Beer and politics go front and center tonight as Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., Cambridge Police officer Sgt. James Crowley and President Obama sit down to share a beer.

The prof. goes Red Stripe, the policeman chooses Blue Moon and the Prez picks Bud Light.

Joe Sixpack is happy we have a president who wants to settle differences over beer while Jack Curtin is less than pleased by the Commander-in-Chief went with Bud Light.

Joe Sixpack: Prez’s booze summit might mend racial spat [Daily News]
This is a national embarrassment [Liquid Diet]

City Council passed a bill that come 2010 will require restaurant chains to list nutritional information. Independent operators are exempt, an industry group was critical and frankly, we have trouble caring.

What’s new on menu? Labeling [Philadelphia Inquirer]

We’ve updated our Election Day Get Togethers post 7 or 8 times already so make sure you take a look for the latest places to watch the results and maybe get something for free.

Election Day Get Togethers

We have to admit, we aren’t very excited about election parties. Maybe it’s our Inner Quaker who believes that politics are a personal matter, or perhaps it’s the boiling down of politics to sport or maybe, just maybe, it’s goofy specials like “left and right wings.”

Whatever it is, it seems like just about everyone is having an election viewing party and food and drink specials to boot.

Check out the list after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Quite a storm developed when we posted that Sarah Palin was headed to the Irish Pub for the Presidential debate tonight. And perhaps the biggest unanswered question remains, why the Irish Pub? Co-owner Mark O’Connor wasn’t a whole lot of help. We’re not sure we can answer the why either but have to point out this isn’t the first time conservatives and the Irish Pub have crossed paths. Just back in April, Irish Pub chef Colleen McAvaddy was invited to cook for the Pope while he was in New York.

So what’s going on here? Have we been so distracted by the frat boys, car bombs, plasma TVs and abnormally tall bartenders that we’ve missed that the Irish Pub is some sort of nexus of conservatism?

Maybe the Union League is just a distraction?

Sarah Palin will be watching the presidential debate (if it happens) from the Irish Pub.

Fox 29 leaves out which Irish pub on Walnut Street. Which one do you think is more Sarah, the 20th street location or 12th Street?

Update: It’s the 20th and Walnut location.

Palin Watching Debate in Philadelphia Bar [Fox 29]

Nothing like a nightspot to bring together community groups. Developer Avram Hornik looks to have a battle on his hands regarding reopening the Jumbo Theatre as a 500-700 capacity theater/bar/restaurant combination.

Neighbors fight bar/concert hall [Philadelphia Daily News]

The Pennsylvania State Senate has approved a bill to ban smoking in public spaces across Pennsylvania. The bill will not weaken Philadelphia’s ban and it is expected that Governor Rendell will sign the bill into law.

There are also exceptions for “bars that have 20 percent or less in annual sales of food, as well as cigar bars, tobacco shops and private clubs whose officers agree to it.”

Pa. smoking ban clears last hurdle to becoming law [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Don’t ever feel bad for Stephen Starr, he has two of the highest-grossing independent restaurants in America: Buddakan and Morimoto (the New York branches, of course) at numbers 12 and 84 respectively. Buddakan pulled in $20 million in ‘07 while Morimoto trailed at $11.7 mil. Think about that the next time you’re sucking down an overpriced SRO cocktail. No Philly restaurants on the list at all. [Restaurants & Institutions Mag]

The Delightful Dan Gross notes that Obama has not yet tried a cheesesteak. We think this is because he’s taking our advice and believing in the Audacity of Roast Pork. [PhillyGossip]

Why aren’t food writers dealing with rising food prices? Are we in denial? Do we not care? At Foobooz, we talk about them all the time and even provide some handy guides for dealing with the problem without having to revert to cooking. [Slate]

Barack Obama visited Claudio’s in the Italian/9th-Street/Curb Market-thingy earlier this week, says the Daily News. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he tried the burrata, which is one of the finest cheese items available in the whole stinking market. Now, he’s promising to try a cheesesteak.

Of course, this means that soon the Great Opportunity for Cheesesteak-Related Public Relations Disaster will present itself to the candidates. Obama and Hillary Clinton will be forced, probably by their misinformed advisers–the very same advisers that recommend using cliched Rocky references in a speech–to decide at which establishment they will pretend to enjoy their token cheesesteak.

They will be scrutinized mercilessly for which cheesesteak-slinger they choose and how well they handle all of the stupid ordering rules and other shenanigans that go along with cheesesteakery. Let’s face it, cheesesteaks have nothing to do with brotherly love–they seem to attract controversy and create actual hostility like no other local foodstuff. Need evidence? Try this, this, this and, now, this.

Here’s our advice to Obama and if he’s truly the Candidate for Change, he’ll take it:

Roast pork.

From DiNics in Reading Terminal Market. With or without greens, provolone or horseradish. The sandwich of the future of Philadelphia in a classic, truly historic Philly setting.

Real meat, real taste, no hate.

DiNics [Reading Terminal Market]