Archive: February, 2009
Michael Klein, Philly.com
If your mail in Haddonfield has a slight perfume of seafood today...
Dave "US Male" Goldstein of Voorhees, 41, a regular at Wing Bowl and letter carrier, won the 2009 Showboat Mudbug Eating Championship.
Mudbugs? They're more popularly known as crawfish, and yesterday's contest at the House of Blues at the Showboat in Atlantic City was Mardi Gras-themed.
This was a major upset -- and not upset as in "stomach." Goldstein, who ate 4.99 pounds of the critters to get him a $1,500 prize, was ranked #28 by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
MovieMaker is out with its list of the 25 best places to live if you're an independent filmmaker.
Philly came in at #15, down from #5 on the 2008 list.
Chicago and Atlanta occupy the 2009 top spots; they were not even on the '08 list. New York rose a notch, edging in atop Shreveport, La., and Albuquerque, N.M.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
The Bent Elbo Tavern, a fixture for decades at the corner of Skippack and Bethlehem Pikes in Fort Washington (it was the old Fortside Inn), is closed and under agreement of sale.
Settlement is planned for Tuesday, says prospective owner John Dolaway, who with his brother Paul own MaGerks Pub & Grill, with locations in Baltimore and Bel-Air, Md.
John Dolaway, who grew up in Blue Bell and now lives in Horsham, says he respects the Bent Elbo's history, as it was where he celebrated his 21st birthday about 22 years ago. The MaGerks in Fort Washington will be a family friendly operation, though its bread and butter will be as a nightspot with live entertainment starting at 10:30 p.m.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Ari Weiswasser, who endured the drama that was Pearl, is relocating to NYC to become exec sous chef at Corton in TriBeCa. He'll be #2 in the kitchen at the restaurant owned by Drew Nieporent and chef Paul Liebrandt.
Before helping to open Pearl -- which is now a Japanese gastropub called Akaya, with a nightclub upstairs called Pearl -- the Gladwyne-raised Weiswasser, 29, was chef at the late Striped Bass. He previously cooked at Le Bec-Fin and at NYC's Picholine and Daniel.
In an e-mail, Weiswasser thanked Philly for the warm reception.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Randy Kotz has been let go from WMMR, where he'd been the fifth jock (overnights, weekends) since 2000. He worked at WMMR from 1978-'81, and from 1981 to '89 was at WYSP. He later had a tour at Star 104.5.
Kotz, whose last shift was Wednesday overnight, called the parting amicable but was not specific about the reason.
In a memo to staff, WMMR program director Bill Weston wrote: "While partings can be difficult, Randy can be proud of the accomplishments during his tenure. I wish nothing but positive things and future success for Randy and thank him for his years of service. We will post the full-time airshift opening and begin recruitment shortly."
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Former CN8 reporter/anchor Kevin Walsh, now freelancing for Comcast SportsNet, is shopping for a publisher for his book "The Marrow in Me," which he describes as a faith-based memoir about his relationship to an unrelated 16-year-old leukemia patient, to whom he was the only match for a blood-marrow transplant.
The story begins a dozen years ago when he was a news anchor and reporter at Honolulu's KGMB.
The day after he finished the book, he got a call from the producer of "Seize the Day," a show on the Catholic Channel of Sirius/XM satellite radio. He'll be interviewed on the show at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Took but 15 minutes this morning for 45,000 tickets to vanish for the Aug. 1 "Face 2 Face" show at Citizens Bank Park.
Last Saturday, the 45,000 seats for the July 30 date went in 20 minutes.
This will be the second and final date at the ballpark. The tour starts March 2 in Jacksonville, Fla., and is expected to run, on and off, for two years. The two started touring as a duopoly in 1994 at the old Veterans Stadium.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Mio Signo, at 15th and Oregon for six years, will close after dinner Saturday. It's expected to resurface in a Southwest Philly gentleman's club. Try the strip steak.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Samantha Johnson and chef Angie Brown, who opened Soul restaurant on Germantown Avenue last fall, will be contestants on NBC's "Chopping Block."
The eight-episode reality show, in which eight two-person teams compete for a $250,000 grant to open their own restaurant, premieres in prime time March 11. The cranky antagonist is British chef Marco Pierre White, who could be the love child of Gordon Ramsay and Simon Cowell.
How did they do? See Sunday's INQlings column for more, and check out Inquirer critic Craig LaBan's review of Soul in Sunday's Arts & Entertainment section.
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Chef's Market, the gourmet shop/off-premises caterer at 231 South St. since 1985, is closing Sunday.
"It got very difficult, to be quite honest," said Peter Georgiou, whose father, George, is an owner. "The streetscape project hurt us for six, seven months and immediately after that, they raised parking [meter] prices. The farmer's market didn't help. Every little thing took its toll."
Georgiou says the market will give back two-thirds of its space, and will be left only with a display showroom for its catering operation.
