Tag Archives: Reading Terminal Market

Top 20 Favorite Philadelphia Foods

Posted on December 26, 2011 by alonna| Comments Off

Happy Holidays!

I love reading food Q and A’s and thought it would be fun to list my top 20 Philadelphia favorite foods:

  1. If I had to pick one Philadelphia area restaurant dish, what would it be? Vietnam’s B.B.Q. platter
  2. Favorite pasta dish?  Fiorino’s tagliatelle bolognese
  3. Favorite pizza?  Osteria’s Lombarda
  4. Favorite burger?  The Dandelion
  5. Favorite French fries?  The Dandelion
  6. Favorite place for breakfast or brunch? Parc Bistro
  7. Favorite Italian BYO?  Modo Mio
  8. Favorite place to shop for food?  Weaver’s Way Co-op
  9. Favorite source for grass fed meats?  Breakaway Farms
  10. Favorite doughnut? Lydia Mae’s Bakery in the Lancaster County Farmer’s Market
  11. Favorite sandwich?  DiNic’s roast pork
  12. Favorite Chinese dish?  Han Dynasty’s Dan Dan noodles
  13. Favorite Burmese dish AND favorite salad?  Rangoon Burmese’s spring ginger salad
  14. Favorite cake?  Night Kitchen’s chocolate mocha cake
  15. Favorite shepherds pie?  The Whip Tavern
  16. Favorite vegetable dish?  The brussel sprouts at Johnny Brenda’s
  17. Favorite food destination to take out of town guests?  Reading Terminal Market
  18. Favorite place to buy locally made cheese?  Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market
  19. Favorite  locally made chocolates?   Eclat Chocolate
  20. Favorite place to celebrate?  Talula’s Table

Posted in Eating

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Rick Nichols Tours Reading Terminal Market Part II

Posted on December 8, 2011 by alonna| Comments Off

Here is the final part of our tour of Reading Terminal Market with Rick Nichols. For Part I, click here.

Molly Malloy’s, a new gastropub at the market, gave us a taste of Lancaster Brewing Company’s Shoo-Fly porter. Interesting.

These two look mischievious. On the left is Domenic Spataro, of Spataro’s Cheesesteaks, whose father opened up in 1947 as a buttermilk stand and at 94, still comes in to help out.

Rick touting one of his favorite market finds:  brussel sprouts from Benuel Kauffman of Kauffman’s Lancaster County Produce. As you can see, there are all kinds of other goodies he brings in from Lancaster.

Anna Florio of La Cucina at the Market hosted us in the lovely space she offers cooking classes.


Tommy DiNic’s roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe is a “transcendantal experience” according to Rick Nichols; I agree. Here is he is explaining how this masterpiece starts with a pork shoulder in the wee hours of the morning and is cooked long and lovingly until tender and ready for sandwiches. Even before the profiles from the Food Networks Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and the Travel Channels Man v. Food, the lines of people at lunchtime could be daunting.

General Manager, Paul Steinke walks us through the current market renovations, business strategy and goals for the future . . .

 While Anna Florio and friend prepares four kinds of apples for us to taste, generously donated by the Fair Food Farmstand. Rick’s new favorite is the Gold Rush with a lingering hint of ginger on the finish.

Details:

Reading Terminal Market
12th & Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA  19107
215.922.2317
Monday to Saturday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, Sunday 9:00 am to 5:oo pm 

Posted in Gathering, Reading Terminal Market

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Rick Nichols Tours Reading Terminal Market Part I

Posted on December 7, 2011 by alonna| Comments Off

When I saw that First Person Arts was sponsoring a tour of my beloved Reading Terminal Market featuring our beloved wordsmith . . .

Rick Nichols (yes, two beloveds), I jumped at the chance.

The market is undergoing another round of improvements which will allow room for 4 more vendors, upgrade the women’s bathroom, and add a community room to be named for Nichols in honor of his tireless efforts in the 1990s as a food writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer.  He was a part of an effort to persuade this city’s leaders to lend support to the ongoing viability of the market. It is hard to imagine today, as one tries to negotiate the conventioneer bloated aisles at lunchtime, that Reading Terminal Market was ever in danger of dying away. Uncertainty as to whether this treasure would survive was in question several times in the last couple of decades, so we are very fortunate.

My favorite stand at the market is the Fair Food Farmstand.  It was started on a folding table in 2001 by Judy Wicks, with the hope of connecting the local farmers who supplied the White Dog Cafe, with retail customers. Today they represent some 90 local farmers and producers at the farmstand, and nineteen of them are now making cheese.

Bassetts Ice Cream started serving ice cream in 1893 and is the oldest purveyor at Reading Terminal Market. Today Roger Bassett (seen above) and his cousin Michael Strange, are the fifth generation to keep their 40 flavors of premium ice cream churning.

Pennsylvania General Store, opened by Michael and Judy Holhan in 1987, is the best source for locally made foods and crafts. Outside of Lancaster County, they are one of the only places you can find Cope’s dried corn. Cookies, chocolates, apple butter and pepper jam are just a few of the foods they carry here.

Michael Holahan of the Pennsylvania General Store was one of the founders of the markets Forgotten Foods Festival. Shown here as one of the vendors.

Old friends!  Rick bumps into Jack McDavid, chef/owner of the Down Home Diner in the market, who are also both Forgotten Food instigators.

To be continued . . .

Details:

Reading Terminal Market
12th & Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA  19107
215.922.2317
Monday to Saturday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, Sunday 9:00 am to 5:oo pm 

Posted in Gathering, Reading Terminal Market

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