Supper’s large plate options like the Berkshire pork shoulder with lentil cassoulet and miso poached quince.

Superior Supper [Daily Candy]

One benefit of Philly's current real estate renaissance (well, the ones in those magical neighborhoods that still have functioning city services) is the opening of new amenities. The Cira Center and Rae have done much to liven up the dead zone around 30th Street Station... and now, there's a new gastropub named Slainte that just opened across from 30th Street Station. It's owned by the New Deck Tavern folks and Daily Candy has the (co-branded) scoop:

The new go-to for the after-work crowd, Sláinte will please brew connoisseurs and foodies alike with its European draft beer system and huge drool-worthy menu. Fill up on items such as Prince Edward Island Mussels; bangers and mash; fish ’n’ chips; and, yes, cheddar beer dip made with Harp Lager. Then wash it all down with a massive selection of stouts; lagers; Hefeweizens; and, of course, Guinness. The high arched ceilings, gorgeous woodwork, and handcrafted Irish furniture create a cozy pub feel, while the six high-def TVs keep it modern.

Cheers to That [Daily Candy]

Over the past few weeks, users here left a number of poor reviews for NoLibs/Fishtown Italian joint Modo Mio. All the reviews simmered down to the same problem: The food is great, while the service doesn't have a clue. We thought it might have been due to growing pains from the restaurant's Craig LaBan review... But Brian Freedman of Around Philly had such a poor experience that it makes us wonder...

The bad news is that I cannot think of many other restaurants here—BYOB or not, Italian or not—whose service does so much to undermine the overall experience. For while it began harmlessly enough, with only a few mispronunciations of key dishes to perk up my ears and run the proverbial red-flag up the pole, the service ended up going south from there. And I don’t mean to Sicily. In fact, it began poorly even before I arrived: Calling to make a reservation, I ended up on the line with a person of such low enthusiasm, such monotonal vocal tendencies, such (let’s make up a phrase here) telephonic ineptitude, that I felt as if I was back in college, dealing with a particular roommate I had who, if memory serves, cracked exactly three smiles that year. As far as the waitress went, she started off the evening in the weeds and never managed to hack her way out—even once the dining room had cleared out towards the end of the night. From bringing the bread out barely a minute before the first courses arrived to making us wait nearly ten minutes before offering to go over the dessert selections, I did not, at any point, feel as if I was being taken care of. Rather, the experience was analogous to that of a castaway, bobbing up and down, unaided and unguided, upon the big blue sea.

Modo Mio [Around Philly]
Modo Mio [MenuPages]

Add pizza delivery guy to your list of high risk occupations. Five robberies of delivery persons have taken place in the last