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Notes from the Weekend: January 17
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.)
Notes from the Weekend: January 17
Filed Under: Notes from the Weekend
Adam Erace: AE Erin Finnerty: EF Drew Lazor: DL Adrian Pelliccia: AP Laurel Rose Purdy: LRP
Took mi madre to Nan Zhou (927 Race St.) for lunch on Friday, where we slurped beef tripe soups, crunched a bunch of oyster sauce-drizzled U Toy and smiled politely as the Chinese folks next to us stretched their forearms over our food repeatedly to grab the chili oil and sriracha. You gotta do you, Chinese folks! Reach away. âDL I met Meal Ticket's own DL for the first time at Khyber Pass Pub (56 S. Second St.) for happy hour on Friday. From their many veg-friendly options, I selected the faux fried chicken po' boy (the pickles are KEY here) with a side of dryish mac 'n' cheese. To counter an otherwise heavy meal, I went with a lighter beverage offering, the sweet-yet-dry Original Sin Pear Cider. The remaining half of my sandwich nuked nicely and made a tasty Saturday morning treat. âEF After seeing now-former CP bossman Brian Howard off at the Khyber, I stopped into the ever-reliable Sidecar (2201 Christian St.) on the earlier side of Friday for a bite â they've got some new items on the menu, including a damn good fish and chips with a really sick smoked tartar sauce. Dip it. âDL |
| Photo | Laurel Rose Purdy |
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| Photo | Drew Lazor |
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| Photo | Adam Erace |
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| Photo | Drew Lazor |
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| Photo | Adam Erace |
Sunday my sister and brother in law came to town and I took them for brunch at my favorit spot in the city, Cafe con Chocolate. My brother in law ordered th red curry with pork and OMG! That was some good stuff. It's my new favorite dish.
This weekend was marked by several generous waiters. First, headed to Garces Trading Company for dinner on Thursday night. I stuck with veggie options, the ensalata semplice and the roasted eggplant. My friend was *almost* brave enough to order the special pizza with lardo, but backed out; our waiter subsequently surprised us with a few amazing, melt-in-your-mouth pieces. Even if she wasn't convinced, I will be definitely be opting for the lardo next time. A-mazing. Sunday was brunch at Zahav, for restaurant week. Started with the hummus and salad platters, followed by the potato latke with liver (which I had never tried before but ordered in the name of adventure), then the butter roasted pumpkin and barley. It was obvious I wasn't such a fan of the liver, and my waiter insisted on bringing me another of the MANY options for the second course on the restaurant week menu. I went for the fried cauliflower, which totally redeemed the aforementioned organ meat flop. Great meal, topped off with poached pineapple, sorbet, and a pistachio shortbread.
omg, the sweet dee chocolate cake from catahoula... it's up there with the red velvet cake from golosa! a dense chocolate cake, with the teensiest dusting of powdered sugar, served with amazing vanilla ice cream. so simple yet so awesome.
Arrived late Friday night and was in the mood for Mexican so the lady and I headed to El Rey for nachos and carnitas tacos. The nachos are very reminiscent of the one's served at El Vez, every single chip covered with ooey gooey cheese, chorizo and sour cream. Brunch on Saturday at adsum to celebrate the birthday of Foodspotting. Started with the Figure study, a mimosa made with fig sorbet - super tasty. I had the chicken and waffles with jalapeno maple, those fried chicken pieces were HUGE. Super crispy, juicy on the side, perfect. She had the biscuits and gravy which was awesome, other dishes included the fondue burger, mascarpone stuffed french toast, shrimp and grits with andouille. Also ordered the Lady Grey, a spicy drink frothed up with some egg white. Dinner on Saturday at Dandelion - sprang for the oysters which were huge and perfect with shallot vinaigrette. Deviled eggs were full of curry, she had the pork belly which was served in cube form, but super tender, saucy and delicious with lentils and mustard mashed. I had the rabbit pot pie which was just right, creamy but not too heavy white wine sauce, cipolini, mushrooms, yummy bunny. Dessert was the ginger Guinness cake topped with pear compote and Guinness ice cream. Tasted like a ginger snap, was warm, and inviting but nothing to write home about. Standout Pimm's Cup - served in a martini glass, not a cup, but the muddled cucumber was the perfect touch. Went to McDonald's on Walnut to look into this 50 piece McNugget meal but was turned off by the bum fight that broke out behind us. Chairs being thrown and such. In desperate need of food made a weird decision and ate a cheesesteak from Tony Jr.'s on 18th - wiz and provolone wit'. First time there, and hate to admit this but it was pretty tasty.
Friday KHYBER, Bye BH! Followed by a homemade soup night featuring smittenkitchen.com's variation of a chard/whitebean stew. Saturday JG DOMESTIC for the Chefs Tasting! I've never felt more like a baller than I did on Saturday. Our group of 8 was seated in a private dining room, and our server/dinner director, I believe his name was Nathan, did a wonderful job making us feel right at home. Key things from the Chef's tasting: Market Crudite, with purple cauliflower. Squab and foie grois, kabocha squash with black kale, the lamb loin. Can also never go wrong with the house charcuterie, cheese, and the Keswick creamery fondue. (Check out CP's review here) Definitely worth the money spent for probably the finest dining experience I've ever had in my life. For real. Sunday was brunch and a photoshoot with Moda Botanica florist, friend and chickennoisseur, Bailey Hale. He and roommates whipped up some challah french toast with slivered almonds, bacon, tots and bloody mary's to go ape shit over. My new years resolution is to incorporate more bloody mary's and tater tots into my daily diet.
So sorry about the Ravens, Drew. I had to hold the boyfriend down to prevent beer tossing at the television. And here we thought Omar Epps' mishandling of his challenges was an omen of goodness. Friday I was treated to a lovely dinner at Estia. We started with the Greek salad and Estia chips (thinly sliced fried zucchini with tzatziki sauce) all which were amazing, but couldn't hold a candle to the octopus. Marinated with red wine vinegar, grilled, served with capers and thin red onion-it was the most tender cephalopod I ever had the pleasure of devouring. For dinner I had the white snapper with crispy leeks and creamy lentils, and he had black bass baked in a salt crust. Unbelievable food, just the freshest fish I've had in a long time. Saturday was bum around/cry over football day, so we drank a lot of vodka cranberries and ate half a Lennies' Homerun Special. Sunday was my dad's birthday, so my step-mother hired a rather strict man from Sandcastle Vineyards to give us a tasting of 13 wines. He did not appreciate my brother and I's cackling over his declarations to "warm it up on your tongue" and "spit or swallow, it's up to you." That's verbatim. I really loved the cuvee, pinot noir, and the rose, but their dry Riesling was meh. We had a sushi platter from Wegman's, a shit-ton of cheeses, fruit salad, spinach and chicken salad with a marjoram vinaigrette...step-mom went all out with the food pairings. It was even more fun because my sister just found out she's pregnant, so I got to drink her share of the booze.
A buddy of mine copped the 50-piece McNugget recently...as I understand it it costs like $10. WTF!
Oh, I saw recently that the 10 piece is now $2, right? I hate myself for wanting to gorge there, but McNuggets taste like childhood.
I remember Nathan from Felicia's JG Domestic Yelp event - he is AMAZING!
I think someone needs to start a tumblr of rabbit dishes and call it "Yummy Bunny."
Thanks for the kind words Julie. The bartender @ P&K last night saw the Ravens background on my BlackBerry and did a "single tear" pantomime to me. I appreciated it because I actually shed like 235890236 tears so the suggestion that I shed just one tear was very generous
In a bit of selfish gift giving, rather than handing my parents a g.c. with a card saying "ENJOY", we took my parents to Adsum for dinner on Friday night. I had to get in on the action, specifically the super poutine, fluke with snails and PB & J dessert. While we waited at the bar, we had some drinks (A View of Vieux Carre, brewskies) and flatbread with chickpea and shortribs. I predicted my mother would go straight for that dish but what I did not see coming was that she would order a second helping when were seated. Stuffs THAT good at Adsum. Saturday I ate next to nothing to reset Friday night's scales. Made some light dips for the football game including a guacamole using only one avocado and an entire bag of frozen peas. So, I'm just gonna call it smashed peas with cumin and cilantro. It was fine. It was no guacamole. Also, is Ed Hardy wine a sponsor for The Jersey Shore? (My friend thought it was funny and brought over a bottle. It made me wanna GTL.) It got me thinking that if not, and if you're listening E.Hardsters, you should get in on that advert action. Anthony Bourdain is entertaining. I started reading his book Medium Raw. A section about his martial arts-trained wife who is severely, and potentially physically, over-protective at book signings made me smile. I thought back on a time a friend and I went to his book signing in AC. Friend was all prepared with her gals smashed together in a tight number while toting Bourdain's infamous photo holding a leg of lamb in front of his junk. His wife was hawking nearby and he barely looked up. Friend was put out but I'm really glad we left unscathed.
Impromptu Taco Party on Saturday night...Slow roasted a bone-in Pork butt (skin on!) with my take on a Cuban Style marinade (limes/oranges/onion/fresh bayleaves ridic amount garlic) which came out perfect moist w/ crunchy skin + Shrimp with even more garlic, fire roasted anahiem chilies, spicy pickled red flame carrots & jalepeno, shredded cabbage w/ smoked maldon salt & lime juice, crema, radishes, warm corn tortillas...also made a Coconut Cake with Meyer lemon thai chili glaze...the highlight though was the Blood Orange/Pink grapefruit Snow-ritas...necessity being the mother of invention, having forgotten to make enough ice we stepped out on the porch and scooped up some (clean) snow. Have been thinking of many adult snow-cone combos ever since. Sunday am...fab brekkie thx to AE & Green Aisle.. it was almost heart breaking to crack those gorgeous eggs..but the BRIGHT yellow yolks made lovely scrambled egg w/ roasted peppers & manchego with slices of ricks 14 grain..how did I survive So Philly w/ out you???
You should see the actual crib, Adam! You're invited to the next fwiends dinner. Pot luck style.
Friday was a bye-BH happy hour at the Khyber that involved one too many Stoudt's Old Abominables and some killer chili that was only slightly less delicious than the pork belly version on their specials menu last week. Saturday scrounged for food in the house till dinnertime at Han Dynasty: got cucumbers in chili oil, cold rabbit/peanut app, dry pot lamb. Bliss. Seriously. Sunday had a Pho fail -- navigating the Nam Phuong parking lot on a Sunday at noon is a really stupid idea -- and ended up Pho-ing it up instead at Columbus & Washington's Pho Saigon. Absurdly long line for a strip mall, but the wait was only 10 minutes somehow, and the pho was scrumptious as usual. Drinks later on at the P.O.P.E. including one full glass of water spilled on my lap. Also I learned that if you order a Bloody Mary at 5 pm on a Sunday you will get a half-stink-eye which is probably deserved. Apparently Drew and I are food twins this weekend except for Rocco's.
Drew, Nan Zhou is, BOTTOM LINE, where it's at.
I didn't know you were living without gluten Laurel, I have a pretty incredible flourless chocolate/walnut cookie recipe. Will keep this in mind as a future pot luck dessert.
Damn, I wanna eat at LRP's crib!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Drew Lazor, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: New NOTES FROM THE WEEKEND is live! Say hi to @adamerace @laurelro @erinfinnerty & @urdrian & share notes in comments: http://ow.ly/3FoXz [...]
Considering how much I love Veracruzano, it's a crime I've never been there for breakfast. Had poblano eggs with a heaping side of refried beans, which was exactly what I needed after a Friday that began a little too early at Oscar's (shout out to waitress extraoridinaire Dee. A wonderful lady and a classy broad). It made up for the fact that the meal was followed by the Green Hornet, which blew. Ended the night with some Mexican-style pizza (chorizo, a shitload of cheese) at Sidecar, which was paired perfectly with a few too many whiskeys (also, Beardy Waiter, thanks for letting us hold that table for so long). Sunday began with my new breakfast-post-noon obsession: the La Va panini from the titular coffeeshop (mmm...tuna + plus olive oil + plus whatever else they put on that to make it so good). As good as all those things were, it could not compare to South Philly Tap Room on Sunday night. I had been there loads of times to drink but never thought to save room for grub. Thank Our Lady of Decadent Eating that I did. Began with Russian River Brewing Co.'s Damnation (light enough for my ensuing heavy meal, but packed a wollop), then shared the fried chicken with that mind-blowing corn bread, the mac 'n' cheese (which can only be described as magical) and the tomato lager soup complete with two grilled cheese sandwiches. Topped it all off with the fried PB&J (there are no adjectives for how strongly I felt about it). Tip o' the hat, SPTR.
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