Asiago

Gourmet redux We were sad to see Andros Gourmet Foods decamp from the Reading Terminal Market. But its replacement, Everyday Gourmet, is more than filling its shoes, offering prepared foods that have the robust flavor that Whole Foods often fails to deliver. Chicken salad with pistachios and citrus vinaigrette, and a colorful sweet potato salad with cilantro and maple vinaigrette are two winners. And the root-beer-glazed pork chop survives rewarming. But a vegetarian special, shown here, has the panache - a stack of hearty, herb-roasted squash, eggplant and pepper over asiago polenta, a rosemary sprig stuck in its cap.

Ordinarily, moving from one losing team to another isn't reason for a hockey player to be optimistic. But Greg Hawgood, the Flyers' newest defenseman, is happy to be out of Edmonton. "Early in the season, things were going well," Hawgood said yesterday, after practice at the Coliseum in Voorhees, N.J. "Then, for whatever reason, I wasn't dressing even though I was sixth on the team in scoring and tied for the lead in plus-minus. "It was frustrating. The team couldn't score any goals, I'm an offensive player, and I wasn't in the lineup.

My friend R is also my restaurant scout, and for weeks he's been trying to get me to go with him to RoseLena's Coffee Bar. "You're going to love this place," R says, knowing that my taste in food runs to honest-rustic and that my style in furnishings leans heavily to previously owned. He was right. RoseLena's has both in delicious abundance. At our lunch there recently, the plate on which my chunky sandwich of grilled portobello mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and asiago cheese dripped exquisite olive oil was of one pretty pattern while the one holding R's bow-tie pasta salad - a lemony treat loaded with calamari, shrimp and bitty bay scallops - was entirely different.

Here are some inexpensive recipes to serve at your easy party. TUSCAN CHEESE FONDUE 1 1/2 cups dry white wine, such as pinot grigio 2 large cloves garlic, minced 3 cups shredded fontina cheese 1 cup shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons cornstarch Use any or all of these as dippers: brown cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved; small, cooked artichoke hearts, halved; red or gold cherry tomatoes; bread...

A romantic setting and stellar cuisine have already put the new Leonard's restaurant at the top of my dining list. This delightful little place replaced Riviera Ristorante in June in the Sharp's Run Plaza just west of the Medford Circle. With its elegant setting and imaginative (although somewhat expensive) cuisine, this jewel-like place is perfect for holiday dining. Owner-chef Leonard Strobel is a young man with an impressive culinary background. A graduate of the Academy of Culinary Arts at Atlantic Community College in Mays Landing, he worked in the kitchen at Chateau Silvana, the nearby restaurant that is one of South Jersey's finest, before opening his own place.

Another steak house is coming down the pike. Win and Sutida Somboonsong - who own Mikado Thai Pepper in Ardmore, Flavor in Wayne, Azie in Media, and Teikoku in Newtown Square - signed a deal for the old Roux 3 site (4755 West Chester Pike) by the United Artists cineplex in Newtown Square. Parker's Prime , a steak house named after the Somboonsongs' youngest child, Parker, will have a wine list put together by winemaker/importer Gino Razzi of Penns Woods Winery. A late summer/early fall 2009 opening is planned.

Philadelphia's Art Alliance would appear to be a dream location for a restaurant. The building, an Italianate-style mansion turned gallery, is undeniably aristocratic, and dining in either of the two rooms - once the Alliance's private dining room and parlor - is almost guaranteed to make one feel "to the manner born. " Moreover, the Rittenhouse Square address is convenient to Center City offices, upscale shops, apartments and homes. Yet over the more than 30 years I've been reviewing, and for reasons a business analyst could probably recite with authority, one restaurant effort after another has failed there.

The wooden rabbit was custom-made. Upright, right paw thrust inside its vest, the classic Napoleon pose. "He's exactly Napoleon's height," said Daniel Charest, co-owner of Napoleon, the well-regarded restaurant that moved from Port Richmond to Center City three weeks ago. The wooden rabbit (go ahead and rap on his chest for luck, just don't invade Russia in the wintertime) symbolizes Charest's restaurant philosophy: Pay attention to details while providing a friendly atmosphere for your customers.

THERE ARE some superstars in Philly's BYOB lineup that get national as well as local attention. Recently I was reminded of a quiet South Philly steady hitter - August, on 13th Street at Wharton. Owners Maria Vanni and MaryAnn Brancaccio celebrated the restaurant's fifth anniversary recently, so it seemed like a good time to re-evaluate what is obviously a favorite of many, despite its relative obscurity. Or as Chef Brancaccio wryly notes, "No one comes to August because of me, so the food has to shine.

You can pile on the arugula and tomato confit, slather it with melted manchego or mascarpone, top it with focaccia and stirrotto bread, but when it comes to cheesesteaks, Salvatore DiPalma proved what every person who has scarfed down one of the greasy, calorific sandwiches knows: Simple is better. And never, ever top it with snow-pea shoots. With a simple combination of grilled filet mignon, braised peppers and Asiago cheese, the 28-year-old chef beat out such culinary luminaries as Philippe Chin of Philippe's at the Locust Club and Raul Bacordo of the Continental to win the annual Gourmet Cheesesteak Contest.

Another steak house is coming down the pike. Win and Sutida Somboonsong - who own Mikado Thai Pepper in Ardmore, Flavor in Wayne, Azie in Media, and Teikoku in Newtown Square - signed a deal for the old Roux 3 site (4755 West Chester Pike) by the United Artists cineplex in Newtown Square. Parker's Prime , a steak house named after the Somboonsongs' youngest child, Parker, will have a wine list put together by winemaker/importer Gino Razzi of Penns Woods Winery. A late summer/early fall 2009 opening is planned.

THERE ARE some superstars in Philly's BYOB lineup that get national as well as local attention. Recently I was reminded of a quiet South Philly steady hitter - August, on 13th Street at Wharton. Owners Maria Vanni and MaryAnn Brancaccio celebrated the restaurant's fifth anniversary recently, so it seemed like a good time to re-evaluate what is obviously a favorite of many, despite its relative obscurity. Or as Chef Brancaccio wryly notes, "No one comes to August because of me, so the food has to shine.

Here are some inexpensive recipes to serve at your easy party. TUSCAN CHEESE FONDUE 1 1/2 cups dry white wine, such as pinot grigio 2 large cloves garlic, minced 3 cups shredded fontina cheese 1 cup shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons cornstarch Use any or all of these as dippers: brown cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved; small, cooked artichoke hearts, halved; red or gold cherry tomatoes; bread...

Gourmet redux We were sad to see Andros Gourmet Foods decamp from the Reading Terminal Market. But its replacement, Everyday Gourmet, is more than filling its shoes, offering prepared foods that have the robust flavor that Whole Foods often fails to deliver. Chicken salad with pistachios and citrus vinaigrette, and a colorful sweet potato salad with cilantro and maple vinaigrette are two winners. And the root-beer-glazed pork chop survives rewarming. But a vegetarian special, shown here, has the panache - a stack of hearty, herb-roasted squash, eggplant and pepper over asiago polenta, a rosemary sprig stuck in its cap.

You can pile on the arugula and tomato confit, slather it with melted manchego or mascarpone, top it with focaccia and stirrotto bread, but when it comes to cheesesteaks, Salvatore DiPalma proved what every person who has scarfed down one of the greasy, calorific sandwiches knows: Simple is better. And never, ever top it with snow-pea shoots. With a simple combination of grilled filet mignon, braised peppers and Asiago cheese, the 28-year-old chef beat out such culinary luminaries as Philippe Chin of Philippe's at the Locust Club and Raul Bacordo of the Continental to win the annual Gourmet Cheesesteak Contest.

Philadelphia's Art Alliance would appear to be a dream location for a restaurant. The building, an Italianate-style mansion turned gallery, is undeniably aristocratic, and dining in either of the two rooms - once the Alliance's private dining room and parlor - is almost guaranteed to make one feel "to the manner born. " Moreover, the Rittenhouse Square address is convenient to Center City offices, upscale shops, apartments and homes. Yet over the more than 30 years I've been reviewing, and for reasons a business analyst could probably recite with authority, one restaurant effort after another has failed there.

The wooden rabbit was custom-made. Upright, right paw thrust inside its vest, the classic Napoleon pose. "He's exactly Napoleon's height," said Daniel Charest, co-owner of Napoleon, the well-regarded restaurant that moved from Port Richmond to Center City three weeks ago. The wooden rabbit (go ahead and rap on his chest for luck, just don't invade Russia in the wintertime) symbolizes Charest's restaurant philosophy: Pay attention to details while providing a friendly atmosphere for your customers.

My friend R is also my restaurant scout, and for weeks he's been trying to get me to go with him to RoseLena's Coffee Bar. "You're going to love this place," R says, knowing that my taste in food runs to honest-rustic and that my style in furnishings leans heavily to previously owned. He was right. RoseLena's has both in delicious abundance. At our lunch there recently, the plate on which my chunky sandwich of grilled portobello mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and asiago cheese dripped exquisite olive oil was of one pretty pattern while the one holding R's bow-tie pasta salad - a lemony treat loaded with calamari, shrimp and bitty bay scallops - was entirely different.

Ordinarily, moving from one losing team to another isn't reason for a hockey player to be optimistic. But Greg Hawgood, the Flyers' newest defenseman, is happy to be out of Edmonton. "Early in the season, things were going well," Hawgood said yesterday, after practice at the Coliseum in Voorhees, N.J. "Then, for whatever reason, I wasn't dressing even though I was sixth on the team in scoring and tied for the lead in plus-minus. "It was frustrating. The team couldn't score any goals, I'm an offensive player, and I wasn't in the lineup.

A romantic setting and stellar cuisine have already put the new Leonard's restaurant at the top of my dining list. This delightful little place replaced Riviera Ristorante in June in the Sharp's Run Plaza just west of the Medford Circle. With its elegant setting and imaginative (although somewhat expensive) cuisine, this jewel-like place is perfect for holiday dining. Owner-chef Leonard Strobel is a young man with an impressive culinary background. A graduate of the Academy of Culinary Arts at Atlantic Community College in Mays Landing, he worked in the kitchen at Chateau Silvana, the nearby restaurant that is one of South Jersey's finest, before opening his own place.