Sous

Most chefs dream of getting into the fire by opening their own restaurants. Gregory Ott got into a water bath. He and his fiancee, Kellie Boyce, opened Restaurant Rosalie in the central Montgomery County burg of Cedars last month, and his specialty is sous-vide cooking. In sous vide, championed by chefs such as Ferran Adriá and Thomas Keller, ingredients are vacuum-sealed into plastic bags, which are cooked at precise temperatures for precise times, but below the boiling point.

When New York City health inspectors recently banned sous vide cooking from some of the city's finest restaurants until safety regulations were set, it caused a stir among local chefs as well. But in Philadelphia, Health Department spokesman Jeff Moran said guidelines had been in place for almost 10 years. Reduced-oxygen packaging - which includes sous vide ("under vacuum") cooking - is prohibited by both state and local regulations, unless a variance is granted. A safety plan must be submitted for a variance, Moran said.

The beer geeks can be relied upon to travel. Put a Green Flash IPA on draft, a Rogue tripel, or a Fuller's Porter, and they will come. Thirsty. But what of the old-school locals in this working-class Kensington neighborhood who were weaned on Anheuser-Busch? Confronting that fact was among the tallest challenges Brendan Hartranft faced since opening the Memphis Taproom in the spring at the corner of Memphis and East Cumberland with nearly 50 craft beers and not a Bud in sight. (Although he does offer Miller High Life, because he likes the cool label, and the thinking man's "Lite": Lion's Head Light.

DEAR ABBY: My husband, "Les," enjoys cooking and inviting friends to join us for dinner. I respect people's likes and dislikes when it comes to certain foods, but Les does not. We have discussed it on many occasions and he feels people should be "open-minded, not picky or finicky. " We are having two guests over for dinner soon. One does not like onions and the other doesn't care for mushrooms. I reminded Les of this, but he's determined to prepare his spaghetti sauce with lots of onions and mushrooms.

Arnold A. Bayard, 84, an internationally recognized wine connoisseur who was president of a family-owned engineering firm for many years, died Monday while vacationing in Paris. He was a resident of Society Hill. An avid wine collector who had one of the largest cellars of valuable wine in the country, Mr. Bayard organized the Philadelphia chapter of the Commanderie de Bordeaux, one of the world's most prestigious wine societies. After his many years of involvement, he was in 1987 named emeritus maitre extraordinaire of the Commanderie de Bordeaux sous Philadelphie.

News of executive chef Alison Barshak's departure this week from Striped Bass, the Walnut Street seafood restaurant of national renown, raised the question of what effect the loss of a star has on a popular restaurant. Diners who have been making reservations up to a month ahead won't get to meet the slim, flame-tressed Barshak, but probably won't notice any difference in the food. And as far as restaurant management is concerned, it will be business as usual, with an easy transition of one of the five executive sous chefs into Barshak's position.

When restaurant help doesn't show up, disaster usually does. You've seen the drill - frantic phone calls are made, employees on hand hyperventilate, and even patrons seem to get into the act. "I understand the chef didn't make it in," one diner will whisper to another. Or the people at one table busily explain the slow service to those across from them: "The busboy and dishwasher were in an accident on the way to work. " But the day the sole waitress at Marco's Restaurant, a small new - and delightful - spot in Old City failed to make it to work, there was no panic.

How crazy would a person have to be to actually eat food prepared by Janet Green from the soap opera All My Children? After all, Janet is the character who tried to bomb a peaceful wedding, after living in a cave for a couple of weeks. She's the kind of woman who talks to herself in mirrors because she has a split personality, the sort of nut job who fantasizes about cracking someone's head open with a tire iron. Dinner, anyone? Still, there she was yesterday rubbing elbows with the sous-chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Center City.

Joe Brown, successfully fusing Louisiana and Italy for 14 years at Melange Cafe in Cherry Hill, has ventured into Haddonfield with another BYOB, Melange @ Haddonfield (18 Tanner St., 856-354-1333). The larger spot, which opened last month, represents a new role for Shadee Holden, one of Brown's proteges. The East Camden-raised Holden started working for Brown while in high school. He went to Johnson & Wales (class of 2006), landed at Alphabet Soup and the late 707, and returned to Brown in Cherry Hill.

Gary and Rena Coyle are both graduates of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. They have similar professional backgrounds, and sometimes they even work together. But when she creates a recipe, even an 8-year-old can handle it. His recipes, on the other hand, often require the interpretation of an experienced sous-chef. The reason for the contrast is simple: Rena Coyle is, among other things culinary, a serious children's-cookbook author who teaches children's cooking classes in New York.

DEAR ABBY: My husband, "Les," enjoys cooking and inviting friends to join us for dinner. I respect people's likes and dislikes when it comes to certain foods, but Les does not. We have discussed it on many occasions and he feels people should be "open-minded, not picky or finicky. " We are having two guests over for dinner soon. One does not like onions and the other doesn't care for mushrooms. I reminded Les of this, but he's determined to prepare his spaghetti sauce with lots of onions and mushrooms.

By Richard C. Morais Scribner. 245 pp. $23 Reviewed by Karen Heller Richard C. Morais' first novel is an exquisite piece of literary gastroporn. I mean this is in the best possible way. You read this first novel at the peril of your gut. The Hundred-Foot Journey refers to the steps between two delicious food emporiums in a small town in France's Jura region, one Indian and low, the other French and, it almost goes without saying, cruelly high. Morais, a former senior editor and foreign correspondent at Forbes who now lives in Philadelphia, has eaten extremely well during his travels, enough to inspire jealousy.

Summertime is prime time for reality shows. Some shows, and their premiere dates: The Bachelorette, ABC, May 24. The latest one is named Ali Fedotowsky. There's one reason to get married. So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, May 27. They can dance, but they get sent home anyway. True Beauty, ABC, May 31. Gorgeous guys and gals are judged, unbeknownst to them, on their inner beauty. It gets ugly. Cake Boss, TLC, May 31. Mr. Personality bakes and bakes in Hoboken, N.J. Then he has flare-ups and meltdowns.

Mike Stollenwerk has a somewhat bigger fish to fry. That would be Fish (1708 Lombard St., 215-545-9600), his larger, liquor-licensed follow-up to his critically acclaimed Little Fish, a BYOB in Bella Vista. Stollenwerk hopes to open next week, licensing permitting. Stollenwerk will be full time at Fish, a 50-or-so-seater that occupies the double storefront in the Graduate Hospital area that for decades was Astral Plane. Sous chef Chad Jenkins is running Little Fish; he's now a partner.

After a short lull, the BYO scene seems to be popping again. In Northern Liberties, Restaurant School grad Mark Tropea, who spent the last seven years as executive sous chef at the Desmond Hotel in Malvern, is tuning up Sonata , a simply decorated, 40-seat BYOB that replaced Swallow in Liberties Walk (1030 N. American St., 215-238-1240). Food is contemporary American "with a little flash, but not enough to scare people away," as Tropea puts it. (Samples: braised short rib with celery root puree and braised carrot; olive oil-poached salmon with watercress puree, walnut pesto, and grilled fennel)

Most chefs dream of getting into the fire by opening their own restaurants. Gregory Ott got into a water bath. He and his fiancee, Kellie Boyce, opened Restaurant Rosalie in the central Montgomery County burg of Cedars last month, and his specialty is sous-vide cooking. In sous vide, championed by chefs such as Ferran Adriá and Thomas Keller, ingredients are vacuum-sealed into plastic bags, which are cooked at precise temperatures for precise times, but below the boiling point.

The beer geeks can be relied upon to travel. Put a Green Flash IPA on draft, a Rogue tripel, or a Fuller's Porter, and they will come. Thirsty. But what of the old-school locals in this working-class Kensington neighborhood who were weaned on Anheuser-Busch? Confronting that fact was among the tallest challenges Brendan Hartranft faced since opening the Memphis Taproom in the spring at the corner of Memphis and East Cumberland with nearly 50 craft beers and not a Bud in sight. (Although he does offer Miller High Life, because he likes the cool label, and the thinking man's "Lite": Lion's Head Light.

Joe Brown, successfully fusing Louisiana and Italy for 14 years at Melange Cafe in Cherry Hill, has ventured into Haddonfield with another BYOB, Melange @ Haddonfield (18 Tanner St., 856-354-1333). The larger spot, which opened last month, represents a new role for Shadee Holden, one of Brown's proteges. The East Camden-raised Holden started working for Brown while in high school. He went to Johnson & Wales (class of 2006), landed at Alphabet Soup and the late 707, and returned to Brown in Cherry Hill.

Not all formally trained chefs end up in restaurants - thank goodness. Experts populate school, hospital, assisted-living and other institutional kitchens all around the region. Daily, they call on their training to innovate for their clients. Dennis Duffy, 51, of Pennsauken, tried restaurant work after he graduated from the Restaurant School in Philadelphia in 1985, but the hours were often oppressive and owners unreasonable, especially when business was poor. So he answered an ad for a food-service management job at Bancroft NeuroHealth, a school in Haddonfield for children with developmental disabilities, autism, brain injuries, and other neurological impairments.