Craig: Good afternoon, chatters! The LaBan grill is hot and ready to cook!

Craig: Had a great eating week these past seven days, as you can tell from today's edition of the Crumb Tracker Quiz. Name the three places I ate these dishes and win a signed copy of my book: 1) still the best reuben in the city; 2) best falafel from a cart in Center City; 3) amazing sausage and peppers at a classic Italian near Chambersburg, NJ (this is a toughie, but many people do know this institution). Ready, set, fire!

Tom: Craig: Recommended nineteen to my son for his 1st anniversary. Called the sommelier and ordered a bottle of wine, requested he say happy anniversary mom and dad. Double checked on SAt. with nineteen said the order was in. Nineteen dropped the ball and never got the wine to my son and daughter-in-law. They told me it was a busy night, apologized and offered me and my wife drinks next time we go to nineteen. We were very disappointed, can't replace the moment. Shall I let it go or complain to a higher up.

Craig: Hi Tom - this must have been an excruciatingly frustrating episode. You went out of your way to make a generous and unexpected gesture for your son's anniversary (these are the best kind, by the way, especially when accompanied by a vintage Champagne 'pop'!), and the restaurant totally botched it. In my mind, this was a major error. And I don't think offering you and your wife cocktails is nearly a sufficient gesture. It's not like they just messed up a nice meal - they messed up an anniversary dinner that can't be repeated. The LEAST they could have done was offer you a complimentary meal, or at least a serious discount. As I understand it, you had been to XIX and were a fan of the place. The cost of comping you a meal (especially for a hotel restaurant with deep pockets) more than compensates for your continued business over the years. And I fear they might have blown it. When at fault, restaurateurs should never be petty.

attyfood: Also, we ate at New Wave this weekend for the first time in a while, and it was amazing! Almost perfect salmon and lobster in beurre blanc. Worth looking into for those from the previous chat looking for straight up seafood.

Craig: Attyfood - thanks for this report from the New Wave. It's an old favorite of mine, and a leader in the gastro-pub movement - thanks to talented chef Ben McNamara. McNamara left New Wave for a while to go to Dark Horse, then he came back to NW, so I think it's back to the usual great food. Not at all what you expect from the bar formerly known as Dmitri's waiting room.

matt: Craig, thanks for the burger expose! A friend and I went to try out Snow White last Friday, and apparently your article inspired more than a few others to do the same - at least 15 people in line for burgers! Now that its "summer," I thought you should know about the best chicken salad on rye I had a Hershel's East Side Deli in the Reading Terminal Market - fresh! I'll bet there are other items on that menu worth exploring!

Craig: Hey Matt: I'm glad Snow White got a nice bump from last week's burger [g]round-up. It's just the kind of old-fashioned luncheonette that easily gets overlooked in a gentrifying neighborhood like Rittenhouse Square - but I LOVED the old-school burgers there. The chef, Vincent McKnight, has been manning the griddle there for 18 years, and he really knows how to do it right - great fresh meat, well-seasoned, and bacon cooked to order. I'm glad to hear about the good chicken salad at Hershel's, the new deli in Reading Terminal. Hershel's turkey reuben was the unanswered Crumb Tracker from last week, and i really enjoyed it. The other deli meats - corned beef and pastrami - are homemade, but I think they still need work. Also, I like that they're hand-sliced, but the slice is too thick for the sandwiches' own good.

attyfood: I'm heading to a chef's table dinner at Lacroix this week. What should we expect?

Craig: Well, I think you're in for a treat. Chef Matthew Levin is absolutely one of the best young chefs we have in the region, and I think his talents really shine on a tasting menu. You should definitely expect some cutting-edge techniques (from sous-vide to liquid nitro), ingredients both rare (first-of-season Nantucket Bay scallops) and unusual (cured pork belly with cuttle fish). But more than anything, I appreciate how artfully Levin is able to incorporate his tricks and novelties and culinary gizmos into food that soars. The man makes beautiful, sometimes precious food, but it's always delicious. I can still taste one highlight from my last tasting meal there: butter-poached Scottish langoustines with lemon and licorice root puree and butterbeans tossed in grilled black olive vinaigrette, or the shellfish bisque steeped with lemongrass and ginger, that came topped with a dollop of coffee-scented milk foam, a twinkle of gold leaf, and a spoon cradling a nugget of salt-speckled toffee.

PhillyReader: 1) Famous 4th Street 2) Cart on 40th and Locust across from Penn Dental 3) I don't do Jersey!

Craig: PhillyReader: You nailed #1, which was a gimme, even if owner Russ Cowan has already (I heard) sold the Famous. He's a businessman, I understand that. Still, I find it frustrating how he's constantly making great delis and selling them (after which they inevitably decline to mediocrity after a few months). I hope the Famous holds steady. Its sandwiches were still great, even if the service last weekend was an absolutely molasses-paced, occasionally surly mess.

Craig: You're not correct, by the way on the food cart guess. I don't like their falafel very much. As for the Jersey-phobia, you're missing lots of great food. Really. A true Crumb Tracker never fears crossing the river. Not if he (or she) listens to a Higher Hunger.

matt: 2. has to be the (decorated) cart at 20th and Market.

Craig: Yes! The "beautiful cart," where owner Konstandinos Christis chats up a storm and makes some of the herbiest, greenest falafel balls around - wrapped up with a special roasted veggie spread and scented with the woody perfume of the charcoal grill that puffs out the chimney of his cart. It is a worthwhile stop - but very, very, very slow. Not a place to visit if your lunch break is tight.

Tom: 3) Has to be the Homestead Inn.

Craig: You got it, Tom! Wow. I didn't think anyone would get that one so quickly. The Homestead (a.k.a. Chick and Nello's) is such a surprising slice of Old World Italian flavors set in the corner of Hamilton Township, just outside Chambersburg. It was an old rooming house back in the day for Italian immigrants, and it still feels like a time capsule. The neat white clapboard building is set off Kuser Road and feels like an old roadhouse inside. Reminds me vaguely of Mosca's outside New Orleans (though not quite as good). Still, there's no menu here, but the flavors coming out of this kitchen are real and authentic - incredible sausages with bright marinara and sweet roasted yellow pepper; crispy-skinned roasted chickens, pickled cauliflower salad; veal parm done right. Definitely worth the trip.

Mike: Hi Craig - Any plans to do a Shore report this summer and if so do you know when yet?

Craig: Mike - you bet. With this weather I can't wait to get there. But I like to give these restaurants a little time to get their summer feet wet. (Like a week or two! Hey, the season's short!) You can expect to read my usual 2-week Shore Bonanza in early to mid-July.

Gregg: Craig, it is interesting that you mentioned Famous being sold and worrying about the consistency, as I went there yesterday and noticed that the fillings in the omlettes were a bit stingy and they were out of almost every type of bagel. I hope this is not a sign of things to come. Nevertheless, I would still say my breakfast was better than almost anywhere (well, except Honeys).

Craig: Must have been one of the only places open yesterday, as it seems all of Center City had the same idea. The shortages could have been holiday-related. Then again, there seemed to be even fewer hard salamis hanging in the window (which, for a deli, is like letting your vintage wine cellar run short!). I am concerned. My sandwich was still very good, and obscene girth was not an issue. But I have been amazed over the years of watching what happens to post-Cowan delis - they inevitably cut back on quality and quantity (see Kibbitz in the City; Pastrami and Things), and it loses all the good will it engendered. For some reason, I hoped Famous would be the place Russ chose to really, finally hang his white deli coat. Now, we can only hope this old classic heeds the lessons of its predecessors and stays vigilant in staying the same.

Bryan: Speaking of restaurants where the cuisine is going down hill, I was at Monk's a few weeks ago and the food there gets worse every time I have gone there. It was frankly a disaster and I did complain about it. I would suggest ZOT to anyone over Monk's.

Craig: Bryan - please use your full name next time you plan to lower the boom on a bad restaurant experience in this chat. You'll have to see my review of Zot this coming Sunday to see where I land on this topic.

Harry: Hi Craig...Have you had a chance to visit new Mission Grill? I think it's different than a lot here in town, unique. Any plans to review it in the near future? Thanks

Craig: Harry - I haven't been to Mission Grill yet, but it is intriguing. Can't/Won't promise a review, of course, but I do definitely plan to check it out.

Gerber: Walking along 15th and Locust, I couldn't help but mourn the passing of one good, but badly named and located, restaurant, the Smoked Joint. Once a week I still think about their smoked baba. Any restaurants or personal favorites of yours close shutters in Philly?

Craig: Gerber - that is a good question. I do miss the good 'cue from Smoked Joint - why smoking meat is a missing art around here is beyond me. As to others missed - I'm really going to miss an annual visit to the hopelessly old-fashioned Deux Cheminees, now that Fritz Blank is retiring to Thailand. I also miss the good French bistro cooking at Blue Angel. One very short-lived place that I wish had stuck around was Meze, a very good Greek place in the Italian Market that had a great, authentic Cypriot chef, but a very bad location. Many of us miss Judy's still. I also miss the snowflake soup at Amara Cafe (a pleasant but otherwise not spectacular Thai place on 22nd Street). I could go on, but we're running out of time.

Cindy: I'm a fairly new food reviewer in another (less sophisticated) area of PA. What would you recommend for me as far as what to read, how to learn, where to think of/find new adjectives, etc.

Craig: Hi Cindy - I'm just finishing up teaching a food writing course at Drexel this term (online, of course!) and one thing I've learned is that it is very hard to convey the answer to this question concisely. Your best bet is to read as many good reviewers as you can read - start with Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly's critic who just became the first food writer to win a Pulitzer Prize - and see if it moves you. But ultimately, there is no replacement for the on-the-job training this gig offers. Very few people get the chance to eat the amount and variety of food that we do. So trust your own experiences and tastes. Take good notes. Be a good reporter. Be sure to conduct thorough interviews (over the phone) with your restaurants so you have as much material to work with as possible. And then, tell it like it is. You can get fancy later.

Tom: The place I miss the most is the Garden. In my books this was a sleeper. A small fire discouraged the owners and they closed.

Craig: Tom - you are not the only one to mourn the Garden's loss. Although I'm not one. Yes, it was a unique space with a glorious outdoor space, but I found that by the end, the service was gruff, the Continental food old-fashioned and overpriced. Plus, why waste such a nice garden on cheap plastic furniture? I actually find the garden over at Restaurant M (attached to the Morris House behind the St. James off Washington Square) to be a more than worthy heir to the Garden's outdoor crown. Plus, the food is much better, too. I should note here, though, that Tom (if you're the same Tom who guessed the Homestead) has won this week's Crumb Tracker prize. Please email me your mailing info at claban@phillynews.com and I'll send you your book ASAP.

Rob: Regarding Harry's inquiry on Mission Grill: It's worth the visit. My ex-girlfriend and I went not too long ago. Great guacamole (spicy and good), fish tacos (someone asked in last week's chat where to find good ones in Philly) and red snapper. Wine list was very good, too. Craig--You should add it to your list to try. And no, MG is not the reason she is now my "ex" girlfriend!

Tom:: Craig: I also like M.

Craig: Well, Tom, I never doubted your taste. And Rob, thanks for that tantalizing update on Mission Grill (though sorry about the ex-girlfriend, dude). Thanks so much to everyone for a great chat. And we actually even crowned a new Crumb Tracker - for a change. I'll be back next week for one more go 'round before a two-week hiatus while I'm off on a very daring and mysterious assignment. Will report back. Until next week, meanwhile, may you all be well and eat something worth bragging about!