Chopped Liver

Sometimes it's adventurous to do the deli scene. You grapple with intimidating sandwiches, take on baked potatoes slathered with globs of sour cream, battle giant balls of chopped liver and devour spicy pastrami etched with veins of fat. And for the more timid, there are always such dietary sensibilities as mayonnaise-free tuna salad, turkey breast on lettuce and fat-free, salt-free cottage cheese. If you're on the hunt for such stuff and happen to be on the western fringe of Center City, Billy's Deli & Restaurant, on 21st Street near Locust, should fill the bill.

"If they don't like falafel," Lior Ifrah reasons, "let them eat corned beef. " So far, Ifrah's philosophy seems to be working. The mix of people that gather at his glatt kosher Center City restaurant appear as disparate as the menu items. From chopped liver and kishka to shawarma and hummus, there's a good chance everyone can find something to enjoy at Ifrah's place - Jonathan's, a New York-style deli specializing in Middle Eastern food. For the record, kosher at Jonathan's means that an Orthodox rabbi supervises the restaurant operations in accordance with Jewish dietary laws, and that the deli closes for the sabbath and other Jewish holy days.

Glen Rosenwald wants you to know he's not just another operator of a greasy fast-food joint. He says he's on a mission to show America, and the world, that fast food can be healthy too. Last month, Foodarama, the catering company three generations of his family have run in Tacony and Bustleton, opened two food stands in the nation's biggest retail complex, the Mall of America. The shopping extravaganza in Bloomington, Minn., opened last month. It's a $625 million mall with multi-screen movie theaters, hundreds of stores, restaurants and nightclubs - even an amusement park with a flume ride, two lakes and a roller-coaster - under a single roof.

I remember my mom's friend very well. Kevin was a great guy. He was very flamboyant and crazy. His personality was the kind that you could never forget. When I was about 6 years old, he moved to New York to be a model. The kind of modeling he did was for women's clothes. That's mostly how I remember him, walking down the runway in stockings, heels, and a dress. It may sound crazy, but he didn't look too bad as a woman. Besides on television, I never saw him after he left for New York.

Background: Mrs. Marty's is a Delaware County tradition whose roots began in 1949, when owner Marty Godfrey worked with his father, William, owner of the Terminal Market in Media. Marty and his wife, Marilyn, a nurse at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, live in Broomall. One day, Marty said, Marilyn was shopping at the Lawrence Park Shopping Center and the merchants called her "Mrs. Marty. " As a joke, Marty hung a "Mrs. Marty's Deli" sign in the Media supermarket, and it stuck.

At sundown on Sunday evening, Jews around the world will gather in their homes and synagogues to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah - this year it's 5756 - celebrates the creation of the universe, and custom demands that Jews eat sweet foods to guarantee a sweet new year. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the High Holy Days, or Ten Days of Awe, culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day, each Jew fasts for 24 hours, asks for forgiveness and reflects on the past year.

Gov. Corzine yesterday launched a national search to replace Camden's state-appointed chief operating officer, and proposed extending the position and its powers for five more years. Melvin R. "Randy" Primas, who has held the post since 2002, announced his resignation last month amid mounting criticism and a feud with state Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin. In a statement yesterday, Corzine said he had created a search committee that includes Levin and other state officials, Camden activists, and Deborah Poritz, who retired last month as the state's chief justice.

The exodus started with 1 minute, 22 seconds left. Gratz led visiting Central, 69-52, and the officials had to stop the game briefly to allow about 100 teenagers to march from the stands, around the court and out the door. These early departures are something of a tradition at Gratz. Forget "Na- na, na-na, hey, hey, goodbye. " Bulldogs fans deliver parting shots with their feet. And Central got off easy yesterday. In fact, the fourth-quarter exit was almost a show of respect.

The Los Angeles Clippers went into the All-Star break looking like they have a few players on the team. The Clippers got 33 points last night from Loy Vaught, including 15 in the fourth quarter, as they beat visiting Houston, 122-107, to end a six-game losing streak. Los Angeles (8-40) shot a season-high 63 percent from the field. "If they played like this every night," said Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon (34 points), who is going to the All-Star Game, "they wouldn't have the record they have.

A 16-year-old boy playing hooky yesterday made Ferris Bueller look like chopped liver when he stole a SEPTA bus - because he wanted to practice for his driver's test - and ended up crashing into several cars, police said. The boy, a resident of a West Philadelphia halfway house who has the mental intellect of an 8-year-old, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said, left the facility to attend school, but instead hopped on the El. He got off at the 69th Street Terminal, in Upper Darby, and went around back to the Victory Avenue Depot, where he was able to drive off in an unoccupied SEPTA bus about 11:30 a.m., police said.

A 16-year-old boy playing hooky yesterday made Ferris Bueller look like chopped liver when he stole a SEPTA bus - because he wanted to practice for his driver's test - and ended up crashing into several cars, police said. The boy, a resident of a West Philadelphia halfway house who has the mental intellect of an 8-year-old, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said, left the facility to attend school, but instead hopped on the El. He got off at the 69th Street Terminal, in Upper Darby, and went around back to the Victory Avenue Depot, where he was able to drive off in an unoccupied SEPTA bus about 11:30 a.m., police said.

PANTHERS (+2) over Eagles Finally, the games begin, and we can talk about something other than Michael Vick. Like the fact that the supremely talented Brian Westbrook has not played a down in preseason. Does that scare you? It sure makes me a little nervous. The fact that the o-line has not played one down together. Does that scare you? Makes me a little nervous. The fact that MLB Stewart Bradley is gone for the year. The fact that the Birds are playing a team that ain't chopped liver.

Gov. Corzine yesterday launched a national search to replace Camden's state-appointed chief operating officer, and proposed extending the position and its powers for five more years. Melvin R. "Randy" Primas, who has held the post since 2002, announced his resignation last month amid mounting criticism and a feud with state Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin. In a statement yesterday, Corzine said he had created a search committee that includes Levin and other state officials, Camden activists, and Deborah Poritz, who retired last month as the state's chief justice.

Background: Mrs. Marty's is a Delaware County tradition whose roots began in 1949, when owner Marty Godfrey worked with his father, William, owner of the Terminal Market in Media. Marty and his wife, Marilyn, a nurse at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, live in Broomall. One day, Marty said, Marilyn was shopping at the Lawrence Park Shopping Center and the merchants called her "Mrs. Marty. " As a joke, Marty hung a "Mrs. Marty's Deli" sign in the Media supermarket, and it stuck.

It's hard not to love the Spinto Band, made up of seven kids (including two sets of brothers) from Wilmington and Delaware who are barely old enough to drink. The name comes from two band members' late grandfather, whose found song lyrics inspired them to start a band. Wide, wild-eyed enthusiasm is all over their debut, "Nice and Nicely Done" (Bar/None Records), especially the sweet falsetto and mandolins of "Oh Mandy" and the stutter-start of "Trust Vs. Mistrust. " There are hints of New Wave guitars, odes to Pavement's summer babes and Flaming Lips' daydreams, all done with equal parts innocence and skill (9 tonight, with Townhall, Young Samuel and the Fractals, Theater of the Living Arts, 334 South St., 215-922-1011, $16, www.theaterof livingarts.

For many years I had my own four questions to ask at Passover: Why is the food so bad? Who needs a holiday with bad food? If we cooked with interesting spices and ingredients would the food taste better? Why don't we try it and see? I am Jewish, so I can say these things (although I would never say them to my mother). Passover is notorious for its bad cuisine. An important holiday on the Jewish calendar, Passover marks the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt (thanks to Moses)

Postponing the 34th Ryder Cup after the terrorist attacks last year seemed like the right and proper thing to do - the only thing to do. It still does. But as teams from the United States and Europe square off at the Belfry, near Birmingham, England, next week, players and fans on both sides can't help but wonder if the biannual international matches will generate the same level of interest, fervor, and excitement they had in recent years. Brookline Country Club, setting for the last Ryder Cup, feels like a lifetime ago. But it was there, three years ago in 1999, that the mood, tenor, and tensions of the matches may have been forever heightened.

Romanian-Jewish delicacies - plus the calories You say chopped liver and mashed potatoes aren't the same without schmaltz? Do you miss the crazy family meals of your youth? Has it been too long since you've had sliced brains with stuffed cabbage? If any of that rings a bell, Famous Sammy's Roumanian Steak House on New York's Lower East Side is the place for you. Stepping into this eatery is like stepping back in time to when Jewish mothers cooked without worrying about fat content and family celebrations were no-holds-barred get-togethers complete with food, dancing and lots of high-volume, simultaneous talking.

Though the Coatesville boys' basketball team is the overwhelming favorite to win its 34th league championship this season, that does not mean there is no talent among the other three clubs in the Ches-Mont League. West Chester East is coming off a 17-8 season (4-2 league), the highlight of which was a 70-65 win over the Red Raiders, one of only two losses suffered by the PIAA Class AAAA state semifinalists. The Vikings lost a fine player to graduation in 6-foot-6 Mike Queenan, who presented matchup problems inside and outside the box, and was good for 15 points and 10 rebounds a game.

Only three starters return for the Shipley School boys' soccer team this season and two of them are strikers, meaning the Gators' defense will be a bit green this season. At some schools, this would be called a rebuilding year. Shipley coach Jeff Jewitt will have none of it. "We don't use the 'R' word here," Jewitt said. "The goals here are still the same. I don't like that word 'rebuilding.' " The Gators have won the Keystone Conference championship for four of the last five seasons, including last year when Shipley tied archrival Delco Christian for the regular-season title before winning the playoff championship.