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Notes from the (Long) Weekend: July 6
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.) Friday: Stopped at the bar at Wishing Well (Ninth and Catharine), where we got down on some fried pickles. These were tasty and it got us thinking - who does these best in the city? Would love to hear all y'all thoughts. Thank you, Good Karma Café (331 S. 22nd St.), for putting up with us twice on a hot-ass Saturday afternoon - one visit for large iced coffees and another or large iced Americanos. Tweakedddddd! Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer // Saturday night: Took some friends from out of town to Zavino (13th and Sansom) and were blown away by how good everything was. Not sure why we were so surprised - it's always pretty damn good - but man, chef Steve Gonzalez and crew truly outdid themselves this weekend. Pizzas, including a corn/cilantro/bacon/mushroom special, were ridiculous (they'll run that pie for the duration of corn season), as was the charcuterie spread and the dolmades-like spinach rollups stuffed with sweet ricotta, pine nuts, raisins and orange zest. But our favorite dish of the evening was Gonzalez's housemade sausage, grilled crisp, split and served on a bed of crushed tomato and roma beans. Unreal. After Zaveenz - Ranstead Room (2013 Ranstead St.), where we were all complimented on ordering a "sexy round of drinks" by our very well-spoken server. Thank you ... sir. Downed those and it was off to see our dudes at ... ... The Franklin (112 S. 18th St.), where cocktail-stirring mensches Al Sotack and Colin Shearn were kind enough to mix us a quick peek at their brand-new summer list, which debuted yesterday. (Download the new guy in PDF format here.) Between Vieux Carres and Penicillins, we hit up two uber-refreshing new drinks, both served over crushed ice - Sotack's Bruuuceeee-inspired Hearts These Days Are Cheap (left), watermelon- and cilantro-infused blanco tequila with lime, agave and orange liqueur; and Shearn's Bad Brains-shoutout F.V.K. (Fearless Vampire Killers) Swizzle, with gin, more orange liqueur, lemon, mint, Cocchi Americano, absinthe and a crown of Peychaud's bitters. It's stuff like this that'll help us survive these triple-digit scorchers, man ... Current obsession: Wallaby yogurt. It is organic, good for you and it's from Australia. This is by far the healthiest obsession we've ever had the pleasure of wrestling with. G'day, Bob's your uncle. Sunday brunch: Ants Pants (2212 South St.), where we pulled up counter stools and absolutely destroyed a bacon/apple/cheddar scramble with a side of chip fries. Also two more coffees. We have coffee probs. Early-evening dinner on Monday at Zama (128 S. 19th St.), where the tiny bar always stands out as a more appealing dining destination than the tables for some reason. Split pork dumplings and spicy halibut bites done up rock shrimp style (this dish was originally Chilean sea bass), then a sashimi/nigiri sampler. Zama Tanaka serves the freshest fish around. Next time, though, we'll look into how one encourages a little more diversity as far as the chef's-selection spread - we ended up with a ton of (extremely delicious) tuna. Chocolate/malt gelato (left) at Capogiro is what is up! Tweets that mention Notes from the (Long) Weekend: July 6 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com Posted 2010-07-06 18:56:39
Notes from the (Long) Weekend: July 6
Filed Under: Notes from the Weekend
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Drew Lazor. Drew Lazor said: RT @mealticket: Ready to share your eating/drinking NOTES FROM THE (LONG) WEEKEND with us? Bet you got some good stuff... http://bit.ly/bobGTq [...]
The pizza (leftover from Zavino) was still good at 3am! :-P
Weekend: best philly vacation in yrs. Fri: Multiple cases of craft beer from Bella Vista, 4lbs steak. Sat: Red, white & blue potato salad, w parsley, pickles & egg. Sun, Mon & Tues: multiple meats & cheeses from SP Acme, multiple sauces, fresh herbs, crumbled Italian sausage: Lasagna! ps Nice ice cream photos
Sorry, potato salad was Sun, also. Too much happened that day.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Drew Lazor, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: Who made the latest NOTES FROM THE WEEKEND? @Zavino @antspantscafe @zamasushibar & @capogiro20 for starters: http://bit.ly/8YRMJU [...]
Saturday I went to Green Eggs Cafe at 13th & Dickinson. For the first time ever I actually enjoyed waiting (10 minutes, tops) for a table by sitting at the bar cooling off with a large iced coffee. Though my smoked Atlantic salmon omelet was fantastic, I absolutely recommend "The Kitchen Sink" to any first timer visiting. It comes in a skillet and is filled with all sorts of yummy things including eggs, potatoes, sausage, biscuits, gravy, and cheese. I also appreciated a guilt free brunch: Green Eggs supports and is committed to a "green" (GET IT?!), extremely eco friendly ethos, including serving coca cola in glass bottles, biodegradable take-out containers, and every hippie-at-hearts favorite, composting. The rest of my weekend consisted of mad BBQ's (count it!) mostly out of town.
FRI / Hardena, where have you been all my life?Popped in for an $8 plate of pre-AC Expwy sustenance, including beef rendang, chicken coconut curry, a veggie firtter thing and collards with more soul than an album of Keith Sweat songs. And this juicebox of Indonesian tea I'm now kind of addicted to. Kaffir lime and cardamom leaf up in that piece. Later, at the fam's shore digs, mom hooked up clams and macaroni like only mom can. SAT / Started the morning by braising a big hulking piece of Esposito's pork shoulder. Went in the oven at 10:30 with dark beer, bronze fennel, thyme, rosemary and two bottles of dark Turkish lager. Out of the oven 6:30 pm. / Dinner down Stone Harbor way at White Heron Grill neé Blackfish. Detail on lock, but suffice to say, their specialty cocktail was a red apple cosmo. SUN / Grilled! Used that pork to fill mini calzones (inspired by Mike Solo's at Zahav's down the shore bash). Ricotta, herbs, fennel poppy and sesame in there too. Rolled out another pizza dough and grilled according to Felicia D's Meal Ticket how-to. Laid on the onion jam, yellow tomatoes and cheddar thick. Also: crabs and macaroni. Ask your South Philly friends.
Started the weekend on Friday with hot dogs and cheap beer at McLincheys, which on the first night back in a familiar town was the only place the ladyfriend and I could come up with. Moved to Jolly's for a beer before finishing the night at the Franklin (first of two trips this weekend) for a penicillin and something with muddled strawberry and cucumber. Thanks to Drew and Michelle for the Zavino trip, that was an unreal amount of food, all of it amazing. Nothing like double fisting a Polpettini slice and a forkful of lasagna. Big thanks for the super double secret cocktails about to be unleashed, the adult lemonade was perfect for a sweltering evening. My Aviation at Ranstead was right on, and the decor made it especially appropriate subbing gin in for Bols. The Franklin's drinks 'with teeth' is a really great menu, and the European Oils is no joke. The Blues Explosion is a nice finish, with the maple syrup and grapefruit balancing perfectly. Sunday was a wedding, but we finished off the Philly trip with lunch on Monday with a stop at Paollo's on Pine St. for some cheese fries and pizza, then a quick jaunt to the Last Drop for a soy latte to fuel the drive back to Boston.
you forgot Good Karma Cafe & The Flying Monkey Deuce. I was so hoping GKC was air conditioned.. no dice, though if it really does improve my karma I suppose it'll be worth it. I got an iced ginger chai which was satisfying from the heat although next time I want to try the vanilla. At Deuce we both got.. raspberry lemonade? That place is super cute inside, despite its disgusting name, and they're expanding soon for more seats/tables. If I wasn't so full already I would've indulged on all their cupcakes. next time!
Friday- Pizza. Lots of sausage and hot pepper pizza from the Pizza Pub. Saturday- More pizza. This time from Mack's on the Wildwood boardwalk. Followed up by the best ice cream down the shore, Duffer's. Went for a Maple Walnut Sundae the size of a baby's head. This was the kind of ice cream overdose that puts you to sleep. Sunday- Breakfast at Samuel's Pancake House. Carrot Cake pancakes with a side of pork roll. You know the summer is here when you somehow find syrup on your flip flop from breakfast down the shore. Sunday lunch was a fine Mexican delicacy-the Choco Taco- on the Wildwood beach. Didn't get any real food Sunday afternoon because Wawa Hoagiefest + July 4th x Broken Deli Screen=Madness. Back to Philly for the Fireworks from atop a roof in Rittenhouse. Monday- Dollar Dog Day @ Citizens Bank Park and a Roy Halladay Complete Game.
That delicious-looking gelato combo in the last pic is dark chocolate and Thai coconut milk. I'm just saying...
Spent all of last week on Rehoboth Beach, earning my Foursquare local badge watching World Cup at Dogfish Head Brewpub. Watched Spain top Portugal while drinking: Life and Limb, Dogfish Head's maple syrupy collaborative brew with Sierra Nevada (the dark, thick, sweet beer is only available in bottles at the brewpub), and Wrath of Pecant, DFH's carob/plantain/smoked malt/pecan wood collabo with Beer Advocate's Alstrom bros. (a woody, roasty brownish ale). Watched Spain best Paraguay over a pint of the excellent seasonal sour Festina Peche (so light, so tart, so refreshing) and a glass of the brand-new GrainToGlass, aged on the cedar used to make surf boards at Massachusetts' Grain Surfboards (a cloudy, reddish ale with some herbal flavors). At some point in the week also had a vintage (circa 06) World Wide Stout, and a flight that included imperial stout Bitches Brew, the excellent/so-hoppy imperial pilsner My Antonia (originally brewed as a collab with Italy's Birra del Borgo) and the bitey saison Zeno. Did most of our own cooking thanks to a Greensgrow CSA share donated by vacationing friends as well as a package of chive, cheese and bacon pierogi from Polish Goodness. Had sushi and a bottle of Tozai Snow Maiden sake (named after a 226-year-old koi) at The Cultured Pearl. Oh man, long, beer-soaked vacation.
YOOOO last year I went to the dogfish head brewpub, it was one of the highlights of my summer and I'd LOVE to go back. I also had the festina peche for the first time this weekend, but I gotta admit I couldn't hang with it. It was just a bit to tart for my liking. The first one was pretty great, but by the second one my mouth felt like I had chased a bag of sour patch kids with some lemonade. To each their own, I suppose.
What I forgot was Saturday lunch at Le Viet! Definitely best atmosphere of any Vietnamese on Washington Ave, with stone & copper walls, lots of sunlight streaming in and courteous service. Get the Cha Gio Re, like spring rolls but with rice threads as the wrapper, around minced shrimp & pork, and don't miss the Hen Xuc Banh Da, sauteed baby clams served in an edible rice cracker bowl. Clay pot duck was great, too.
I LOVE Festina Peche. They lightened the sour notes this year too.
Although the 4th was uber hot, I still manned the grill. Rocked some pasta salad, cuccumber salad and a friend made Asian Slaw that is to die for. On the grill had your obligatory burgers and dogs along with some bratwursts and two pork tenderloins grilled to perfection with two different marinades. Sweet Baby Ray's never fails.
Please tell me more about this Asian Slaw you speak of...
Sweet Baby Ray's is soooooo good. A wise man once showed me the way by combining equal parts SBR's and Sriracha for chicken nuggets...yummmm
Hah! You know, now that you mention it, it was definitely more sour than I remember, which is likely why I dug it more this year than in the past, and probably why Rachel (above) didn't.
[...] 6/30 Meal Ticket• Meal Ticket Roll Call: Meet your new interns, Rachel Burgos and Anthony Sica• Notes from the (Long) Weekend: July 6• Famous Dave's coming to Chestnut Street• EAT THESE IMMEDIATELY: Summer specials at [...]
thanks bh! here at polish goodness, we aim to please!
[...] - Notes from the (Long) Weekend: July 6 [06jul10] [...]
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