Pork

For sheer friendliness, Chao Restaurant in Paoli is hard to beat. This spanking-clean little Chinese restaurant is bathed in bright fluorescent lights that dazzle almost as much as the smiles of the two sisters who own it. The owners and chef formerly ran the China Delight restaurant in nearby Devon (now run by a friend), but moved to the attractive Chestnut Village Shoppes in 1990. Like the decor, the cuisine is moderately pleasant, although dishes could benefit from more assertive seasonings.

Four Seasons, one of the many new Chinese restaurants that have sprung up in recent months, is not as fancy as some of its competitors, but its food is quietly appealing. Generous portions filled with a good variety of ingredients are mercifully prepared without MSG. Although no one dish stands out, the Cherry Hill restaurant is a safe bet for satisfying dining. The best dish sampled on a recent visit was House Special Soup ($5.85), a large bowl of full-bodied, homemade chicken broth crammed with half the kitchen larder - tender chicken, whole peeled shrimp, giant medallions of red- roasted pork, carrots with serrated edges, crisp snow pea pods, delicate bamboo shoots, crunchy water chestnuts, firm bok choy, Chinese cabbage, canned mushrooms (alas!

Pineapple adds natural sweetness and savor to spicy foods; its unique flavor is especially welcome in dishes from the cuisines where the pineapple grows. Pineapple adds something else to meat and poultry: tenderness! Fresh raw pineapple - and pineapple juice - contain an enzyme that helps break down the fibers of meat that might otherwise be tough: ultra lean beef, for example. This enzyme survives only so long as the pineapple is not cooked, canned or heat-treated, so pay special attention to making sure you use the ingredient called for in these recipes . . . don't substitute canned!

Chinese restaurants with takeout menus save the day when a busy family can't face another pizza, or when vacationers come home to an empty fridge. A recent post-vacation stop at Lucky Star, a year-old Chinese restaurant in an Andorra shopping center, yielded a hasty, generous and cheap dinner for two. A spring roll, a pint of soup, a cold noodle dish, two entrees, rice and two fortune cookies cost $22.59. Lucky Star will not dazzle you. It does offer a warm welcome, waits of less than 10 minutes for takeout, familiar dishes and low prices.

Philadelphia-based food-service giant Aramark said Tuesday that it would eliminate the use of all pork from animals bred using gestation crates in its U.S. supply chain by 2017. In announcing the plan with the Humane Society of the United States, Aramark joined dozens of other food-service companies, restaurant chains, and supermarkets that have pledged to end their reliance on suppliers who house breeding pigs in confining crates their whole lives. "Aramark is proud to stand in partnership with other industry leaders and supply-chain partners to transition away from gestation crates in a timely fashion," said Kathy Cacciola, Aramark's senior director of environmental sustainability.

Philadelphia-based food service giant Aramark said today it will eliminate all pork from animals bred using gestation crates in its U.S. supply chain by 2017. In announcing the plans with the Humane Society of the United States, Aramark joins dozens of other food service companies, restaurant chains and supermarkets that have pledged to end their reliance on suppliers who house breeding pigs in confining crates their whole lives. "Aramark is proud to stand in partnership with other industry leaders and supply chain partners to transition away from gestation crates in a timely fashion," said Kathy Cacciola, Aramark's senior director of environmental sustainability.

Habbersett Sausage, one of the area's leading scrapple makers, is about to be sold. The manufacturer's parent company, Johnsonville Foods, of Sheboygan, Wis., should be tying up negotiations with Jones Dairy Farm, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., within a week, said Milo C. Jones, president of Jones Dairy Farm. Moving the operations of the sausage company's aged plant in Middletown Township, Delaware County, to newer facilities in Wisconsin is among the options Jones Dairy Farm is considering, Jones said yesterday.

What it is: Sandwich wraps at Fayette Street Grille, 308 Fayette St., Conshohocken. What we like about it: Sandwich wraps are a tasty mouthful at this small, cafe-style eatery in the heart of downtown Conshohocken. Two lunch-crowd favorites are the smoked turkey wrap and the fried chicken wrap. The first features shaved smoked turkey with Swiss, tomato, greens, and sun-dried tomato mayonnaise inside a spinach wrap. The fried chicken wrap is filled with chicken tenders, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing in a tomato tortilla.

You know South Philly's growing Mexican scene is really rolling when one of its best taquerias is on wheels. But there's a good reason a steady line of customers can so often be found waiting for supper beside the fútbol field at 4th Street and Washington Avenue. When the Taco Loco taco trailer pulls up at noon and parks (until 8 p.m. every day but Monday), Juan Carlos Alvares delivers some of the meatiest, most inexpensive comidas around. His Oaxacan-style tamale, steamed with guajillo red-sauced pork inside a banana leaf, is distinctive.

A certain learning curve has been required in the case of Bebe, the latest of a small wave of barbecue joints - Oh, happy days! - to achieve toeholds in what might be described as underserved precincts of the city. In Old City's cocktail alley (as we've noted), Q Barbecue and Tequila has replaced a seafoodery, aiming to hook the late-night crowd. In West Philadelphia, Dante's, the take-out spot at 48th and Lancaster, is getting props for its Memphis ribs. But Bebe, its window neon promising "Hot Biscuits," has had some educating to do. It is in the very heart of the Italian Market, roughly across Ninth Street from Fante's, the kitchenwares store.