Life in the Philadelphia region (and beyond) from the ever-mobile desk of a Pennsylvania ex-pat living in South Jersey. Politics, sports, restaurants, food and drink reviews, family updates, considerations on celebrity, lots of photos and much more updated darn near daily.
I have lived In the Philly region my whole life and I have to admit there are some things I just don't understand about my hometown.
What are the top four weird things about your home town?
The Mummers - I just don't understand the fascination. Drunk, crossdressing union guys and banjo music? What am I missing here?
Wing Bowl - I wentto this bacchanalian event a few times as a young man, but I really didn't understand the draw of getting drunk at 5 am and watching guys eat so many cold chicken wings that they throw up.
Parking In South Philly - By all means, just stop your car in the middle of Shunk Street and run in to the deli to talk to Tony about that thing. Everyone will wait for you! No problem!
Scrapple - Ugh. Gritty processed pig parts. If the diner grease wasn't enough to make you vomit, the texture of this Philly Phavorite sure will!
So what makes your home town special? Everyone have a great weekend!
A couple of Saturdays ago I braved what passes for a storm this winter and headed over to the Maple Shade outpost of the Iron Hill empire for their annual Barrels event. This year, brewemaster Chris LaPierre's theme was 'Bourbon and Bugs,' or beers aged in used bourbon barrels and beers brewed with wild yeasts.
For most, both sets of beers are a bit of a stretch. But you're a true beer aficionado if you enjoy the 'bugs' or beers brewed with the wild yeasts. Generally tangy and often sour, these beers have an astringent mounthfeel and take some serious getting used to. With many qualities of good wines, these complex brews offer some amazing flavor profiles for those willing to stretch beyond the standard offerings of the local microbrew.
LaPierre had 5 wilds to choose from and I went with the tasting round of four ounce pours for $10. The most interesting to me was the Heywood, a Belgian golden ale that was fermented in an oak barrel with a lambic yeast. It was dry and sour and had a surprising blue cheese-like finish. Fascinating!
While I thought all five of the wilds were excellent, the other real winner of the round was the Wine Barrel Wee Heavy, a souped-up version of Iron Hill's standard Scotch Ale. Aged in a wet Pinot Noir barrel, with the same lambic yeast, this 11% ABV monster was all fruit up front and spice on the finish. If I had not been driving, I would have had a pint of this!
The Bourbons came next and were actually a bit disappointing. While each had some good points, the bourbon characteristics of the barrel aging were pretty overwhelming. I love LaPierre, and I had eagerly awaited this portion of the tasting, but these beers were generally a disappointment.
I've been a fan of bourbon-aged versions of the Iron Hill Porter for years, since convincing the guys in Media it was OK to sell me growlers of it to take home back in the mid-90s. The Maple Shade Bourbon Porter was served on a nitrogen push and was the clear winner of the round, smooth and full with heavy vanilla notes from the whole beans in the aging barrel. I would have had a pint of this one as well.
The other winner of the round was the Bourbon Bock, which tasted of marshmallow and biscuit and was reminiscent of a summertime s'more. Sadly, the collaborative Bourbon Cherry Iron Fish I was really looking forward to was a real mess, tasting strongly of cherry cough syrup that overwhelmed the hops and the malt.
All in all this was a great afternoon of beer and conversation. I had at least 10 different great conversations about the South Jersey beer scene with the folks I chatted with between sips. There were plenty of knowledgeable home brewers in attendance as well, and and learned a ton from them. I got to talk at length to the Iron Hill brewmaster Chris LaPierre as well as the owner, Kevin Finn. I appreciated their insights into owning a main-stream craft brewpub and what it takes to compete in this market.
This was a once a year event at Iron Hill Maple Shade, but if you're looking for solid food and a great beer selection, they're open 7 days!
Somewhere along the line my kids started eating their pasta piled on top of their garlic bread. They also always require mac and cheese to be served with ham so they can dip the ham in the cheese sauce.
Weird kids! But no weirder than I am I guess, given that I like my red wine chilled way cooler than standard and my beer far warmer than is generally served here in the states.
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday and I have decided to extend the fun by a bit! What could be better than a holiday that is about cooking, eating, hanging out with family and watching football? Yes, I understand that there is much more to it and I will cover those things in my annual Thanksgiving day post, but for now, let's just talk about the fun stuff...
What are your four favorite things about Thanksgiving?
Dark meat - yup - I love it! Everyone else can fight over the dry turkey breast, I am a thigh guy!
Football rivalries - from the big local high school games to the Lions and the Cowboys, football has become as important to this holiday as cranberry sauce.
Gathering - it's the best part of the day, when people from all over converge before dinner, covered dishes or bottles of wine in hand. This year we'll be at my sister's in Swarthmore. Stop by!
Watching the women plan the Black Fridayassault. If this much planning had gone into the war in Afghanistan, the troops would have been home years ago!
I hope you are all getting ready for the holidays. We've got a nice long weekend here full of dances and birthdays and school stuff. Enjoy!
Tuesday we found out that John was selected to play travel baseball again next spring. That good news came on the heels of Emma's completion of her first season of soccer and at the end of two really long days of work for me. On the spur of the moment, I decided a little family celebration was in order and we headed to PJ Whelihan's in Medford Lakes for an impromptu dinner out.
While it was a luxury we really can't afford right now, it ended up being a great night as PJs was filled with families doing pretty much the same thing we were. The restaurant hires a balloon artist on Tuesdays, so everyone had brightly colored headdresses and there was a lot of laughter in the air. Emma did her homework and chatted with classmates, John watched the big screen TVs while talking baseball and we all relaxed for an unexpected hour of fun.
I've never been a big fan of the PJ's chain, but this night may have turned the corner for me. Emma's meal, which included a drink and dessert was only $5.99. My fish tacos were $7.99. John, as usual, was the big spender with a bacon cheese burger and crab fries that topped out at $13.99. Emma enjoyed her chicken fingers, which were nothing special, John's burger was cooked just the way he likes it and my fish tacos were good-sized and had great flavor. I never knew the family night was a big thing there, but the balloon artist said the place is packed every week during the school year.
We had a chance to talk about school without me running around like a crazy man trying to get dinner together, the kids had nice night out and there were no dishes to do!
Maybe we will have to make it a tradition to celebrate the little things there more often!
First, you have to know what you are getting when you go to "The Pub." The floors are plywood. The bar is plywood. The biggest TV is 27 inches, it's on a stack of milk crates, and it was made in the Carter administration.
You aren't here for the ambiance.
What you are here for is surprisingly good, cheap Italian food, local color and/or a night of beers with your friends. This local hangout caters to everyone from serious drunks to families out after a youth sports event. While the place is certainly clean, it's clean in a gritty, mellow way.
There is always a full roster of specials, heavy on the pasta and easy on the wallet. I think they do a great job with their veal dishes. There is also a full bar menu with excellent wings and a chicken cheesesteak that is one of the best around. Marinated chunks of chicken breast are grilled, slathered in cheese and dumped in a soft roll. Not the standard prep, but a darn good spin on a classic.
Every tradesman in the area stops at the bar at least once a week for the cheap beer and the good conversation. If you're looking for your son's basketball coach after the game, trust me, he's here. I've even seen a bachelorette party here.
You'd never guess the place was any good from the road. Or even from the dining table. But trust me on this. The food is WAY better and the prices are better than PJs. Sure, you aren't going to get 16 flatscreen TVs and seriously hot waitresses like PJs, but you'll thank me for telling you to sit down, ignore the wobbly table, grab a $2 draft and enjoy one of the specials.
While her brother is showing off his 'Moves Like Jagger' at the school dance, Emma and I are enjoying ice cream sundaes at Leo's. I hope everyone is enjoying the start to the weekend!
Maybe the best restaurant in Philly right now. No hyperbole there.
Caution - you should know before reading the rest of the review that I am in full-on love with Barbuzzo at the moment.
First, it's a beautiful space. At night it's a bit hard to tell with every table filled from 5 though 11 pm, but stop by for lunch and look around. The place was meticulously put together by people with a wonderful eye for detail and quality.
Second, the food. Good lord, what flavors and preparation. Amazing vegetarian soup is a wonderful way to start any meal. The distinct flavors of each of the vegetables are evident. I also have had a chicken vegetable chorizo soup that was simply stunning.
The star of the antipasti plate was the buffalo mozzarella with an incredible arugula pesto. It's a fair sized meal, or an excellent sharing appetizer, and under priced at $13.
I have also enjoyed the Barbuzzo burger. It's a juicy, tender blend of salty and sweet with a tomato onion spread that makes me consider if it's better than the burgers at Village Whiskey. Maybe not quite, but close. Marcie Turney has an inspired menu and Paul Lyons and Chris Davis are doing amazing work in the kitchen.
Third, the drinks. It's a well-tended bar with every ingredient you could ever hope for. The Sazerac 13 features Old Overholt Rye and a several rather hard to find bitters. There are 6 taps of excellent craft brews as well as a number of great canned and bottled beers. If you are a wine fan, this is a super list by the glass, rivaling any wine bar in the area.
I have had great service in my two visits, though things are a bit noisy and tight in the evening. It's a really fun place and certainly the best food I have had out in some time. Make it a point to get in there! And stop by their website. The blog features reviews by people more famous than me.
John had a great time yesterday with his buddies Stevie and Dev at La Campagnola's Octoberfest. The fun continued at the Duffs' house last night and today the hits were plentiful as John and Stevie's War Eagles team beat up on the Marlton Reds 17-7.
We are on the way to Delco to watch he Birds with the family. Everyone have a great day!
Isn't it amazing how much emotion the whiff of a specific scent can create, launching you into the time machine to a place so far removed from your current existence?
You know what I mean right? A former lover's perfume leaves you useless and distracted in a meeting for two hours. The tang of juniper can nearly conjure the taste of of your first gin and tonic. The power of the memory is enough to cause you an almost physical reaction, from the warmth of desire to the chill from the flowery scent of a funeral home.
For me, the smell of roast beef brings me back to Sunday nights at my grandmother's house. The particular smell of the older Wawa markets brings me back to nights spent working overnight and the 3 am coffee run. The scent of oranges and vanilla return me to my mother's holiday kitchen as a teenager. Sage transports me to the cliffs of La Jolla and the smell of chalk to my 4th grade classroom. The smell of tomatoes on my hands to my grandfather's garden.
Somehow, the mind holds it all, bringing it back when the moment is most exquisite. Take some time this week to enjoy the smells of fall around us. It's the time of burning leaves, mulled apple cider, pumpkin pie and the first crispness in the morning air. See what you remember!
The restaurant space at the corner of Broad and Pine on the first floor of Symphony House in Center City Philadelphia has had a terrible history. The signs are going up today for celebrity chef Kevin Sbraga's eponymous new restaurant in the space. I am looking forward to seeing what the Johnson and Wales trained chef and his wife can bring to the space that last housed noodles joint Chew Man Chu and that opened as the forgettable DuJour.
I will get in there as soon as it's open and get you a review.
I had everything out to make breaded chicken tonight. I had salad, garlic bread, and some veggies. We were all set to go.
But my little princess is having a bit of a bad day, so we decided that a trip to her favorite restaurant might fix things. So far it seems to be working.
There isn't much time left for the fix to be as easy as a trip to Chil-fil-A, so I will savor this while I can.
I was having dinner with some good friends the other night when I was reminded of a recurring scene from my life that still brings a smile to my face nearly 20 years later.
On most Sunday nights from 1992 until sometime in 1994, I sat with some real good friends in a wooden booth at a bar overlooking State Street in Media, Pennsylvania. Joclyn's Bar is still there, up a steep flight of wooden stairs into a gloomy series of rooms that was a dive then and is even more of a dive today.
Back then though, it was where a few of us serendipitously found a place where we ended the weekend and got ready for the week. A local folk singer-songwriter was the soundtrack of our Sunday nights, covering anything you wanted from Elvis to The Eagles, as long as you wrote the request on a dollar bill. John Flynn's originals silenced the din of the bar though, making us look sadly at the necks of our beer bottles, or wistfully out the windows, or even, sometimes, late in the evening, sing along.
There was Lisa the self-tipping waitress, whose hair ranged from 3/4 of an inch tall all the way to two inches and knew how to flirt just enough. We helped he move one hot summer day and helped her shovel her car out the night of the blizzard. We threw our money in the middle of the table and she took what she needed for the beer and a little for herself for each round.
Every now and then Bopper or Jim and I would try to bring someone new into the group, from my college friends to the women who would become our wives, but they never were really comfortable. It was a low key place back then and orders for Chardonnay were greeted with Lisa's bemused smirk. My college friends never understood the folk music thing and never came back for a second Sunday night.
Joclyn's is different now, John Flynn doesn't play there anymore and I had not thought about Lisa in years. Jim, Bopper and I have kids now, and we're too tired at the end of a weekend for Sunday night shenanigans. Still, there have not been too many places that I have hung out in that were as perfect in that moment as Joclyn's was on those nights.
The romantic poets were always my favorites, exalting us to take up the "carpe diem" banner and draw as much out of life as we can. This post isn't as much an homage to a those long-ago Sunday nights as much as it is a notation of the moment I realized how many others I had let past with treasuring them as deeply as I should have. We've all got a Joclyn's in our life that can help remind us.
Ok this one is for the crafty mommy bloggers out there.
Coworker Jo-Anne Clancy got crafty over the weekend and the result is a small coven of marshmallow witches for the office. Made from marshmallows, coconut shavings, a chocolate cookie, a Hershey's Kiss, a mini Reese's cup and some icing to hold it all together, these tasty treats are geeting us through a tough Monday morning!
Sorry the photo isn't any better, but it's tough to shoot on your dekstop with a cell phone camera!
As the temperature struggles into the mid-60s today and the Phils wrap up the regular season, I'm enjoying a day in my study, organizing photos, playing a few games and watching two televisions at the same time.
It has been a beautiful weekend here in the Delaware Valley. John's Fall Ball team played yesterday under the proverbial "sky so blue it hurts your eyes just to look at it." While the result was a loss, there were a lot of positives to go around, from John's RBI single though the hole to LJ's perfect inning, to Colin making solid contact at the plate.
Later in the afternoon, we headed into Philadelphia for the Mid Town Village Fall Festival. This even should ne re-named "People of Every Variety Getting Drunk While Wandering Around The Gayborhood." We enjoyed ourselves, taking in faux Sumo wrestling, sampling the offerings from Zavino, Bindi and El Vez and jamming to the music from Rich and his friends from "Swift Technique."
After grabbing a bite with Ed and the gang at Valanni, we headed home to an early night on the couch taking in "The Blind Side." I saw the sappy adaptation of Michael Oher's transformation from homelessness to the NFL a few months back on a plane, and chose it again last night over old standby "All The Right Moves," which just seemed like too dark a way to end a good day.
It was a good weekend to be out and about , since it looks like the weather for the week is cool and rainy, with little chance to get out and enjoy the early fall colors.
Well I am off to watch the return of the Kevin Kolb era as Michael Vick has gone down and the second half is about to start. Should be interesting ...
This morning's surprise from the garden was a trio of perfectly ripe cantelopes. While we had been hoping to wait to pick them until the kids get back on Monday, these babies were to ready to leave out for the wildlife to enjoy. The half I enjoyed for breakfast was very sweet, with delicate flesh and incredible aroma. I enjoy melons of all types, but this was my first home-grown cantelope. The fight with powdery mildew and various rusts were worth the flavor. Cantelpoe is back in the rotation for next year!
We didn't make it to Maine this year, so we are bringing Maine to us. Shoprite has lobsters on sale for $5.99 a pound, so we are having a lobster dinner right here at home tonight! Some drawn butter, three lobsters and some ice cream sundaes for dessert is about as good as it gets without hearing the surf crashing on the rocks.
We'd been trying to get into Zavino for a few months now. The consistent 90 minute wait times on Friday and Saturday nights were too much to ask with so many new places opening, so we kept moving on. This past Saturday night as Center City buzzed with the warm weather and the Phils drubbing of the Mets, we seemed to have gotten lucky.
After initially hearing that the wait was 'probably only a half hour or more,' we go the news that a deuce had just opened on the sidewalk and we could be seated right away! That was good news since the tiny, almost crowded dining room at Zavino was super-hot and way too noisy to hold a romantic conversation, and I had romance on my mind!
The wire table and chairs we were led to seemed perfectly adequate if a bit below standard restaurant quality. Our 'server' greeted us a few minutes later by explaining that Zavino had complimentary still or sparkling water. I asked if he was hustling nodding at the full restaurant and he faked a laugh and splashed some into our glasses and disappeared.
Time passed.
Our 'server' returned to ask what we want to drink. I asked him about what rye they use in the Sazerac cocktail on the menu. He looked at the sky and sighed. "No. It varies," he said. No offer to find out, no admission that it was odd he had no idea. I said ok, the Sazerac was fine. My lovely date ordered a Troeg's Dreamweaver and our 'server' stormed off. No inquiry about whether we wanted an appetizer, no refill on the water.
A few minutes later, the beer was dropped without comment or eye contact and we were left to gaze at the woeful 12 ounce mug of Dreamweaver that still managed a 2 inch head. More time passed and the exceptionally well-made Sazerac was abandoned to the table for my further contemplation. And we had plenty of time to contemplate those drinks. About about 20 minutes later, a hostess noticed four empty glasses on our table and refilled the water and too refill orders for the bar.
Then a strange thing happened. The 'server' showed up, and asked if we were ready to order. No. That's not the strange part. The strange part was that when I said yes, the hipster-turned-hopefully-soon-to-be-unemployed-waiter got his pad out, looked to his left and walked away as I ordered. I've never seen anything like it.
A full 33 minutes after he took our drink order, and after ducking past our table numerous times, the young miscreant finally decided we had waited long enough to be allowed access to actual food. We ordered appetizers and then had to nearly physically restrain him to put in our entree order at the same time.
After first getting the wrong food to the table, we got the grilled zucchini (her)
and the prosciutto (me) for our first course. We'd been on there more than an hour at the point both appetizers finally made it to the table. Sadly the food was not memorable. The zucchini was shockingly flavorless, in a melange of oil and grated pecorino and romescu cheeses served cold. The 7 delicate slices of prosciutto were a nice portion, but simply could not stand up to the scorchingly hot day they had apparently had.
We were starving, so we ate.
The pizzas arrived comparatively quickly, but still a few minutes apart.
I had the polpettini, which was a crispy pie with huge fresh basil leaves, provolone cheese, red sauce and near-microscopic veal meatballs. It was sadly average, and depressingly was the best food we had all night. My lady had the Kennett, with three different mushrooms over a bland white sauce and burnt crust.
Once again, we were starving, so we ate.
A few words about the restaurant itself. The door area is cramped, with the appetizer station immediately to your right as you come in. The tables are arrayed to the left, with windows onto Sansom Street. The bar is a fairly ample expanse of white marble for such a small room. You have to walk through the server area to get to the bathrooms, where the sinks are rather oddly outside the toilet rooms. The outdoor seating is along Sansom Street and is hampered by a narrow, sloping sidewalk. The fits and finishes of the spaces are very well executed and it has a nice atmosphere overall.
The upshot of the night is that we could have handled poor service or average (to below average) food, but not both. It's pretty clear that the ownership group is pushing the ability of the kitchen to get food out and the staff to serve the space they have. I assume that the problem is there are barely enough seats to make the space profitable and that the kitchen is undersized. The fix is to short staff the front and overwork the kitchen. I know the owner is the chef, but he's missing some of the fine points on quality control.
While I left a perfectly appropriate 15% tip, I will admit leaving a rather scathing note about our waiter with the hostess stand. Hopefully someone reads it. It's pretty bad when you watch another 2 person table get seated after you with the same waiter, get drinks, appetizers and dinner all before you and leave before you have gotten a check.
I generally don't read the reviews of a place until I wrote my own, but now that I do, apparently our visit may have been an isolated experience. I'm not sure it's worth going back to find out.
Occupying the space formerly known as DuJour at Broad and Pine, Chew Man Chu is a welcome addition to the foodscape on the Avenue of the Arts.
Kristin was my perky guide to the menu and she let me know that the portions were fairly large and would be served as the kitchen prepared them rather than in courses. She approved my selection of Ox Tail Soup Dumplings and Chicken Satay Salad.
I was attentively hovered over for the 20 minutes it took for the food to come out. The chicken was grilled in a very sweet sauce and presented on skewers with a generous helping of sweet peanut satay. The 'salad' portion was a pile of crisp sliced cucumbers and red onion.
The four golf-ball sized dumplings were served in an over-large bowl and swam in a tarragon, wine, vinegar and ginger broth.
The dishes were nicely prepared and presented, but the chicken was overly sweet. There was no easy way to eat the large cuts of chicken without a knife to cut them up. I thought the use of the word 'salad' was a bit of a stretch.
The meaty dumplings were quite good, but varied a bit in temperature. The savory broth was an excellent counter to the chicken.
The place is owned by the same group that owned the predecessor restaurant. They have remodeled a bit, adding a full bar with 6 seats featuring wine, bottled beer and cocktails.
Overall, Chew Man Chu is worth a look. The food and ambiance are quite chic and there is nothing like it in the area. The staff is friendly and helpful and you get a good bit of food for your money.
Chew Man Chu is set to open this week at Broad and Pine at Symphony House. The space has been vacant only a month since the closing of DuJour. Chew Man Chu appears to fix the prior outlet's error of not having a bar.
Things look a little harried and hurried today, but I will have a review when they open!
Earlier this week you might have seen the post I had about the display celebrating the coming of Autumn in front of Marc Vetri's restaurant on Spruce Street. There was an array of flowers, a dozen or more pumpkins and a box of apples for passers by to sample. Sadly some cretins smashed the pumpkins and stole the apples and we are left with only the flowers.
This pisses me off. You've got a guy trying to do something nice for his neighbors and the community and some clueless jerk shows us his true colors by destroying it. Classy!
So this leads me to this week's Fantastic Four:
What four things piss you off the most?
Senseless destruction - this one tops it all for me
People who spoil secrets. - just plain old mean
People who don't clean up after their dogs. How about I come over and take a dump on YOUR lawn?
Littering - you can't wait until you get home to toss your Big Gulp cup? You gotta throw it out the window?
A bit of a downer way to start the weekend, but please go forth and enjoy!
I'm a 'beer guy.' I like a good brew and I enjoy having beers that are made locally if at all possible. I'm not saying I pound the beverages back - I prefer quality over quantity, and brewpubs are the best place to get a good variety of fresh beer. I live in South Jersey now and one of the things this area has lacked is a brewpub. There's one in AC,and one in Princeton, but nothing in the meaty part of South Jersey.
Thus, I've been looking forward to the opening of Iron Hill's new location on King's Highway in Maple Shade, not far from Another Delco Guy's HQ. I've been watching the construction and was happy to read recently that the brewery end of things was already working. Last night, we saw the 'Now Open' sign and stopped by for a tour and dinner with the family.
I wanted a really good burger at lunchtime today and I work two blocks from a great burger place, so over to Monk's Café I headed.
Yup. I said Monk's. Not only do they have the best selection of Belgian beers and ales this side of Belgium, but the also make some of the best burgers in Philadelphia.
So I ordered a St. Bernardus Wit and an Abbott burger and settled in for an hour.
About 5 minutes later, I was talking beer and New Jersey taxes with Tom Peters, who owns Monk's with partner Fergus Carey. It was a great way to spend the rest of my lunch.
He only knows me as Chris, so he may be surprised that I was interviewing him for Another Delco Guy's much-anticipated and recently neglected series of food and drink articles, but what the heck. It was a great conversation and i don't think he would mind if I share. It turns out that Peters is a resident of Collingswood, just like Jersey Shore Jen, and also like Jen has frequented The Pourhouse, the PJ Whelihan's re-creation of Dockhopper's.
I noted that Another Delco Guy had also made a Pourhouse stop one recent child-free Saturday, but that I found that I favored the beer selection at The Blue Monkey in Merchantville. Peters had not yet hit the Monkey yet, but promised a trip would be in the offing this spring. As we chatted, the conversation wandered though his leardship in establishing Philadelphia as a beer town, the great work Matt Guyer and his BeerYard have done to open up the Main Line as a great beer locale, and the impending opening of Varga Bar at 10th and Spruce.
Peters has a very ecumenical approach to beer bars, noting that he thinks there is plenty of room for more good beer destinations and that he generally thinks that the more places that serve good beer the better things get for his place. Bartender Jodi, Peters and I got a chuckle talking about the beer goofs that customers sometimes make, coming to the bar and ordering Coors Light much to the mirth of the seasoned regulars.
As a point of disclosure, I will say that Peters bought my beer, but I remian objective. If he would like to buy me more beers, I will evaluate my objectivity at that time.
I am a Wawa man myself and pay $1.29 if I am not brewing at home from the Kona beans my brother put me on to. The coffee down in the UArts cafe, run by 12th Street Cantina is pretty good and only costs a buck. Occasionally I will splurge and hit up Starbucks for a Pike Place. That runs me around $2.50.
Nothing prepared me, however for the coffee story I read today. Kopi Luwak beans are from Indonesia, nothing unusual about that. The unusual part comes in the harvesting and umm processing. An animal, the Asian Palm Civet eats ripe coffee cherries and well, processes them. The resultant waste is rather interesting. The beans are seperated from the poop and washed.
The beans are the most expensive in the world and sell for about $190 a pound. Here's the shocker. That's only about $6 a cup. Oviously there's some SERIOUS markup in the retail coffee game, even at The Wa.
It's alleged that the resulting coffee is very full and rich, one commenter describes it as 'like drinking a fine cigar.' Umm ok. I think I'll pass
Last night the kids headed to their cousins' for the night so we headed out for dinner!
I was in a beer mood and looking for something outside our normal Center City haunts. I have been hearing good things about Memphis Taproom for a while now, so we headed over the Betsy Ross Bridge and ventured into "Port Fishington," an area north of Northern Liberties, east of Kensington and South of Port Richmond. It was worth the trip into the unknown.
Another Delco Guy uses Center City Restaurant Week to visit places that are generally a bit pricey for him, or occasionally to go out on a culinary limb for a night.
The Philly outpost of The Oceanaire Seafood Room chain is in the first category. First off, its a BIG room. The main dining area is 75 feet by 40 feet, with 30 foot ceilings. It's generally unimpressive, lots of ceiling tile and rounded-edged, bland faux-deco design elements. There's a sweeping staircase up to private dining areas above. The staircase sets off the main room for the bar and lounge area and the raw bar. There was a bit of a stale, fishy odor as you walked out of the reception area into the dining room that made me worry for a moment that the place wasn't as high end as the menu indicated.
The bar was a cool spot to get in from the biting cold and learn a bit about the place. Michael was behind the bar with two other friendly barmaids. He made a darn good rye Old Fashioned and we enjoyed his discussion of various places he recommended in the City in addition to his home turf. The ri 1 whiskey was new at the bar and I got a nice pour on the rocks at the bar for $7, but the price for the Old-Fashioned at the table was a steep $14. Michael reports that they have a fair share of Washington Square regulars for Happy Hour and he's always looking for new folks to talk to.
Before we get to the dinner description, let me put in a few words about the service. Restaurant Week service is generally nothing special and can often be downright terrible. We sat down at 6, a bit early, and the great service we got from the host and at the bar carried over to the dining room. Darius was affable and knowledgeable as he worked our table. He's one of the best waiters we've had in some time. He was assisted by John who did a great job keeping us stocked up with bread, pickled herring and water.
The $35, three course menu was a bit light, offering choices of Caesar salad, New England Clam Chowder, and spicy fried calamari to start, followed by crab cakes, planked salmon or Barnegat Bay scallops. Desserts were Key Lime Pie, banana bread pudding and the ubiquitous chocolate mousse. Searching for a bit of oomph, I added 6 oysters to my Caesar salad and my dear (girl) friend had both the chowder and the calamari to open up.
The calamari were crisply fried and covered with a pair of sauces, one creamy and the other scorching hot. The hot one was too much for me and I retreated to my Old Salts and Blue Points, each one a perfectly fresh reminder that I stand at the top of the food chain. The salad was not nearly as good as the one I had a few weeks back at Kitchen 233. It lacked any zest and was only a fair approximation of a true Caesar dressing.
My crab cake was sold well by Darius, who proclaimed it '90%' Maryland crab meat with just a bit of bread to hold it together. While his math was a bit off, it was one of the best crab cakes I've had outside the Chesapeake, with clean crab flavor blended well with spices and a bit of pepper. The scallops were served over a ragout of kitchen-cured bacon, which tasted very similar to sweet pulled pork. Both were very good on their own, but the strong flavors clashed and the dish was ultimately not a satisfying combination.
The room had filled up a bit by the time dessert arrived, but Darius and John still had plenty of time to chat. Darius gave us a card and seemed to genuinely mean it when he said that he had enjoyed talking to us though the night. My chocolate mousse was the normal piped dollop of whipped chocolaty sweetness, neither interesting or particularly well-presented. My compatriot's bread pudding was far better and had a caramel sauce that I would have loved to have been on the mousse plate.
Ultimately the night ended up a success in large part because of The Oceanaire staff. On a night where we were just another of 200 or more guests they would see, Michael, Daruis, John and everyone else made sure we felt special. While the service was great, on a normally-priced night, I might have left unhappy given the food was just a bit better than average.
I've just come in after digging out from the huge amount of snow dumped overnight here in South Jersey by that massive storm that paralyzed the region yesterday and last night. Well. Not really. I'm really nibbling on chocolate chip cookies and thinking about what a great dinner we had last night.
We spent last night at Kitchen 233 on Haddon Avenue in Westmont. We went there a few months ago for drinks before heading out to another Westmont spot. As I left, I vowed to come back soon, having enjoyed a well-made absinthe cocktail and after looking longingly at the full page of entrees.
It's a stylish spot featuring top end seafood and steaks in a busy but surprisingly quiet dining room. I started with a very smooth California Zin that wasn't too much for the perfectly prepared Caesar salad. The dressing was the perfect blend of tangy and savory and the greens were crisp and freshly cut.
A large serving of medium-rare Maine scallops were advertised as 'day boat' and 'porcini dusted.' I'll assume the day boat part was true, but the dusting must have been microscopic, because I didn't see any. The flavor though was perfect and the texture was firm but not rubbery, and had a nice buttery braising on the outside. I generally eat everything put in front of me at a restaurant, especially one charging these prices, but the serving was large enough that I was full before the last scallop.
My companion raved about the seafood fra diavlo (too spicy for my palate) and our friends noted the excellent wild mushroom soup and the perfectly prepared signature salmon dish.
The table shared a huge trio of sorbets for dessert that had a bold mango, astringent lemon and sweet raspberry. I had held onto a bit of my zin to see how it did with the desserts and it held up very well, pairing surprisingly well with the mango and raspberry. Espressos all around prepared us for the ride home.
We lingered over dessert and chatted with our friends and were not bothered to move on. The staff was unobtrusive in setting up the room for the next day. The final bill with drinks and a 25% tip came to $205. That's a special dinner night for sure, but not a bad number for four people who felt well-served and happy with the evening.
We were among the last out at 9:45 but the warm bar area was still busy with folks drinking martinis and wine. The crowd was well-dressed, but had a local feel to it. I think it's a destination bar, not a place people come to on a regular basis, but I could be wrong.
This is a very good place for a special dinner. At the top end of the PJ Whelihan's empire, the folks running this place have worked out the kinks that Craig LaBan found in 2007. The Yelp reviews are all over the place, but when you weed out the odd experiences, the basic theme of pricey but excellent food shines through.
My final comment is that it was a night that was about being with friends and we all had a great time. The food and drinks paired well with the conversation and we headed out into a cold. wet night filled with warmth.
As a follow-up to the earlier post, I'd like to report that there are a few more things you can do on an Eagles Bye Week. You can watch your fantasy football team roll until your big pickup Steven Jackson gets injured. You can go pay $2.63 a gallon for gas at Wawa. You can go take some autumn in the 'burbs photos.
And you can come home to a nice afternoon snack of fresh mozzarella and tomato with a glass of red wine.
The GF wanted me to make breakfast today and she was hungry NOW, so I had to whip something up
pretty fast. I've also been feeling like I need to take a bit more control of my health, so i wanted something good for me.
So I ended up making waffles infused with raspberries and covered in a blueberry-raspberry champagne sauce. The sauce was a little thick and tangy, so I cut it with orange juice and added a bit of honey for sweetness.
I served the waffles covered in confectioner's sugar with a good-sized mimosa to get football season started right. (Kids are at mom's).
Not bad for 15 minutes. And I got to use three different kitchen appliances!
Another Delco Guy is finally home for dinner and what a dinner it is! We had a wonderful selection of cheeses for an appetizer. Then a nicely marbled ribeye cooked over a real charcoal fire, parsley potatoes, and sauteed snow peas were joined by a 2004 Sterling Merlot.
Now we're watching the Phils and enjoying the unseasonably cool and dry August weather.
Pretty soon I've got to get to get to bed since I am due at Matt's house tomorrow to help with some home improvements.
In a quest for normally-priced food and beer that approaches drinkability, we left the Disney complex. We have stumbled on a BJ's Brewhouse on Osceola Parkway. It can't be worse than anything we have had so far. Hopefully the Amex holds up!
Another Delco Guy ordered fish tacos. Imagine Mrs. Paul's fish stix chopped up with cheese and cheap salsa on top. Gooey re-fried beans and dry Spanish rice finshi off the bad Mexican trifecta here on Route 73 in Mount Laurel.
I will say that the 1800 Margaritas with Cointreau are superb.
Matty has bought the crabs ($128 for a half-bushel of #1s) and some steamers. I have the beer on ice, Char made the deviled eggs and Carin is making her house ready for the invasion.
Another Delco Guy and the GF are enjoying an aternoon at Monk's Café in Center City Philly. I am enjoying a HUGE old Scotch ale called Harviestoun 30. It was aged in Highland Scotch barrels and has a ton of smoky potentness, but ends with a sweet finish. We are getting two different pots of mussels ad looking forward to them!
A few months back, sometime around Christmas, I saw a Food Network show - I think it was Unwrapped - about candy from "back in the day." One of the candies featured was Cherry Mash, a confection from St. Joseph, MO that the wrapper says originated in 1918.
The Food Network guy made it seem like this stuff was the food of the gods. So when I saw it for sale at Nixon's General Store in Tabernacle, NJ for $.89, I grabbed one.
The short review is that it's a super-sweet grainy pink cherry filling that tastes as artificial as it looks. They cover that in cheap milk chocolate with small peanut chunks. Not worth the price, and I will never eat one again, but I am still oddly happy I bought it!
Last Friday Another Delco Guy and The GF needed a night out after a long week, so we decided to hit a few different spots in Philly to enjoy, relax and unwind.
We started at our old standby, Valanni, where we sat at the newly expanded bar and gawked at how different the crowd is. Char wanted a drink the P.I.N.K Vodka rep had pushed at Valanni's grand opening, but got something entirely different. There seem to be differences between the P.I.N.K version of Pink my Ride and Valanni's. Not good. I sacrificed and drank it and she had a Blanche de Bruxelle from the cool frozen cobra taps. Good beer was spoiled when we were surprised by a former colleague sitting down next to us. She doesn't work for me anymore. It was simply awkward to have someone sitting next to you ignoring the situation. Brecian helped things with a healthy pour of Maker's Mark, but Fired Fraulein and her date ordered food. We paid and left. Not a good night at the Big V.
I had heard some good things about the new pub Devil's Den, so we headed to South Philly. After nearly walking by the place since it only has a chalk board on the street as a sign, we were pleasntly surprised to find 16 beers on tap and old friend and fellow Delco Guy Randy Walker behind the 15 seat bar. After trying a few of Randy's suggestions, Char passed on a Hennepin in favor of an EXCELLENT Ayinger Brau Weisse and I went with a Maredsous 8. Anytime you can get two beers of this quality on tap, things are looking good.
Then we ordered the Mussels au Lager. We should have stopped with the beer. Char's second shell creature was so bad it made her gag. I had a few good ones before I had to admit some were good and some were just plain awful. It seemed as though a good batch was mixed in with an old batch. I soldiered on, while Char ate the very good fries while passing on the below-average side of mayo.
The mussles necessitated a trip to the very nicely done bathroom, and we paid up and headed out. While I loved the location, ambience, beer selection and HD TVs, bad mussles and good beer is a combination I can find lots of places. Given that friends had a similar recent experience at Devil's Den, I'm not sure I can recommend the food. Do drop in and see the proud new papa behind the bar though!
I was itching to fill my newly-emptied stomach. As cliched as it is, we headed to Oregon Avenue and Tony Luke's Beef and Beer Sports Bar. Our chatty and speedy waitress Gina was a wonderful little slice of South Philly, exclaiming "Now we're talking baby!" when I ordered my roast pork with sharp provalone and brocolli rabe. Char had what she said was the best cheesesteak of her life, with American, mushrooms, sauteed onions and long hots. I paired mine with, what else, a Yeungling and Char had a Blue Moon Belgian Wheat that couldn't hold a candle to the two awesome Belgian-style whites she had earlier.
The sandwiches were perfect. The rolls had just enough body to soak up the juices from the perfectly cooked meats. There was the dead-on mix of cheese and broc rabe on mine, while Char just kept going "MMMMHHH! MMMMMMMMHHHHH!!!!," so I can only assume it was good too. She wouldn't let me near it.
The place ain't pretty though. It's situated in the shadow of I-95, the bathroom has no hot water and the interior decor consists of a concrete floor, TV sets and neon beer signs. You don't come here for the looks, though. It's the food that made the original place across the street famous and the food is the reason people come to the new joint.
At the end of the night, we'd been to three very different Philly food and drink experiences. First, an established Center City place stuggling to decide if it's a chic cocktail joint or a serious restaurant. Second, a fairly new place in South Philly that shows promise as a beer hall but has yet to work out the menu kinks. Finally, the beer-serving extension of a venerable sandwich shop. Each had its positives and negatives, but at the end of the night I was left wondering, "Where SHOULD we have gone?"
Ole! Char made the guac, I squeezed lemons, oranges and lotsa limes, blended them with 1800 tequila, a touch of Grand Marnier and ice. And now we'll enjoy the evening!!
I go to three or four conferences a year and one area that always seems to need improvement is theconference lunch. Invariably I am left to wonder "What kind of chicken will it be today?"
Today at Portland's Holiday Inn By the Bay (not close to the bay) we have a small grilled chicken breast over penne pasta and a parmesan cream sauce. At least the lemonade is good!
After a particularly intense meeting dragged on too late to let me get to John's baseball pictures yesterday, I decided I may as well stay put in the city and headed to the Grand Opening Party at the all-new Valanni.
The party was a lot of fun, with lost of small food to nosh on, flowing wine and free drinks from the kind folks at Jose Cuervo and Jason at PINK Vodka. Everyone was there from regulars like me to Kinky Jen, DJ Jon Gill and a million people I have never seen in the place. It was wild. The GF and I enjoyed the evening. Free booze is NEVER a bad thing.
Regular readers will know that Valanni is the spot I hang out at in the city when I don't have kids to care for or games to attend. It's always been a fun spot with excellent food. Last Fall, owner George Anni leased the space next to the 40 seat restaurant and began renovations to double the size of the restaurant and bar.
The renovations are complete, the new beer taps are flowing and the menu has been re-done. There's a party room in the back and 2 more bathrooms and you can't turn around without running into a new staff member. The matte black, faux-gator flooring is chic, the brushed aluminum chairs are beautiful (but rough on the back), and the decor is Stephen Starr like.
Change is rough on regulars of bars and restaurants. We come there because we lie the place the way it is, we're not looking for anything new. But Valanni had gotten a little shabby and it was time for renovations. The size was a problem too, with the bar crammed at happy hour and no place to host a group gathering. Anni saw that he had to adapt or die and like most restaurant owners, he saw bigger as better.
I love with the physical changes. I am sure Chef will make the new menu zing. The new staff will take a bit of getting used to. Long-time bartender Laurentiu Muras has moved on to open his own place over near Rittenhouse. Alex is headed back behind the bar. Staff turnover always happens as spring turns to summer.
All in all, it's still a great place for a meal, but we'll have to see how comfortable the bar is after the newness wears off.
Apparently the magic has run out at Philly's 5-star Le Bec Fin. Channel 6, WPVI-TV is promoting a "blockbuster" announcement on the Georges Perrier attraction that started the restaurant revolution on Philadelphia.
Philly.com is reporting that the story is that the Walnut Street flagship will likely close. Recent reports have noted fairly small dinner crowds and the end of the $100 price fix lunch.
I've never had dinner there and I am sorry to have missed it, but the lunches were something very special!
UPDATE
Le Bec Fin won't close, but Perrier will acknowledge that restaurant dining has changed. He's giving back his stars, going to an a la carte menu, dropping the lavish table trappings and shooting for a younger crowd. Lighter fare will also be part of the overhaul.
The last time Perrier did an overhaul, he spent $1 million to re-make the Center City jewel in his restaurant crown and became the only chef ever to win back a lost star from Michelin. My guess is that this set of changes will be less successful, but will save the Perrier flagship. I'll try to get there soon to let you know first hand how the changes come off.
Preparations are under way for today's egg hunt and tonight's turkey dinner Emma notes that we are giving the turkey a bath. John just said 'Ewwww!' I am sure the turkey will taste WAY better than it looks now.
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