Hot Times in July! Things Are Heating Up at the Gold Standard Thursday, July 8th at 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. Stop By for Seconds - The Return of the "Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll" A dollar here, a dollar there, and pretty soon you're eating pizza, barbecue, and ice cream or doing yoga and getting theatre tickets -- all without leaving the convenience of our own Baltimore Avenue. Once again, the Gold Standard will be right in the middle of things, literally and figuratively, as the "Dollar Stroll" ranges from 43rd to 51st Streets. Stop in for some chicken wings, hummus-avocado sandwiches, or hand-cut fries. P.S. You'll get another chance to walk the street and dine for a dollar on Thursday, August 12th, but we'd love to see you this month, first. Thursday, July 15th - Thursday, July 29th "Dining Days" Are Here Again! The Dinner of Your Choice on the Evening of Your Choice If you'd like something more flexible than a "dollar day dinner" or need more flexibility for your calendar, then visit the Gold Standard during the two weeks of this month's "Dining Days." This year, 29 local restaurants will offer three-course meals for $15, $25, or $35. The Gold Standard will still be right in the middle of things, with the most flexible offering imaginable: a $25 three-course meal consisting of any appetizer or salad, any entree, dessert and a beverage. This dinner of your choice will be offered on the evening of your choice -- we will be serving dinner every night during these two weeks. (Our place is small, so reservations are highly recommended.) Monday, July 19th from 5 - 7 p.m. The Gold Standard Goes to the Dogs: New Park Pleasant Resident Paintings To Be Featured at Next Gallery Opening Curator-Teacher Donald Gensler of the Park Pleasant nursing home at 47th & Kingsessing will be on hand to open a new show, featuring paintings by the residents. This will be the fourth show exhibiting their works. In addition to portraits of the residents and staffers, this show will feature something new -- portraits of dogs from the Chester Avenue Dog Park. Word has it that none of the dogs will be shown playing poker! Come in to mingle and enjoy some free wine and cheese. Results of Food Challenge #3: "Falafel Challenge" Food Challenge #3 Taste Testers Chris Holmes, Kyle Cassidy, Iris Marie Bloom and Erika Hicks They were all so good that the real challenge was to sort them into some sort of order. On June 29th, falafel fanciers from all over gathered at the Gold Standard for the latest in our series of culinary competitions. In addition to one from the host establishment, three entries came in from West Philadelphia and another came in from the other side of the river. The contestants came from Saad, at 45th and Walnut, from Hummus, located on Walnut near 40th Street, from Magic Carpet, which is hosted in a truck next to the Gimbel Gym at 37th and Walnut, and from Alyana, situated furthest away at 4th and South. A team of impartial, but hardly anonymous, taste-testers -- we could recognize them even through their blindfolds (we see them in their full-sighted glory in the picture above) -- took part in a blind tasting of all of the samples. To no one's surprise, all of the falafels were rated as being quite good. Forced to be more definitive, the judges expressed a slight preference for the samples from Alyana and -- drum roll, please -- from the Gold Standard(!), but the difference between the top entry and the bottom one was very small. The testing consisted of tasting just falafel, then tasting falafel with a variety of sauces and pita breads. However you slice it, we want to congratulate and thank all of the local eateries for participating. We are proud to be able to compete with such distinguished company. Note From the 'Hood Shakespeare in Clark Park runs from July 28th through August 1st. Now in its fifth season, this is a free production, bringing together a great cast for five wonderful evenings. You can see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" performed live at 43rd & Chester, starting at 7 p.m. each night. For more information, check online at www.shakespeareinclarkpark.org. All the best to you in July! Roger - Vincent - Joey - Riley - Johnnie The Gold Standard Cafe 4800 Baltimore Avenue