Lunch

A review partner and I enjoyed breakfast and lunch at the Down Home Diner recently. That might not seem unusual except that we ate both meals without moving an inch from our booth. Confused? Hang in there. I'll try to explain. The diner occupies a corner of the recently renovated Reading Terminal Market. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, hoping to beat the market's usual noonday crowd. We were ready - read hungry here - for lunch. Our server, a waif with a wistful smile, handed us a plastic-covered menu with lunch on one side, breakfast on the other.

Congregation B'nai Jacob of Phoenixville will resume its popular "Lunch and Learn" meal and lecture series on Jan. 6. Each Wednesday in January, beginning at noon, Rabbi David Mayer will host a lunch of Middle Eastern, kosher cuisine, followed by a lecture and discussion. Rabbi Mayer will discuss Biblical prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Amos. The cost of the lunch is $3. "The purpose is to give retired people . . . and people who have a chance during their lunch break to take off for an hour, to do a little learning," Rabbi Mayer said.

I'VE SPENT two lunch hours at Urban Cableworks (formerly Wade Cablevision) in 30 days. Both times, the line was out the door, and most, if not all, were there for the same reason - our service had been terminated. The reason isn't clear, as the weary cashiers were only to take payments and restore service. Needless to say, they took a lot of abuse while their cowardly bosses were conveniently out to lunch. We were told to call customer service, but the customer service phone line is always busy, and the "powers-that-be" are always out to lunch.

It didn't take long for students at the John Glenn School in Pine Hill to learn a quick lesson in the American credit system - and it is one lesson school administrators wish they had not grasped so quickly. In January, the school district began an honor system that allowed students who forgot to bring lunch from home or forgot their lunch money to buy lunch on credit and reimburse the school later. Since the system started, students in this kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school district have racked up a bill of $345.

Residents of the Northeast Apartments were feted at a lunch Sunday at the David G. Neuman Senior Center, 6600 Bustleton Ave., which put on the affair to acquaint new residents of the apartments with the center. The center, which is near the apartments, offers a variety of programs, and new residents of the apartments receive free yearly memberships to the center. At the lunch, Ruth and Max Levin (above left) dance during a sing-along. Above right, Harris Koplin (left), Ann Kurtzberg and Sidney Meshon receive plates with chicken and all the trimmings.

It's not easy to get children interested in school cafeteria food. But the Berlin Township School District will try harder this year. When school starts this week, students will be able to buy lunches at an a la carte fee, and ice cream will be sold daily. Some new lunch items will be added to the school menus, and old ones will be dressed up with new garnishes. In addition, there will be games, contests and other incentives to get students to buy their lunch at school.

At first, it seemed like a food extravaganza made in heaven for the Mystery Muncher. But then, I thought, why should MM always get the chance to gorge and get away so cheap? Besides, this was more than just sandwich stuff. So in we walked, at the Middle East Restaurant in Old City, a place that at night makes its reputation on belly dancers, hummus and shish kebab. What we enjoyed during the daytime, however, was a good, more than reasonably priced, American-style lunch. Until a few weeks ago, the restaurant did not serve lunch.

Students in the Owen J. Roberts School District will start paying 12 percent more for a la carte lunch items and 5 cents more for milk on Monday. Among the culprits in the price increase is one of the district's suppliers, food service coordinator Lois Tkaczuk said during Monday night's school board meeting. But there isn't much she can do about it: The supplier is the federal government. Tkaczuk said she had received only one-third of the $35,980 worth of beef, vegetables, fruit and other items promised by the government for the 1989-90 school year.

Bassett's Original Turkey restaurant has closed its doors on State Street, citing the lack of evening and weekend business. But franchiser Roger Bassett, who has 12 restaurants in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Florida, said, "We'd like to reopen in Media in a strip center. " The location at 117 W. State St., which opened in May 1992, "doesn't lend itself to a nighttime and weekend clientele," he said. Stores in the area are not open at night, and it is "hard to park," Bassett said.

Brown-bagging it in Ballard Park will take on a whole new meaning for nine consecutive Wednesdays, starting this week, from noon until 2 p.m. Don't plan to spend a lunch break reading under a shade tree in the usually peaceful park. Those African Nubian dancers may break your concentration. Latino baton twirlers are likely to grab your attention. Or perhaps you will become entranced by East Indian jazz music or American cowboy country two-step dancing. These are but a sampling of the more than 60 artists and performers of Pitman Summer Fest '93 who will be livening up lunch time in the park.