Small Bites

Little Vittles

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Published: Oct 9, 2007

Your days of stabbing pushpins into the flat, boring surface of a corkboard are over — Stuart Newman has transformed the usually benign fixture with an idea that's as novel as it is simple. His concept: patterned corkboards made from wine corks. "After I retired, I was looking for things to keep busy," says Newman, 59, who worked as a police officer in Towamencin until 2004. How'd it start? Woodworking had always been a hobby of his, and, as a wine lover, he had access to piles of corks. ("I have never met a bottle I didn't like," he laughs.) Newman started by halving corks, laying them out on an adhesive surface and bordering it all with bits of scrap wood. His daughter, Jamie Bones, who owns home décor shop La Tavola (4361 Main St., Manayunk, 215-482-3270), hung up the finished product in the store to see if it would sell. Two days later, it was gone, and Newman, who has since earned the nickname "cork dork" from his daughter, realized he'd found a perfect project to occupy his time. He's since expanded into making glass-covered tabletops in the same style, as well. And if you happen to be a collector with no idea what to do with all of those coffee cans full of red-stained corks, hand them over to Newman — he welcomes custom pieces. —Kristin Pazulski

When Metropolitan bakery closed its Old City location a couple of years ago, I was crushed. Sure, they were going to be selling their wares out of Farmicia (15 S. Third St.), but 1) that seemed so far away (I'm lazy when uncaffeinated), and 2) going into a restaurant to get my morning bagel seemed, well, weird. I've recently overcome these sticking points and become reacquainted with my favorite bagel in the city. What's the big deal? I think it's because these bagels aren't particularly bagel-y. They're more like bread — really good bread — shaped like a bagel. It feels a bit like cheating some kind of cosmic law and getting away with it. —Brian Howard

Bordeaux, Napa Valley ... Chester County? Pennsylvania doesn't usually come up high on the list of great wine-growing regions of the world — but its time might be coming. Chaddsford Winery, which has been owned and operated by Eric and Lee Miller for 26 years, recently earned attention from esteemed New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov. His praise for their 2005 Pinot Noir has tipped Chaddsford — and Pennsylvania viticulture — into the land of credibility. Finished in French oak barrels, the wine gives a warm brown sugar and vanilla nose, with ripe cherries and soft acids on the tongue. A second-generation American winemaker, Eric (pictured) works closely with the regional farmers growing his wine grapes, staying involved in their care for the entire season. After all, according to him, storage and transportation of wine end up affecting the end product more than geography. "The grapes don't know where they're grown," says Eric, who uses an experimental vineyard to develop varietals and learn how they respond to the Atlantic Uplands terroir. Visit chaddsford.com for more information. —Felicia D'Ambrosio

Pop-Tarts — not a lick of nutritional value to 'em, and the crust tastes like low-sodium PlayDoh. But nothing could stop me from buying a box of "Printed Fun Pop-Tarts Trivial Pursuit for Kids." What can I say? The prospect of being questioned by my breakfast, coupled with the alluring, exotic "Quizberry" fruit touted on the packaging, was too much to resist. But oh, what a letdown: Quizberry was just strawberry. At least I now know Mickey Mouse's original name (Mortimer); who exactly let the dogs out (The Baha Men); and what the basket of a hot air balloon is called (that'd be a gondola). On top of all that, I also learned that eating nine Pop-Tarts in a two-hour span makes you feel ashamed. —Eileen Talone

 

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