Reader mail

What a history-making week!

A part of me is sorry that I didn't go to the inauguration activities, but I thoroughly enjoyed Pulp Culture blogger Ryan Cormier's dispatches and I'm very happy that I attended last weekend's Whistle Tour Stop in Wilmington.

Have you seen the video on the White House web site? It's all Wilmington. Very cool.

In today's Taste column, Eric Ruth "hearts" Trattoria di Napoli, "an acutely popular Italian gem on U.S. 40."

Friday is the day for Reader Mail. You ask. We answer. Send emails to ptalorico@delawareonline.com.

Now let's reach inside the mailbag:

QUESTION: [Regarding Greenville restaurant Sapori] FYI, they are closed. I went yesterday and there is a sign on the door that gives a phone number to call the management company of the shopping center.

ANSWER: Is this the beginning of restaurant closings this year? I hope not. Please support your local, independent restaurateurs. Go out for lunch and dinner when you can.

QUESTION: Happy New Year's Patricia! I just wanted to let you know that Rasa Sayang's new website is officially live: www.rasasayangusa.com

ANSWER: Thanks for sharing.

QUESTION: Hello. Do you or any of your collegues know where 3rd Base Produce has moved to?

It was a fixture on U.S. 13 at 587 S. Du Pont Highway for a number of years until last year. I talked to one of the employees just before they closed and she said they were looking for another site on U.S. 13.

The land behind them is now ready for a fresh crop of houses. (Good luck.) I looked online and found their telephone number 322-4237 I called but no answer.
Could it be they went south for the winter? Better believe I would be down there too if I could afford it!

Any help in finding them or the new location would be helpful to all their customers, both locals and those who stopped on their way to the beaches or on their return trip. A lot of out-of-state tags were noticed year round when they were open.

ANSWER: I wrote a story a few years back about Third Base produce - their catch phrase was "Third Base, the last stop before home" - and recall that it was owned by two brothers, one of whom was a teacher. I believe they grew up in the Middletown area. Other than that, I don't have any more information.

Readers?

QUESTION: Patricia,

I'm wondering if you will check out the new sushi place at Kennett Square - Kyoto (120 Onix Dr, Kennett Square, Pa., 19348)? It just opened 3 months ago, and has become our new favorite Japanese restaurant.

You'll find intimate tables and a clean, friendly sushi bar. They are relatively inexpensive. We have had so many different dishes, and they are all fresh tasting! Plus everyone there was so pleasant. I also noticed that many Japanese/Asian speaking customers there, that makes me feel more confident about the place.

Kyoto is also BYOB; drink it up with no worry about my wallet.

Maria

ANSWER: A BYOB sushi place? I'm so there. I'll report back soon. (Looks like the same owners as the Kyoto in Pike Creek.)

QUESTION: Hi, Pat -

I saw the piece in the paper about an article on great soups at restaurants.

I hope you're already aware of Lotsa Pasta's terrific Pasta e Fagiole. We have been going to this Carpenter Station Road restaurant for years - often planning return flights to coincide with dinner there on the way home from the Philly airport! - and we always order this specialty. It's also become a custom to pick up a couple of quarts for the New Year's Eve dinner we traditionally share with friends, whether at their house or ours.

Anyway, my wife and I enjoy your columns and frequently get good recipes and restaurant tips from you. All the best to you for the New Year of good writing.

J. Harry Feldman
Wilmington

(Retired head of the Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau)

ANSWER: Thanks for the tip, Harry, and the kind words. It's definitely soup season.

QUESTION: Hello Patricia,

What do you think about Lamberti's Cucina in the Prices Corner Shopping Center?
That is truly an Italian restaurant, there are new owners Giorgio and Rossana and they took over about 3 years ago.

It is a very young couple from Italy, and since they are there food and service changed a lot.

You can go there and have a real Italian meal. You just have to say it and they will create something out of this world. They have daily fish prepered in all different way, like the Chilean Sea Bass, Mahi Mahi Stuffed Flounder etc....all for a very moderate price and it includes a salad and the DELICIOUS BREAD that they serve!!!

Lately, they also changed their menu a little bit, you can have a real crab cake sandwich for lunch for only $10, their pizzas are delicious!!!

Well, I just wanted to let everybody remember that there is an awesome Italian restaurant in town and you do not have to pay big bucks for a delicious meal.

ANSWER: Just an FYI, my restaurant Spidey-sense is tingling, and I suspect that maybe, just maybe, this shameless plug is from one of the owners.

AND ONE LAST ITEM:

I received an email from Anne Biddle, whose
husband and son own Tom Foolery's restaurant in Middletown. She said that a penguin-themed cake made by Charm City Cakes in Baltimore - the cake shop featured on the Food Network TV series Ace of Cakes - was recently delivered there for local resident Chuck Boyce's birthday.

It's not the first time that someone in Delaware has gotten a Charm City Cake. We recently wrote a story about an Elsmere woman who ordered one for her daughter's 16th birthday.

Angel Boyce - Chuck's wife- shares her story. (And now I can't stop humming Lyle Lovett's Penguins song...."I go for penguins. Oh Lord, I go for penguins..."

Shortly after Christmas in 2007, my husband announced that he knew what he wanted for his 40th birthday.

Not one to make such requests, I couldn't wait to hear. The only thing he wanted was a cake from Charm City Cakes....no party, no presents, just a cake! Several family members were present, leftover from the Christmas visit, and became very excited about the idea! His actual birthday is Dec. 30, and I knew that I had better begin making arrangements sooner rather than later.

In March [2008], I contacted the bakery and discovered that December was already not available, as the Charm City Cakes Crew enjoy the holidays too. We made arrangements for a cake in January, a few weeks after his birthday. I knew the theme would be Penguins, he had been a huge Opus fan in high school and that had over the years evolved into everything penguins.

Penguins had become a major theme for us during our early years as friends and then later as we dated. Having met at a weekend ski resort, we thought it would be fun to have the penguins reenacting many of our crazy winter antics...skiing, drinking, dancing, BBQs, hanging out with friends.

We knew we would be meeting with staff from Charm City Cakes in a few months and we had lots of fun discussing the possibilities for the cake. When we met with [owner] Duff [Goldman], we began to describe our thoughts and it was a delightful experience as he caught our vision of fun and frolic, as we described different penguin activities on the iceberg...keg party, penguin snow angels and DJ, Duff suggested a penguin break dancing ..... spinning on his back, we loved it!

Then I asked about dry ice to create the sensation of cold and fog, and from there we just kept filling out the vision of the cake. When we thought we had it complete, my husband chuckled, it's too bad it wasn't the iceberg that the Titanic struck…and we were off again! We so enjoyed the spirit of fun designing the cake....Duff caught the vision and helped to fill it out and we were on the way to fulfilling Chuck's birthday wish!

The party [at Tom Foolery's in Middletown] came as a result of the cake....a black and white affair! Lots of family and friends to share this very special time with us!

The invitation included the following:

Please join us for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a very special cake. I am very excited that the birthday boy's cake is being designed and made by the Ace of Cakes himself, Duff Goldman and the rest of the crew at Charm City Cakes <http://www.charmcitycakes.com/noflash/index.cfm?rd=aboutccc> in Baltimore . Join us to see what kind of crazy, penguintastic cake they come up with for the party.

It was an amazing piece of work!

Angel Boyce