While looking for Eyeball Benders from the Past we keep finding great old photos that don’t qualify as eyeball benders but sure are cool. So we’ve started this occasional feature, Retro-raunt.

This photo is the Continental Diner at 2nd and Market in 1972, back when Stephen Starr was just  a wee lad and decades before the diner became The Continental.

134 to 136 Market Street [PhillyHistory]

The Continental Midtown has started a weekday martini hour menu from 5 to 7pm with wines, beers and cocktails available from $3 to $6 and small plates from $4 to $6.

Small Plate Menu:

• Hummus and Pita
• Steamed Edamame
• Szechuan Shoestring Fries
• Tofu Chive Dumplings
• Orange Chile Glazed Calamari
• BBQ Chicken Quesadilla

Drink Menu:

• Buzz Aldrin
• Pomegranate Daquiri
• Squirt
• Grape Crush
• Champagne-O-Rama
• Smirnoff Martini

Continental Midtown [Official Site]

We know, we know. You’re all such foodies that you would never dream of dating someone who wouldn’t plunge headfirst into a plate of organ meat with great gusto. Or would you? There are exceptions to every rule and sometimes those exceptions are totally hot and you want to marry or maybe even just have sex with those totally hot exceptions. Which begs the question, where do you take the dreaded Picky Eater on a date? The answer, after the jump.

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Nominees for the 2008 James Beard Awards, often referred to as the ‘Oscars of the food industry’, were announced today. Here are the local connections:

Restaurateur of the Year: Stephen Starr

Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic: Alison Barshak (Alison at Blue Bell), Jim Burke (James), Jose Garces (Amada), Matthew Levin (Lacroix), Daniel Stern (Rae)

Outstanding Pastry Chef: Kate Honeyman (Continental Mid-Town)

Rising Star Chef of the Year: Jeff Michaud (Osteria), Chip Roman (Blackfish), Michael Solomonov (Marigold Kitchen)

Outstanding Chef: Marc Vetri (Vetri)

Outstanding Service: Vetri

Best New Restaurant: Osteria, Tinto, Xochitl

They also give out awards to food writers, which we would undoubtedly win if we could afford the $100 entry fee.

Beard Nominees Sent to Judges [Grub Street]

Philadelphia Magazine comes up with six fancy Atlantic City burgers worth checking out when you’re not grilling up a masterpiece yourself.

Gallaghers Burger Bar

Trinity

Continental AC

Sonsie

Old Homestead

Wolfgang Puck American Grill

Burger Time [Philadelphia Magazine]

Foodzings tries out the Contintental Midtown for the first time.

I’m not quite sure what I expected, as I never really had any desire to go to the Continental. Not ever. But I thought it was ok. The prices on the food isn’t too bad, it’s really only the drinks that seem a bit high. The service was good, attentive, and my water glass was filled most of the time.

My first Continental [Foodzings]
Continental Midtown [Official Site]

Philadelphia Weekly’s Summer Guide has a theme of riding high and picks out its favorite spots to drink and dine above it all.

• 12th Air Command
• Cadence
• Continental Midtown
• Lucky Strike
• Standard Tap
• T.G.I. Fridays on the Parkway
• XIX

Deck Mate [Philadelphia Weekly]

Continental robbed! Two ski mask wearing, gun toting men made their way through a side entrance of the Continental at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 18 and robbed Stephen Starr’s Old City spot of $10,000. [Dan Gross, Philadelphia Daily News]

Brandywine Prime is coming to the former Chadds Ford Inn in the Brandywine Valley. Chef/Proprietor Dan Butler brings experience from Delaware’s Toscana and Deep Blue. Chef de Cuisine Keith Rudolph is a former executive chef at George’s in Wayne. A menu is available from brandywineprime.com (PDF). [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

A Bar named Sue is gone. This supposed Old City Rockabilly bar never caught on. Just writing that sentence gives you an idea why it didn’t work out. Old City? Rockabilly? Well if you want rockabilly, we recommend heading out to Glenside on a Sunday and visiting the Blue Comet (it’s right across from the Glenside train station). Now that place is a great time. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

A. D. Amorosi dumps some additional dish on the buzzing James. Turns out the foodie couple redid the place from top to bottom in just four months. [Ice Pack, City Paper]

November 26th to 30th will bring the Restaurant week concept to the Pier At Caesars. For five days you can enjoy dinner for $30 or lunch for $20.

All seven restaurants at the pier will be participating, meaning you can dine at the likes of Buddakan, Continental, Game On, Phillips, Sonsie, Souzai Sushi & Sake or Trinity Pub.

The Pier Shops at Caesars [Official Site]

This Friday join Paper Street for a special preview of Stephen Starr’s The Continental at The Pier at Caesars in Atlantic City. The party starts at 10 PM.

There is no admission charge to this event. Table reservations are first come, first served. The event is 10pm till close.

The Continental is located on the 3rd floor of the Pier at Caesars, directly across from Caesars Hotel & Casino.