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Notes from the Weekend: September 19
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: September 19
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.)
Adam Erace: AE
Drew Lazor: DL
Jessica Leung: JL
Esther Martin: EM
Nicole Rossi: NR
Friday a.m.: Had breakfast at Ants Pants (2212 South St.) with CP photog extraordinaire and Farm 51 farmer Neal Santos. Talked cooking gameplan (more below) over eggs benny with salmon and Crystal-doused ham/egg/cheese croissants. Since I moved out of Ants Pants' 'hood right before they renovated, I hadn't seen the new look — so much cleaner and roomier, with pretty pics of their own menu items walled up to boot. —DL
Friday the girls and I headed to Alfa (1709 Walnut St.) — always a good spot for people-watching/making new friends. We satisfied our beverage needs via bubbly and martinis. Later, stopped at 13th Street Pizza (209 S. 13th St.) for slices of plain and renditions of "Like A Prayer." —NR
Woke up super-early Saturday and had pizza (never got around to eating it Friday) for breakfast. The best. Hangover started to kick in, though, as I made my way to the Brews Blues and Barbecue festival at Electric Factory (421 N. Seventh St.) with my gal. Chatted with DL for a bit (he was a judge), grabbed my first pumpkin ale of the year from Wild Onion, but was disappointed in the grub selection — only four out of 15 participating restaurants showed up, and one spot ran out of 'cue less than two hours into the event. C'mon guys! —NR
Yes I did indeed get in some weekend work at Brews Blues and Barbecue at the Electric Factory, which consisted of chicken, sauced ribs and beef brisket flights of fancy from the four restaurants that did answer the call on gameday (shoutout to the Khyber Pass Pub dudes). Still waiting for word on who won but we'll update here accordingly. —DL
Stopped by DL's beautiful crib for a lumpia-making sesh (he will tell you all about lumpia below) on Friday night. Sipped Festina Peche and Brooklyn Lager while shaving cabbage and peeling head-on prawns for the Filipino spring rolls; I didn't get to taste the finished product (had to dash to dinner) but DL promised to freeze me a few to fry at home. —AE
Is it possible to go Wing Phat Plaza (11th and Washington) without visiting Pho 75? NO IT IS NOT. (JL, below, seems to agree.) It was my intention to swing through Hung Vuong late Friday afternoon to cop ingredients for our lumpia-making experiment (five different recipes between Neal and I, most of them from our respective mommas), but I stopped in for a bowl beforehand, putting me behind on my shopping/cooking schedule considerably. Was worth it. Lumpia-frying was labor-intensive (thanks to Friend of Meal Ticket JC for his hot oil/spider skills) but we got some very nice results. See? Photo by Neal. —DL
Lunch on Saturday? Did I get shrimp pad Thai and crab rangoon from Circles (1516 Tasker St) again? No of course I didn’t! OK fine, I got Circles again. —EM
That chill in the air on Saturday night = perfect Italian church festival weather! Annunciation BVM's annual Padre Pio extravaganza shut down 10th Street from Dickinson to Tasker for a block party effect complete with bouncy castles, games of chance and hot sausage sandwiches (pictured). C and I crushed two sandwiches laden with peppers and onions, plus cheese fries and funnel cake. —AE
Work was crazy busy and there was no time to eat, so I settled for nibbling on unwanted chocolate mousse cake scraps at my play of employ, Barclay Prime (237 S. 18th St). I realize this does not display the best eating habits, but it happens. —JL
Saturday night I was invited to sit in at the newly opened Cook (253 S. 20th St.) for a class led by Scott Schroeder of South Philly Tap Room (1509 Mifflin St.) and Flying Fish founder Gene Muller. On paper, the theme was pairing beer with food, but the duo's meanderings also clued in the class — quiet at first, but loose/laughing as soon as everyone started tip-toeing off script — into topics like sausagemaking, drinking Bud Lite with Texas rednecks and how to rightly treat a roasted piece of meat (restttt it). The session wrapped up with Schroeder off the cuff, frying up peanut butter/jelly/Frosted Flake sandwiches with ingredients fetched lightning-quick by Cook's own Audrey Claire Taichman. The sandwich's origin story is funny as shit but it is not my story to tell (ask him). Was also nice to see the lovely La Copine girls, whose products are carried at Cook (bought a jar of their spicy country dijon — spread this immediately). —DL
On Sunday morning I stopped by The Latin Farmer, who was parked at the Headhouse farmers market, to see what they had to offer. I originally ordered two shredded chicken empanadas but they're so popular they ran out, so I got only one. The friendly guy manning the window offered me a replacement at the same price so I grabbed a bocadillo (braised pulled beef, chipotle aioli, apple and queso). That was good, but the empanada was king — blended cheddar, shredded chicken and black beans in a crispy pastry. —EM
Fun fact I learned this weekend from a buddy who used to work there: Slainte (3000 Market St.), located a little less than one mile from the Comcast Center, is physically unable to receive Comcast service due to some quirk in the cable lines right around there. —DL
On Sundays in the fall, I like to do the following: watch football, watch football, watch football and order food. I only got to see the fourth quarter of the Eagles game because my mom had to go and open a bridal boutique (Unveiled Philadelphia) and put on a big-ass fashion show at the Cescaphe Ballroom (923 N. Second St.) yesterday. Didn't she know I had very, very important plans? Sheesh. Helped her out all day. The show was a smash and she and pops took everyone to dinner at Chops (700 Walnut St.) to celebrate. I'd trade a few fantasy points for their dry-aged strip any day. —AE
After some unsuccessful dress shopping Sunday, I headed to Whole Foods (929 South St.) and loaded up on fresh herbs, baguette and baking needs to make my first soup of the season (white bean and rosemary) and bourbon-soaked apple crumble bread for dessert. The scents warmed my apartment as I watched some Top Chef: Just Desserts. The outcome was delicious. —NR
Sunday: The BF and I are finally moved into our new digs. The whole morning/afternoon was filled with heavy lifting up and down three flights of stairs, so the last thing we wanted to do was cook. We headed over to the P.O.P.E. (1501 E. Passyunk Ave.) for grilled cheese sandwiches, drinks and of course football. Hungry again a few hours later, we walked down the street to Pho 75 (1122 Washington Ave.). I felt kinda embarrasse, as I'd grabbed a bite here less than 48 hours prior (and at the same table), but whatever — now that we live only two blocks away, I will be visiting even more frequently. —JL
I know my descriptions of Friday and Saturday night above sounded pretty professional, but I left out that I was drinking heavily during all of it. Seriously like through the entire thing(s). As a result I felt a little fug on Sunday, so I took it easy at home, fixing/attempting to fix random broken crap (my doorknob no longer falls off!) and cooking up leftover-annihilating fried rice with amazing eggs from Farm 51. Thanks for forgetting these in my house, Neal! —DL
Friday night attended a rehearsal dinner at Marigold Kitchen, and holy guac! What a pleasure, from start (crab mac n cheese!) to finish (profiteroles with pistachio ice cream!), multiple amuse bouches (or is it amuses bouche?? damn you, the French language) in between. One of them included "pickle bubbles." What?!
Saturday, enjoyed a wedding reception catered by Di Bruno Bros. -- meatball sliders looked delicious but I didn't grab one, didn't want to mess up mah dress. Plenty of figgy blue cheese crostini guys, though.
Sunday was brunch at Parc (bonjour, pastry basket! comment ca va, cappuccino?) followed by a final Fringe show. Finally, a lovely cheese pizza just for me from Pete's on Fairmount.— CarolynH- After recovering from lumpiarrhea Saturday morning, we (Farm 51) were one of the stops along the West Philly Farm-to-Table Trolley Tour, just one of the many events for Sustainable Saturdays hosted by University City District. The tour featured other urban farms and gardens in the area such as Walnut Hill, Agatston UNI garden and Woodlands community garden. The tour ended at the always impressive JG Domestic. Our host Nathan guided us through house charcuterie, chanterelle flatbread, Keswick creamery fondue, artihoke gnocchi, and the killer beignets with the whiskey sauce. Post dinner plans led us to Adobe cafe for karaoke until close, singing my heart out to Next's 90s hit "Too Close"and ended up at the wonderful Grays Ferry McDonalds for a 20 piece mcnugget. Hot mustard and sweet and sour for life.— Neal Santos
- holy prawn lumpia. boss.
my weekend was full of home cooking: to welcome fall, boyfriend made two roast chickens a la thomas keller on friday, his roommate made caramelized shallot mashed potatoes, and the girlfriends made blue cheese & walnut salad with vinaigrette. gah, it was great. we made our own bacon/egg/cheese on artisan boulanger croissants sunday morning. oh, i had lunch at cafe lift for the first time on friday, had the sausage and spinach penne (with a huge dollop of ricotta - yes!) and munched on those leftovers all weekend. my wing phat jam (that's not really in wing phat) is pho hoa on 11th, and it's also my parents favorite place to eat in philly. (my dad: "this is better than the vietnamese food in new jersey.") my dad loves the dish where they give you rice paper, lettuce, noodles, assorted veg & meat and you make your own little summer roll.— jreyes - Fried Friday night was so fun, and huge thanks to all those who helped cook and clean throughout! The whole-shrimp lumpia was awesome and it is official that I am not a fan of dessert-style rolls.
Spent a nice portion of Saturday daytime restoring the kitchen from grease shine to clean shine, eating various bites all the while. Wasn't sure what to expect from a Cook class but man was it awesome! Good food, good beer and great crowd! Oh, and they send you home with adorable potted herbs - lemon verbena ftw!
After work Sunday I was famished, grapes do not a lunch make. I sat around and ate cheezits while Drew made fried rice for dinner which was great because he makes the best fried rice ever.— MLF - Hit California this weekend to visit a friend. Highlights: Usually I hate frozen yogurt because I'd rather have real ice cream or, better, water ice but Yogurtland, a West Coast-based frozen yogurt place, was the best froyo I've had. With the PB&J flavor, you can actually taste the bread. The toppings bar was the best part though (any place where I can get Reese's and fresh strawberries and kiwis and GRAHAM CRACKER crumbs, I'm happy). Sonic, obviously, where I got my fill of cherry limeade (nectar of the gods) and tots. Also hit up an In-n-Out for the first time and it was good, much better than your average fast food fare, but not AMAZING as I had heard. I guess it's kind of like Wawa for West Coasters. It reminds them of home so much that I forget other people just look at it like a cleaner 7-11, rather than the mecca that it is. I'm usually not a fan of Cali-Mex (much prefer Tex Mex), but if you happen to find yourself in Costa Mesa, Taco Mesa's Mesa burrito is a must, combining tender chicken and a goat cheese slaw. Their jalapeno poppers (huge halved jalapenos, stuffed with questo blanco and deep-fried) were huge and insane. But the best was Grub, a low-key LA spot owned by Top Chef season two contestant Betty. Best tuna melt I've ever had, with gooey cheese and pesto-slathered bread. Mmmmmm...I wish I had one of those right now.— molls to the wall
- That's the thing about In-N-Out, it's just so much better than your average greasy burger joint and I think that's the best way to view it comparatively. Still incredibly bad for you, but altogether fresher and tastier than the McDonald's and Burger Kings of the world, plus all the employees are terrifyingly happy and chipper for having to wear paper hats. — Drew Lazor
- Had to work late Friday night, so indulged in an Italian hoagie and fries from some takeout restaurant. Then met up with some friends after--they were hyped up and covered in paint after going to Dayglow--and heated up some frozen curly fries out of a bag. Served with ketchup. Delicious.
Surprisingly quick dim sum at Ocean Harbor in Chinatown Saturday morning. I've been to a few of the dim sum spots north of Market, and I remain convinced that this is the best one--although I largely had no idea what I was eating (seriously, if anyone knows what that thing that looked like a trachea covered in delicious orange sauce was, please fill me in). Followed that up hours later with a BYO at the highly-underrated Giorgio on Pine. Prosciutto platter with figs to start, followed by doughy gnocchi with a braised beef ragout. Washed down with leftover wine from the hurricane that never was.— migold
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