|
|
|
Notes from the Weekend: October 22
A weekend of birthday celebrating with barbecue, great steaks and wine pairing dinners. Plus pizza, ice cream and Home Depot sausage sandwiches.
Notes from the Weekend: October 22
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. We'd love to hear all about YOUR weekend eating adventures in the comments. Go for it! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)
Adam Erace: AE
Caroline Russock: CR
Emily Kovach: EK
Cousins of Meal Ticket NP and JB live the good life up in the Residences at the Ritz, and I spent Friday night hanging at their swank apartment at eye level with City Hall's concrete cherubs and eagles. Braised Buffalo chicken on potato rolls, bacony mac 'n' cheese and marshmallowy Oreo dip proved that while despite the fam's fancy pad, their tastes are totally down-home. —AE
A week's worth of birthday celebrations continued on Friday with a twice in three days trip back to Brooklyn barbecue import Fette Sau on Frankford. Pizza muralist and hot dog historian Hawk Krall joined me for a tray of everything on the menu and several Ball jars of Squason. Yup, that's a saison brewed with squash from the mad beer scientists at Earth Bread. Dinosaur sized short ribs, brunt-end baked beans and broccoli salad were identical to my Brooklyn memories. A few bourbons at Murph's across and then back to South Philly for one or two more at Lucky 13.—CR
City Tap House can be a little, uh, intense for Happy Hour (dental students + shots is some sketchy arithmetic). But I braved the Friday afternoon swarms to hang with Suzy Woods and other friendly beer folk for the OmmeDogGash tap takeover. Sadly, Suzy didn’t end up DJing, but rad beers were flagrantly flowing (Smoke & Beards!), and the scene was decidedly more mature than usual - though I left before 7, and lord knows what transpired on into the night. For dinner I tossed some fried tofu, quinoa and arugula into a salad, preparing myself for the full weekend of irresponsible eating ahead. Case in point: around 10 that night, when Ryan came home from work, we called in a large Parma pizza from Dock Street. Proscuitto bacon, crushed tomatoes and five kinds of cheeses later, we were in for the night.—EK
More Oreo dip on Saturday! And this version, tricked out with whipped cream ghosts and E.L. Fudge headstones to look like spooky graveyard, came from a completely different side of the family, my wife's up in Buxco. Pretty sweet coincidence. We celebrated C's birthday all day in a fall way, with pumpkin carving, Okotberfest beers and a not-so-scary hayride at Shady Brook Farm. Oh, tomato pie from Ianelli's, too, imported straight from South Philly because some shit you just can't get in the burbs.—AE
Birthday revelry continued on Saturday night when a group of my nearest and dearest friends braved the Ben Franklin bridge for dinner at the one and only Pub. Cocktails served with a shaker on the side? Check. Incredible timeless medieval-modern decor? Check. AYCE salad bar with the world's best zucchini bread? Check. Prim rib bigger than barely fits on the plate? Yes, indeed. And if all of that wasn't reason enough to love The Pub, the sent out not one but two birthday cakes for the table. Good times. The night ended up at the Adobe on Passyunk for karaoke and endless Sauza-Tecate specials.—CR
A few delightful hours of Saturday morning were spent, as is my favorite routine, wandering around Clark Park, perusing the Uhuru flea market and the usual farmer’s market. In front of the Green Line cafe, a new local ice cream start-up, Weckerly’s, was giving out free samples. From a cool array of flavors like rosemary chocolate chip and burnt sugar apple crumble, I chose cajeta caramel swirl. The goat’s milk caramel was ribboned generously through the French style ice cream - just the right balance of sweet and rich. Jennifer and Andrew Satinsky, the brains and brawn behind Weckerly’s, were a friendly and chatty couple. They explained that in addition to private and catering orders, they will be selling their ice cream soon at the Green Line! West Philly - you’ve been warned: this shit is dangerously good.—EK
After swinging by an evening soiree at the charming Farm 51, we drove out to Jerz to revisit the magical land of The Pub. Since the occasion of our visit was to celebrate the birthday of dear Caroline, I’ll let her give the rundown.—EK
Took it easy a la casa on Sunday, watching football with a chorizo sandwich from Rocco's at the Delaware Ave. Home Depot. I had no idea they made chorizo! Learn something new every day.
Sunday I made my way over to the South Philly Fall Fest for some vintage shopping, a few bands and a quick cocktail before moseying down Passyunk for an epic wine dinner at Le Virtu with Cantina Frentana in from Abruzzo. Chef Joe Cicala outdid himself with an eight course pairing menu. A mustardy salmon tartare and a flute of sparkling Pecorino began the meal that meandered into the night with huge, sweet langostines, a gorgeous lamb ragu, t-bone with truffles, a drop dead amazing cheese plate and a selection of Angela Ranalli's downright dreamy cookies. Not a bad way to finish off a weekend of birthday celebrations.—CR
I greeted Sunday with brunch at The Mildred, the newest swank spot in Bella Vista. Tucked into a cozy corner table, my friend Danielle and I caught up over glasses of fresh squeezed OJ, eggs benedict, and a fluffy baked sourdough pancake layered with roasted apples. All of the food was served in Staub cast iron pans, and each dish was simple, unfussy, and delicious. Afterwards, we scooted over to Fall Fest, a block party outside of Luck 13 on Passyunk Ave. Set to a live psych rock sountrack, cool kids with Manic Panic dye jobs mixed with cool grown ups with adorable babies and dogs in tow. Centennial IPAs and Southampton Pumpkin Ales were poured from an outside tent, Little Baby’s was scooping (I finally got to try the Peanut Chew flavor!), and a dozen vendors were hawking vintage wares and handmade jewelry. It was a mellow way to while away the gorgeous afternoon.—EK
Later at home, Ryan expertly transformed leftover PUB rib eye into perfect cheesesteaks with onions, mushrooms, smoked cheddar and horseradish mayo. While he put those beauties together, I started a eggy custard ice cream base. I whisked in fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and buttermilk and spun it into gold in the Kitchenaid ice cream attachment - a tart, clean palate cleanser for the end of the weekend.—EK
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
