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Notes from the Weekend: October 30
This week we've got bi-coastal burgers, Indian street eats and way too many Doritos.
Notes from the Weekend: October 30
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
Santucci's, my love, it had been too long. Friday night, I rectified that injustice right quick when C's parents came down for dinner. They grew up near the old location in Juniata and were understandably suspicious about the pizzeria's South Philly digs, but came away impressed by the newly relocated upside-down pies, as well as the Uncle Joe stromboli, ricotta cheesecake and chef Bobby Saritsoglu's breath-wrecking garganelli with anchovies and garlic.—AE
Baltimore Avenue's Desi Chaat House is one of those places that's been on my to-eat list for way too long. So after checking out Weckerly's, the new ice cream operation out of Green Line Cafe, I headed over for some Indian street eats. I went with the Sahi Chaat, a cool blend of potatoes, cucumbers radishes, seeds, puffed rice, almonds and cashews topped with yogurt. It's the kind of totally satisfying cheap and probably even good for you meal that would be a stand-by if only the Chaat House was a little closer to home.—CR
At a rather ungodly hour on Friday morning, Ryan and I boarded a plane to San Francisco. Subsisting on snacks of apples, cheeses, and hard boiled eggs, we breezed through the six hour flight and landed in California right at lunchtime. Desperate for food and cold beverages, we stopped first at Stag's Lunchette in downtown Oakland. Off a well edited list of sandwiches, I ordered the brussels sprout tartine. Crisp tender brussels, arugula, and pickled radishes stuck to open faced slices of good bread thanks to glue of fluffy ricotta. House made pickles, potato salad and panzanella were winners on the sidelines. Later, after a drink at the tiny bar at Chez Panisse, we went for sandwiches round two at Commonwealth, where our brother Steve tends bar. We shared a pressed ham and cheese, and a chicken salad with bacon, and a couple rounds of English ales.—EK
Bumming around Chestnut Hill on Saturday, copped lunch from Matt Feldman's Lucky Old Souls burger truck. I went for the weekly special, topped with caramelized apples and bacon (ridiculous), fries and a maple black pepper milkshake. Real rap I think these burgers are the best in the city right now. Later, did dinner (asparagus and bacon, chicken stuffed with spinach and ricotta) at Friends of Meal Ticket BT and AD's sprawling new suburban manor in Le Jerz, and stopped for a nightcap with lil bro-in-law at Polonia Hall, a cooly decrepit, members-onlyish dive with darts and bowling in Bridesburg.—AE
After fortifying myself with a pre-Halloween party flank steak and kale, I headed out to a costume party catered with some pretty tasty deviled eggs, gougres, pizza from the always awesome Francoluigis, and some danger zone rum punch complete with carved apple shrunken heads.—CR
After a wait - well worth it - we were seated at St. Francis in the Mission for Saturday Brunch. This old-is-new-again diner has an overwhelming menu for the breakfast lover. I went with huevos rancheros, which were no nonsense. On the drive back from a long day in the city, we made a pit stop at the Arizmendi Bakery Co-op in Emeryville for slices of pizza. They only offer one flavor a day, and today's was gorgonzola, sun dried tomato, spinach, and walnut, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. —EK
Later, after watching the Giants take Game 3 in a lively dive bar, we met a big group of friends at Burma Superstar. Two years ago, I was introduced to Burmese food at this same restaurant, and I've been waiting to come back ever since. It's like Indian food with touches of Thai and Vietnamese, and it's wonderful. We ordered the fermented tea leaf salad and samosa soup for the table, and I had the spicy tofu noodles with braised greens to follow. Everything was just as uniquely seasoned and incredibly flavored as I remembered.—EK
Sunday morning, awoke to the news of the impending apocalypse and threw together a little semi-homemade brunch. Cocoa pancakes with Mast Bros. chocolate shavings (I keep 'em in the freezer for all emergencies) and crushed pecans took care of the sweet, and quick-becoming-our-go-to Little Snuff's took care of the savory with a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. Shout to Monique who delivered it to the house when we forgot to pick up. A parade of food would follow throughout the stormy day: coconut pumpkin soup for lunch, rye-crumbed mac 'n' cheese and chicken cutlets for dinner, Stella d'Oro Breakfast Treats (AKA S Cookies) for dessert.—AE
Waking up some Sunday to the buzz of pre-hurricane hysteria, I decided to head over to Jersey and stock up on some in case of emergency supplies i.e. liquor store and Wegmans run. After making sure that my fridge was well stocked with bottles of Muscadet and freezer full of Haagen-Dazs I decided to that tonight was the night to try out Taco Bell's Dorito's Locos Tacos. A taco shell made out of Doritos? Genius.—CR
We started Sunday morning with an easy breakfast of coffee and bagels at Beauty's Bagel (owned by two Philly ex-pats!) before hopping in our rental car, headed south. On our way to visit our pal Janina in Santa Cruz, we detoured off through Daly City to stop at an In-N-Out Burger for lunch. When we arrived, the line was out the door! But we waited patiently and were rewarded with the famous burgers, fries and shakes. This was my first experience with In-N-Out, and it did not disappoint. My cheeseburger animal style (mustard fried burger patty, thousand island sauce, fried onions and extra pickles) was the perfect size, and had just the right amount of toppings. Plus, eating a sandwich out of a greasy paper wrapping is just a very specific pleasure. The Neapolitan shake and extra crispy fries completed the fast food trifecta to a tee. In Santa Cruz, we were introduced to the giant $5 burritos at Hacienda. Each armed with our own personal bottle of salsa roja, we tackled these California monsters in happy silence as the sky turned to dusk outside.—EK
I decided to ride out the impending hurricane at my buddy Hawk's place. Instead of watching panic-inducing CNN we sipped Schafers and Makers, snacked on pizzaz and stomboli from Cacia and Hawk whipped up a truly inspired tray of Dorito nachos with ghost pepper salsa.—CR
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