Pass The Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes . . . Please!

ARUGULA. Even the word sounds dreadful. Seven letters. Four syllables. It's the main ingredient of a nouveau salad. Sometimes the only ingredient.
You'd never confuse arugula with romaine or (God forbid!) plain old iceberg. It's not nearly as leafy or as substantial. But you might confuse it with something as common as grass clippings. But don't tell the purists. They're so into the stuff that they even crave baby arugula. (Why would anybody want to eat "baby" anything?)
This is the new world of faux food - foods, food supplements and adaptations of more basic foods that are now oh-so-chic I call them "designer foods." And designer foods make for phony meals.
I don't know how it all got started. But I do know
Click here to read the rest of my column in today's Philadelphia Daily News.

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza To Open Another Philly Area Restaurant

We love Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza and we're delighted to see that Anthony's will be opening another restaurant in the Philadelphia region.
Yes, Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza (ACFP), the South Florida-based concept that uses authentic coal-burning ovens to create “well done pizza,” will open its second restaurant in the these parts this month. The newest restaurant will be located in Wayne at 309 East Lancaster Avenue.
Founded by Anthony Bruno, Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza is best known for its high energy atmosphere, signature menu items, quality ingredients and of course, its use of 800-degree anthracite coal-burning ovens. Anthracite is known to be the “cleanest” of coals, burning smoke free with extremely high heat to create a unique taste and perfect pies. In addition to its famous pizzas, the restaurant’s simple and consistent menu features award-winning “Italian Soul Food” creations including coal-oven-roasted chicken wings with caramelized onions, pork ribs with vinegar peppers, home-style meatballs made from a Bruno family recipe, and Eggplant Marino.
“We’re excited about bringing our brand of authentic pizza and Italian Soul Food to the neighborhoods where people really know good pizza when they taste it,” said Bruno. “We’ve received a tremendous response to our recently opened Horsham location, and we’re very pleased to begin expanding throughout the Northeast.”
Besides Bruno, ACFP’s notable partners include Hall of Fame football legend Dan Marino. Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza launched in 2002 and has grown to over 20 restaurants throughout Florida, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Earlier this year, Anthony’s successfully debuted in Wilmington, DE and Horsham with additional expansion plans scheduled for White Plains and Carle Place, NY later this year.
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza’s food and service have continually been ranked “very good to excellent” by Zagat Survey, the distinguished dining and entertainment ratings guide, and ACFP is rated as a “Top Restaurant” in Zagat’s 2010 Miami/South Florida edition. Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza was also voted Best Pizza by The Miami Herald and Miami.com’s “The Best of South Florida Survey.”

Hours of operation for the Wayne restaurant are from 11:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday. In addition to dining in, patrons have the option of carry out.
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza has 20 locations in Florida, serving the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and St. Petersburg-Tampa-Orlando regions, as well as restaurants in Wilmington, DE, and Philadelphia.
For our review of Anthony's (posted when we visited their Wilmngton location) click here.
And don't forget to visit www.anthonyscoalfiredpizza.com for more information.

The Finer Diner

The original Brooklyn Diner on 57th St. in Manhattan is NOT your typical diner. In fact this place calls itself "the finer diner" and it lives up to its name with table linens, superb service and an excellent bar.

Yesterday we enjoyed this divinely unique eatery once again.

Celebrating American ethnic dishes found all over Brooklyn, the menu features the kind of real food you crave to eat, just like your mother used to make…only better. Every part of Brooklyn is represented by Jewish, Italian, Irish & other ethnic favorites. And every childhood fantasy is fulfilled by the enormous desserts, all baked on the premises every day.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch (weekends 8 till 3) and late night snacks are always available at this cozy spot where we've often seen stars including Tony Bennett, Nathan Lane and Linda Lavin. (We're told that Seinfeld is a frequent guest but we haven't seen him yet.)

Our favorites: the spectacular 15-Bite All Beef Hot Dog; the cheeseburger deluxe, the roast organic turkey "club" with mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce and the hot corned beef special. Sundaes are incredible. The cheesecake is dreamy and the lemon meringue pie is as high as a skyscraper.

BTW: The Brooklyn Diner is also now open at Times Square on 155 W. 43th St. with its own special menu.

Go! Enjoy!