Molly Molloy's Menus
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Breakfast
Lunch/Dinner
Bar menu
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Market Renovations Update
Plastic sheeting and temporary construction walls adorn the east end of the Reading Terminal Market as its renovation program builds steam.
All cold storage has moved to the basement as work begins on two family bathrooms under the market's mezzanine management office. Once the new lavs are ready, temporary access changes to the men's room will be made so that work can begin on the new home for La Cucina at the Market.
Meanwhile work is underway at DiNic 's new center court location in the former Harry Ochs space; owner Tom Nicolosi hopes for a late November opening. L. Halteman, which will shift west to take over the former flower vendor space, has positioned a new refrigerated display case there in anticipation of its move later this fall.
One casualty of the renovations has been the market's free wi-fi service, which had to be temporarily shut when work started on its remodeled mezzanine offices. When the new office opens about mid-November a new and improved wi-fi system will be installed.
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| L. Halteman added new cases in preparation for move |
All cold storage has moved to the basement as work begins on two family bathrooms under the market's mezzanine management office. Once the new lavs are ready, temporary access changes to the men's room will be made so that work can begin on the new home for La Cucina at the Market.
Meanwhile work is underway at DiNic 's new center court location in the former Harry Ochs space; owner Tom Nicolosi hopes for a late November opening. L. Halteman, which will shift west to take over the former flower vendor space, has positioned a new refrigerated display case there in anticipation of its move later this fall.
One casualty of the renovations has been the market's free wi-fi service, which had to be temporarily shut when work started on its remodeled mezzanine offices. When the new office opens about mid-November a new and improved wi-fi system will be installed.
Molly Molloy's Opens
Will seek Market's okay on beer for center court
The Iovine's opened gastropub Molly Molloy's at the Reading Terminal Market this morning. Named after brothers Jim and Vinnie Iovine's mother, the pub replaces the considerably more downscale Beer Garden.
The only detail to be resolved is whether customers can take beer into center court to enjoy with items bought from other market vendors. Jim Iovine told me their license allows them to sell beer for consumption in market seating areas, but they have yet to present their request to market management, which must also approve any such plan.
Paul Steinke, the RTM's general manager, told me today that when the Iovines get around to making a formal request "it's a policy matter we have to deal with." Beyond operational issues, liability will be a key question, i.e., who's the responsible party for an alcohol-related incident outside of Molly Molloy's but within the market? Until that's resolved, you'll have to enjoy the craft beers offered by Molly Molloy's within the confines of the gastropub.
Although beer sales are strictly on-premises for now, there is a take-out counter for food. I tried it for a late breakfast this morning and found chef Bobby Fisher's French toast with berry sauce quite good, accompanied by a sagey scrapple. While I was enjoying that at a center court table, Tom Nicolosi of DiNic's had an early lunch of something else with French in its name: onion soup; he noted with approval that it was made from homemade stock, not an institutional salt-based broth.
No menu has been posted at the restaurant's website yet, but Menupages has one, even if they misspell its name. Hot sandwiches include braised oxtail, pork belly, rib eye, pulled chicken, and burgers. Irish beef stew, fish and chips, short ribs and chicken pot pies are among the entrees. And since the bar's focus is beer, there are wings.
There isn't a lot of overlap on the menu with what's offered by other RTM lunch vendors, but of all the others the one most likely to be concerned would be the Down Home Diner, which also offers a large seating area independent of center court and similar foodie aspirations. My guess is that Molly Molloy's won't so much take away business from the Down Home Diner as grow its own volume. And if it gets permission to sell beer in plastic cups for travel to center court, it can only help other sandwich vendors (though their profitable soft drink sales may suffer).
Will seek Market's okay on beer for center court
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| Plenty of taps await beer lovers at Molly Molloy's |
The only detail to be resolved is whether customers can take beer into center court to enjoy with items bought from other market vendors. Jim Iovine told me their license allows them to sell beer for consumption in market seating areas, but they have yet to present their request to market management, which must also approve any such plan.
Paul Steinke, the RTM's general manager, told me today that when the Iovines get around to making a formal request "it's a policy matter we have to deal with." Beyond operational issues, liability will be a key question, i.e., who's the responsible party for an alcohol-related incident outside of Molly Molloy's but within the market? Until that's resolved, you'll have to enjoy the craft beers offered by Molly Molloy's within the confines of the gastropub.
Although beer sales are strictly on-premises for now, there is a take-out counter for food. I tried it for a late breakfast this morning and found chef Bobby Fisher's French toast with berry sauce quite good, accompanied by a sagey scrapple. While I was enjoying that at a center court table, Tom Nicolosi of DiNic's had an early lunch of something else with French in its name: onion soup; he noted with approval that it was made from homemade stock, not an institutional salt-based broth.
No menu has been posted at the restaurant's website yet, but Menupages has one, even if they misspell its name. Hot sandwiches include braised oxtail, pork belly, rib eye, pulled chicken, and burgers. Irish beef stew, fish and chips, short ribs and chicken pot pies are among the entrees. And since the bar's focus is beer, there are wings.
There isn't a lot of overlap on the menu with what's offered by other RTM lunch vendors, but of all the others the one most likely to be concerned would be the Down Home Diner, which also offers a large seating area independent of center court and similar foodie aspirations. My guess is that Molly Molloy's won't so much take away business from the Down Home Diner as grow its own volume. And if it gets permission to sell beer in plastic cups for travel to center court, it can only help other sandwich vendors (though their profitable soft drink sales may suffer).
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The stars are shining bright when I arrive shortly after the official 6 a.m. Saturday opening of the Dane County Farrmers Market in Madison, Wisconsin. This is America's Dairyland (the auto license plates say so), even under the state capitol dome, as the Chula Vista cheese truck attests.
After my initial walk around Capitol Square, where about a hundred vendors are setting up shop, and a leisurely cup of coffee in the Starbucks, dawn breaks and I repeat my farmers market circuit, this time going counter-clockwise around the big block, which is the required direction; go clockwise and you'll get polite stares from the other early shoppers.
All my previous visits to this market (probably the nation's largest true farmers market; you can't sell here unless you grow, raise or make it yourself) have been in early spring when meats, cheeses and baked goods predominate with only a scatteing of early spring crops. Today, however, boasted the last of summer and hearty fall fare. Four or five vendors offered late season raspberries, many others had tomatoes (some, though, finished under hoop houses), but there were plenty of winter squashes and apples, too.
The grower pictured above was selling a great variety of tomatoes, including heirlooms, all grown in the field without benefit of hoop houses. At less than a dollar a pound these beauties were bargains.
Apples, however were my main area of interest, since they were one of the few products I could bring back to the hotel and maybe even back home to Philadelphia.
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| Suncrisps from Pleasant Valley Orchard |
Another vendor claimed 30 varieties, including some lesser known commercial cultivars: Haralson, Regent, Sonata, Suncrisp (a yellow Cox Orange Pippin-Golden Delicious cross popular in the Midwest), Keepsake, Swiss Gourmet, Northern Spy, Blushing Golden, and Melrose.
For those with any interest in learning about these or any other variety, I commend the Cox Orange Pippin website, which hardly limits itself to my favorite variety.
My words can hardly do justice to the variety of produce I discovered this morning, so pictures (annotated with a just a little verbiage) follow. As always, click on a photo for an enlarged version.
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| The harvest of winter squashes just peaked |
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| Mums, of course, dominated the flower stalls |
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| Only one vendor offered still offered sweet corn, but a few more had plenty of popcorn |
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| Beauty Heart radishes look like what is labeled a watermelon radish in Philadelphia |
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| Celeriac and chiogga beets |
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| Urban pumpkin patch |
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| Want some winter squashes? |
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| More winter squashes, and some winter greens |
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| This season's garlic is nicely dried |
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| Lots of peppers |
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| If you eat like a bird... |
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| Berkshire pork is hard to find, especially at these (relative) bargin prices |
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| Local potatoes and radicchio, among other veggies |
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| Cruciferous vegetables weren't lacking |
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| One-stop shopping for vegetable soup |
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| String beans, parsnips, carrots, daikon radishes |
Sunday, October 09, 2011
PorcSalt's Nitrate-Nitrite Screed
A welcome riposte to the food police
For centuries, according to Matthew Ridgway of PorcSalt (Headhouse Square's newest vendor, selling some awesome, though necessarily pricey, charcuterie), meats were cured with salt and saltpeter, a.k.a. sodium nitrate, which when in contact with natural bacteria in meats is converted to nitrite. Today, pure nitrite, or in combination with nitrite, is used in exceedingly small quantities by commercial bacon, ham and other commercial cured meat manufacturers.
At his Headhouse stall today, amid the bacon, guanciale, and foie gras, Matthew had copies of a "white paper" on his table entitled "The Truth About the Dreaded Nitrate..." In it, Matthew recounts the misleading nitrate cancer-scare of the 1970s and exposes the sham of the "no-added nitrate" products sold by Whole Foods and other purveyors.
By using dried celery juice in the cures, these "no-added nitrate" products have considerably more nitrate-nitrite than commercial products. The fact that these nitrates are derived from vegetables rather than natural minerals is irrelevant: nitrate is nitrate, nitrite is nitrite, no matter the source -- it's the same molecule.
Now, this doesn't mean that the added dried celery juice (or mineral nitrate) is a bad thing. It's made "natural" hot dogs and hams much more palatable (the truly nitrate/nitrite-free versions are awful) and considerably safer than they would be without them.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits meats cured with pure nitrate or nitrate from being labelled "organic" or "natural", Matthew writes. So the marketers go out of their way to use the vegetable-based nitrates, even though celery has 400 times the nitrites of a slice of commercial bacon, according to the cured meat maven. You'd get considerably more nitrites from a serving of spinach than commercial bacon.
As Matthew concludes, "Numerous scientific panels have evaluated sodium nitrite safety and the conclusions have essentially been the same: sodium nitrite is not only safe, it's an essential public health tool because it has a proven track record of preventing botulism."
No wonder Dr. Brown's Cel-ray Tonic (my favorite quaff with a pastrami sandwich, cured with nitrate/nitrite) was originally marketed as a health food.
Stop by Matthew's PorcSalt stall at either Headhouse or the Saturday Rittenhouse market to pick up the white paper slong with some of his tasty charcuterie.
A welcome riposte to the food police
For centuries, according to Matthew Ridgway of PorcSalt (Headhouse Square's newest vendor, selling some awesome, though necessarily pricey, charcuterie), meats were cured with salt and saltpeter, a.k.a. sodium nitrate, which when in contact with natural bacteria in meats is converted to nitrite. Today, pure nitrite, or in combination with nitrite, is used in exceedingly small quantities by commercial bacon, ham and other commercial cured meat manufacturers.
At his Headhouse stall today, amid the bacon, guanciale, and foie gras, Matthew had copies of a "white paper" on his table entitled "The Truth About the Dreaded Nitrate..." In it, Matthew recounts the misleading nitrate cancer-scare of the 1970s and exposes the sham of the "no-added nitrate" products sold by Whole Foods and other purveyors.
By using dried celery juice in the cures, these "no-added nitrate" products have considerably more nitrate-nitrite than commercial products. The fact that these nitrates are derived from vegetables rather than natural minerals is irrelevant: nitrate is nitrate, nitrite is nitrite, no matter the source -- it's the same molecule.
Now, this doesn't mean that the added dried celery juice (or mineral nitrate) is a bad thing. It's made "natural" hot dogs and hams much more palatable (the truly nitrate/nitrite-free versions are awful) and considerably safer than they would be without them.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits meats cured with pure nitrate or nitrate from being labelled "organic" or "natural", Matthew writes. So the marketers go out of their way to use the vegetable-based nitrates, even though celery has 400 times the nitrites of a slice of commercial bacon, according to the cured meat maven. You'd get considerably more nitrites from a serving of spinach than commercial bacon.
As Matthew concludes, "Numerous scientific panels have evaluated sodium nitrite safety and the conclusions have essentially been the same: sodium nitrite is not only safe, it's an essential public health tool because it has a proven track record of preventing botulism."
No wonder Dr. Brown's Cel-ray Tonic (my favorite quaff with a pastrami sandwich, cured with nitrate/nitrite) was originally marketed as a health food.
Stop by Matthew's PorcSalt stall at either Headhouse or the Saturday Rittenhouse market to pick up the white paper slong with some of his tasty charcuterie.
Vendors Crowd Headhouse
More vendors sold their goods at the Headhouse Square Farmers Market today than any other Sunday so far this season. Katy Wich, who manages the market for The Food Trust, said 34 different vendors showed up today, including one new one, PorcSalt, which has been an occasional vendor at the Rittenhouse Saturday market this year.
With produce tables groaning under the weight of apples, squashes, potatoes and other harvest goodies, it's my favorite time of year to wander farmers' markets.
Because the larder's rather well-stocked at home, my purchases were minimal. The only "must" item on my list was apples.
And what a selection! Three Springs, Beechwood and North Star all offered great variety, most priced at $2 to $2.50 a pound -- more than what you'd pay at the supermarket, but all fresh-picked off the tree.
My big score was an Espopus Spitzenberg. This apple holds a special place in my heart, but not merely because it tastes so good (definitely on the tart side, but enough sugar to balance it out, plus a crisp, dense flesh). No, it's among my favorites because its named for the creek (Esopus) where I used to swim -- or at least get into the icy cold water -- during family vacations in the northern Catskills, in the Big Indian-Oliveria valley. This apple, great for out-of-hand eating or baking, was available today from North Star. Of all the apples offered by North Star this week, it's the one true antique. It was reputed to be one of Thomas Jefferson's favorite.
Over at Beechwood Orchards, Dave Garrettson offered another American antique, the Northern Spy. Although it can be enjoyed as a dessert apple, i.e., eaten out-of-hand, and is an excellent storage variety, it's highest use is in pies. Since my available kitchen time this week is extremely limited, I reluctantly passed these beauties by.
Instead, I picked up some Macouns, Winesaps and the latter's even tastier offspring, Stayman, all from Beechwood.
Of course, if you're stocking apples for plain eating, you've got to get some cheese as an accompaniment. For that part of the equation I stopped by Sue Miller's Birchrun Hills Farm stall where I picked up her Red Cat. This is a washed-rind cheese, slightly pungent (most washed rind cheeses are stinkier) and creamy.
The main course for tonight's dinner also came from Sue: bockwurst, a traditional German sausage traditionally all-veal or mostly veal with a bit of pork. I'll cook it tonight with sauerkraut braised in unpasteurized apple cider mixed with mustard, maybe throwing in some carraway seeds. Which reminds me, gotta put some beer in the fridge. Although mashed potatoes would be the ideal side, I picked up some rye bread from Ric's.
With produce tables groaning under the weight of apples, squashes, potatoes and other harvest goodies, it's my favorite time of year to wander farmers' markets.
Because the larder's rather well-stocked at home, my purchases were minimal. The only "must" item on my list was apples.
And what a selection! Three Springs, Beechwood and North Star all offered great variety, most priced at $2 to $2.50 a pound -- more than what you'd pay at the supermarket, but all fresh-picked off the tree.
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| Esopus Spitzenberg apple |
Over at Beechwood Orchards, Dave Garrettson offered another American antique, the Northern Spy. Although it can be enjoyed as a dessert apple, i.e., eaten out-of-hand, and is an excellent storage variety, it's highest use is in pies. Since my available kitchen time this week is extremely limited, I reluctantly passed these beauties by.
Instead, I picked up some Macouns, Winesaps and the latter's even tastier offspring, Stayman, all from Beechwood.
Of course, if you're stocking apples for plain eating, you've got to get some cheese as an accompaniment. For that part of the equation I stopped by Sue Miller's Birchrun Hills Farm stall where I picked up her Red Cat. This is a washed-rind cheese, slightly pungent (most washed rind cheeses are stinkier) and creamy.
The main course for tonight's dinner also came from Sue: bockwurst, a traditional German sausage traditionally all-veal or mostly veal with a bit of pork. I'll cook it tonight with sauerkraut braised in unpasteurized apple cider mixed with mustard, maybe throwing in some carraway seeds. Which reminds me, gotta put some beer in the fridge. Although mashed potatoes would be the ideal side, I picked up some rye bread from Ric's.
Halteman'sArt Work
When Iovine Brother's Produce expanded its prep area few years back, the walls came tumbling down and, with them, the rustic, primitive farm scenes painted on them opposite L. Halteman Family Country Foods.
Maybe I missed it earlier, but one of those painted panels remains (pictured here). It's located on the aisle behind Halteman's opposite what will soon become Molly Molloy's, formerly The Beer Garden.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
RTM Construction Update
It will probably be another week or so before DiNic's begins construction on its new Reading Terminal Market home, the former Harry Ochs stall. With all permits and designs in hand, the work will begin once a contractor is selected from from the bids received.
This past Saturday Jimmy Iovine was sweeping up inside the now vacant Beer Garden space which is tentatively scheduled to reopen in mid-October as Molly Molloy's. This week a new floor is due to be installed.
Along Avenue D in back of the Beer Garden temporary construction walls are up as crews work in that area. The storage and prep areas there have been permanently relocated to the basement. Meanwhile, work continues above Tootsie's Salad Express on the expanded market office.
It will probably be another week or so before DiNic's begins construction on its new Reading Terminal Market home, the former Harry Ochs stall. With all permits and designs in hand, the work will begin once a contractor is selected from from the bids received.
This past Saturday Jimmy Iovine was sweeping up inside the now vacant Beer Garden space which is tentatively scheduled to reopen in mid-October as Molly Molloy's. This week a new floor is due to be installed.
Along Avenue D in back of the Beer Garden temporary construction walls are up as crews work in that area. The storage and prep areas there have been permanently relocated to the basement. Meanwhile, work continues above Tootsie's Salad Express on the expanded market office.
Of Pork, Rabe and Spinach
Once upon a time, the roast pork sandwich at DiNic's at the Reading Terminal Market could be had with only one green: spinach. Tom and Joe Nicolosi, the father-son team which operates the Center Court stall, tried adding broccoli rabe, but no one wanted it.
That changed a couple years ago when DiNic's reintroduced the bitter green. Tastes change and now it's a hit. This Saturday Joe was tending to five trays of rabe for cooking with oil and garlic, vs. two of spinach; considering that the spinach weighs less than the rabe per volume of measurement and has a lower yield, the rabe probably outsells spinach by a ratio of nearly 10-to-1. Although you could hardly go wrong my ordering a sandwich with aged provolone and spinach, I go for the rabe, which offers a clear balance between the sweetness of the pork and bitterness of the green.
Lately I've been indulging in breakfast sandwiches from The Grill at Smucker's. Moses Smucker and his crew offer a meaty start to the morning, piling on plenty of ham, bacon, sausage of pork roll atop a roll also filled with egg and/or cheese. The pork roll comes from John F. Martin in the Lancaster/Berks area; it's good, though lacks the spicy punch of the original Jersey variety from either Taylor or Case. The sausage breakfast sandwich comes with two patties which are both the size of a hamburger; the sausage seems to be flavored with a bit of onion rather than sage, but that's no sacrifice to my taste.
Once upon a time, the roast pork sandwich at DiNic's at the Reading Terminal Market could be had with only one green: spinach. Tom and Joe Nicolosi, the father-son team which operates the Center Court stall, tried adding broccoli rabe, but no one wanted it.
That changed a couple years ago when DiNic's reintroduced the bitter green. Tastes change and now it's a hit. This Saturday Joe was tending to five trays of rabe for cooking with oil and garlic, vs. two of spinach; considering that the spinach weighs less than the rabe per volume of measurement and has a lower yield, the rabe probably outsells spinach by a ratio of nearly 10-to-1. Although you could hardly go wrong my ordering a sandwich with aged provolone and spinach, I go for the rabe, which offers a clear balance between the sweetness of the pork and bitterness of the green.
Lately I've been indulging in breakfast sandwiches from The Grill at Smucker's. Moses Smucker and his crew offer a meaty start to the morning, piling on plenty of ham, bacon, sausage of pork roll atop a roll also filled with egg and/or cheese. The pork roll comes from John F. Martin in the Lancaster/Berks area; it's good, though lacks the spicy punch of the original Jersey variety from either Taylor or Case. The sausage breakfast sandwich comes with two patties which are both the size of a hamburger; the sausage seems to be flavored with a bit of onion rather than sage, but that's no sacrifice to my taste.
It's Apple Eating Time
Thanks to North Star Orchards at Headhouse Square today, I tried an apple new to me, a Pearmain. There are a number of varieties of Pearmans, and I failed to ask Ike which one this was. Perhaps it was the American Summer variety.
Mostly green (with plenty of red tinge) this apple has an appealing tart-sweet balance and pleasing crunch (though certainly not as hard as a Granny Smith). I'm adding to my list of sought after apples. After undertaking some web research, it's no surprise I enjoyed the Pearmain: it's a cultivar of my all-time favorite, the Cox Orange Pippin.
In other Headhouse observations, Matt Yoder went back to Maine earlier this summer, so this field-bean growing enthusiast has split from his short-lived partnership with Tom Culton of Culton Organics. It's left to Culton to sell all those beans: he had plenty of dried cowpeas today, which make a great succotash with the last of the summer's corn should you find any.
Although the corn is fading fast, it's that wonderful time of year when fall produce is offered side-by-side with the last of summer. Tomatoes and peaches will probably be the next to disppear, but eggplants and cucumbers are among the summer produce items still around, as is the late season raspberry. Crisp-tender root veggies like celeriac (celery root), winter squashes, and fall fruits (grapes, apples, pears) help ease the kitchen transition. This is also the time to get paw paws with which you can make a variation on banana bread, cookies, cream or custard pie, cake or ice cream. And with the disappearance of extreme heat, local lettuces are back, like the red-tinged bibb variety I picked up from Earl Livengood at Fairmount's farmers' market .
Thanks to North Star Orchards at Headhouse Square today, I tried an apple new to me, a Pearmain. There are a number of varieties of Pearmans, and I failed to ask Ike which one this was. Perhaps it was the American Summer variety.
Mostly green (with plenty of red tinge) this apple has an appealing tart-sweet balance and pleasing crunch (though certainly not as hard as a Granny Smith). I'm adding to my list of sought after apples. After undertaking some web research, it's no surprise I enjoyed the Pearmain: it's a cultivar of my all-time favorite, the Cox Orange Pippin.
In other Headhouse observations, Matt Yoder went back to Maine earlier this summer, so this field-bean growing enthusiast has split from his short-lived partnership with Tom Culton of Culton Organics. It's left to Culton to sell all those beans: he had plenty of dried cowpeas today, which make a great succotash with the last of the summer's corn should you find any.
Although the corn is fading fast, it's that wonderful time of year when fall produce is offered side-by-side with the last of summer. Tomatoes and peaches will probably be the next to disppear, but eggplants and cucumbers are among the summer produce items still around, as is the late season raspberry. Crisp-tender root veggies like celeriac (celery root), winter squashes, and fall fruits (grapes, apples, pears) help ease the kitchen transition. This is also the time to get paw paws with which you can make a variation on banana bread, cookies, cream or custard pie, cake or ice cream. And with the disappearance of extreme heat, local lettuces are back, like the red-tinged bibb variety I picked up from Earl Livengood at Fairmount's farmers' market .
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
BAAH! Cheesemaker Plans RTM Outpost
Fresh Cheeses To Be Made On Site
Valley Shepherd Creamery is expected to be the first new vendor to occupy space along the Reading Terminal Market's Avenue D.
Earlier this month the RTM and cheesemaker Eran Wajswol signed off on a proposal to occupy about 700 square feet across Avenue D from what will soon be Molly Molloy's gastropub.
The shop will be located along the RTM's back wall, where it will be easiest to pipe in fresh milk from delivery trucks. That's necessary because Wajswol plans to make fresh cheese on premises for market shoppers. At Valley Shepherd's farm store in Long Valley, N.J., his fresh offerings include cream cheeses (no gums or additives) and ricotta.
As its name implies, Valley Shepherd specializes in sheep milk cheeses, although some of its products are cow-sheep mixes.
Although Valley Shepherd plans to make fresh cheese at the RTM, its cave-aged product earned the creamery its stellar reputation. Wajswol went so far as to blast an aging cave into a hillside on his farm. One of his cheeses, a Gouda-like product, spends two years in the cave.
If you haven't had a chance to try Wajswol's cheeses, you're missing one of the best artisinal products available. At least one variety is usually in stock at the Fair Food Farmstand at the RTM, often Shepherd's Basket, a Basque style aged for four to five months. With the exception of the fresh cheeses and yogurts, everything else is made from unpasteurized raw milk. You can get an idea of the offerings at Valley Shepherd Creamery's website.
In addition to the store at the northwest New Jersey creamery. Valley Shepherd operates a small store on Sullivan Street in Manhattan's SoHo district, and soon will be opening another in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood. The RTM store will be its third owned and operated retail outlet. In addition to restaurants, like New York City's Le Bernardin, Wajswol sells at various farmers' markets in New York and New Jersey.
If all goes according to plan, you might see Valley Shepherd at the RTM by late spring, according to Paul Steinke, the RTM's general manager.
Fresh Cheeses To Be Made On Site
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| Some of the more than 600 sheep in Valley Shepherd's flock |
Earlier this month the RTM and cheesemaker Eran Wajswol signed off on a proposal to occupy about 700 square feet across Avenue D from what will soon be Molly Molloy's gastropub.
The shop will be located along the RTM's back wall, where it will be easiest to pipe in fresh milk from delivery trucks. That's necessary because Wajswol plans to make fresh cheese on premises for market shoppers. At Valley Shepherd's farm store in Long Valley, N.J., his fresh offerings include cream cheeses (no gums or additives) and ricotta.
As its name implies, Valley Shepherd specializes in sheep milk cheeses, although some of its products are cow-sheep mixes.
Although Valley Shepherd plans to make fresh cheese at the RTM, its cave-aged product earned the creamery its stellar reputation. Wajswol went so far as to blast an aging cave into a hillside on his farm. One of his cheeses, a Gouda-like product, spends two years in the cave.
If you haven't had a chance to try Wajswol's cheeses, you're missing one of the best artisinal products available. At least one variety is usually in stock at the Fair Food Farmstand at the RTM, often Shepherd's Basket, a Basque style aged for four to five months. With the exception of the fresh cheeses and yogurts, everything else is made from unpasteurized raw milk. You can get an idea of the offerings at Valley Shepherd Creamery's website.
In addition to the store at the northwest New Jersey creamery. Valley Shepherd operates a small store on Sullivan Street in Manhattan's SoHo district, and soon will be opening another in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood. The RTM store will be its third owned and operated retail outlet. In addition to restaurants, like New York City's Le Bernardin, Wajswol sells at various farmers' markets in New York and New Jersey.
If all goes according to plan, you might see Valley Shepherd at the RTM by late spring, according to Paul Steinke, the RTM's general manager.
Shut and Open Case at Tootsie's
Over Labor Day weekend, Tootsie's Salad Express shut down while workers began extended the Reading Terminal Market's mezzanine office, which is located above the eater, owned by Marion "Tootsie Iovine" D'Ambrosio. By this past Monday, it was back in business. The work is part of the RTM's Avenue D expansion program.
Over Labor Day weekend, Tootsie's Salad Express shut down while workers began extended the Reading Terminal Market's mezzanine office, which is located above the eater, owned by Marion "Tootsie Iovine" D'Ambrosio. By this past Monday, it was back in business. The work is part of the RTM's Avenue D expansion program.
Market Marketers Extraordinaire
Never let it be said that Iovine Brothers Produce doesn't know how to market their market business.
For a few months now they've been creating videos extolling their produce, which often serves as a primary education in fruits and vegetables. Earlier this summer Jimmy Iovine led a tour of the new wholesale produce market.
More recently their blog has featured recipes from Bobby Fisher, a chef who has long served Iovine's off-premises catering operations and will be top chef at Molly Molloy's, the gastropub the Iovine's will open next month where the Beer Garden once stood. The Iovine's web page is also regularly updated and is the most extensive one offered by market merchants. They've also got an active email list.
Butch Dougherty, the Iovine's operations manager, is the guy behind most of the digital activity, which also includes Facebook and Twitter postings.
Links:
Never let it be said that Iovine Brothers Produce doesn't know how to market their market business.
For a few months now they've been creating videos extolling their produce, which often serves as a primary education in fruits and vegetables. Earlier this summer Jimmy Iovine led a tour of the new wholesale produce market.
More recently their blog has featured recipes from Bobby Fisher, a chef who has long served Iovine's off-premises catering operations and will be top chef at Molly Molloy's, the gastropub the Iovine's will open next month where the Beer Garden once stood. The Iovine's web page is also regularly updated and is the most extensive one offered by market merchants. They've also got an active email list.
Butch Dougherty, the Iovine's operations manager, is the guy behind most of the digital activity, which also includes Facebook and Twitter postings.
Links:
- Website: http://www.iovine.com/
- Twitter: @IovineBrothers
- Facebook: Iovine Brothers Produce
- Blog: http://wp.iovine.com/
Friday, August 26, 2011
Hurricane Closings
The Food Trust has already announced that its Headhouse Square farmers' market will close Sunday because of Hurricane Irene. The Reading Terminal Market will hold off its decision until Saturday morning, but assuming Irene sticks to anywhere near the projected track, it too will close Sunday.
The Food Trust has already announced that its Headhouse Square farmers' market will close Sunday because of Hurricane Irene. The Reading Terminal Market will hold off its decision until Saturday morning, but assuming Irene sticks to anywhere near the projected track, it too will close Sunday.
Tootsie's, Market Office
Next Up for RTM Renovation
From Tuesday, Sept. 6 through Sunday, Sept. 11, Tootsie's Salad Express will be closed due to renovations to the Market office. The Market office on the mezzanine above Tootsie's will be temporarily relocated to a storefront within the Convention Center along 11th Street. They'll be there for one or two months, starting the day after Labor Day.
Next Up for RTM Renovation
From Tuesday, Sept. 6 through Sunday, Sept. 11, Tootsie's Salad Express will be closed due to renovations to the Market office. The Market office on the mezzanine above Tootsie's will be temporarily relocated to a storefront within the Convention Center along 11th Street. They'll be there for one or two months, starting the day after Labor Day.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
DiNic's Starts Rehab of Ochs' Stall
DiNic's has completed a rebuild of the walk-in refrigerator at the former Harry Ochs' stall, where it will relocate its roast pork and beef emporium sometime this fall (probably late October or November). Tommy Nicolosi and son Joe said they're already using it. Yesterday they met with the architects as the design nears completion. Expect to see work on the former butcher stall to begin sometime after Labor Day.
DiNic's has completed a rebuild of the walk-in refrigerator at the former Harry Ochs' stall, where it will relocate its roast pork and beef emporium sometime this fall (probably late October or November). Tommy Nicolosi and son Joe said they're already using it. Yesterday they met with the architects as the design nears completion. Expect to see work on the former butcher stall to begin sometime after Labor Day.
Beer Garden Shuts Monday,
Reopens on "Molly's" Birthday
The renovation of The Beer Garden will start next week, with the projected grand re-opening scheduled for Oct. 11, which just happens to be the birthday of the owners' mother. With the reopening, it will be renamed for her, Molly Molloy's.
In addition to more beer taps Molly Molloy's will feature food by chef Bobby Fisher, who's worked for owners Vinnie and Jimmy Iovine at a number of their catering venues. The new entrance to the Beer Garden will be from Center Count.
The Iovines had hoped to close off the entrance from the aisle between Franks A Lot and Coastal Cave, but the Philadelphia Historical Commission nixed that idea, which necessitated a modest redesign.
Reopens on "Molly's" Birthday
The renovation of The Beer Garden will start next week, with the projected grand re-opening scheduled for Oct. 11, which just happens to be the birthday of the owners' mother. With the reopening, it will be renamed for her, Molly Molloy's.
In addition to more beer taps Molly Molloy's will feature food by chef Bobby Fisher, who's worked for owners Vinnie and Jimmy Iovine at a number of their catering venues. The new entrance to the Beer Garden will be from Center Count.
The Iovines had hoped to close off the entrance from the aisle between Franks A Lot and Coastal Cave, but the Philadelphia Historical Commission nixed that idea, which necessitated a modest redesign.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Avenue D Project Moving Along
The RTM is moving forward with its $4.5 million Avenue D improvement and expansion project first reported here more than a year ago. Last week GM Paul Steinke held a series of briefings for market merchants to update them on the sequence of construction and design updates.
If all goes according to schedule, the work will be complete and ready for use before next year's flower show, which opens to the public March 4.
For the market, the central benefit is creating more leaseable space for added vendors.
The biggest benefit as far as the market's customers are concerned is expanded and improved rest room facilities.
But the most visible change will be the addition of a multi-purpose room and new demonstration kitchen at the east end of an expanded Center Court. The room -- to be called the Rick Nichols Room in honor of the Inquirer's former food columnist -- will be used as a seating area when not in use for kitchen demonstrations and private functions.
A newly-added feature for the Rick Nichols Room will be a historical exhibit on the market's history adornning the facility's walls. Funded by a William Penn Foundation grant, the exhibit will be prepared by the Philadelphia History Museum (formerly the Atwater Kent) and include contributions from Nichols.
Much of the improvement work has already begun in the bowels of the market, in its giant basement where some of the merchants have storage and prep space. Earlier this year a second elevator went into service to improve basement access. New dry storage space is basically finished, and soon work will begin on adding cooler and freezer units so that the existing cold storage lockers under the mezzanine can be cleared for the rest room and additional vendor space.
The most visible work will begin after Labor Day when both The Beer Garden and DiNic's start construction.
The Beer Garden, purchased by the Iovine brothers earlier this year, will be shut down while a kitchen is added and the seating area and bar renovated and expanded.
DiNic's will be moving to the space last occupied by Harry Ochs & Sons. With twice its current space and lots of additional counter seating, the market hopes lunchtime congestion around the popular lunch stall can be reduced.
When DiNic's moves, Spataro's will take over that space. Flying Monkey will move into Spataro's spot, as well as additional space from what is now the Spice Terminal, which will relocate under the mezzanine. Other vendor alterations include a shift in L. Halteman's footprint to front on Avenue C (where Market Blooms had its second stall), Miscellania Libri and The Shoe Doctor to a new location further north along the renovated Avenue D, and the move of La Cucina to the new demonstration kitchen and multi-purpose room.
Works Aims For Completion By Flower Show
 |
| The new DiNic's will feature many more counter seats |
If all goes according to schedule, the work will be complete and ready for use before next year's flower show, which opens to the public March 4.
For the market, the central benefit is creating more leaseable space for added vendors.
The biggest benefit as far as the market's customers are concerned is expanded and improved rest room facilities.
But the most visible change will be the addition of a multi-purpose room and new demonstration kitchen at the east end of an expanded Center Court. The room -- to be called the Rick Nichols Room in honor of the Inquirer's former food columnist -- will be used as a seating area when not in use for kitchen demonstrations and private functions.
 |
| Rendering of new La Cucina and multi-purpose room |
Much of the improvement work has already begun in the bowels of the market, in its giant basement where some of the merchants have storage and prep space. Earlier this year a second elevator went into service to improve basement access. New dry storage space is basically finished, and soon work will begin on adding cooler and freezer units so that the existing cold storage lockers under the mezzanine can be cleared for the rest room and additional vendor space.
The most visible work will begin after Labor Day when both The Beer Garden and DiNic's start construction.
The Beer Garden, purchased by the Iovine brothers earlier this year, will be shut down while a kitchen is added and the seating area and bar renovated and expanded.
DiNic's will be moving to the space last occupied by Harry Ochs & Sons. With twice its current space and lots of additional counter seating, the market hopes lunchtime congestion around the popular lunch stall can be reduced.
When DiNic's moves, Spataro's will take over that space. Flying Monkey will move into Spataro's spot, as well as additional space from what is now the Spice Terminal, which will relocate under the mezzanine. Other vendor alterations include a shift in L. Halteman's footprint to front on Avenue C (where Market Blooms had its second stall), Miscellania Libri and The Shoe Doctor to a new location further north along the renovated Avenue D, and the move of La Cucina to the new demonstration kitchen and multi-purpose room.
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