Such nice people such delicious food – they serve real Crema with their dishes.
Everything is super fresh and the place is spotlessly clean inside.
Please note I’m not an influencer. I’m just a local and we paid for our lunch. We are happy customers and that’s it
We had chips and salsa, a steak, quesadilla, and the birra tacos.
We use them for take out and delivery all of the time but today we went inside and it’s nice to have a pleasant experience with just really simple fresh good food.
And we had enough leftover, that we took some home. Their guacamole is literally the best I have ever had, same with their quesadillas. And although I didn’t have them today if you are a fish taco fan, theirs will blow your mind.
I haven’t had Mexican food this good in this area since the place that used to exist on Gay Street in West Chester Borough. I don’t remember the name of it. I just remember when you were coming into the Borough off of Route 3, it was on your left and it was a storefront restaurant. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant. I do know that it was kind of across Gay street from where Gilmore’s was (which I also miss!)
Anyway, Taco Mar is not just has really good fresh food. Very fresh and bright flavors, and if you are vegetarian, there’s plenty for you to eat on the menu as well.
They have several locations in the area we were in the one that was the old Frazer Diner. The address is 189 Lancaster Avenue, Malvern, PA. Please note they are closed on Mondays.
Fiorello’s Cafe at 730 E. Gay Street in West Chester is normally a special place for us.
I will preface what I’m about to say with the fact that I am writing this because of the way I was treated by the young (?) woman who answered the phone who was some kind of a hostess or something and when I asked her if there was anyone else I could speak to she said no and if you’ve ever been in Fiorillo’s, you know that’s not true.
Talking about things like this actually helps a restaurant because they might not be aware how this person treats customers. And again, if you have ever been there, you know that they normally are wonderful to their guests.
We thought we would order takeout tonight and my husband wanted pizza and I didn’t, so we settled on Fiorello’s because it’s literally one of our favorite places to go to. And once in a while, we order them from Uber Eats for delivery. (You can also order on Slice, but I have found that delivery service problematic and prefer not to use them and actually if you order Fiorillo’s through them it’s more expensive than Uber Eats.)
Here is what I ordered. It was $32 from Uber Eats. $34 on Slice:
I ordered the “Calamari Mediterranean”, which says it comes with linguine. That is what it’s like when you order it in the restaurant. I asked for it to have capers added to it. I have ordered this for delivery before and again, like when you eat it in the restaurant, it comes with a small side house salad, and a little bit of bread and sometimes even that wonderful thin small slice of a garlicky pizza they serve with their meals.
It was delivered without linguine there wasn’t the side salad that used to come with it or even a crust of bread.
I called Fiorello’s twice and whoever the young woman is answering the phone was just freaking rude. I will admit that because I do not respond well to rude I was sharp due to her response along the lines of “What do you want me to do about it?” Now that’s paraphrasing, but that was the clear message.
“We don’t deliver” she says. I responded that I know they don’t deliver. The problem wasn’t the delivery. The problem was the order.
And no, I’m not driving to come pick up a replacement order when I wanted to treat myself to delivery from Fiorello’s. I never actually asked for a replacement incidentally.
And the phone/hostess woman with the whole attitude of what do I expect her to do about? It is simply not acceptable. That’s what I can’t get past. She could’ve actually just apologized. A simple “We’re so sorry” goes a long way.
Does she want me to explain a restaurant and what front of house does when there’s a problem? I wasn’t even looking for a partial refund at that point although after I got off the phone with her, I was so ticked off I did contact Uber Eats and they did give me a partial refund….which I deserved as a customer.
Again, we have been customers for years.
And I don’t understand how their own kitchen doesn’t know that this comes with linguine that’s plain that you put the calamari over? (When you are in the restaurant, of course, the calamari comes out on top of the linguine.)
Again, I ask because you see the photo of what I received and that was all that I received in the photo that opened this post. Does this look like a $32 dinner or even complete?
And I will also note that this woman who answered the phone argued with me that all I was getting was calamari when I ordered that for Uber Eats and I said no she had better go back and read the menu.
But above all else, I don’t do rude as a customer. And again she would not have gotten an edge in my voice if she had just been polite to me instead of me getting the whole attitude of she doesn’t really want to be there on a Sunday night and talk to anybody on the phone or help people.
When employees have attitudes like that it makes it less likely that people actually want to come into a restaurant.
Mostly this makes me sad because we’ve had many wonderful occasions in this normally local gem of a restaurant. We even celebrated our engagement there as a newly engaged couple.
I’m not writing this post to say no I will never patronize Fiorello’s again, I am writing this because they obviously have a couple things to work on with staff. Normally things there are impeccable and the staff is really friendly and helpful.
This was not such an experience.
I’m not looking for a free meal and I won’t accept one, but it would be nice if somebody just said they were sorry that this happened. And also to teach whomever that was on the phone who also never identified herself, basic customer service skills.
I love Fiorello’s normally, I didn’t love this. And that’s all I’m saying.
How would you like to get mayonnaise that looks like this?
Well, I did today.
I went to order off the Duke’s website and the website sent me to Amazon. I can no longer order directly any longer, apparently.
So I ordered from the Duke’s store on Amazon. I ordered mayonnaise. I can’t even tell you how disgusting it was when it arrived today.
It’s so disgusting. Truly gross.
And this I think will be the last time that I ever purchase Duke’s mayonnaise and I have been buying it for years and it was my favorite until it arrived today and I thought I would vomit because it was just all like clear yellowy oil.
There was no mayonnaise part to it and it was not beyond expiration and how the Duke’s store thought that was OK to package and send escapes me. It was one of those normal size jars. I guess like 30 ounces or something.
I used to order from the Duke’s website. Why? Because if you ordered directly from them, you also had access to the other things they sold, which included some wonderful mustard as well as flavored mayonnaise or mayonnaise made with avocado oil or light mayonnaise. Basically here on the East Coast, you’re lucky if the grocery store will actually consistently have the mayonnaise in stock. The other products don’t appear in this area. And I love their mustards as a matter of fact, or I did.
I couldn’t believe I was shipped something like that so I Googled Duke’s. And guess what it was sold.
It had been under the flag of Sauer Brands out of Richmond, VA. But apparently in 2025 it got a new corporate daddy. And the new corporate daddy is a multinational conglomerate called Advent International.
RICHMOND, VA, February 19, 2025 – Sauer Brands Inc. (the “Company”), a scaled platform of leading condiments and seasonings brands, today announced the completion of its previously announced transaction in which Advent International (“Advent”), a leading global private equity investor, has acquired Sauer Brands from Falfurrias Capital Partners (“Falfurrias”). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sauer Brands into our portfolio and build upon the success the Company has already achieved to date,” said Tricia Glynn, a Managing Partner at Advent. “Our aspirations are to enable even more consumers to discover and fall in love with Sauer’s brands, including Duke’s Mayo, Mateo’s Gourmet Salsa and Kernel Season’s.”
Well, isn’t that interesting. I’m guessing now there will be multiple products. I will not be purchasing anymore because they’re under this corporate umbrella. I also did like Mateo’s Gourmet Salsa. But given this is how the mayonnaise looks from Duke’s that’s now not really Duke’s in my humble opinion.
Unless something changes where Advent is involved, l will not purchase any product associated with them.
I had finally gotten through listening to the insanity of the West Whiteland Zoning Hearing Board meeting when a new headline for Savvy popped up. DiBruno’s which is now NOT really them any longer, it’s owned by another company now – Wakefern is closing the Ardmore and Wayne locations. A 3rd store in Philadelphia I guess someplace also is closing according to Michael Klein in the Philadelphia Inquirer. So the company that purchased them in 2024 is related to ShopRite as in that guy Jeff Brown who ran for mayor in Philadelphia a few years ago.
Apparently the original store on 9th Street in the Italian Market and the center city Chestnut Street location will survive. I will admit for DiBruno’s my heart belongs to 9th Street. That was a big part of growing up, going there with my father.
I covered the opening of the Ardmore store in 2011. The soft opening launch of it all was March, 2011. I covered it for Ardmore Patch at the time.
March 31 marked the grand opening reception for Philadelphia-based Di Bruno Brothers new store in the Ardmore Farmers Market in Suburban Square.
Di Bruno’s began in 1939, when brothers Danny and Joe Di Bruno opened a small market on 9th Street in the heart of the Italian Market in South Philadelphia. I grew up going there with my family.
My great aunts lived not too far away in South Philadelphia and as a small child my family lived in Society Hill before moving to the Main Line. Some of my earliest memories were treks to the market and to Di Bruno’s.
When you walked into the long and very narrow store that was Di Bruno’s on 9th Street, it was a feast for the senses: cheeses and cured meats were suspended from the ceiling and shelves lined the walls with all sorts of foods and coffees. Large oak barrels filled with olives, pepperoncini, and other brine-soaked treats stood at attention like soldiers. Their spicy, salty aromas saturated the store.
People were greeted with a smile and the brothers were always helpful. You could truly trust them to give you something fabulous when you asked for, say, a suggestion on a cheese or cured meat.
One of my late father’s favorite stories about Di Bruno’s took place one Christmas time, and centered around an older woman in the store who was dressed in neat but threadbare clothes. As he told it, the woman was struggling with what she could get with the very little money she had, when one of the Di Bruno brothers asked if she needed help. She showed them what she had, and they said it would be fine and filled two large shopping bags with food for her. It was obviously far exceeding what she would have been able to pay for, but that was just the way they were. They were kind and they treated all their customers like family.
That feeling and legacy have survived throughout the generations and informed every store Di Bruno’s has opened.
While their latest opens for regular business on April 5in the Ardmore Farmers Market in Suburban Square, Di Bruno’s opened their doors on March 31 for a grand opening celebration that was heaven on earth for foodies.
The Ardmore Market is a very clean and well lit modern space, yet Di Bruno’s, as they have with their other stores, has maintained the feeling of the Italian Market. They spared no expense and treated all of the guests to the delectable treats that made them famous, in addition to samplings from their catering menu.
If the crowd at the grand opening is any indication, Di Bruno’s will be not only a welcome addition to the Main Line food scene, but an incredibly popular one as well.
Buona fortuna Di Bruno’s and welcome to Ardmore!
Here are some photos I took at that launch party:
I only went to Wayne a couple of times because well, Carlino’s in West Chester is out here. Wayne was a big gamble for them when it opened in 2021. I wondered how it would do over time. At the same time they opened Wayne, it seemed like Ardmore was just less than it was before. But I also heard the rents in Suburban Square are crazy expensive around that same time, so was it unexpected to me this news today? Actually yes. I always figured when Wayne opened, eventually Ardmore would be phased out because the Ardmore Farmer’s Market has been a fauxmer’s market for many years, dating back to when DiBruno’s opened there in 2011. As a matter of fact, it was DiBruno’s that got me to go back to the Ardmore Farmer’s Market at all.
Anyway, it’s a major bummer, and I feel sorry for the employees. That will be a BIG empty space in Wayne across from the farmers market there. In Suburban Square? Meh. Kimco will plug some drek in their spot in the fauxmer’s market.
People seem to have their soup memories from growing up. I have a friend whose soup memories are chicken soup. A lot of mine involve ham and bean soup.
My late father was the soup maker growing up. My mother will tell you it was her, but it really wasn’t. Every winter he would make a ham and bean soup. It would have cabbage, ham, beans, sometimes he would even dice up a hard, Italian salami, and vegetables.
When my vegetable box came this week, there was a beautiful cabbage in it. I realized from my recent pork share order that I had a big smoked ham hock in the freezer. I also had some leftover ham that I had frozen when we had not eaten all of a ham for just this purpose.
Yesterday I started with the dried beans. I boiled water and poured it over the beans and a big mixing bowl with some herbs and spices and salt. I left the beans to soak overnight and this morning I began the soup.
First I sautéed garlic, onion, celery, and the ham hock and ham. Then I added, cut up baby carrots because that’s what I had in the refrigerator. After that had all cooked together for a few minutes I poured in the liquid the dried beans were soaking in. I also added a 14 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. (Mutti, my favorite tomato brand.)
After that cooked together for a bit, I added a container of bone broth, the cabbage I had gotten in my vegetable box all diced up, and water. Note when you dice the cabbage small for a soup it’s sort of melts away and it’s not obtrusive.
To this, I added herbs. I still have sage and thyme growing in some of the pots in my garden, believe it or not. I also added some Herbes de Provence, and a couple dashes of New Mexico chili powder. I also added a salt free pepper blend that I use called Pennsylvania pepper.
And two cheese rinds. I can’t forget that! I save them in little baggies in the freezer for sauces and soups, and things like macaroni and cheese.
I brought the soup up to a boil, then I turned it down to just above a simmer, and just kept checking on it throughout the day and giving it a stir. I did not do it with the lid completely off because I wanted the beans to cook properly. I used one of my little pot lid risers and had the lid on but up a smidge.
The soup because it has cooked low and slow all day has thickened and reduced and melded together beautifully.
You know you don’t really necessarily need a specific recipe for a lot of these soups. It’s what you have on hand.
So it is a cold night and I went old school. Casserole called essentially no peek chicken.
You cook boneless skinless breasts or thighs in uncooked rice broth Campbell’s condensed soup with vegetables and basically this is my own invention because I had sort of southwestern on the brain and I had cilantro to use.
I used a can of the diced chilies and tomatoes from Aldi, a can of the condensed Campbell’s cream of cheddar soup, one of those little small wheels of queso fresco, a small onion diced up, a small bag of thawed frozen corn, oregano, salt-free chili powder, 1 1/2 cups of dry rice, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, and four boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Basically you preheat your oven to 350°, and while you’re doing that you grease a rectangular baking dish and you put your chicken breasts in the bottom. I add a slight drizzle of olive oil to the chicken breasts.
Then, in a big mixing bowl, I put the dried rice, the onion, the can of chilies and tomatoes, the can of condensed soup a bunch of cilantro I had chopped up and the chicken broth and I mix it all together. I don’t add salt. I add oregano and sprinkle a little salt free chili powder.
I pour everything over the chicken breasts, add one of those little wheels of queso fresco all crumbled up and cover the pan tightly with nonstick foil.
You put it in your preheated oven for an 1 1/2 hours, maybe less depending upon your oven and you do not ever take the tinfoil off to peek, but as it’s getting close to done, you can stick a thermometer into the foil through one of the breast to check your temperature.
Yes it’s a little 1960s housewife but it tastes pretty good. Last time I did it with cream of mushroom soup and fresh mushrooms, etc.
What some of the people that spend so much time criticizing me don’t realize is I love to cook. I also love to garden, which is of course why I have a separate gardening blog.
A while back a friend sent me a link to a website. It was for something called Recipe Philly.
So on a complete whim, I submitted the pasta sauce recipe taught to me by my great aunts and my paternal grandmother. It’s mostly their recipe, but I tweaked it and wrote it down.
I know that this sauce recipe is good enough to compete with. I’ve actually had people who are professional chefs, and in the restaurant industry tell me so over the years. I also just love the idea of the sauce I learned to make as well as gnocchi in a kitchen at 11th and Ritner when I was a little girl, could be shared with a broader audience.
I still have very distinct memories of the big ceramic top kitchen table that used to hold 8 or 10 of us at one time being cleared for first chopping up vegetables and what not going into the sauce, and then as a workstation to make the gnocchi.
The gnocchi is also another recipe that I finally wrote down because I was taught how to make it by feel. You could just feel when the dough was right.
When my father’s mother would sometimes babysit us when we were in high school and my parents were traveling for my father’s job at the time, I would have these memories of Saturday mornings, and even Sunday mornings, waking up to the mingled smell of fresh coffee and garlic and onion Starting to cook in the bottom of a Dutch oven for sauce.
It was these memories that I was all excited to bring to this competition. And I’m hardly a reality show person. But it was because this was really kind of a cooking thing I was interested. Finally, I’m at a place in my life where I have the time to do something like that.
But life throws you curveballs. I was interviewed on a zoom submitted my application and invited to compete tomorrow in Philadelphia but at the same time this was happening, I have a dog who developed cancer. And the reality of life and the responsibility to my pet means I can’t leave her for 8 or 10 hours right now.
So this morning, I had to decline. I had my recipe ready. I had my photos. I had my recipe card. They want it filled out done and a copy of my application. I sent the producers who gave up their valuable time for me an email apologizing. I didn’t want to just not show up that would be rude and disrespectful of their time and energy into this project which I think is a fun as well as cool idea.
If my recipe had been chosen, it would’ve been featured in this brand new restaurant opening in Philadelphia. If my recipe had been chosen, I think it would’ve amused the ghosts of my ancestors. This recipe was obviously taught to my great aunts and my grandmother by their mother, who immigrated to this country with her husband their father has a very young woman for a better life. This recipe is part of the DNA of my American story because we are a country of immigrants.
Those people, who would’ve been my late father’s maternal grandparents came here for a better life. If they hadn’t existed, the future generations of which I am part of the current present generation never would have existed.
So for the time being, I don’t get my home cook moment, but for the love of my dog, I just can’t do it. And I really wanted to. But sometimes the timing in life and being a grown-up and being a responsible pet owner have to come first.
If these people at Recipe Philly would ever want to talk to me after today about my recipe and competing when they actually film, I would welcome that opportunity. But sadly, I know that’s not how the process works, so it’s just not my time.
I make no secret of the fact that FarmBoy BBQ is one of my favorite local businesses or that I know the owner. I think they have the best barbecue around and their brisket is like a religious experience.
However, I wrote a post here in August about how difficult it is getting in there because of PennDot and their endless sink hole remediation project. The project has been forever and seems to be way behind schedule.
Farm Boy is located at 625 N. Morehall Road (AKA Route 29) in Malvern.
But guess what I discovered completely by accident today? Farm Boy is on Instacart under the restaurant tab for our area!
So if you would like to help out this restaurant so that they survive PennDot hell part two (they already had to live through this sink hole remediation once with PennDot ), place an order on Instacart and Uber Eats if you don’t want to deal with the aggravation and delays created by PennDot!
Trust me, you’ll be glad you did. And if you’ve never tried Farm Boy, this is as good an excuse as any.
And if you have an extra few minutes, please contact our state Senator Katie Muth, and tell her that PennDot is strangling small businesses with their delays on Route 29.
Last night’s roast chicken with a curry paste in leftover form first became a bone broth.
Then, after broth was cooked and strained, the chicken I had leftover that had been separated from the carcass prior to bone broth was shredded and added back along with finely chopped vegetables (fresh spinach, red cabbage, red onion, celery) and simmered along to perfection.
Some of the mashed potatoes left over from the chicken became gnocchi- just enough to cook separately and fresh for bottom of the bowl and soup ladled over it.
Now last night’s chicken was a happy experiment. We love curries and I thought why not try a curry roasted chicken?
I made a curry paste and used it to roast the chicken with it.
It wasn’t too complicated to make the paste. It was a couple different kinds of curry powder that I have, red curry paste, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder.
I thought that the leftovers would make a good bone broth and they did. And last night I decided some of the leftover potatoes would make great gnocchi.
And it all worked! In an era of expensive grocery prices, it was a thrifty solution to stretch groceries and make leftovers more fun!
I love growing basil. It’s one of my favorite herbs. And since I started growing it from seed and using my greenhouse to grow it , it’s a game changer. It is a stronger plant and it lasts longer when you grow from seed yourself. And it loves being in the greenhouse with the chili peppers I grow.
Today I made pesto out of some of the basil and served it on tortellini for dinner.
Now my late father made his pesto using a mortar and pestle. I use my blender. And below are the ingredients for my pesto and literally it just goes in the blender and I pulverize it. I refrigerate it until I’m going to use it and I just love pesto when homemade like this.
Pesto
3 – 4 cups fresh basil leaves
Bunch of fresh flat leaf Italian parsley or lovage
