Neil Stein talks to Dan Gross, noting the wine wasn’t for him, and he’s still working on a restaurant at the Morris Hotel near Washington Square and a possible conglomeration with developer Carl Dranoff on South Broad. Dranoff has a green building planned for Broad and Bainbridge. [Philadelphia Daily News]

11th and Washington is set to be the location of Wokano, a 200-seat Chinese restaurant set to open “no later than the first of September.” [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

Newbold has a new bar. The former Noah’s Ark has been replaced by Station Bar & Grill. The new spot offers a serious beer and food menu. The chef wants to keep his name out of the press, who the devil could he be? [Bite This]

Penn’s campus will be getting another decadent offering to go with their soon to open Naked Chocolate Cafe. The third Capogiro will be opening in the Radian building at 39th and Walnut. Capogiro is also getting a 15,000 sqft production kitchen. We hear that will be in East Falls. [Food and Drinq]

We can just imagine the Citizens Bank Park peeps showing PETA around the ballpark trying to distract them from the cheesesteaks and Schmidters. Maybe it was how they explained no fries were injured in the production of Chickie’s and Pete’s crab fries. It must work because for the second straight year PETA has named CBP tops in Vegetarian-Friendly-Ballparks. [PETA]

White table cloth dining on Frankford between Susquehanna and Dauphin? That’s the plan at Pickled Heron. A 50-seater run by two Ritz-Carlton alums hoping to open in November. [Food and Drinq]

Joseph Poon is back, this time at 108 Chestnut Street with Joe’s Peking Duck Original 1984. Poon was originally looking at the old Griffin Cafe on the 200 block but structural problems ended that idea. [Food and Drinq]

The 7th Annual Garry Maddox Charity Barbecue Challenge will be hosted on Saturday, August 23rd and Garry is looking for contestants.

Contestants can enter in the Restaurant/Caterer Division or the Pit Master Division, and cooking categories include chicken, ribs, and chef’s choice. The day ends with a final “rib-off” in which all competitors—restaurants and individuals alike—pit their ribs against Garry’s with the winner earning a trip to the 2008 World Series.

All proceeds from the event benefit the Youth Golf & Academics Program, founded by Garry Maddox to provide academic support and enrichment services to children who reside in troubled city neighborhoods.

One entry fee covers participation in all categories. For more information or to register, please call 856-756-0222 or email ygapcamden@hotmail.com.

$6.75 for a beer may not seem like a great deal but it turns out that price makes Citizens Bank Park the cheapest in the majors! In the Bronx you can spend $10 for a Miller Lite.

How Cheap Should A Beer Be? [CNBC] via the Illadelph

We almost forgot about the Beer Garden at Silk City that we were promised. A.D. Amorosi has it as under construction and upping the capacity by 250. [Icepack, City Paper]

Looks like Monday, June 16th is the opening day for the Institute, a new bar with lots of good local beers on tap. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

Sidecar chef Rich Freedman is leaving the Sidecar for Harry the K’s at Citizen Bank Park. The Cit’s rep for good food is only going to grow as Freedman promises to bring his from-scratch meats to the ballpark. [The Clog]

Da Vinci Ristorante has opened at the old Tre Scalini spot on East Passyunk. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

Michael Klein’s Table Talk has the opening skinny on J.L. Sullivan’s Speakeasy. He calls it “a shotgun approach, hoping to hit everyone.” [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Last year Citizens Bank Park received lots of praise for its food from everyone from PETA to the Food Network. And the praise continues as the New York Times sung our ballpark’s praises in Sunday’s travel section.

But the prize for vernacular food probably goes to Citizens Bank Park, the four-year-old home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Most of the action takes place in Ashburn Alley (named for the Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn), a brick promenade behind center field where fans can practically hang over the visitors’ bullpen or dine under the giant Liberty Bell sign that lights up and rocks back and forth when the Phillies hit a home run.

Ashburn Alley is home to hoagies, Chickie & Pete’s crab fries (French fries dusted with Old Bay seasoning) and two of the city’s respected cheese steak purveyors, Rick’s Steaks and Tony Luke’s. Tony Luke’s had the better cheese steak of the two (though their other locations are notably superior). Even better is Tony Luke’s juicy roasted pork and provolone sandwich, dressed with tender broccoli rabe, as good a meat sandwich as there is in the majors.

Also not to be missed is the Schmitter sandwich from McNally’s, an outpost of an 87-year-old Germantown tavern at the end of Ashburn Alley. It’s not named for the Phillies legend Mike Schmidt, but rather, I was told, after a long-gone McNally’s customer who always ordered it with Schmidt’s Beer, the now-defunct Pennsylvania brand.

The Schmitter packs, from top to bottom: melted cheese, a generous squirt of a “special sauce,” griddled salami, more cheese, sliced tomato, fried onions, griddled steak and another slice of cheese, just to help keep the beef in place. It was the unhealthiest thing I encountered on my cholesterol-gathering trip, an unholy alliance of meats, cheese and mayonnaise tucked into a Kaiser roll. It was also impossible to stop eating after the first bite.

Buy Me Some Sushi and Baby Back Ribs [New York Times] via The Illadelph
Finding the Hits, Avoiding the Errors - Interactive [New York Times]

Wo, Philadelphia Weekly looks for the best hot dogs in town and actually uses the phrase, “beige meat rod.”

Among the favorites are the following, including Bootsie’s twice.

• Johnny Rockets
• Five Guys
• 707
• Citizens Bank Park
• Bootsie’s

Wiener Takes All [Philadelphia Weekly]

Citizens Bank Park is a long way from the horrid food at Veterans Stadium, recently having been named best ballpark for eats by Food TV. Now the home of the Phillies has received another accolade, Top Vegetarian-Friendly Ballpark.

The veggie dog and flame-grilled Gardenburger were enough to earn Citizens Bank Park a place on the roster of last year’s survey. But this year’s addition of the Philly mock-steak sandwich–and the rave reviews it has received from vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike who pile on the grilled onions, mushrooms, peppers, and hot sauce–put the Phillies over the top. The stadium also offers vegetarian subs and wraps, tomato pizza (no cheese, please), fruit cups, salads, and, for the kids, PB&J.

Phillies’ Stadium Number One in PETA’s Survey of Top 10 Vegetarian-Friendly Ballparks [PETA] via Living on the Vedge

Philly.com does a video interview with Aramark’s Kevin Tedesco regarding the local approach to food and drink at Citizens Bank Park.

Local emphasis lifts Citizens Bank Park food [Philly.com]

Rick Nichols heads to Citizens Bank Park to figure out what all the hullabaloo is about the food at the ballpark, The Cit was recently named the best in ballpark eats by the Food Network. Rick finds another great tip out as well, on dollar dog night the usual 2 inning line for the non-dog vendors is practically gone.

Ballpark’s finest fare bows to the dollar dog