philly pretzels

When I first moved to Philly over ten years ago, I didn't quite get its love of the soft pretzel. Like most people, I'd heard of the Philly cheesesteak (never EVER say steak and cheese), Tastykakes and Philadelphia cream cheese. But no one ever tipped me off about the soft pretzels. The pretzels I knew were small and crunchy and often came out of vending machines. So you can imagine my surprise when I'm rollerblading past the bottom of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art when I spot a runaway shopping cart heading my way with stacks of pretzels balancing precariously across the cart. Sheets of pretzels stacked like money was something I'd never seen before. And just as soon as the cart came into view, it's exasperated vendor appeared, cursing. Apparently, a couple of kids had tried to run off with the cart. Where I came from, people stole TV's and jewelry - not pretzels. This was my first encounter with the Philly soft pretzel.

Over the years, I learned to appreciate the pretzel, but never became a believer. Like many of my coworkers, I'd come to morning meetings with coffee and a pretzel smeared with mustard, but I never craved them...until I discovered pretzel bites. There's just something about pretzel bites, a side of nacho cheese and a good movie that is pure bliss. My cravings got so bad that I'd look forward to eating them even more than seeing the movie. When I moved to the Main Line, I didn't expect that my tradition of pretzel bites at the movies would be compromised, so you can imagine my disappointment. Merion is lucky to have four movie theaters fairly close by (Bala, Narberth, Bryn Mawr and Wayne) but the theater in Wayne shows the most movies so I often end up there.

And herein lies the problem, because the pretzel bites are AWFUL. Stale, hard, lukewarm - you name it. Whatever time of year, whatever time of day, the pretzel bites are terrible. In the theater's defense, they have accommodated my (many) requests to cook a fresh batch and will even personally deliver it to your seat, but they're always sub par. I recently saw Shutter Island at this theater, and although I enjoyed the movie, the experience was lacking. The seats reclined too much, the carpet had bubbled and was uneven, and I found myself longing for stadium seating.

All this dissatisfaction because of pretzel bites. I'm finally a believer.