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Recapping: The 11th Annual Philly Cooks
Philly Mag's 11th annual Philly Cooks at the 33rd Street Armory drew more than 1,000 guests, each dropping $75 a ticket for the benefit of Philadelphia's Ronald McDonald House.
Recapping: The 11th Annual Philly Cooks
Philly Mag’s 11th annual Philly Cooks at the 33rd Street Armory drew more than 1,000 guests last night, each dropping $75 a ticket for the benefit of Philadelphia's Ronald McDonald House. The event welcomed eaters delicately noshing on duck foie gras sausage (in fact, more than a few restaurants served up that bird) as well as guys messily sucking down designer cheesesteaks in single slurps. Certainly we can’t stop slobs from appearing at fine-food events, but can’t we ticket them for their offenses? Also of note: the stunning amount of Catholics there with Ash Wednesday remnants on their foreheads and animal flesh on their plates. For those who have forgot their catechism, yesterday marked the beginning of the pretty-meatless Lenten season. Heathens.
Anyway, a team of judges (including CP/Meal Ticket editor Drew Lazor) awarded prizes for Best Appetizer (whipped robiola bosina with shortbread, preserved kumquat and wild smoked mushrooms) to Ela's Jason Cichonski; Best Entrée (coffee/cocoa-glazed magret duck breast with sweet potato and parsnip mash) to Valanni's John Strain; Best Dessert (lemon cake) to Ciao Bella Cakes' Stefanie Kitchner; and the $1,000 Dish of the Year prize to The Hunt Room at the Desmond's Chris Calhoun for poached Pacific halibut with tomato-orange braised lacinato kale and saffron aioli.
While these were certainly the tastiest of plates, there were ridiculously long lines and clusterfuck crowds surrounding Mercato's signature short rib ragu with ricotta gnocchi and shaved locatelli; Dettera's tuna tartar with pickled fennel, truffle vinaigrette and soft-poached egg; Sang Kee's Asian crab cake with mango salad (the poor chef was engulfed in a sea of clammy hands); Brauhaus Schmitz's aforementioned foie sausage, with mustard-braised cabbage and apples; and Sampan’s Cap'n Crunch ice cream cones.
Let us not forget that Philly Cooks and its assembled were there to boost Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides the families of critically ill kids with housing and supportive services. (The first-ever Ronald McDonald House was built in Philly in 1974.) They raised $20,000 total for the cause.
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