Stories of Reading Terminal Market

Summer Beckley finds the facts on some of marketplace’s vendors.

The aisles of Reading Terminal Market bustled with college students, elderly couples and young families. A thousand scents filled the air, from the enticing aroma of freshly baked soft pretzels to the exotic fragrance of strange spices. My eyes couldn’t decide whether to focus on the tempting chocolate truffles in front of me or the huge, bizarre piggy bank in the Center Court.

Located at 12th and Arch streets in Center City, Reading Terminal Market is wonderfully overwhelming. Covering nearly two acres, with 80 diverse vendors, the market has been an integral part of Philadelphia culture for more than a century.

“The Reading Terminal Market is a Philadelphia landmark and a must-see for visitors to our city,” Alison Tress, a Temple alumna and head of advertising for the market, said. “For students fortunate enough to be attending school in Philadelphia, the sights, sounds and especially tastes of the Reading Terminal Market can be experienced often.”

Every day, thousands of people enjoy such vendors as Bassetts Ice Cream, Terralyn and Miller’s Twists, but not all of them know the history of the Reading Terminal Market itself.

I remember visiting the market as a child – nose plastered to the glass cases, eyes wide at the sight of chocolate-covered potato chips or tiny porcelain elephants. Now, with majors in history and communications, I am entranced by the wealth of history that waits to be discovered at Reading Terminal.

Markets have been an integral part of Philadelphia since its founding. Rows of merchants used to line the roadway now fittingly known as Market Street. By the mid-1800s, this collection of open-air markets was seen as a health hazard and was dismantled. The Reading Terminal Market, as we know it today, opened in 1892.

With the Industrial Revolution came the expansion of the railroad, and in 1893, the Reading Railroad Terminal opened above the market, bringing it unprecedented traffic and booming success.

Along with the rest of the country, the Reading Terminal suffered through the Great Depression, but it burst to life again during World War II. With the introduction of food rationing, more and more people came to the market, appreciating the variety and quantity of food it offered.

During the 1960s, as economic problems haunted the railway system, the market faltered. In 1976, after bankruptcy, the Reading Railroad ceased operations as a railroad. Reading Terminal Market was on the brink of closing as well.

“Bassetts Ice Cream is the last remaining original merchant in the Reading Terminal Market,” said Michael Strange, the president of Bassetts, which has endured generations at Reading Terminal.

“Founded by my great-great-grandfather, Lewis D. Bassett … Bassetts Ice Cream is a fifth-generation family owned business,” Strange said proudly.

Throughout the 1970s, there was discussion about the disposal of the market and the selling of the terminal building. In the 1980s, the Reading Company reorganized as a real estate business and poured its energy into revitalizing the market.

After years of negotiations, the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority was created to transform what had once been the train shed above the market into a lavish entranceway to the new convention center. Along with this new construction, help was promised to bring the market back to life.

Stands like Terralyn – Bath, Body, Spirit may not have been in business very long but still have fascinating stories. Elizabeth Eaby, a self-described “kind of” retiree, works at the stand selling its exquisite soaps, lotions and bath salts, as well as jewelry and her own photography. Although Eaby has only been working at the Reading Terminal Market for a year, she recalled generations of involvement with the market.

“I’ve lived in Philly my whole life,” Eaby said. “I have a lot of connection to the market. My dad passed away recently, but when he was alive, he would come here.”

In addition, Eaby spoke of connections to the railway business that shaped the Market’s early years.
“My grandfather worked for the Reading Railroad,” she said. “I remember him taking me through here.
“You get all kind of people through here,” she added, observing the crowded aisles. “I love working here. It’s really interesting.”

Miller’s Twists is another relatively new business, but it continues a long tradition.

“[Miller’s Twists has] only been in business for almost a year,” Roger Miller, the store’s owner, said. “I bought the business from Fisher’s, who was in the Reading Terminal since the early 1980s. They were the first Pennsylvania Dutch or Amish stand in the market.”

Miller recalled a long history with Reading Terminal.

“I had worked in the market for 10 years as the manager of the Dutch Eating Place, which [was] right next to Fisher’s. I decided to change the name, but I brought along a lot of the employees and tried to keep a lot of the same pretzel principles.”

Miller said he is proud of the quality of his food.

“Our pretzels are made from scratch,” he added. “We mix the flour, let the dough rise, roll and bake the pretzel all at the market.”

Today, the Reading Terminal Market once again stirs with life. From homemade Amish pies to fresh poultry and beautiful flowers to ethnic dishes and Philly cheesesteaks, the variety is amazing. The market draws approximately 100,000 visitors every week, both Philadelphians getting their week’s worth of groceries and tourists exploring the city.

Temple students should use their time in Philadelphia to become familiar with the market.
“The Reading Terminal Market has so much going on,” Eaby said. “It’s a really fascinating place.”

Summer Beckley can be reached at summer.beckley@temple.edu.

Temple students, Phils fans out in full force to watch team’s blowout Game 1 win

Part one in a multi-story series.

Game one of the World Series kicked off Wednesday night, and Phillies fans were out in full force despite Mother Nature’s attempts to rain out the game.

Fox and Hound, one of Center City’s biggest sports bars, served as a perfect scene to take in game one.

By the bottom of the sixth inning, a mob of game-watchers already crowded the bar and began spilling out the door of the popular watering hole onto the corner of 15th and Spruce streets, as a brawl between a male Yankees fan and a gaggle of female Phillies fans was broken up inside the bar.

“The only difference between watching the game in New York and watching the game here is the number of people who get punched in the face,” said Phillies fan Jimmy Farrell.

A FOX-affiliate reporter in New York said Philadelphia’s only well-known athlete was Rocky, and he’s fictional.

“That insult is based on the presumption that the people of Philadelphia would take it as an insult,” Farrell said.

Clearly, participating in the series festivities is not for the faint of heart, even with Fox and Hound’s injury-preventative steps, such as only serving drinks in plastic cups and bottles.

Lifelong Phillies followers weren’t going to give up that easily. Alex Frigoletto, a senior marketing major at Temple, said following Philly sports is how she was raised.

“There’s a photo of me as an infant with a Phillies hat on, and another wearing Eagles stuff,” he said.

Surviving the upcoming week’s mania isn’t what Frigoletto is worried about, though. She said it’s her wallet.

“I’ll go out every night if my finances allow it,” she said.

Senior Ben Levy is proof that there’s no excuse to stay home on game night.

“I never come out, except now because we’re in the World Series.”

That sentiment goes for Yankees fans as well. Believe it or not there was a small group of Yankee lovers sitting at the bar. While they kept to themselves, many Phils fans couldn’t help but chuck drinks and trash at them.
Michelle Provencher can be reached at michelle.provencher@temple.edu.

Business students aid in first opening of city luxury hotel

For the first time, a group of students from the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management help open a hotel in Center City Philadelphia.

The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management is putting its students’ skills into action. For the first time in Temple’s history, STHM is assisting with the opening of a local hotel.

Hotel Palomar Philadelphia is located in the heart of Center City near Rittenhouse Square, on 17th Street between Walnut and Chestnut streets. It is scheduled to make its grand opening this Thursday, Oct. 15.

The STHM program reached out to the hotel when members learned of its planning.

“Essentially, what we wanted to do was begin the cultivation of a long-term relationship,” said Managing Director for Corporate Relations Gregory DeShields, who facilitated the relationship between the university and Hotel Palomar.

“The relationship could include everything from placement opportunities, special projects, research collaboration and volunteer work.”

Hotel Palomar is a pet-friendly hotel, featuring 194 guestrooms, 19 spa rooms and 17 suites. It boasts an eco-friendly design and atmosphere, which will soon receive certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design.

It will be the first Philadelphia hotel to be LEED-certified.

“A LEED certification means that the materials used to build the building are recyclable materials,” Hotel Palomar Director of Sales and Marketing Bradley Pacana said.

Labeled as a luxury hotel, Hotel Palomar provides usual amenities like complimentary newspapers and coffee, as well as overnight shoe-shining and a 24-hour fitness center. The hotel also includes a wellness and spa program.

“They gave us a tour, and it’s beautiful,” freshman tourism and hospitality management major Emilie Davis said.

Several groups of Temple students were involved with preparation of the hotel’s opening. The students were charged with tasks, such as a media marketing campaign and a six-week mass marketing campaign.

Davis volunteered three times for the Center City hotel.

“We would stand in different places in the city and hand out brochures and bookmarks with the hotel logo on it,” Davis said.

Another group served as hotel ambassadors, who “worked to provide first impression information about the hotel for visitors who are inquisitive about the property,” DeShields said.

Currently, two Temple graduate students are employed with Hotel Palomar. Senior hospitality management major Edward Redding is currently working as an intern for the luxury hotel.

“When I started, it was just me and all the department heads,” Redding said. “It was interesting watching them staff the hotel and watching them work from the ground up, seeing stuff I’d usually never get to see.”

Redding is working with the housekeeping department to prepare rooms – completing inspections, categorizing and directing problems and ensuring that “everything from the garbage cans to the clock radios” is in place.

“Housekeeping is one of the most important parts of the hotel, and staff wise, it’s the largest,” Redding said. “I’m really getting a good idea of what that takes and how to keep it organized.”

Redding said he would consider working at the hotel after he graduates.

“Everyone at the hotel is ridiculously friendly, and it’s just fun to be there,” he said. “The management is great, and they have a great staff.”

Future volunteer opportunities include giving tours of the hotel.

“It gets me excited for what I’m majoring in,” Davis said, “and shows me the different aspects of what I can do with my major.”

Grace Dickinson can be reached at grace.dickison@temple.edu.

Wooden Shoe walks down a different path

The colorful store located in Center City is a forum for different kinds of opinions and voices.

Many bookstores offer the public a means to find entertainment, a place to relax, socialize with people and find information. Wooden Shoe Books offers this and more – with a bit of a twist. 

Wooden Shoe Bookstore, located at 508 South Fifth St., is a non-profit, volunteer-run bookstore that has a strong left-wing theme to it. Though it functions much like a standard bookstore, it sticks by one particular tenant.

“Our main focus is to allow access to information,” volunteer Todd O’Leary said.  

The store has long been a place for those who have strong left-wing ideologies ever since it first opened at 20th and Sansom streets in 1976, but the history of Wooden Shoe is a long one.

The anarchist collective has been at its current location for 12 years but is now planning to move once again Oct. 10.

On Saturday Oct. 3, between 12 and 7 p.m., the store will host “Moving Forward,” an event to celebrate moving the store to its new location at 704 South St. The event will involve multiple workshops at both the new and old locations. Some of these workshops will include topics like saving the libraries and fighting AIDS.  

The store is currently continuing its fund raising by selling raffle tickets at one for $2, three for $5 or 20 for $10. Volunteers are also holding garage and sidewalk sales to help draw in people who might not usually come to the store.

Wooden Shoe has also been earning money for its big move the old fashioned way, through donations. Volunteers had hoped to earn as much as $7,000, but funds are still coming up short.

The store, which is still in need of serious funding, offers a multitude of left-wing books on subjects and issues ranging from anarchism, racism and feminism to history, politics, art and music.

In the middle of Wooden Shoe’s current location is a table of records, CDs and tapes from underground artists of varying genres, such as rock, folk, hip-hop and spoken word.

Local talents can have their albums sold through consignment, which essentially places the creator’s material into the store’s hands. And consignees can expect to gain 70 percent of what Wooden Shoe earned from their product, which is better than some other places, said James Generic, a volunteer since 2000.

Another more notable product Wooden Shoe sells is the pamphlet or booklet-like reading material called a zine. Zines are self-published works, and authors cover an array of topics. These works can also be consigned like the self-made music items.

The Wooden Shoe holds about two events a week. Typically, events include a speaker who comes in, and the store has also recently started hosting Saturday movie nights. 

Stephen Kimmerly can be reached at stephen.kimmerly@temple.edu. 

A Craigslist Missed Connections hit

Temple student Dan Zubrzycki never expected to use the Web site’s questionable service, until it worked for him.

Some people check Craigslist’s Missed Connections every day.

Some check them in hopes of getting a laugh as part of their routine procrastination, and some like to see if they recognize anyone that’s been posted about. Others log onto Missed Connections, fairly certain they’ll find a post there about them somewhere – and some people, such as Dan Zubrzycki, have.

“I was walking around Center City, looking for a job, and she was standing outside of Lush, promoting some products,” said Zubrzycki, a junior psychology major, “and asked me if I wanted to play with bubbles. It had been a bad day, and I wanted someone to talk to.”

The girl he’s referring to is 20-year-old Maxine Kramer, an employee of a Walnut Street cosmetics shop, who was daring enough to post an ad on Missed Connections that very night.

“They make us go outside and promote soap when traffic in the store is slow,” Kramer said. “It was my turn, and I don’t like doing it because it’s boring, so I was just asking everyone if they wanted to play with bubbles.”

Her question, Zubrzycki said, was one he didn’t even think about turning down. He immediately approached her, and the two “bantered back and forth” while playing with bubbles for more than a half hour.

“But, due to the nature of that work, there tends to be creepers,” Zubrzycki said, “so her bosses got alarmed and switched her to work inside.”

Both Kramer and Zubrzycki laugh at this now.

“My coworkers thought they had ‘saved me,’” Kramer said. “But I didn’t even get his name.”

It was then that both parties used Craigslist to their rescue. Both went home, hoping to see an ad from the other in order to get in contact again.

In the end, it was Kramer who stepped to the plate.

“I checked first to see if he put one up, and he hadn’t, so I just did it,” Kramer said. “I didn’t have many doubts about doing it.”

But Zubrzycki, on the other hand, had his own preoccupations about posting a Missed Connections ad, which is why he hadn’t gotten to it before Kramer.

“I never did it before,” he said. “Part of me wondered about it. I feel most of them are weird, where the people didn’t talk or actually interact at all. What’s that really gonna do for anybody?”

Zubrzycki had even more doubts about how to respond when he saw Kramer’s ad. He was concerned about approaching her in the wrong manner.

“I sent an e-mail back,” he said. “I was going to go down to the store. I was debating it. But when you post, you want that wall there [to help the other person decide] whether or not you are the right person.”

Kramer and Zubrzkycki now both refer to one another as “Craigslist” when talking to their friends. Somewhat ironically, the female in the situation was more willing to post to Missed Connections, but enthusiasm and daringness seem to vary from person to person on the site.

“I don’t think [successful Missed Connections posts] happen nearly as much as people put them up,” Kramer said, “but I’ve definitely heard of a handful before.”

Carlene Majorino can be reached at c.majorino@temple.edu.

Campus makes for prime jog

There’s no need to take the subway to Center City if you’re looking for a good outdoor workout; there are plenty of ideal running routes on and around Main Campus.

Going to school in Philadelphia allows Temple students the exciting option of stepping off the treadmills and indoor tracks and onto the city streets or other areas around Main Campus like the outdoor track.

Temple’s track and field and cross-country teams use the outdoor track at 15th and Berks streets, running trails in Philadelphia and streets in and around Main Campus for outdoor training.

Eric Mobley, coach of Temple’s track and field and cross-country teams, said when the teams head off-campus to practice, they typically run at Valley Green, Belmont Plateau or Kelly Drive.

Kelly Drive stretches the four-mile length extending from the Philadelphia Museum of Art along the Schuylkill River and Boathouse Row.

Mobley is an advocate of running outdoors.

“There’s more to see, different running surfaces, just more options,” he said. “Because of the conditions outside, weather, surface, et cetera, two miles on the treadmill is easier than two miles outside.”

Valley Green and Belmont Plateau are sections of Fairmount Park, a system of 63 regional and neighborhood parks, which boasts more than 215 miles of recreation trails. Getting to certain sections of Fairmount Park from Main Campus often requires some form of transportation, but if transportation is unavailable, Temple students should know they still have options.

“If we are limited to just our feet for transportation, we will run either on the track or down Broad Street straight past City Hall, until it’s time to turn around,” Karrie Finn said. The sophomore biology major is a Temple cross-country runner.

Students can also choose to run west from Temple’s Main Campus, along Fairmount Avenue, to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This route is about two miles long and connects with Kelly Drive. For shorter runs, Shameka Marshall, assistant coach for Temple track and field, said students can run south on Broad Street and turn around at Girard Avenue.

Brian Norton is a leader of Philly Runners, a group that runs together three times a week, and notes that running outside is a good core work out.

“The constant adjustment to pavement, leaves, other pedestrians … keeps the runner moving vertically and challenges you to maintain a steady pace,” Norton said.

Safety is always a factor to consider when running outside. Members and coaches of the cross-country and track and field teams agree, though, that if students take certain precautions when running outdoors, Temple can be a safe and enjoyable experience.

“As a team, we feel perfectly safe running almost anywhere we please,” said Rebecca Mims, captain of the women’s cross-country team.

Still, students who run in the city have a story or two to tell.

“I haven’t really been full-out hit by a car, but I was tapped by one that wasn’t looking while I was crossing the street,” Finn said. “People make ignorant comments as our group runs through the city, and some think it’s funny to join in for a little bit.”

“For ladies, attire may be a factor,” Marshall said, adding that women who run along the city streets may want to don more conservative running gear in order to avoid receiving “interesting comments” from bystanders.

Regardless of where students choose to run, Mobley recommends they stay on busier streets, run with other people and avoid using iPods or MP3 players.

Mims said students should try to vary the surfaces they run on.

“It is important to balance your time on concrete with softer surfaces to avoid injuries if you are running more than three or so miles a day,” she said.

Marshall suggests that in addition to running, students should work out in Temple’s indoor pool to relieve stress from their knees while still achieving a cardio workout.

“Sometimes, it’s good to change up the routine, so you can work other muscles and change your breathing rhythm,” Marshall said. “Running the McGonigle stairs, for instance, is good and doing long sprints in the grass at the track is another option.”

“The main thing,” Marshall said, “ is fitness can be achieved in many ways, so give yourself a variety.”

Christine Fisher can be reached at fisher.christine@temple.edu.

Students pay price for elimination of campus shuttles

Many students are forced to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for transportation since Main Campus shuttles to Center City will no longer run.

Though it’s been more than a week since Temple announced the discontinuation of free shuttles to TUCC and the School of Podiatric Medicine, sophomore Adebusayo Adewole remains disheartened.

“I was very upset, and I still am very upset,” Adewole, a business and risk management major, said. “There’s a lot of money coming out of our pockets already.”

Hillel Hoffmann, assistant director of university communications, said the decision to halt services came after considering the potential savings for the university, ridership and alternative modes of transportation for students. Paid for by the university’s operating budget, the elimination of Center City shuttles and weekend and late-night service to Ambler Campus will save Temple $247,000.

“The university wanted to do everything it could do to have historically low tuition and keep financial aid as high as possible to help families,” Hoffmann said in reference to the 2.9 percent tuition increase decided last May.

The shuttle services were “indentified as a potential area of savings in March/April 2009,” Hoffmann said. A final decision was not made until the day of the press release, Aug. 28. The information was later distributed via the electronic Temple Today newsletter on the first day of classes, Aug. 31.

Freshman Allison Ripa was told during her April “Experience Temple” day that free shuttle services would be available to students taking classes at TUCC.

Likewise, Lena Van, a sophomore English major who transferred to Temple from Rutgers University, was told there would be a shuttle to take her to her Survey of American Literature class in Center City.

“I was disappointed in the university because on the second day here, my friend and I decided to explore [TUCC],” Van said. “But no one could tell us where [the shuttles] were, not even the bus drivers.”

The next day, when seeking departure times for TUCC to attend her class, Van found out the services had been discontinued.

“It’s clear the university could have done a better job communicating to students,” Hoffmann said.

While Hoffmann said “the shuttle bus drivers monitor the ridership constantly,” Temple could not provide day-to-day ridership statistics. Low ridership was one of the three factors considered throughout the decision-making process.

Another factor, alternative modes of transportation for students, was heavily weighed. The university looked at other mass transit options, such as the SEPTA C bus and Broad Street Line, to TUCC and TUSPM and decided “if Temple is going to provide bus transportation, it’s going to go to the place most far away,” Hoffmann said.

The Ambler Campus is located approximately 15 miles from Main Campus, at 580 Meetinghouse Rd.
Aside from the university’s shuttle service, students can utilize SEPTA’s Regional Rail system but must rely on a car to travel the remaining distance to campus from the R5 train station.

However, just as the university is trying to save money, so are students.

“I came home one day, and my roommate looked so confused,” Adewole recalled. “She has class in Center City every day, and she’s not working.”

Adewole was enrolled in one of the 177 undergraduate classes the campus is offering this semester – TUCC also services 92 graduate courses – but convinced her professor to allow her to take Statistics for Business on Main Campus after she discovered the services were eliminated during the first week of classes.

“It’s a class I’m required to take for graduation, and I had to beg the professor to let me take his class on Main Campus,” she said. “But it’s Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. Not a lot of professors are nice like that.”

Van also dropped her TUCC course, opting to substitute it for a class offered on Main Campus.

“I think it’s nice they want to keep the tuition low, but I think they should still make [shuttle services] free,” she said, adding that she transferred to Temple because of its positive reputation and low in-state tuition. “But it’s also important for kids to go to class, and if they have to pay for it, they won’t go.”

Despite a similar attitude among many discontented students, Hoffmann said “the reasons for instituting this change remain.”

Apart from cutting costs and in accordance with the university’s climate commitment – President Ann Weaver Hart signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in April 2008 – Temple said discontinuing the services will “promote sustainability,” according to the press release.

“Temple became committed … to taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Hoffmann said in an e-mail. “Increasing the Temple community’s use of mass transit is a critical part of that.”

A member of Temple’s Students for Environmental Action, Korin Tangtrakul said she is unsure how beneficial the discontinuation of the shuttles will be to the environment due to students’ inclinations to drive to class instead of taking SEPTA.

“Temple’s greenhouse emissions in transportation will be lessened,” Tangtrakul, senior environmental studies major, said, “but this would be reversed if students take their own cars.”

For now, Adewole said she is disregarding Temple’s sustainability claim and hoping for a change in the university’s decision.

“People use the shuttle busses more than anything,” she said. “Even if it’s not every day or every hour, something is better than nothing.”

Ashley Nguyen can be reached at ashley.nguyen@temple.edu.

Chinatown’s Lee How Fook a hidden gem

The Center City restaurant boasts a welcoming atmosphere and authenticity in dishes traditional and atypical.

Chinatown’s restaurants are often hit-or-miss, with so many restaurants lining its packed streets. In fact, some are even better known for their easily attainable saké – especially among college students – than they are for their food.

Out of the numerous, sometimes dingy restaurants that line its streets, Chinatown must offer a few places worthy of your dining experience, right? After all, the neighborhood is known for its authenticity. Lee How Fook is perhaps one of the restaurants that helps Chinatown maintain its well-earned reputation.

Seating about 40 patrons, the Chinese BYOB, located at 219 N. 11th St., provides a casual and gracious atmosphere. Compared to other neighborhood restaurants, its environment is more than welcoming, and Lee How Fook’s warm, attentive servers make up for any lack of ambiance. Pleasant and helpful servers answer any questions about the various dishes offered on the menu.

Lee How Fook offers an extensive menu of the standard Americanized Chinese fare, with a few of its own authentic additions. Its menu offers standard dishes like chicken with broccoli, sweet and sour chicken and pork fried rice are offered, along with some more atypical dishes like sautéed watercress, steamed conch, sweet and sour sea bass filet and a variety of lobster dishes.

The snow pea leaves, which closely resemble spinach and are some of the more unusual items on the menu, are sautéed with olive oil and garlic and then cooked until tender. The leaves are perfectly cooked, retaining their vibrant green color – a visual indication of their equally pleasing flavor.

The chicken hot pot, another one of Lee How Fook’s specialties, is served piping hot in an authentic Chinese-styled, half-glazed pottery bowl that traps every bit of heat from the stove. The dish’s tender chicken and an assortment of vegetables are accompanied by its seasonings. Scallions, cilantro, soy sauce, a hint of sesame and the woodiness of the mushrooms all melt together to create a fully robust sauce that’s perfect for spooning over the available side of rice.

Another standard dish, the beef fried rice is exceptionally tasty. The rice is flavored with just the right amount of soy sauce, and the pieces of beef are surprisingly tender, making for a more flavorful dish than that from your average Chinese restaurant.

Entrées usually serve up more than enough food, leaving you some to take home, and are priced relatively low, ranging anywhere from $5 to $16 (unless you plan on splurging for the two-course Pecking duck, priced at $27.50).

Lee How Fook doesn’t offer a dessert menu, but if you absolutely need a sweet ending, take the money you saved with Lee How Fook’s reasonably priced entrées, and stop by Naked Chocolate at 1317 Walnut St., just a few blocks down the road in Center City.

Grace Dickinson can be reached at grace.dickinson@temple.edu.

New chocolate culture

The new location at 15th and Walnut streets has an enchanting atmosphere and is a sweet tooth’s paradise.

If you’re the kind of person who wants chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you have to check out Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man. The international chain, which recently opened its second U.S. location in Center City, at 15th and Walnut streets, calls itself the “new chocolate culture.”

Founded in 1996 in Israel by fledgling chocolatiers Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner, Max Brenner opened its first restaurant in the U.S. in New York City two years ago.

Serving more chocalatey dishes than your taste buds can imagine, from martinis to pizza, Max Brenner ships its chocolate in from Israel, Belgium and Venezuela.

The atmosphere sets the mood for exploring a new world of pure decadent gluttony. With the smell of gourmet chocolate in the air, jazz music fills the place by day, with R&B tunes playing by night.

The restaurant’s logo of the fictional Bald Man himself cover the walls, which are also lined with enriching, colorful paintings alongside towering chocolate shelves. And, with its closing time of 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, Max Brenner is the ideal spot for late-night dining with friends.

“The Martinis are like chocolate with a kick,” waitress Anne-Marie Gutierrez said. “And the Eighties Milkshake is definitely one of my favorites.”

The drinks menu boasts a wide selection of chocolate-infused beverages including Choctails, a thick milkshake made with vanilla and chocolate ice cream, topped with a floating scoop of vanilla and covered with crunchy chocolate. These delicious Choctail blends are served in an “Alice” glass, designed with Lewis Carroll’s classic star in mind.

“The straw of the cup represents the hole that Alice falls down,” Gutierrez said, “and the shape of the glass is actually the smile of the Cheshire Cat.”

The Alice glass may be unparalleled, but the Hug Mug comes in a close second in creativity. Designed in the shape of a teardrop to hold in the palm of your hands, the Hug Mug allows patrons to enjoy the drink’s every warm chocolaty taste without hesitation.

“Holding the mug close to your face and smelling the hot chocolate really makes the experience,” Gutierrez said.

But Brenner’s chocolate culture comes with more than Cheshire Cat smiles and snuggly mugs. The menu’s appetizers and entrées will surprise your taste buds after just one visit.

Brenner’s menu is jam-packed with meals of nearly every kind. There are potato skins with smoked bacon and melted cheddar, Tossed Around Southwestern Caesar salad, Max’s Sunday Mood pasta and Brenner Burgers, which are served with waffle fries.

“I love the chicken wings,” Manager Allan Beardslee said. “They taste amazing.”

The Smokey Dry Rub chicken wings are a little spicy but covered in a delicious sauce and served with an original recipe blue cheese.

Brenner’s has a delectable oven-roasted tomato pizza for dinner as well, or you can save pizza for dessert like Manager Megan Scott.

“The chocolate pizza is my favorite,” she said. “It’s quite an experience.”

The restaurant’s phocolate pizza is a thin pastry topped with double melted chocolate chunks, melted marshmallows and chunky hazelnut bits.

Max Brenner doesn’t simply offer a candy bar or fondue, and the experience is about more than just eating good chocolate – it’s tasting chocolate with every one of your senses and bringing chocolate fantasies to life.

Maria Cannon can be reached at maria.cannon@temple.edu.

Remembering the ‘80s waste piles

Under Friday morning clouds, Fred Brooks sat on his stoop, located on the 2500 block of Cumberland Avenue, engaged in a heated conversation with his landlord, Nate McNair.

“You see that sky rise down there?” Brooks asked, pointing toward Center City then to his front door step. “You know what’s coming behind there? A straight line.”

McNair shook his head, laughing and slapping his knees.

“He’s crazy,” McNair said. “But he’s right.”

McNair, 45, lived in Philadelphia for 25 years before relocating to Altoona, Pa., where he moved to provide a better lifestyle for his two children. McNair now rents seven houses in North Philadelphia. Several of his tenants are Temple students. Growing up in area Temple occupies – at one point, McNair lived at 16th and Berks streets – McNair said switching to biweekly trash collection under Plan C would be a mistake, adding that he has witnessed the affects of trash on the city.

“In the ‘80s, the people threw all the trash in the streets because they wouldn’t come pick it up,” he said, eyes locked on the overflowing bags on the corner of the block. “It got so high, they blocked the streets.”

Ashley Nguyen can be reached at ashley.nguyen@temple.edu.

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