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Thursday, January 15, 2009
White Dog Cafe's new menus
The White Dog Cafe

When the White Dog Cafe reopens -- perhaps as soon as Friday at dinner -- here is the bill of fare.

Ralph Fernandez, corporate executive chef for new owner Marty Grims' company, has written the menus and oversees the food service. His chef de cuisine, Eric Yost, who will handle the day-to-day operation of the kitchen, is from Grims' Plantation in Long Beach Island; before that, he was in Las Vegas and Naples, Florida. They will maintain White Dog founder Judy Wicks’ sustainability principles and work with many farmers for locally grown produce and products. (Wicks has always been a champion of the underdog, prompting one wag to wonder to me if she'd host a benefit for the two dozen kitchen staffers who were let go in the management changeover...)

The White Dog is at 3420 Sansom St. Grims is planning a second location in Wayne.

Posted by Michael Klein @ 12:01 PM  Permalink | File Under: TableTalk | 4 comments
Comments   
Posted 03:27 AM, 01/16/2009
bk64
As one of the 25 kitchen members who was let go. i hope this places burn to the ground. Two weeks before the sale the new chef, Ralph Fernandez and Judy Wicks held a meeting insuring that no one's jobs were at risk. we were assured that our benefits would improve and we would have a brand new kitchen and equipment to bring the restaurant around. not 12 hours into the renovation, everyone was fired. i hope everyone enjoys the new sh*tty frozen boiled entrees(thats right everything is su vied now, goodbye flavor, goodbye farmers, goodbye local produce). the farmers will follow Andy Brown. Judy Wicks ripped the heart out of the white dog and as far as i am concerned is a walking cliche', a hypocrite of her own beliefs, which she has preached so loudly for years. if she has any conscience, she would give her employees she betrayed some of that $3 million she just pocketed. owe p.s. any small brown looking things in your food, probably rat sh*t
Posted 12:58 PM, 01/16/2009
Scottbiggie
well said, bk64. I wouldn't be caught dead in there.
Posted 02:02 PM, 01/27/2009
justguessing
The White Dog used to have a great niche - a model for how business and good food can be done. Now what is it? Just another restaurant.
Posted 07:52 AM, 01/31/2009
Monkey Casino
Actually, I was pretty surprised and suspicious when I heard of the switch in ownership, but I think they deserve some time before a judgement can be made about their business model. At the same time, think people should be vigilant and hold them to task. I would think that Judy isn't going to turn a deaf ear to what is part of her legacy. If something had a meaning to you, burning it down or forgetting about it seems against the very spirit that is identified with White Dog. If your wondering why you're not working in the kitchen, maybe you should have cleaned up the rat sh*t. AND Not for nothing, the kitchen was a filthy nightmare, as a visiting chef. Sous Vide, is considered a refined technique compared to some of the newer "molecular gastronomy" processes. It's not "boil in a bag". It definitely sucks to get fired right now, but people aren't mean-spirited or crazy enough to fire everyone unless a major change was needed, it's a lot harder hiring and training new cooks. I think the White Dog has made an enormous contribution to the local dining scene, in a way that not only directly affects local farmers, but has permeated into the conscience of the consumer/diner to the degree that they now expect or are at least starting to be aware of where their food comes from.
4 comments
About Michael Klein
Michael Klein chronicles local people, places and things (in easy-to-digest portions) three days a week in his Inquirer column "INQlings." He also covers the restaurant scene in his Thursday Food column, "Table Talk." See his work at http://is.gd/5Ozz7
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