If you picked up a copy of City Paper this week, you probably already peeped out our fall ‘09 Meal Ticket supplement, which features features, recipes and more. It’s now online, so be sure to check out Felicia D’s roundup of delicious fall dishes (featuring recipes from Fork and Sweetie’s Pie Diner) plus her feature on the hot toddy, everyone’s favorite chill-in-the-air beverage. Cheers!

David Chang (no, not that one) writes on the NBC Philadelphia site today:

[Leslie] Pope and John Wagner were hauled away by police and charged with theft for not paying the mandatory 18 percent gratuity totaling $16 after eating at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pa. with six friends.

Pope claimed that they had to wait nearly an hour for their order and that she had to get napkins and silverware for the table herself.

After the $73 bill came, the group paid for food, drinks, and tax but refused to pay the tip. After explaining the bad service to the bartender in charge, Pope claimed he took their money and called police. The couple was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

Arresting officers charged the two with theft, since the gratuity was considered part of the actual bill. Chang opined in the piece that the charge is unlikely to hold up in court, where the couple appear next month.

Seriously though, dinner for eight people ringing up to just $73 with tax?  For that kind of deal, maybe you should be getting your own silverware and drink refills.

Photo | Neal Santos

- We take you inside the meticulous and altogether meaty research process that produced Percy Street Barbecue, the new Texas-style venture from Steve Cook, Erin O’Shea and Michael Solomonov. Be sure to check out Neal Santos’ excellent photo slideshow.

- Trey Popp finds that’s there a whole lot to like about chef Joshua Noh’s cooking at Paul, the unassuming BYOB on Pine Street.

- Erin Mae Szrankowski touches on Thanksgiving-themed goodness and more in this week’s What’s Cooking food events column.

- We fill you in on the latest openings in Feeding Frenzy — check out the deets on Hawthornes, Vietnam Café, Green Aisle and more.

- Trey Popp digs the burgers, cocktails and stagecraft of Jose Garces’ Village Whiskey (look at those truffled artichokes!), but can’t look past the exorbitant per-ounce brown-liquor markups.

- David Snyder visits Tazia, formerly Ly Michael’s in Chinatown, and is thoroughly confused by the mixed-up, multi-culti small-plates menu.

- So much to do this weekend as far as eating and drinking goes — Erin Mae Szrankowski has details on Winter Beer Fest, a red gravy-off and more in What’s Cooking.

- Joey’s Stonefired Pizza, Con Murphy’s and a handful of other projects are chronicled in the latest edition of Feeding Frenzy.

Lynn Andriani of Publishers Weekly today dropped a cookbook-centric addendum to PW’s roundup of the best books of 2009, and Almost Meatless (Ten Speed), from local writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond, got a nod as a great “meat isn’t everything” resource:

Manning and Desmond want to help Americans compose meals that are both tasty and filling without having a slab of meat as the overbearing star ingredient. They do an admirable job, with a burger recipe wherein black beans and bulgur are mashed together with a minimum of ground beef to make a patty that is full-size, fully delicious and less meaty; a recipe for gyros using a small amount of lamb amped up with tzatziki sauce and fava beans fragrant with lemon, garlic and fresh herbs; and other great dishes.

- Brian Howard introduces us to Tom Culton, proprietor of Lancaster County’s Culton Organics, who grows a staggering 63 varieties of garlic on his farm. After you read the piece be sure to check out slideshow of the farm, as well as audio of the interview with the garlic guru.

- Are you a DIY sweettooth? Then you should pick up Anita Chu’s Field Guide to Candy (Quirk Books), which helps you ID — and make! — a million and one teeth-hurting confections.

- Erin Mae Srankowski breaks down the week’s food/drink events in What’s Cooking — check out the deets on Phiz Fest, Whiskey Fest, Chilean vino and more.

- Hit up Feeding Frenzy for info on three brand-new destinations — Grey Social, Jolly’s Dueling Piano Bar and Coup de Taco.

-

Photo | Mark Stehle

- Though chef Christian Gatti’s cooking is full of fresh ideas (check out that lamb with curried carrot mousse), Trey Popp finds that Bala Cynwyd’s Avril is hampered by lapses in execution.

- David Snyder admits he gained a few pounds when he started reviewing restaurants for us — that’s why he was so pleased by the offerings at Rocco Cima’s Fuel, where everything’s 500 calories and under.

- Erin Mae Szrankowski’s got all sorts of event-based goodness for you in this week’s What’s Cooking, from details on Xochitl’s special Dia De Los Muertos menu to word on a bloggity burger cruise and a cutting-edge guest chef dinner at Blackfish.

- Over in Feeding Frenzy, we’ve got word on three brand-new spots to check – Chew Man Chu, Bella Sera CafĂ© and Beck’s Cajun CafĂ©.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Eric Asimov unravels the mysteries of stout in the New York Times today, tasting 19 bottles of the North American versions of the United Kingdom classic.

PEOPLE get stuck on the word stout. It confuses, the way it connotes size and fleshiness. And the color, too — inky, impenetrable black — suggests mass and power. As a result, many people think stout is a formidable blockbuster of an ale, heavy and alcoholic, just the way they assume darker roasts of coffee have more caffeine than lighter roasts. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Stout in its classic form is one of the lighter ales, paradoxically full-bodied yet delicate.

As a bartender with a nitro tap devoted to Sly Fox O’Reilly’s Stout, a local riff on the quintessential dry, roasty Irish stout that most of us tasted first in Guinness, people daily wrinkle their noses when I suggest they try the black brew.  “It’s so heavy. It makes me feel so full,” is the common refrain.

Nevermind that a dry Irish stout has fewer calories (about 100 per 12 ounces) and less alcohol (4.5 to 6 percent for most; excepting big Imperial or double styles)  than a typical IPA.   The solution?  Read Asimov’s rundown for the top tastes in their field, then taste a fresh, sprightly local version — with your eyes closed.

Amidst apocalyptic typhoons Saturday night, 18 guests squeezed into Philly Kitchen Share (1514 South St.) to taste Tim McGinnis and Brian McManus‘  interpretation of their Philadelphia Weekly cover story collaboration with Adam Erace, Must Eats. Together with guest chef Brad Jennings, the Spinal Tapas founders dished out nine courses based on the city’s can’t-miss plates. Team Meal Ticket was kindly treated to the experience by the event’s organizers.

Highlights included green pickles and beets from A.J.’s Pickle Patch to start things off on a crisp note; a black sea bass ceviche with an addictive tamari romesco sauce based on a Chifa dish; the sticky-zippy contrast of a fennel and fig mostarda with stinky Taleggio (the condiment to Fiorella’s hot fennel-seed sausage on Parc baguette) and a transcendent braised lamb shoulder with lamb and veal demi and tarragon on more lovely Parc baguette, based on Michael Solomonov’s dish at Zahav.

McGinnis assured Meal Ticket that this evening was just the first of many Spinal Tapas dinners. “You know StudioKitchen?” he asked, referring to chef Shola Olunloyo’s signature multi-course tasting dinners served in his home. “We’re going to do StudioKitchen for the common man.”

See the full menu for the Must Eats dinner in Drew Lazor’s preview post.

The final issue of Gourmet, which went under earlier this month after 68 years in print, is arriving in subscribers’ mailboxes this week. While the demise of the mag is lamentable, at least we got some Philly representation in the final edition — Steve Grasse’s ROOT, profiled by Trey Popp back in June, is featured along with a ROOT-based cocktail recipe from former APO/current Franklin bartender Nicholas Jarrett. Check it out below.

Check citypaper.net/food later today for Popp’s guide to life after Gourmet.

Click to enlarge