Rittenhouse Square and Fort Worth's Main Street

F&FW is in Philadelphia, specifically in the Rittenhouse Square area of the city. Rittenhouse Square is a city-block park and one of William Penn's original five in Philadelphia that date back to the 17th century. Today's park is surrounded by condominiums, shops, hotels, small colleges (Curtis Institute of Music, Art Institute), and some offices. It is a vibrant part of the city day and night. Last night my wife and I explored the streets that spoke out from the Square. In a two block area we passed three small bookstores (one named Whodunnit), dozens of niche restaurants with every imaginable cuisine and price, a bakery or two, a hardware store about the size of the paint brush department at Home Depot, a tea shop, a paper and stationary store, coffee shops -- I could go on but you get the idea. Most of them are small and independent. The restaurants have some table seating inside and some on the sidewalk. When one walks past a restaurant, one is walking past the dining tables as diners are enjoying their food and beverage. My favorite store was Di Bruno Bros. which is a fairly large fine-foods market with cheese, meats, fish, breads, pastries, gelati, pastas, etc., all beautifully displayed. Think Central Market but more authentic, much smaller, and packed floor to ceiling.
What we are trying to accomplish in downtown Fort Worth is, in smaller scale, what has developed here over a couple hundred years. Our Main Street and Art Festivals, condominium and hotel development, shops, pubs and restaurant additions are a part of the movement towards a downtown that people live in, work in and relax in. I hope it continues. I think it will. And we do have one advantage: plenty of wide open Texas land and sky a couple miles from the city.

Food and Faith Sunday. Read this book.

What I am Reading Now:

The Hungry Soul, Eating and the Perfecting of Our Nature, by Leon Kass, M.D.

It is not often that I find one book combining two of my favorite subjects, that is, food and philosophy, but thanks to my son and his friends I have one. And it is a good one.

Dr. Kass is a teacher at the University of Chicago. His education is in the sciences, medicine and biology, he teaches the classics in literature and philosophy. This tells you something about the man. As a scientist he can speak with confidence about the rationalist view of the world that pervades everything, and speak he does knowledgeably and critically. He uses food and eating as the proof of our separateness in the animal species and as a kind of obvious proof that a "soul" exists. A quote from the book,

"But when these scientists look get together for lunch, how do they look on eating? They forget their anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, psychology, and anthropology -- and a good thing, too. For not only might their science interfere with their enjoyment of the meal, it also has nothing to do with their tacit understanding of themselves as eaters. They choose when and what to eat, and they do so quite purposively . . . they notice temperatures and textures, enjoy seasonings and spices . . . they converse while eating, taking as much pleasure in the company and the conversation as in their food." (from the Introduction)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction: "Good for Food . . . to Make One Wise"
1. Food and Nourishing: The Primacy of Form
2. The Human Form: Omnivorosus Erectus
3. Host and Cannibal: From Fressen to Essen
4. Enhancing Uprightness: Civilized Eating
5. Freedom, Friendship, and Philosophy: From Eating to Dining
6. Sanctified Eating: A Memorial of Creation
Conclusion: The Hungry Soul and the Perfecting of Our Nature

Have a great summer salad? Tell me.

I don't know about you, but in the summer I like lots of chilled fruits and vegetables, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, iceberg lettuce, and cold meats like chicken breast or fish like canned albacore tuna. My wife frequently makes a big bowl of summer salad that stays fresh in the refrigerator for days. It goes something like this. A mixture of crispy iceberg lettuce, romaine and butter leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, pulled chicken breast, sliced or chopped almonds, sliced seedless grapes, blue cheese or sharp cheddar, sliced carrots, sliced English cucumbers and chopped celery, sea salt and course ground pepper. Dressing is "to taste", but I like blue cheese.
Farmer's Market: I know we have a farmer's market, sort of, but Dallas has a Farmers Market of considerable size and selection. When tomatoes are in season I like to buy the farm grown tomatoes that are "ugly", that is not perfectly round and shaped, but perfect for salsas, slicing and tomato sauce. They are very inexpensive and worth the drive to Dallas.