 |
Notes from the Weekend is a new Monday-morning 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!
FD: Felicia D'Ambrosio
MD: Marie DiFeliciantonio
AH: Alexandra Harcharek
DL: Drew Lazor
On Friday, after a coupla Yards IPAs at P.Y.T. (The Piazza at Schmidts, 1050 N. Hancock St.), preceded by a coupla IPAs at Old City's Triumph (whatevs, tourney time excuse!), kinda passed out at our desk for like 35 minutes. Woke up with weird mark on face and terrifying craving for sour candy. Hit up the new Philly Sweettooth (630 S. Fourth St.) and loaded up on sour Cherry coke botles and and Crybaby Tears. Owner Scott Lean knows how to work a crowd, and made a mom giggle by telling her her son looked like lil' Doughboy from Boyz n the Hood. —DL
Friday night we dropped by Cadence at the Kimmel Center (300 S. Broad St.) before the 8 p.m. show featuring Danilo Perez. Our foursome enjoyed drinks, snacks and insane views, and we learned something, too: You can save a few bucks on the check by showing your concert tickets. —MD
After the show we headed to Mémé (2201 Spruce St.). Had my heart set on the roast chicken for two, as DL told me it was not your ordinary chicken. Unfortunately, we were too late — they were out for the evening. Instead, I ate oysters, sizzling mussels in a small iron skillet, agnolotti wrapped so thin you could see its Swiss chard innards and duck breast with a layer of caramelized fat the color of a sunset. Chef/owner David Katz popped by our table to talk about cooking whole goats, late-night dining and the ridiculous schedule chefs follow. (Happy belated birthday to his now 3-year-old son.) —MD
Saturday daytime, checked out the new brunch menu at Distrito (3945 Chestnut St.). Felicia D, who visited separately, really liked the jicama salad, but we were most fond of the fried-egg chilaquiles, featuring a zippy green chile sauce that was scrape-the-crock good. —DL
Passyunk Avenue came alive in a vernal frenzy on Saturday, and the weather seemed just right for tacos and tequila. Tacos al pastor at El Zarape (1648 E. Passyunk Ave.) preceded a pace down the length of the Avenue to Xochitl (408 S. Second St.) to try a few of GM Sergio Ruiz's new cocktails. His Chespirito even blended our favorite 500-year-old spirit of the moment, Chartreuse, with poblano-infused tequila and St. Germain. —FD
Joined 500 of the e-foodie elite at Yelp's Philly Homegrown Party. Gussied-up guests wandered the floors of CITYSPACE, where dudes got straight-razor shaves, Supper served up not-quite-kosher crab cake latkes ("You should see the bacon version," they said), and National Mechanics gave us shots of jalapeño tequila to wash down Frito chili. Also bumped into chef Eric Paraskevas of terra, who mentioned a possible vodka-themed dinner in the works for late spring, stemming from the success of the restaurant's rum and bourbon dinners. Somehow, this variant seems a bit more dangerous. —AHAfter scarfing down the always-excellent Reuben at the Sidecar (2201 Christian St.), traipsed down to the P.O.P.E. (1501 E. Passyunk Ave.) on Saturday night for Maker's on the rocks and nachos that counterracted the inherent effects of Maker's on the rocks quite nicely. Biked home, slowly. Used hand signals. —DL
My dining companion called it a "fancy grilled cheese." I called it "goddamn orgasmic." Either way, Tria's (123 S. 18th St.) panino stuffed with banana, mascarpone and goat's milk caramel was luscious. —AH
Shaking our heads at the estimated 2-hour wait for an outdoor table at the Swift Half (The Piazza at Schmidts, 1001 N. Second St.) we settled indoors for a Sunday lunch of veggie pizza, pounded chicken sandwiches and a fried-egg-topped B.E.L.T. Three-dollar drafts kept the crowds drifting in. —FD
Sunday afternoon meant it was time for the Real Ale Invitational at Yards Brewing (901 N. Delaware Ave.). The lineup of cask-conditioned beers was ridiculous; our faves included RCH Brewery's Pitchfork Bitter, reco'd by Collin Flatt, and Berwick Brewing Co.'s Molly's Best Brown Ale, reco'd by our boy Rick that we hadn't seen in a minute. Also snagged some gorgeous cheeses on the cheap from Birchrun Hills Farm, who'd set up a stand. Event photos here. —DL
Headed north to New Brunswick's Makeda (338 George St.) for my first taste of Ethiopian cuisine. We enjoyed sopping up braised lamb and fragrant sauces with spongy injera, small bites of Moroccan meatballs and a sweet honey wine called tej. The generous waitress (in between speaking rapid-fire French with my mom) didn't laugh when I mangled the pronunciation of "D'jaj Bi Balsa," a marinated chicken dish with a surprising onion cinnamon spice. —AH
Late Sunday night: Washed down a flank-steak taco special at Resurrection Ale House (2425 Grays Ferry Ave.) with one of all all-time favorite IPAs, the Big Eye from San Diego's Ballast Point. —DL
Usually when I eat salmon at home, I use my Le Creuset grill pan and call it dinner in 10 minutes. On Sunday I wanted a change: I cut the fillets down into chunks, and seasoned flour with salt, black pepper, curry, cumin and cayenne, before dusting the salmon and sautéed it in oil. Served the crispy fish bites over a salad of couscous/green pepper/tomato/cilantro tossed in lime juice, white wine vinegar and honey. Good stuff. —MD
