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span class="tailnote">FD: Felicia D'Ambrosio MD: Marie DiFeliciantonio DL: Drew Lazor
Friday, tasted a bunch of hothothot hot sauces (more on that later) before dropping by Percy Street Barbecue (900 South St.) for double-downs (two meats, two sides, $17) and a few Caldera IPAs off the new canned beer list. (Have you had Erin O'Shea's new jalapeno/cheddar cornbread yet? Ridiculous.) Also learned that Four Roses bourbon distiller Al Young will be in the house tomorrow, March 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. Four Roses flights for $9 and mint juleps for $6. —DL Saturday, continued on a smoked-meat quest with chef Gene Giuffi's insanely good pork ribs at Cochon (801 E. Passyunk Ave.). Served with crispy tempura-battered onion rings, Giuffi's ribs are house-smoked then cooked sous-vide at 138.6 degrees Fahrenheit for a full day. We benefit from G's patience, as the technique results in a perfect gnaw-off-bone texture and a smoky clarity that's hard to come by in this town. Eat 'em. —DL Parading from the Crane Arts Building to the Piazza waving plywood weapons and wearing epic amounts of fur alongside Dennis McNett's print-covered Viking Ship on Friday sure worked up a thirst in our crew. It could've been the apprehension that cops would lump Wolfbat Studio's antics in with flash mobs, or perhaps the detonation of 20,000 Chinese firecrackers on the Piazza's spotless pavers that made us hungry, but once the vessel had been torn down, we decamped to the 700 Club (700 N. Second St.) for cocktails before mowing down 10 plates at Bar Ferdinand (1030 N. Second St.). —FD Friday night, we attended Wine 201: The Next Step at the Wine School of Philadelphia (2006 Fairmount Ave.). We learned a few things about labeling, serving temps and glassware. Our instructor warned us about the terms "vinted by" (this has no real significance, and likely means the wine came from a large corp that outsources its graces) and "reserve" (it doesn't hold much merit in the U.S., but it'll run you a few more bucks), and bottles dressed with folklore-ish backstories in an effort to distract you from what's inside. —MD Saturday morning began with coffee and a Miel ham-and-cheese croissant at Benna's (1236 S. Eighth St.) before hitting the Italian Market for a surgical-strike grocery trip (i.e. strategize ahead of time, get in, get out.). After picking up some specialty items (silken tofu, vegan cheese) at Whole Foods, we spent the day perfecting vegan marinara, vegan pesto and vegan Caesar salad dressing. All in all, the vegans were pleased with our dinner-party effort, declaring that they would "pay money" for the resultant pizza. —FD Over some Old Fashioneds and neat Booker's pours at Supper (928 South St.), learned about chef/owner Mitch Prensky's sweet escape: Right now he's in Portland, Oregon, doing a Plate Magazine-sponsored cooking presentation for 50 chefs. What's he demo-ing? His housemade hot dogs. Cross-country all-expenses-paid trip to prep wieners? Whatta life. —DL At the Royal Tavern (937 E. Passyunk Ave.) Saturday night, witnessed a bizarre and generally awesome interaction: Our boy, Royal regular Jesse (@jessecornell on Twitter), was a bit salty about getting "ousted" from the bar's Foursquare mayorship by Helene, aka @phillybeergirl. Helene came over to our table to say hello IRL, and though she could've been totally TD celebration dance about it, was very sweet and altogether cordial. Jesse is currently plotting his revenge. (Still don't understand the appeal of Foursquare.) —DL Traditionally, to cure an Atlantic City hangover, my friends and I stop at the McDonald's by the Expressway entrance before we head home. Most visits are the same (large #3 with a Diet Coke), but this time we noticed something new: a posted sign that read, "No loitering. 30-minute time limit." Get your fast-food and feast fast, peoples. —MD - Sunday, lunch/brunch at the never-not-amazing Cafe Lutecia (2301 Lombard St.). Americanos, Lutecia sandwich with ham and a bowl of lentil puree with saffron and Thai coconut milk made us forget the gross drizzle outside. —DL - 1st Degree Burn Blazin' Jalapeno Doritos are pretty spicy by Doritos standards. Now we gotta try 2nd and 3rd Degree Burn just cuz. —DL
