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Notes from the Weekend: May 31
Notes from the Weekend is a Monday 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: May 31
Notes from the Weekend is a Monday 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.)
AE: Adam Erace
EF: Erin Finnerty
DL: Drew Lazor
AP: Adrian Pelliccia
LRP: Laurel Rose Purdy
Quick note before we get started — this is the final NFTW installment for our dedicated interns EF, AP and LRP. On behalf of everyone at Team Meal Ticket (aka me, AE and on occasion our girl Felicia D.), THANK YOU for all your hard work! Y'all killed it! —DL
Reeeal easy dinner Friday night — followed this Saveur recipe and cranked out some bass filets (from Ippolito's) over a tiny tomato sauce type sitch. Next time I’ll use the suggested cherries instead of grapes. The grapes didn’t asplode quite how I wanted them to. —DL
A very important person came to visit this weekend, so boyfriend and I decided to take her to Kanella (1001 Spruce St.) for Friday lunch, of course with a bottle of sparkling in tow to make mimosas. I had to get the Kedgeree again, that delicious house-smoked fish with peas, boiled egg, yogurt and spiced rice. Dan had grilled baby sepia, or cuttlefish, over basil couscous. For Amelia, the special: whole roasted red mullet over a white bean ragout. Slammin' from top to bottom, as usual. —LRP
Since I was a little tiny baby, Memorial Day weekend has meant one thing: SHORE! C and I made the drive late Friday night to her family's campground — don't call it a trailer park! — just west of Cape May. Saturday morning, we burned off blueberry pancakes with a 4-mile bike ride on a nearby cycling trail thick with wild honeysuckle. I stopped to eat some, of course. —AE
My Memorial Day weekend got off to a slow start — I opted to make some very stale pasta and leftover red sauce. Although I am now a college graduate, there's very little that keeps me from continuing to eat like a college student. —AP
Friday evening called for a very quick supper at Buddakan (325 Chestnut St.), including kobe beef-stuffed grape leaves, edamame and monkfish in Kung Pao sauce, which upon arrival I learned was inedible for me, as it was smothered in tempura batter. Oh well. —LRP
Picked up my parents at the airport early Saturday morning for their maiden voyage to Philadelphia. Naturally, proceeded immediately to Honey's (8000 N. Fourth St.) so they could sample my favorite brunch in town. I went my standard route (light, fresh and eggy enfrijoladas with a latke), dad got a very "dad" breakfast (chicken-fried steak with eggs over-easy) and mom opted for huevos rancheros (good call, mommy). —EF
My pantry is cluttered with various gluten-free flours, but one in particular was missing. DL sent some sorghum flour my way last week, from which I made my very first gluten-free pizza dough! The first pie was rubbery and too thick, which makes sense because I didn't use a rolling pin. Though the flavor was perfect (often GF baked goods can taste soapy or too sweet), my kick-ass marinara was its saving grace. Also, I MADE TOO MUCH DOUGH. So, after my quinoa porridge on Saturday morning, I rolled out two very perfect gluten-free pies. Thanks for the sorghum, DL! The rest is for biscuits, or English muffins. Haven't decided yet. —LRP
Saturday afternoon saw me serving as one of the judges of the third annual Wing King, a competition thrown by the good people of Big Bite, the local collective that organizes the Philly Chili Bowl, among other food-based events and competitions. My fellow judges and I destroyed 17 or so contestants’ wings, but Bollyhood, a tandoori-style flapper with a bangin’ yogurt/cucumber dipping sauce, was our favorite. Congrats to the trio of lovelies who took home the trophy — Ali (chef at Delicatessen), Tegan (of LoveBar) and Lily (of A Cupcake Wonderland). Skills! —DL
My Saturday was significantly more fun than my Friday. Started off with brunch at Local 44 (4333 Spruce St.). Pal Sarah and I got super-spicy Bloodys topped off with a splash of porter for added thickness and color. Brian and Noah opted for the "beermosa," consisting of (you guessed it) beer and OJ. The brew of choice was PBC's Walt Wit. I chowed on a choice breakfast BLT, punched up with the addition of avocado and one sunny-side egg. —AP
My mom was itching to hit up Pat's and/or Geno's for a cheesesteak, so we opted for the latter (1219 S. Ninth St.). From what I heard (I’m veg), the sandwiches were decent, and their cheese fries were hot and swimming in Whiz, but nothing to write home about. And while I applaud their dispensing of both Coke AND Pepsi products, I was left wondering — of all of the sodas, no Cherry Coke? No Wild Cherry Pepsi? What gives? Also, I could do without the crude anti-immigrant sentiments displayed throughout. —EF
That evening, roommate Noah and I got to work on our supply of surplus food, donated to us by friends whose leases are up long before ours. Choice of the night: a roasted turkey breast, seasoned with salt, pepper and (spice of the weekend) cumin. We accompanied this with a stir-fry of veggies — something called a "San Francisco Medley." If anyone can explain why this name was applied to a bag of frozen broccoli, green beans, peppers, and mushrooms, they will earn exactly one high five from yours truly. —AP
Hit up Capoyunk (1625 E. Passyunk Ave.) for dessert with parents — scoops of sea salt, lemon, pistachio, hazelnut, strawberries & cream and chocolate peanut butter were shared between the four of us, and my dad had the best-tasting coffee he's ever had, Capo's cold-brewed java over ice. I sampled it and I've got to agree with him. Coffee-brewers everywhere need to get on the cold-brewing tip, stat. —EF
Friends of Meal Ticket EA and LA stopped by the crib Saturday evening for some pizzas — second time rocking out the dough recipe from Jonathan Waxman's great cookbook. In a true testament to the jerkoff nature idiosyncrasy of pizza dough, this batch turned out noticeably saltier than the last one, even though I deliberately used LESS SALT. How is this possible, screw you universe. No matter, though, as the pies were pretty decent — recreated the bacon/leek jawn from last time, and the grilled asparagus one was good too, clearly-not-centered runny egg notwithstanding. —DL
Saturday night, made our way back to my family's shore house in Ventnor and spent all day drinking in the glorious sunshine on the beach on Sunday. We go heavy on the fresh fruit for beach snacks; pictured are farmstand-procured berries and watermelon hooked up with mint from the garden (which wintered over and returned with vengeance), lime zest and salt. Drinks: lemon-mint H2O and a thermos full of spicy Ketel bloodies from always-prepared friends M and C. —AE
Didn't really feel like brunch on Sunday — I got my nails done instead — so just picked up some briny briny stuffed grape leaves from Green Olives (992 N. Second St.) and ate only one. —LRP
Went to The Corner (102 S. 13th St.) for very nice Sunday brunch — good crowd despite the dead nature of Center City. Kept it light-ish with a smoked salmon bagel, but you know I couldn’t resist a plate of John Taus' housemade scrapple on the side. Best grits around, too, peep game. —DL
Dan and I finished long shifts on Sunday and NEEDED DRINKS. Went with some of his cohorts from Village Whiskey over to The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. (112 S. 18th St.). Can you believe it was my first time there? A round of Old Granddad shots, an Aviation, and a Well Deserved Punch later, we were de-stressed and hungry. Rode our bikes to David's Mai Lai Wah (1001 Race St.) and it was the usual: half Peking duck, eggplant and shrimp hotpot in XO sauce, snow pea leaves. —LRP
Sunday night, saw fam-favorite comedian John Pinette at Borgata. Grabbed coffee after the show at B's cute quick-serve, Bread + Butter. Well, everyone else got coffee. I got waffles. —AE
Sunday: Grabbed a couple of chaats at Desi Chaat House (501 S. 42nd St.) with my friends Laura and Sarah before they got out of town for good. A sad day. After giving myself a few hours to wallow, I decided to round up my remaining besties and trek over to my parents' unoccupied house in NoLibs, where my little sister was holding court. She just started an internship as a prep chef at Osteria (640 N. Broad St.) and was eager to show off her new tricks. We brought over a few surplus cornish game hens (people really did not get around to eating a lot of their frozen foods), and picked up some brussels sprouts on the way. We topped the hens off with lardo that was hanging around the fridge, stuffed ‘em with lemons, garlic and onions, and dusted them all with (you guessed it) cumin. Lucca cooked up a ton of her new brussels a la Osteria, cooked in grapeseed oil with pancetta and then deglazed with red wine vinegar. We took our feast up to the roof and ate in the cool, dark breeze. It was the nicest possible way to end a crummy day, just without adequate lighting. —AP
Stopped into another one of our favorites, Vietnam (221 N. 11th St.), for dinner on Sunday night where the four of us copped vermicelli bowls (squid, spicy chicken, shrimp and crispy tofu) and two orders of crunchy veggie spring rolls. Despite the loudmouth ultra-WASPs at the table next to ours, it was, as usual, an excellent meal to end my folks' tour de force of essential Philly spots. Spent the rest of the night hanging out in their room at the Best Western, soaking up A/C, eating TastyKakes and pretending I was on vacation. —EF
No fun Memorial Day BBQ to report on this end. Had to work, but met a couple of dear friends for lunch at my old stomping ground, Continental Old City (138 Market St.). It was like my daily manager meal all over again: a bunch of brunch sides, including those irresistible creamy grits, and turkey sausage smothered in sugary maple syrup. —LRP
More beach action on Monday, followed by dinner at the brand-new Baia in Somers Point (998 Bay Ave.). View was great and food was decent, but service ... the entire restaurant was deeper in the weeds than the turtles that nest in the surrounding marshes. Soothed the bad-service burn with ice cream at Scoops back in Ventnor (5210 Atlantic Ave.). My go-to chocolate banana malt made the trafficked drive home to Philly a bit more bearable. —AE
Funny you should mention cold-brew coffee, EF — I just embarked on my first try at the technique this past Monday. In a classic "that guy, Coffee Edition" move, I have yet to actually try the finish product (chillin' in the fridge), but I’ll keep y'all posted. Wouldn't have gone very well with my takeout from Vic Sushi (2035 Sansom St.), anyway. —DL
My Memorial Day was pretty low-key, food- and activity-wise. I opted for some macaroni and cheese for lunch (not the healthy kind), and leftover hen and brussel sprouts. It's cool, though, because I spent the whole day baking on my porch, reading and drinking lemonade — exactly the distraction-free Memorial Day I had in mind. Also, this is my last NFTW! Thanks to every who has read my accounts of weekend eats. I hope you had as much fun reading them as I did having/writing about them. —AP
After a quick Dunkin' Donuts run and a jaunt down to the airport to send my darling mom and pop back to Detroit, Monday was a mostly relaxing day around the house. Met up with some neighborhood friends on their deck at dusk for an amazing vegetarian Memorial Day cookout, featuring some tasty baked Mexi-rice-bean-cheese squares courtesy of yours truly, marinated and grilled portobello burgers, LightLife veggie dogs, fresh chopped caprese salad, perfectly charred asparagus (SO GOOD) and garlicky pouch-grilled potatoes. A delightful way to end a delightful weekend. —EF
I had a good memorial day weekend foodwise, b/c my brother and kids were in town -- we started them out with Paesano's, and a hot walk (long for toddlers) to John's for Water Ice. They went elsewhere for dinner so we chilled at home with some scallops from whole foods and a salad (still full from those giant Paesano/Arista lunches). Sunday we took them to brunch at the Royal Tavern - good benedict, waffles with not-ripe-enough grilled peaches, BLT with salmon... I was really impressed with how nice they were to the 2 small kids in our party, since it's not your typical kiddie brunch spot.
Sunday night we hit Monsu (keeping it in the Paesano's family I guess) and most things were delicious, especially duck meatballs and goat-in-the-style-of-horse. Walking home, a number of places we had contemplated for drinks were closed, but Zahav sufficed - they have good drinks, but I have to say, don't veer off their cocktail menu because I saw them sneaking a look at the red book to make an Old Fashioned. really?
Monday included a vietnamese hoagie from Ba Le (so many places were closed!) and yogurt/spices-marinated chicken parts on a friend's grill in the still-hot evening hours.— thebizz- Stayed in the city for the holiday weekend... and what a great weekend it was!
Friday night: Dinner at Osteria. Reminded me why it's my favorite restaurant in the city. Mortadella pizza, charcuterie plate with the artichoke mostarda (sooo good), garden salad, octopus antipasti, chicken liver rigatoni, bucatini and joy of all joys... beet and goat cheese plin. Seriously... I was giddy and giggling to myself, the dish was that good. Finish that off with brown sugar gelato and drinks at the Good Dog after... great Friday night.
Saturday: What better way to spend a lazy day in the city... than a beer garden crawl through Fishtown. Memphis Taproom for hotdogs and cans o beer. The Polser (bacon-wrapped dog w/ remoulade, crispy shallots and pickles) with fried pickles on the side... great breakfast. :) Off to Frankford Hall for a $6.50 pretzel, some knockwurst w/ red cabbage and lots and lots of Spaten. Unfortunately, day-drinking and I always have a brief love affair... so the "crawl" turned into two stops and an early night for me.
Sunday: Brunch at Beau Monde and a bloody mary (necessary). Crepe with andouille sausage, scrambled eggs, ratatouille and caramelized ketchup. Just what my hangover needed. Dinner at Parc. Petit plateau, steak tartare, tuna carpaccio and salad verte.
Monday: My overconsumption of... everything... over the weekend caught up with me. Craving something light and delicious (well relatively). Bbq pork bahn mi from Nam Son for lunch... and then grape leaf vermicelli for dinner.
I've said this before... but this one might take the cake. Can every weekend be like this?— AKJackie - Monday was the best eating day I had all weekend so I'll stick to that. Word to the wise: if Ants Pants has a their gazpacho special, order it. Not too salty and really filling. I compulsively buy half off deals for sushi restaurants, with usually pretty mediocre results. But on Monday, I hit up 5 N 2 Tokyo right above South and it was way better than expected. It's a tiny place and there was no one in there, but the wasabi shumai was to die for. The orders were smaller (most came with four piece to an order, rather than say six or eight) and cheaper so it was awesome for getting a good variety.— molls to the wall
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