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Notes from the Weekend: January 23
Notes from the Weekend is a feature that sees the members of Team Meal Ticket compiling all the food/drink highlights uncovered during prime eatin' time, Friday to Sunday.
Notes from the Weekend: January 23
Notes from the Weekend is a feature that sees the members of Team Meal Ticket compiling all the food/drink highlights uncovered during prime eatin' time, Friday to Sunday. Consider this a place for good deals, great dishes, wicked cocktails, recipe triumphs (and tragedies), bizarro conversations and more. We're eager to share our notes, but especially excited to read yours.We encourage you to leave notes from YOUR weekend in the comments. Have at it! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)
Picked up take-out from Plenty (1710 E. Passyunk Ave.) for in-a-rush dinner Friday night. Tasso panini and gooey mac 'n' cheese were clutch, but I also really liked the whole wings out of the cold case, a first for me. Confited and smoked, they came enrobed in a smart and sticky barbecue sauce scented with oregano. Later, after a viewing and some drinks (they go together), wound up at the Melrose Diner (1501 Snyder Ave.), where chicken fingers and crinkle-cut fries ensured I would sleep like shit. —AE
Friday: I got ENGAGED on Friday, and pure ecstatic joy happens to be the one emotion that doesn’t drive me to food and drink. I barely touched the cupakes and champagne at my SURPRISE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, but my honey and I did share a really good Peking Duck pizza beforehand at Mama Palma's (2229 Spruce St.). —KL
Hung around East Passyunk on Friday — first Le Virtù (1927 E. Passyunk Ave.) to get schooled by chef Joe Cicala on some pasta stuff (thanks Joe! more on this in the near future), then AE's Green Aisle Grocery (1618 E. Passyunk Ave.) to snag a few things. Ever have Pennsylvania Noble? It's a funky cave-aged cheddar-type jam from Lancaster, a sharp 'n' nippy winner on a sausage/egg/cheese. Later Friday, The Sidecar (2201 Christian St.) to capitalize on straggler beers left over from last week's High Gravity — Bell's Sparkling (a MT fave) and Green Flash Le Freak (strongggg). —DL
Late dinner on Friday at Johnny Brenda's (1201 Frankford Ave.) with my friend Tommy — I had the bacon/brie sandwich and he had the eggplant parm. He graciously paid for dinner, but I suspect it's only because he a) wants me to plug his band on NFTW and/or b) wants me to tell the ladies out there that he's a good date. Headed to Barcade (1114 Frankford Ave.) after to meet another friend for a drink. I had the Sixpoint Hibiscus, expecting it to taste like a flower garden (it did not, but still good) and the Left Hand Milk Stout on nitro. Because I like to say "YES!" to life, headed over to El Bar (1356 N. Front St.) just in time for last call. —AW
At Santucci's (901 S. 10th St.), chef Bobby Saritsoglu is serving brunch on Saturdays as well as Sundays now. Bummed they were sold out of the housemade Greek yogurt, but we made up for it with about a dozen other items. Faves included the cinnamon-apple French toast (fluffy, golden, not too sweet) and the special "Italian Breakfast" — speck, honeyed ricotta, grapes, candied walnuts, bananas and a slammin' bruleed half-grapefruit. We ordered an Uncle Joe's stromboli, too, just for good measure. —AE
On slushy Saturday, popped by a quiet American Sardine Bar (1801 Federal St.) for lunch — braised pork and Boursin (go-to order?), fries, broccoli soup, couple beers. I thought snow was supposed to bring the crazies out; where were all my drunk neighbors? During one blizzard I remember getting blackout at Sidecar at like noon and watching an intense lady cross-country ski down 22nd. At least bartender Robert came through with a brief but altogether terrifying puppet show. These things rest on wine bottles behind the bar and are somehow always staring at you regardless of where you're sitting, like Vigo the Carpathian. —DL
Guess where I went for brunch on Saturday and guess what I had? If you guessed The Abbaye (637 N. Third St.) and eggs benedict and a Bloody Mary, you are a loyal NFTW reader. After brunch, we walked all the way up to the future home of Pizza Brain (2313 Frankford Ave.) for a peek at the newly acquired Little Baby's Ice Cream shop adjacent to the pizza parlor. Roommate bought me a beverage of my choosing at Rocket Cat Cafe (2001 Frankford Ave.) for making the trek. I chose a hot chocolate and it was a great decision. —AW
Saturday: Engagement happiness still ran Saturday night at my friend's Asian-themed potluck. H and I took a stir-fry that I thought was good — until I tasted the homemade sushi and Thai-inspired soup my friends contributed. We topped it off with leftover engagement party cake from Eiselen's (7130 Ridge Ave.) in Roxborough. —KL
Grabbed dinner at Taco Riendo (1301 N. Fifth St.) with an old bud Saturday night. I've lived up this way for two years and this was the first time I'd been there. Blasphemy, I know. After chicken mole enchiladas and a Mexican coke, I went over to Kung Fu Necktie (1240 N. Front St.) to moonlight as the door girl for DJ Sean Thomas' monthly Drumsong. You may know Sean as the bar manager at Pub & Kitchen (1946 Lombard St.) —AW
Bought a new car after brunch (got tired of waiting for Oprah to give me one) in Jersey, which took four to six hours. I can't be exact because my corneas melted at some point, making it difficult to read clocks. Gnocchi and stuffed peppers at the in-laws' helped get my mind right in time for one of C's coworker's birthdays at Grey Lodge (6235 Frankford Ave.). Really liked my pint of Sly Fox Grisette, a bitter and tangy "miner's ale" from the Royersford brewery. Cheese fries, too. —AE
Ventured out of the neighborhood Sunday morning to go to Royal Tavern (937 E. Passyunk Ave.). Roommate and I drank a blackberry mimosa and roommate's boyfriend had a regular mimosa while we waited for a table. I got the farmer's crepes with poached eggs, a glorified eggs benedict minus the pork and plus a crepe with spinach, onions, cheddar and peppers. Can we make this an Eat This Immediately? Because holy shit you need to Eat This Immediately. —AW
Sunday: Engagement happiness still ran high (who knew?) on an early-morning trip to Whole Foods to beat the Sunday stampede. I whipped up a full-strength southern meal for my fiancé, complete with okra, potatoes, cole slaw and homemade biscuits. Out of respect for my vegetarian roommates (and also laziness), I asked H to pick up fried chicken from Popeye's instead of frying it myself. —KL
Sunday was depressing but man it started off so sweet. Friend of Meal Ticket JC showed up at the crib armed with High Lifes and a bottle of Black Maple Hill bourbon, both of which I sipped with great vigor for the duration of the AFC Championship — you may or may not know that I'm a huge Baltimore Ravens fan. Joey F. and my boys were playing incredibly well, looked like they were gonna pull off the upset, and then ... you know what happened. Needless to say I upped my booze consumption considerably after the final whistle. I also ate the shit out of my feelings thanks to timely delivery from AE's aforementioned brunch spot Santucci's — "The Works" pie, buffalo wings. I'm just gonna keep on watching this clip of Number 52 doing what he does and I'll get over it eventually. I did not react like this dude. —DL
Ventured out of the neighborhood for Sunday dinner, all the way up 95 to my parents' house. Helped my dad make veal marsala that we ate with black rice, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. While we were waiting for dinner to finish cooking, we drank some wine while we listened to my mom quote lines from The Landlord. Cheesecake and raspberries were dessert, and, like any good Jewish mother, my brother and I were sent home with the rest of the cheesecake. I also managed to swipe a jar of pickles. —AW
On Saturday (a.k.a the laziest day ever) we picked up fresh pasta and a bag of frozen meatballs from Superior and slow cooked the meatballs all day in a crockpot; they came out delicious. Then we started watching Downton Abbey. Though we didn't have a butler or footmen to serve us dinner we somehow managed to eat.— Marc Steel- Sunday for the football games, we rocked a South Philly trifecta: wings from Franco Luigi's, garlic bread cheesesteaks and meatball sandwiches from Santucci's, and pizzas from La Rosa. Epic, but it was missing something, so we made a second run to Franco Luigi's for cannoli to top it off.— BarryG
- KL wins this week's NFTW, hands down.— aweiss
- Clearly. Congrats, KL! Sorry to sully this romantic NFTW with a terrifying puppet. — Drew Lazor
- tsk tsk. — klinton2
- ooh... are there always winners? i always work better under competition — klinton2
- congrats to KL!— corncobs
- Ahem, we went to Sardine Bar on Sunday for brunch. Where was my puppet show?— laurelro
- Way to call me bro — Drew Lazor
- @KL-congratulations! That pizza sounds like a fabulous way to celebrate. I got engaged last week on Thursday while away at the Bahamas. I drank too much for many food updates but the conch fritters were phenomenal and the cheesy restaurant had a pretty decent steak dinner.— JulieC
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