Reaction To PLCB Shakeup

The Inquirer looks looks at the fallout from Jonathon Newman’s resignation from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Additionally PhilaFoodie gives his thoughts on what it will mean for the Pennsylvania wine lover and he’s not optimistic.

Wine lovers fear quality will wither [Philadelphia Inquirer]
A Few Thoughts on Newman’s Resignation from the PLCB [PhilaFoodie]

Aqua

Craig LaBan dines at Aqua, the six month old Malaysian/Thai restaurant at 7th and Chestnut Streets. And although some of the more cutting edge dishes you might expect from a Malaysian restaurant aren’t on the menu, what is there makes for a quality meal.

Aqua’s biggest asset, though, is chef Lon Poon, a Malaysian-born cook who helped open Penangs in Philadelphia and New York. His menu may be edited for a novice crowd, but the cooking itself is sharp, and the flavors at their root still reveal Malaysian integrity, from the sour lemongrass twang and chile-spiced bite of the tom yum soup to the mysteriously tasty “house special” sauce that covers everything from squid to enormous prawns.

Two Bells

Aqua [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Wedding Fashion: The American Dream

A handsome groom, a perfect dress, a beautiful wedding by the sea: If you plan it, they will come …

A handsome groom, a perfect dress, a beautiful wedding by the sea: If you plan it, they will come …

Click here for a slideshow with fashion details.

Market Report: What Lies Beneath

There are two kinds of homes: the kind with a pile of shoes at the front door and the kind without. If you came from a

There are two kinds of homes: the kind with a pile of shoes at the front door and the kind without. If you came from a no-shoes-barred household, you might not have understood the fuss about walking on the carpet — until you start looking for one of your own. Plush deep-pile, Berber wool, handcrafted Orientals — suddenly, mandatory shoe removal starts to make sense.

Luckily, carpeting has been engineered to wear better and longer, but durability is only one of the things to consider when you’re deciding how to treat your home’s fifth wall, the floor. Buying a rug or carpet is as much a personal investment as it is an economic one, so don’t let the choices trip you up. Research and advice from some local flooring experts can help make the whole thing one big magic carpet ride.

Ground Floor
When you have a big, bare spot on your floor begging to be filled, it’s tempting to just hit some showrooms. But make sure you come prepared. Bring measurements of the area you want to cover so you can get a rough price estimate. Doug Kepple, president of Cherry Hill-based Kepple’s Carpet, advises adding about five to 10 percent to your measurement figure to account for cutting waste and possible human error. “Generally, our customers are not great at measuring,” he says. “We’ll always come out to the house to verify.”

It’s a good idea to view carpet under different kinds of light, and some stores may have a lighting box for this purpose. If not, you can usually request samples to take home with you — Kepple’s Carpet will send over a stylist with samples to help you decide — or, as a last resort, bring a camera along.

If you’re shopping for a room that’s already decorated, bring paint chips or fabric swatches. But most experts favor working from the ground up. “It’s easier to start with the carpet,” says Lori Clark, manager of the showroom at Stark Carpet in the Marketplace Design Center in Philadelphia. “If you go out and fall in love with a fabric or wallcovering and it has a color that is not popular in carpet at the time, it can be much harder to work with.”

Practical considerations can help narrow the selection. High-usage areas like family rooms will require a heartier carpet than a seldom-used guest bedroom. Area rugs are free to move as many times as you do — a plus for frequent redecorators — while more permanent wall-to-wall carpeting gives rooms a cozier, more unified look, especially in oddly shaped rooms where a rectangular area rug may look out of place.

Pattern Perfect
Choosing a rug design is like buying art: It’s best to go with what you like. But as in the art world, styles fade in and out of fashion. “Several years ago, country French was a big trend,” says Clark. “Now there’s a lot more interest in contemporary things.” The mosaic-based geometric motifs popularized by designer David Hicks are back in vogue. “We cannot keep them in stock,” says Clark.

A departure from formal, traditional looks has led to a rise in transitional patterns that incorporate bright colors and abstract designs, but are a step down from all-out modern. “We do very well with our Nourison 2000 transitional rugs,” says Mitch White, vice president of sales at Avalon Carpet, Tile & Flooring, with 12 locations in the Delaware Valley. These hand-tufted area rugs, made of both wool and silk, come in more than 40 ornate Persian and European designs.

Show Your Age
If you prefer a more traditional look, check out the Oriental and antique rug market. Usually made of 100 percent wool, these rugs have patterns that date back hundreds of years. Because of their value as investment pieces, Oriental rugs require more thorough research before purchase.

“It’s like art on the floor,” says Azad Kazanjian, co-owner of Kazanjian Oriental Rug Gallery in Villanova and Haverford, which carry more than one thousand rugs — new, semi-antique (at least 75 years old) and antique (more than 100 years old). “It takes somebody three to six months to make a dining-room-size rug — it could take a year.”

The best of these rugs are hand-knotted, although there are less expensive machine-made reproductions. If you’re looking for an authentic piece that will increase in value, ask about the town the rug originated from. The finest come from places like Tabriz, Kashan and Esfahan, all in Iran.

Another sign of a rug’s pedigree is its knot count. The more knots per square inch, the finer the rug. One hundred fifty knots is considered average, while 500 is “fine” and 1,000 and up is “superfine” — in other words, the densest, plushest rug.

Depending on its size, you can expect to pay between $3,500 and $6,000 for a quality Oriental rug, although an impeccable antique — circa 1900, at the youngest — can rack up six figures. “Rugs will last a lifetime,” says Kazanjian. “The people my father sold rugs to, now, their children are inheriting those rugs.”

While traditional colors — reds and blues — are popular on the Main Line, Kazanjian sees more people using softer tones that are easier to decorate with, such as beige, cinnamon and taupe.

The Nitty Gritty
Once you’ve picked a look, it’s time to get down on your hands and knees to find a texture that makes you tingle and a fiber to suit your needs. The fiber used to make a rug affects not only its look and feel, but also its wearability and cost.

At the high end of the carpeting spectrum is wool. “Wool is the ultimate luxury fiber,” says Kepple. “If you buy the right wool carpet, it could possibly be the last carpet you need to buy.” Wool ages with grace and actually begins to look better as it is used, getting softer and homier without appearing worn. But, Kepple warns, in wool especially, you get what you pay for. “If you try to buy a cheap wool and expect it to perform well, it’s not going to.”

Nylon fiber is the most widely used, and the one with the most styles and colors. New, longer-lasting treatments, like those used by Stainmaster, resist stains and spills. Built-in static-resistant filaments have even helped eliminate nasty static-shock buildup. For a neutral-toned, natural look, plant fibers such as jute, coir or sisal are perfect. Because they share a look that is closer to a hardwood surface, plant fibers can prevent even busy rooms filled with European antiques from looking stuffy. “It gives it a fresher feeling,” says Clark.

When all is said and done, the most important thing is to choose something you love. If you make the right choices, your carpeting can last anywhere from 10 years to forever. “If the rug doesn’t make you happy,” says Kazanjian, “then you chose the wrong rug.”

Ask the Experts: Boldly Going Where No Dress Has Gone Before

Q: When I envision the perfect wedding dress, I don’t see white. I’m dreaming in a purple haze! Dare I boldly break with tradition?

A: “The idea that brides absolutely must wear white is old-fashioned,” says Mary Helen Ranieri, owner of Suky in Ardmore, who notes the salon now carries a sheer organza bridal gown in deep purple by Ulla-Maija. Accessorizing a colorful frock is tricky, and Ranieri advises a simple approach. “Instead of a veil, the bride might wear a beautiful gold brooch in her hair,” she says. — Eileen Smith

Quick Trip: Baltimore

By the end of this month, assuming all of the stars align properly, Suchita (that’s my wife) and I will have made settlement on our first house. We’ve been a bit frazzled, which is why we decided recently to get away from it all and head to Baltimore.

In a way reminiscent of Philadelphia’s relationship with New York, Baltimore tends to cower

By the end of this month, assuming all of the stars align properly, Suchita (that’s my wife) and I will have made settlement on our first house. We’ve been a bit frazzled, which is why we decided recently to get away from it all and head to Baltimore.

In a way reminiscent of Philadelphia’s relationship with New York, Baltimore tends to cower in the shadows of Washington. Sure, D.C. is more glamorous; Baltimore, on the other hand, and similarly to Philadelphia, might need some TLC, but it can be truly cozy and charming—its nickname is Charm City. Besides, Baltimore is a more frugal choice for us mortgage-seekers. As our car flew past the outer edge of Philadelphia on 95, we got into a discussion about the Cingular bill and why I paid it late (I’ve always paid it late—it was only important now because we were buying a house); before we made it through Chester, we made a pact to ban all discussion of home-buying—a pact I was sure we would break within four hours.

Things looked up as we checked into the 85-room Admiral Fell Inn in Fell’s Point, a bustling old port neighborhood 15 minutes by foot from both Little Italy and the Inner Harbor. As if the Admiral himself knew we needed romance and relaxation, a chilled bottle of cava and gerbera daisies, Suchita’s favorite, awaited us in our suite. Of course, none of this was actually coincidental. It was the doing of Diana, our “experience specialist.” Everyone who stays at the inn gets one, and they will do whatever they can to help you “create magic,” a phrase I heard more than a few times during our stay.

Cheesy, yes, but effective.

One Jacuzzi immersion later, we realized it was almost time for dinner. I also realized that four hours had passed and our pact remained unbroken. We decided to check out the hotel’s new restaurant, True, which focuses on organic and locally purveyed ingredients—unusual in Baltimore. We started with a pair of impeccable Sapphire martinis and followed that up with a surprisingly pleasing organic Barnwood cab, day boat scallops in a seafood ragout, and Chesapeake striped bass with a sweet-smoky raspberry-chipotle marinade.

The next day, after a quick breakfast at Jimmy’s, a local greasy spoon popular with judges and politicians, we drove out to the American Visionary Art Museum, AVAM, across the harbor from the inn. Suchita loves museums. I could usually care less, but I was trying not to be selfish, and as it turns out, AVAM was different. The museum, named one of the country’s best by Travel Holiday magazine, celebrates the works of self-taught, little-known artists. One room is filled entirely with paintings and sculptures by artists diagnosed with mental illness. The just-opened annex was our favorite: a huge warehouse space filled with kinetic sculptures from the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in England. Lots of buttons to push and cranks to turn—great for kids, which we fortunately are devoid of, for now. A trip to AVAM alone is worth the two-hour drive, especially if you take a breather at the museum’s Joy America Cafe with a cerveza michelada (freshly squeezed lime juice, salt and Negra Modelo, on the rocks).

We dashed back to the hotel for high tea, but were a few minutes late, and there was no coddled cream or Darjeeling in sight. So we walked a couple of blocks to join the friendly neighborhood crowd at Crabby Dick’s, where beer and seafood rule. If you want to sound like a Baltimorean, ask for “Natty Bo,” local slang for National Bohemian, Maryland’s Yuengling Lager. Since dinner was only a few hours away, we decided to stick with one round and an order of steamed shrimp.

Then we got another round of beers. Suddenly, we were back in that Jacuzzi. Twenty-four hours and still no house-speak.

For dinner at Aldo’s in Little Italy, Diana had arranged for a private table in the wine cellar. Again, cheesy, but then, most romance is. If you’ve eaten dinner at other Little Italy restaurants, you might not want to go back; Aldo’s, a Food Network favorite, is different. Try the porcini agnolotti and shiitakes in black truffle butter, and the decadent tournedos Rossini—grilled filet mignon wrapped around seared Hudson Valley foie gras and black truffles. We stopped in briefly at the nearby Explorer’s Club, a gentlemanly lounge for the cigar-and-single-malt crowd of Charm City, for a Montecristo and a glass of Macallan each.

The next morning, we headed to the Baltimore Museum of Art, breezed through its Impressionist exhibit, and decided that after AVAM, BAM just wasn’t going to hold our interest. We did enjoy breakfast at the museum’s restaurant, Gertrude’s, the most popular Sunday brunch in Baltimore. A few hours later, we were back in Philadelphia, faced with a pile of mortgage paperwork that needed to be completed by Tuesday, wishing we were in that Jacuzzi instead.

The Good Life: Relax!

Need a winter (um, summer) break? Check in for a stint of spa pampering — and more — at a roadtrip-close resorts

For the ’Burbanites Who Scored a Sitter for the Weekend

The Spa at Four Seasons

The resort: Four Seasons overlooks absolutely no detail — from the iced tea waiting for you upon your arrival to the bedside slippers and L’Occitane bath products.

For the ’Burbanites Who Scored a Sitter for the Weekend

The Spa at Four Seasons
1 Logan Square, Philadelphia, PA, 215-963-1500; fourseasons.com. Rooms from $280; ask for spa rates.

The resort: Four Seasons overlooks absolutely no detail — from the iced tea waiting for you upon your arrival to the bedside slippers and L’Occitane bath products.

The spa: The spa welcomes with luxe locker rooms and a stunning pool and Jacuzzi. After filling out a spa questionnaire, you’ll be ushered into a perfectly darkened treatment room, where the decadence begins: Try a juniper and cypress friction massage, and experience the all-natural Naturopathica line of scrubs and oils.

To do: The beauty of Four Seasons is that its all-luxe-everything-all-the-time will make you feel far from the real world — but whenever you want it, the city is there for you to explore the way you never really do, but always say you will.

For the Spa Rookies

The Spa at the Hotel Hershey
100 Hotel Road, Hershey, PA; 800-HERSHEY; hersheyPA.com. Rooms from $379; ask for spa rates.

The resort: This is how Americans pictured southern Europe nearly 80 years ago, with Moorish mosaics and white gazebos and cabbage roses and silky white linens. Still, this is Hershey, where a chocolate bar comes with check-in and the scent of cocoa beans is always in the air.

The spa: Every question you’d want to ask is explained in gentle detail: Is the Hershey-branded bottled water free? (Yes.) Can I leave my undies on? (Yes.) How much do I tip? (Nothing; 20 percent is included in the cost of the service.) Try the “Hershey Hug”: a spa rain shower, an herbal wrap, and a 20-minute cocoa massage.

To do: The golf courses here are slightly famous, but best known is the 99-year-old amusement park itself, which this year opens an interactive dark ride that’s part laser tag, part bumper cars.

For the Low-Key Couple

The Bellmoor Inn & Spa
6 Christian Street, Rehoboth Beach, DE, 302-227-5800. Rooms from $245; ask for spa rates.

The resort: With its traditional decor — think dark wood, deep-pile carpeting and Audubon-esque artwork — and its lush outdoor garden patio (complete with waterfall), the Bellmoor manages to fuse old-school lavishness with beach-town informality.

The spa: The vibe is homey, with a small waiting area and five treatment rooms; the whole place is suffused with the sounds of ocean waves and pan flutes. There are facials and wraps, but the most popular treatments are the massages, and not without reason: The deep-tissue version could work the kinks out of Ray Davies. The newest treatment features Phytoceane’s Ocean Luster Body Scrub, which exfoliates the skin using crystals and vegetal coral; it’s followed by a massage with moisturizing milk.

To do: Rehoboth is an unpretentious, gay-friendly beach town — a comfortable hi-lo mix of taste and tackiness — and there’s plenty for the non-spa-inclined, from golf to fishing to shopping along Rehoboth Avenue for cheap t-shirts or expensive antiques.

60-Second Critic: ComfyRest Pillow

ComfyRest Pillow
By ComforTan, Warrington

My fiancé laughed hysterically as I stuck my face into this doughnut-hole pillow that promises breathing

ComfyRest Pillow
By ComforTan, Warrington

My fiancé laughed hysterically as I stuck my face into this doughnut-hole pillow that promises breathing relief for those who sleep on their stomachs. The soft, silly-looking contraption has long arms that snap (with difficulty) into various positions around the firm-but-comfy O-shaped pillow to create a variety — 12, according to the illustrated instructions — of shapes for different needs. While it doesn’t quite work for the sleeping-on-the-stomach thing (unless you can stay in the same position all night), the other possibilities — it’s a perfect face-rest for a back massage — make it a decent buy at $28.95. Flip the arms over for a TV-watching neck rest, bring it in the car or plane to stop that commuter-sleep head-bobbing thing (which actually makes you look like a bigger idiot than using this in the first place), or try it at your desk to catch some shut-eye during working hours. Amen to that. Grade: B

Spirits: Shattering the Glass Ceiling

Once upon a time, if you wanted to drink decent wine in a restaurant, you were

Once upon a time, if you wanted to drink decent wine in a restaurant, you were pushed to order a bottle. “House wines” by the glass were anonymous generics: red, white or blush. Once a bottle is opened, wine spoils quickly, so sensible restaurateurs emphasized the “good stuff,” whose corks were safely pulled to order. House wines were scary by design and had hefty markups to offset the waste.

But in 1991, 60 Minutes aired a story that suggested red wine might be good for you. The broadcast triggered a seismic shift in American attitudes. In the 15 years since, we've grown more comfortable with wine, as well as more adventurous, thirsting for variety. We've also discovered that drinking well need not entail drinking more; the trend has been to imbibe smaller quantities of higher-quality wine.

Though pouring more wines entails higher costs and more waste, savvy restaurateurs have chosen to follow the consumer trend. They quickly discovered that the only way to make an extensive by-the-glass list cost-effective is to sell enough of each wine to keep them all fresh.

Rouge, which opened on Rittenhouse Square in 1998, marked a turning point for Philadelphia's wine-by-the-glass scene. Offering 25 wines by the glass was ambitious, especially considering Rouge's tiny size. But the wines on offer were terrific, and they were priced with lower margins than had been traditional for glass pours, which meant they upstaged the modest selection of bottles. At Rouge, drinking great wine was suddenly as easy as ordering a martini.

Where pouring 10 wines once distinguished a fancy restaurant like Le Bec-Fin, today even sake-centric sushi bar Raw and beer-oriented burger joint Devil's Alley meet that standard. Premium chains have clearly embraced the trend. The Oceanaire Seafood Room, Washington Square's newly launched luxe dining destination, offers about 30 wines by the glass. New Fleming's, in Radnor, is taking an ambitious leadership position with 100 glass pours and the slogan “Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar.”

The growing demand for more wines in smaller portions is also feeding the wave of wine bars that's sweeping the region: Domaine Hudson, in downtown Wilmington, and Vintage, at 13th and Sansom, each have 60-plus splendid by-the-glass offerings; and Tria, at 18th and Sansom, has more than two dozen choices and a second location in the works.

But Philadelphia's top temple to wines by the glass dates back to 1990: Old City's Ristorante Panorama, nestled in the boutique Penn's View Hotel at Front and Market streets, solved the problem of volume and waste way back then with a high-tech preservation system that makes 150 rotating selections available in tasting portions and in flights.

Old discusses wines, beers and spirits at marnieold.com. She may consult for some of the businesses she writes about.

BOP Spotlight: Gourmet To Go: South Jersey

A one-stop shop for party planners: Bobby Chez's crabcakes, La Colombe coffee and Capogiro gelato are here, plus Severino's house-made pastas and sauces. 110 Haddon Avenue, Westmont; 856-854-7666.