The dinner at Knife and Fork was fantastic when I visited in April 2011.

Tuna Tartare, French Onion Soup, Wedge Salad, Spring Mix Salad, Fantastic Potatoes, Filet Oscar and the most unusual lump crab cake I’ve ever seen are pictured.

Chicken, Beef and Seafood were all fondued along with a cheddar/beer mix appetizer and chocolate fondue dessert.

What have you done with our beloved Tasty-Klair Pie?????

I used to look forward to consuming the delicious 21 grams of fat, washed down with an ice cold glass of whole milk.

At first, I thought it was some sort of a one-time manufacturing deficiency at your new high-tech bakery at the Naval Ship Yard… I was comfortable sleeping at night knowing I must have gotten into a bad batch, and all would be well the next time I stopped into the local Wawa on my way home from somewhere.

… and then it happened again. … and yet I still made excuses.

It turns out, that was a case of denial.

You have changed one of the greatest baked products in the history of Philadelphia to a sad, crumbly shell of what it once was.

… and I’m absolutely certain the problem was caused by the change in baking locations.

I have no idea how the old pies were baked. Probably in some huge multi-pie muffin-style pan…. I’m thinking maybe 12 or 16 per tray… an employee lovingly squirting the eclair filling into them, and further down the line another placing the tops on. After a short ride through a Hunting Park oven, they’d pop out on the other side, where after a brief cool down, another long-time employee (no doubt in a hairnet) would paint the chocolate icing on top. Another moment or two later, someone else would cover them in a wax-paper and gently place them into the box…. where during shipment the plastic would stick to the chocolate (or is it vice-versa?) At least this is how my slightly demented Tasty-Klair fantasy goes.

As opposed to now, where some soulless machine assembles these “recipes” in their new-fangled tin trays in a dispassionate emotionless way, not caring that the product doesn’t hardly resemble the packaging, and not being aware of the generations of fans, who care for this product with all of their soul. Not knowing what “Nobody bakes a cake” even means, or the joy that the jingle brought to our hearts.

I’ve included some pictures for reference.

To the right, is the Tasty-Klair and it’s box. Note how the pie has a stripe of chocolate down the middle. It’s sad. Look at the box. It has chocolate from coast to coast. Literally 66% of the chocolate promised to me on the box is absent. I noticed that. Don’t think for a second that the rest of the Delaware Valley didn’t either. It’s embarrassing… that kind of short-changing makes Oompa-Loompas cry.

Evidence B.

The tray. I think that’s the cause of all of the all problems. Why? Because it’s a fundamental change in the baking process. I suspect the ‘Klairs after they are baked run single file underneath a chocolate striping machine, very conservatively applying a stripe down the middle. The old pies probably glided past a Tasty Baking expert who applied the icing to the top.

I regret not taking a picture of the current Tasty-Klair with a bite or two taken off of it, so you could see down the end of it. It’s a lame trapezoid. Flat on top, tray shaped on the bottom. Compare that to the top most picture, one I shamelessly stole from Amazon… which depicts the old Tastyklair.

The one I loved. It was hexagonal! Tray shaped on the bottom, to be sure, but it had a very definitive hump on top… and it was full of eclair filling. Not Tasty-Klair 2.0. There was the same filling, but it doesn’t seem like nearly enough, and it wasn’t full to the brim.

My other Tastybaking fan friends, including co-blogger Lisa Mossie, contend that the product line changed with the removal of trans-fats. Maybe that’s true. The crust isn’t as tough or sturdy like I remember. I still enjoy the other products, in particular the buttercream iced Chocolate Cupcakes “with the stripe.” But damn… why’d you have to go and change the Tasty-Klair?

I ask again, Tastybakers, What’s the Tray For?

It’s a shame, though no surprise, when I read that your revenues are down lately. I can absolutely see why. You’ve lost sight of your core competency and fell pray to business school buzz-words.

I’ve got a limited-time-only “Black and White” Tastykake pie waiting for tomorrow. I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

A burger joint that doesn’t have bacon as an option.

Really.

Elevation Burger is one of the newest residents as the 18 month old Providence Town Center. The center was planned when real estate was booming and retail space in this part of Montgomery County was sparse. It joins a PF Changs, Olive Garden, Zoup! in addition to a Wegmans, Dick’s and Best Buy.

Elevation Burger advertises itself as a environmentally friendly burger joint. 100% organic products, grass fed free range beef, french fries made in olive oil, flourescent light bulbs and furniture that uses bamboo…. and they have a simple menu that reflects that.

Burgers, veggie burgers, fries, salads and ….. grilled cheese.

My wife ordered the grilled cheese. It’s a sandwich with cheddar on a hamburger bun. She added a slice of tomato.

Mrs Fatman rated the grilled cheese a “meh”. Her problem with it was in the assembly. It wasn’t grilled, it was warmed/toasted. Instead of a tomato between two slices of melted cheese, properly warming the tomato, it was done “bread, tomato, cheese, cheese, bread.” … leaving her with a cold tomato slice.

I had a cheeseburger. I didn’t know it was an eco-burger joint so I ordered a burger with bacon. Bzzt. Despite their taste, I guess pigs aren’t environmentally friendly.

As for the burger, it was merely alright. It was juicy, to be sure, but I can’t say it was super flavorful. Assembled upside-down, Sonic style, it held together well, much like my previous experience at Gino’s. I’m glad restaurants are starting to get this right. The cheddar on top of the sandwich was good, a nice change of pace from tasteless plain jane American cheese.

A few words about the fries. I like thick steak fries that aren’t crispy, or thin shoestring fries that ARE crispy. The olive oil fried potatoes at Elevation Burger were, to my palette, lame. Thin, limp shoestrings with an odd flavor…. I want to say vinegary, but that wouldn’t be right. Greasy though. Salt + pepper + ketchup could not save them.

The soda fountain did have Wild Bills Root Beer which is a must-have. Of course it was empty.

Elevation Burger also gives you the option of getting your burger stacked “In-n-Out” style. Like 10 patties high…. It’s called the Vertigo Burger. While bacon & pigs aren’t environmentally friendly, I suppose maximal gluttony is.

When you combine the average food with the self-congratulating environmentalism which abounds (signs on the walls, on the cups and the napkins), I don’t anticipate returning for another.

Elevation Burger
201 Plaza Dr
Collegeville, PA 19426
(610) 831-1360

Being 4 or 5 years old when they closed, I can’t say I remember the food. But I definitely kept the memories.

Two years ago, discussing old restaurants with Jake, we both recalled the Gino’s franchise. Googling the restaurant yielded good news.

They were making a comeback.

… and today was the opening day.

My wife & I joined friends for lunch today at their first location, across from the Mall in King of Prussia. As expected on the first day, parking was a pain…. but the ordering was quick and effortless.

The menu is not very complicated, burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads and fries.

They were quite busy (as expected) and our food was delivered to our table in about 25 minute minutes.

I ordered a Gino’s Giant (with Bacon) and my wife had a Bacon Cheeseburger, both with fries. Two patties, lettuce, tomato and onions with a very sesame’d bun. The only difference between the two was the Giant came with “special sauce” which was alot like Russian dressing. Our companion had a better memory of the original sandwich and commented that it used to have a middle bread layer, not unlike the Big Mac, which it competed with. But he said the special sauce was spot on.

The burgers were quite tasty, juicy and perfectly cooked. As with most “stacked” burgers, I expected the meat to slide out the back of the bun in a drippy mess. Thankfully, this was not the case. The bun held the contents until the last bite.

The hand cut fries were also perfectly prepared, not too crispy and not too soggy. A splash of ketchup and a dash of salt & pepper completed them. Also offered are cheese fries, but we declined on this trip.

I fully expect that a bunch of their business will be nostalgia based. “Hey remember that place?!?!” In fact, a guy at the next table over asked us how we knew about the opening, and if we remembered the original. It turns out he was friends with the COO, Tom Romano.

Overall, this is among the best fast food burgers I’ve ever sampled. It’s up there with the former Ray’s Burger & Fries in Collegeville and 5 Guys (all over)…. better in fact.

We’re looking forward to the next visit.

611 West DeKalb Pike
King of Prussia, Pa
http://ginosgiant.com/

The Varsity Inn appears in all the old postcard and photo books of Ocean City, NJ in days of yore…it has operated under different names but has been the Varsity Inn since 1969.  I had never been inside until this past summer when my brother and I had breakfast there on his recommendation.  The breakfast was delicious, with omelettes freshly prepared and the crowded but fast moving dining room waited on with adequate attention.

Signs outside, inside and on the menu all boast of the Varsity Inn’s Baked Jersey Tomato Soup.  So famous they advertise quarts and pints of it on the menu.  Not really being a breakfast item, I resolved to return some time for lunch to try to the soup.

A crisp and overcast autumn Sunday saw me in Ocean City and looking for a place to have lunch with my mom and my brother.  I suggested the Varsity Inn and was not disappointed.  The restaurant was every bit as crowded in October as it is in July and it’s open year round for breakfast and lunch.

The soup did not disappoint.  It was creamy, freshly made, topped with a light cheese and crouton crust and my mom and I both savored each bite.  My brother ordered the chili which he reported was a little spicy (the way he likes it) and it was also topped with cheese and fresh chopped onions.

I ordered the turkey special (cole slaw and russian dressing on rye).  The Varsity roasts its own turkey breast which always scores high marks with me.   Nothing is worse than lunchmeat turkey.  The sandwich was very good, served with a small bag of chips and two pickle slices.

My brother ordered the chicken salad wrap and the freshly made chicken salad looked very good.  My mother ordered a roast beef club which was perfectly prepared – not too large but with moist roast beef and fresh lettuce and tomato.

All told I will make it a point to visit the Varsity on my next trip to the shore and I recommend it for both breakfast and lunch.  Or go for breakfast and get some take out soup for later.  It’s worth it.  The menu is extensive for both breakfast and lunch with daily specials.  The usual breakfast offerings along with a menu heavy on sandwiches and salads for lunch.

The varsity theme is carried throughout the decor with college pennants hung around the pressed metal roof.

Varsity Inn

605 E 8th St
Ocean City, NJ 08226
(609) 399-1500

Having enjoyed privately catered events and several meals at Toto Schiavone’s Moonstruck restaurant I was excited to find that he was opening a new restaurant close to my home in Blue Bell.  I had read about the concept:  A small number of full dinner plates but mostly “small plates”.  Some are appetizer sized, some a little larger.  They recommend you order 3 or 4 “Assagi” (Italian for ‘taste’) if you’re looking to make a meal out of the small plates.

Since I love to taste a little bit of everything I was looking forward to visiting Radice and waited for about six weeks after opening to let them work out any kinks.  My party of three adults and one 8 year old was greeted at the door by Toto himself, who seemed to be on site until around 7:30 p.m. or so.

We were immediately seated in the pleasant dining room.  Despite hardwood floors, noisewas not a problem in the main dining room but I imagine when the restaurant is full in both the front and rear (opened up nicely since it was a private dining room in the prior restaurants at this location) it can get noisy.  A wood fired oven dominates the semi-open kitchen and is utilized for many dishes and the pizzas.

Drink orders were taken and delivered quickly and the waitress explained the menu concept and answered questions.  My friend Paul, working in the kitchen, also visited the table and made recommendations as well.

Toto stopped by and let us know that the kitchen would make anything the 8 year old would like for dinner.  She asked for some pasta and tomato sauce.  They accommodated her and she was quite pleased with the offering, finishing almost all of it (and tasting a lot of the food served to the adults).

A variety of three different kinds of fresh bread was served with olive oil and herbs.  A “Wedge” salad made with Bibb lettuce, pancetta and bleu cheese was reported to be excellent and Ruchetta Arugula salad I had was excellent (and plentiful).

The Braciolini, delicate but generous meatballs, were shared by three of us and were very good.  Tender and flavorful, not at all heavy with a flavorful tomato sauce.  The creamy gorgonzola

Bibb "Wedge" Salad

gnocchi were heaven.   The sauce with just enough flavor to compliment but not overpower the light and freshly made gnocchi.  The other small plate I enjoyed, Frascatole, a ricotta polenta was served volcanically hot.  It was very tasty but the scalding from my first bite took away from my enjoyment of it.  The polenta was moist and creamy and I would try it again but probably be more careful on my first bite.

Arugala Salad

Baby Clams

Seafood small plates were more a mixed bag.  The baby clams were reported to be tasty and the bed of small pasta balls underneath were eaten until the plate was clean.  Also reported to be excellent was the grilled squid which looked appetizing even though I don’t enjoy squid.  The scallops were served mashed into a crab cake style presentation and were not as highly recommended as the other two dishes.  More a case of “not what I expected” then anything being especially wrong with them.

A pizza topped with spinach, prosciutto, and goat cheese (I think) was enjoyed by the person who ordered it but not by her husband who tasted it.

Dessert was a little hodge podge.  Cappucino was served before the dessert order was taken and was strong but reported to be very tasty.  Chocolate gelato and blackberry gelato were served with a homemade chocolate biscotti that was not too hard and looked tasty.  I ordered peaches warmed with an orange liquor sauce and served with a scoop of vanilla gelato.  The last dessert of the evening was mixed berries served in a light cream.

The gelato was tasty.  My peach dessert was also very tasty, though it probably needed an extra scoop of gelato to go with the generous serving of peaches.  The mixed berries were more of a mixed bag.  They were just “ok”, with some berries being very hot and other being ice cold.   But 3 out of 4 wasn’t bad and the berries may have just had an off night.

However, the desserts did come out scattershot, 1 first, then 2, then the berries after everyone had finished their other desserts.  The waitress did apologize profusely for the delay and did update on us the delay when the 2nd round of desserts was delivered.  Attentiveness provides for a lot of forgiveness.

Radice

722 W. Dekalb Pike

Village Square Shopping Center

Blue Bell, PA

www.radicerestaurant.com

Nick's Roast Beef Sandwich (Courtesy of Philly Inquirer)

Radio host Glen Macnow’s annual sandwich safari is coming to a close and the top winners are chronicled in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.

The top sandwich was a hot roast beef sandwich from the original Nick’s Roast Beef in South Philadelphia. I must admit my one experience with Nick’s Roast Beef was underwhelming but I’m inspired to give it a second try.  Thus far, for my money, Ye Olde Ale House in Lafayette Hill still serves the best roast beef sandwiches I’ve ever had — carved from a steamship round behind the bar.

The full list of nearly 40 sandwiches in competition can be found here.

We were not disappointed.  Located off of Route 202 in New Britain, Bucks County it is tough to avoid noticing the Duck Deli with its animated duck welcoming you.

Glass bottle sodas from the cold case.

While we waited for the dining room to finish being vacuumed we perused the large selection of barbecue sauces for sale and some of the dessert offerings displayed in the glass case.  We were quickly seated and ordered some glass bottle sodas and unsweetened iced tea.  Fountain sodas are also available.

The menu is big, with sandwiches, platters, salads, appetizers — a little bit of everything.

I have had the legendary tuna hoagie on previous visits — it is a tuna steak grilled and cubed tossed in a light mayonnaise.  It was good, but it was not my cup of tea.  But tuna lovers rightly revere it.

Legendary Wings

We ordered hush puppies (fried cornmeal) with honey butter dipping sauce and a small order of buffalo wings.  The hush puppies were tasty and perfectly fried.  The buffalo wings were another matter.

The main eater of buffalo wings declared these genuine wings “the best buffalo wings I have ever had”.  These are not your little drumsticks and wings that you’re used to getting.  These were real portions of bird cut to order.  The table was rightly impressed with them and while I am not a lover of wings (though I do enjoy them), these were like getting a meal and very well done.  They were meaty, not deep fried but smoked and grilled like the rest of the barbecue we had that day.

Beef BBQ Sandwich

Pulled pork, chicken and beef was tasty and moist.  The ribs were meaty and large and reported to be very good as was a beef barbecue sandwich ordered by the 7 year old in the group (but she complained the bbq sauce was a little too spicy for her tastes).  A Texas brisket was also well prepared and tasty.  Two sauces are placed on the table, both made by the house.  One a tomato based variety was very good.  A North Carolina vinegar based sauce was well done, but not my preference for flavor.

Texas Brisket Platter

At the old Hickory Pit in North Wales, which went out of business about 3 or 4 years ago, they offered a Carolina style mustard and apple cider vinegar sauce I found addictive on my chopped chicken.  I haven’t found it since.

We did not partake of the dessert offerings.  Who could eat with the included baked beans, cole slaw, hush puppies, fries and other side dishes?

Platters are affordable but not cheap but all of the meat is smoked on premises and very well presented.

Beef, Pork, Chicken Combo Platter

The Duck Deli BBQ Restaurant

524 E. Butler Avenue (Rt. 202)
New Britain, PA 18901
(267) 880-1190
FAX 267-880-3667

www.duckdeli.com

Rib Platter