🥖 Dining with food allergies | Morning Newsletter
And Chicken Man imposters.
The Morning Newsletter
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Happy Thursday. Before our wild heat wave starts on Sunday, we’ll see a few more days with temps in the 50s and 60s. Expect some sun with a high near 59 today.
When someone with a food allergy walks into Philly’s busiest restaurant, what happens next? Craig LaBan details the extensive protocols that are triggered when a Parc diner alerts staff to an allergy.
And speaking of exquisite meal experiences: Remember Chicken Man, the Philly guy who went viral for eating a rotisserie chicken every day for 40 days straight? He has some real-life dupes.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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If you’re allergic to common ingredients like peanuts, fish, gluten, and soy, you want to make sure you’re not taking your life in yours hands (or fork) by eating out.
That’s why at all 34 Stephen Starr-owned restaurants, staffers follow an extensive protocol to ensure guests with food allergies can dine safely. A yellow advisory ticket accompanies each allergy-noted order. Fresh cutting boards and cooking utensils are swapped in. And bread baskets aren’t a given.
The attention to detail has earned the restaurant group a strong reputation in the gluten-free community and beyond, Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LaBan writes. Around 10% of Starr customers note a dietary issue. At French-themed Parc, that might be 100 people a day.
LaBan — who also authored the definitive guide to Philly’s gluten-free restaurants and bakeries — went behind the scenes at the Rittenhouse eatery to see the protocols in action.
What you should know today
In Tuesday’s primary election, Philadelphia saw six times the number of write-in votes than it did in the 2020 primary, though it’s not yet clear how many say “uncommitted.” Meanwhile, former Republican candidate Nikki Haley got 150,000 votes in Pennsylvania.
For some Black Philadelphians, voting is as much about civic engagement as it is about honoring their ancestors’ battles for basic rights.
Sen. Bob Casey voted for legislation that will require TikTok to be sold or face a ban in the U.S. Republican challenger Dave McCormick has thoughts on it.
As pro-Palestinian protests cause clashes at colleges across the nation, around 30 people spent Tuesday night at a peaceful encampment at Swarthmore College.
B, L, T? “Metro” has arrived: The new colors, icons and nomenclature for wayfinding signage can now be found on SEPTA’s website.
A seven-story 167-unit apartment building could be coming to Main Street in Manayunk. But to make it happen, the last textile mill in the formerly industrial neighborhood would be razed.
An eight-state outbreak of avian influenza among cattle has not reached Pennsylvania, agricultural experts say, but authorities are taking precautions.
Deesha Dyer grabbed the spotlight as the Obamas’ social secretary. Now, the West Philly native has written a memoir to inspire girls to believe in themselves.
Welcome to the NFL draft: Over the next three days, the Eagles will assemble their newest draft class in an effort to field a younger, more talented team in 2024 and beyond.
Back in 2022, The Inquirer’s newsroom spent way too much time thinking about Chicken Man, a.k.a. Alexander Tominsky, who attracted hundreds of people to an abandoned pier as he ate his 40th consecutive rotisserie chicken. The consensus at the time: We probably don’t need to give this random guy quite so much brain space.
But as it turns out, a whole bunch of non-Philadelphians loved his eat-too-much-of-one-thing schtick — so much so, they’re copying it.
In the latest dupe, a masked New York man plans to eat an entire jar of cheese balls at Union Square Park this weekend.
Is Cheese Ball Man just a poser? Will he succeed? What does the Chicken Man himself think of it? Reporter Emily Bloch spoke to Tominsky to find out.
🧠 Trivia time
Turnout was (way) down statewide and across both parties in Pennsylvania’s primary election on Tuesday. What percentage of registered voters turned out?
A) 7%
B) 20%
C) 29%
D) 40%
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we're...
🏒 Swiping: Digital cards to decide which Flyers should stay or go for next season.
🔥 Watching: For updates from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, which is tackling the blaze that’s burned hundreds of acres in Wharton State Forest.
🦴 Adopting: More dogs to bring to this South Philly bank with a treat ATM.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Philly’s summer-long happy hour kicks off its 20th anniversary in June.
INTERSECT SPICY
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Stuart Claghorn, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Haverford. The Delaware County liberal arts college announced a $25 million gift to create a new institute on ethics. (Yes, there was an extra “D” in the anagram. Whoops!)
Photo of the day
Back at it again tomorrow. See you then!
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