@jrladd

Food features writer for @PhillyInquirer

 Philadelphia, PA
philly.com
Joined April 2011
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How much would you pay to take a tour of Lynnewood Hall, the 110-room Gilded Age estate in Elkins Park? (Whatever your number, it probably doesn't line up with the asking price.) inquirer.com/real-estate/lyn…

Seeing inside Lynnewood Hall might be the most expensive house tour in Philly history

The high-priced tours will raise money for asbestos remediation in the Gilded Age mansion.

inquirer.com
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Hold that gingerbread latte: Philly's Starbuck strike has expanded to five stores this weekend. Workers said the public reception has been overwhelmingly positive. inquirer.com/business/starbu…

Starbucks workers are on national 3-day strike

Picket lines will form around five Philly Starbucks locations this weekend.

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Surprising takeaway from a recent Q&A: "For as crazy as Pennsylvania liquor laws seem to be, for distilleries, they’re insanely liberal. ... It’s a good idea to be a distillery here." inquirer.com/food/manatawny-…

What makes a cocktail craveable? Philly pro Jennifer Sabatino talks the evolution of local spirits...

“It’s a good idea to be a distillery here,” says Sabatino, the director of bar operations for Manatawny Still Works.

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Breaking - crudités at the Fetterman party. – at Pittsburgh, PA
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Baristas at Ultimo Coffee in Philadelphia have just gone public with their filing for a union election!! 📢📢📢
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The Philly barista organizing wave continues! Welcome our newest union shop, Elixr Coffee Roasters! Workers at Elixr were voluntarily recognized by owner Evan and will be a part of PJB’s Local 80 alongside workers at Korshak Bagels and Good Karma Cafe!!
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Lotta disappointed-but-not surprised restaurant owners out there today after the Senate once again declined to refill the #RRF. Read on to see how your senator voted. inquirer.com/news/restaurant…
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Following Starbucks employees, workers at Philly's smaller coffee chains are getting in on organizing efforts. 25 Good Karma workers will vote on forming a union next week. inquirer.com/food/coffee-sho…

Good Karma Cafe workers to vote on forming a union

Workers at the small chain of Center City cafes will vote next week on forming a union affiliated with Workers United.

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According to @PJBWU, Good Karma Cafe workers voted 20-3 to form a union today. They join Korshak Bagels as the second unionized food-service shop in Philly.
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A small-time importer is fighting back against the PLCB's ban on her product. She's got 30,000 bottles of vodka sitting in a repurposed limestone mine in Western Pa. inquirer.com/food/russian-vo…

A Slovakian woman is stuck with 30,000 bottles of Russian vodka after Pa.’s ban

"I am definitely not an oligarch," Margaret Bayuk wrote in a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf, asking him to exempt her vodka brand, Ustianochka, from the PLCB's ban on Russian-made vodka.

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“How many restaurants would have stayed open with $70,000? Why reject over 70% of the applicants?” The RRF covered 100% recipients' loss b/w 2019 and 2020. Was that the best design for an underfunded, oversubscribed program? Me and @_Hetrick dug in: inquirer.com/business/restau…

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund was underfunded and oversubscribed. Why didn’t it spread the...

For 101,000 lucky businesses across the country, the government grant program covered the entirety of 2020’s loss in revenue. But 177,000 eligible applicants received nothing.

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“We have demonstrated, for example, that in Philadelphia, for every $1 invested in greening, society saves up to $333 that would have gone toward costs such as medical expenses, policing and incarceration.”
Ya Fav Trashman@YaFavTrashman8 Oct 2021
I’m just going to leave this here‼️ nytimes.com/2021/10/08/opini…

Opinion | To Combat Gun Violence, Clean Up the Neighborhood (Published 2021)

Gun violence interventions often focus on high-risk people. To achieve meaningful change, policy makers should focus on high-risk places, too. 

nytimes.com
There is a strong reluctance among City Council to recognize that adding time and uncertainty to the process does not come without costs. The hospitality industry is currently in no shape to bear these costs. Beyond lower sales, food itself is more expensive, labor hard to find.
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My bar-hopping habits have been temporarily curtailed, but I'm curious if others think bars are back to normal. Research tells me service-industry workers have mixed feelings. What say you? inquirer.com/food/philadelph…

Philly’s bars were put through the wringer. Are they back to normal?

On the surface, Philly's bars are back. But hours have gotten less predictable, rules have changed, and staff are in short supply. Here's a look at how the pandemic has affected the drinks scene.

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Glad to have a local endorsement on my latest story on @FarmFisherman’s drinks program, but evidently it has a downside. It WAS packed on the Wednesday I went.
Les Bowen@LesBowen9 Aug 2021
I saw this and my heart sank. Shhhhh!! Now it’ll be even HARDER to get a table. Is Philly’s most interesting drinks program in a South Jersey strip mall? Quite possibly. inquirer.com/food/cocktail-b… via @PhillyInquirer

Is Philly’s most interesting drinks program in a South Jersey strip mall? Quite possibly.

Bar manager Danny Childs plumbs the wilds of South Jersey for many of the ingredients that work their way into the drink menu at Farm & Fisherman Tavern in Cherry Hill.

inquirer.com
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Looks like the cocktails to-go legislation might pass after all, if Pa.'s Senate leaves the newly revised bill alone... inquirer.com/news/pennsylvan…

Renewed hope on the horizon for permanent cocktails to-go in Pa.

The state House approved a revised bill that's likely to meet Gov. Tom Wolf's approval. The bill heads back to the Senate Friday.

inquirer.com
The most riveting, heartfelt read I’ve had in a long time from my stellar colleage @FarFarrAway
Stephanie Farr@FarFarrAway16 Jun 2021
In 1967, Cheryl Edwards was abandoned as a newborn inside a pillowcase in a West Philly apartment. Those who found her mistook her for a chicken and placed her in the trash behind the home. One curious person saved her life. This is Cheryl's story. inquirer.com/news/a/cheryl-e…

Life remains ‘this big question mark’ for a woman abandoned at birth almost 54 years ago in West...

Cheryl Edwards was abandoned as a newborn inside of a pillowcase in West Philly. Those who found her mistook her for a chicken and put her in the trash, but one woman’s curiosity saved her life.

inquirer.com
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Took a year and half on my beat, but I finally made it to the front page. My first cover story ever, at the erstwhile @city_paper, was about a craft brewery; funny (and sad) that another brewery story would also bring me here.
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Are unemployment benefits keeping restaurant workers at home? Or is it low wages, lack of benefits, and subpar pandemic-era working conditions? I'm asking for industry workers' input on the labor shortage. inquirer.com/food/restaurant…

What do restaurant workers think of the labor shortage? We’re asking.

Unemployment benefits are often cited as the prevailing reason for the labor shortage. Is it that simple? We ask restaurant workers to share their insights.

inquirer.com
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