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Archive: February, 2012
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.
Twisting tongues for a couple months now is Wise Fries Burgers & Pies, a little luncheonette in the old Adriana’s on the corner of Second and Watkins. As you might imagine, the specialties are burgers, pizza and fries. They're cooking up a dozen varieties of the latter — sweet potato and poutine-like disco; "king," topped with parmesan, chives and truffle oil; and "carnival" (pictured), little fingers of funnel cake with vivid raspberry sauce and a flavor reminiscent of French toast sticks. Sick! That's not all this takeout shop does, though; the menu is huge, and we also dig the arancino (crisp outside, molten and mozz-y inside) and "The Don," a bufala-and-prosciutto grilled cheese on thick planks of buttery Texas toast. Get some.
Photo: Adam Erace
- We're excited to welcome back former CP restaurant critic David "PhilaFoodie" Snyder, who will be filling in for Adam Erace on an occasional basis. For his first guest piece, he takes on the all-American food/drink approach at East Passyunk Avenue's Stateside.
- Adam Erace discovers beautiful food cranked out by two Italiana sisters at Pennsport's Venice Café.
- In What's Cooking: The first-ever Bierfest at the German Society, instructions for Roundeye Noodle pop-up No. 2 and more.
Photo: Neal Santos
State stores will soon stock a rye-based counterpart to Philly Distilling's XXX Shine — Bristol-based Mountain Laurel Spirits has released Dad's Hat Pennsylvania White Rye. Currently an SLO item in the PLCB system, the unaged, 100-proof white whiskey is the first foray into the market for partners John Cooper and Herman Mihalick, longtime friends who met as UPenn undergrads and founded the distillery in 2009.
Working off a 500-gallon still, they're using raw grain sourced from Bucks and Lancaster counties as a nod to Pennsylvania's distinction as the birthplace of rye whiskey. Though they're also aging their distillate in quarter casks for seven to eight months for a pending brown-booze release, the white is available right now. Flavor-wise, Dad's Hat is a bit more measured of a spirit than its spicier counterparts. "We're not trying to 'out-rye' other people," says Cooper, likening distiller oneupsmanship to craft beer producers piling on hops to top the competition. "What we're looking for is up-front spice with a full and round mouthfeel. It's a very smooth whiskey."
Dad's Hat White will eventually make its way into a limited number of state stores, and the distillers are aiming to have their 90-proof aged rye on shelves in time for Father's Day.
Word from on high is that Rex 1516 (1516 South St.), the restaurant from Jet Wine Bar owners Jill Weber and Evan Malone, will open next Thursday, March 1. The 35-seater, designed to mimic the feel of a "faded mansion" (distressed wood, antique mirror pieces, wrought iron chandeliers), will feature a Southern-inflected menu from chef Regis Jansen, an Alabama native. Signatures of his will include crawfish pot pie, seitan meatloaf, stuffed pork loin and the house burger (pictured), a filet tip/brisket/pork belly blend served with gorgonzola and onion marmalade on a scratch-baked brioche roll. Pastry chef Shamus Moriarty will put out unconventional sweet plates like "Pretzels & Beer," a dark chocolate torte crusted with preztels and served with IPA caramel and stout/chocolate sauce. Heather Rodkey, who last ran Adsum, will handle GM duties here and has built the beverage program. Rex will serve lunch and dinner daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 to 11 p.m. respectively.
Photo: Courtesy of Rex 1516
Don't worry, the Churchill and Parliament burgers haven't gone anywhere, but they've got some new neighbors on chef Jonathan Adams' freshly pressed menu at Pub & Kitchen (1946 Lombard St.). From kale salad with cherries, pear and walnut vin to parchment-baked cod with soft polenta, check it out in its entirely after the jump (click to enlarge), though it's probably hard to go wrong with Adams' two new favorites, the blackened young octopus and the sautéed foie gras."The garnish on the [foie] is a lot of fun," he says. "Cakey-style housemade gingerbread, pickled red currants, raw gooseberries, white wine-poached kumquats and a white wine syrup. The flavors and colors wore well together for the cold time of year."
Homebrewer turned craft-beer professional Tim Patton, who incorporated his Saint Benjamin Brewing Company in 2010, has locked in a physical location for his nascent nanobrewery. This past Friday, he closed on an industrial-zoned property at 1710 N. Fifth Street (intersection of Cecil B. Moore) that he hopes to have up and running by this summer. (By Philly Weer Week ideally, but more likely in the July/August window.) Most recently a warehouse, the building used to be a sewing machine factory; before the 1920s, it was a carriage house for a beer company. Bringing the address back to its pre-war roots, Patton aims to start out by brewing three to three and a half barrels, or about seven kegs' worth, at a time.
The list of semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation's annual awards has been released and, once again, Philly is alllll up in it. Some of the city's most talked-about chefs and restaurants have earned nods this year. There are also a few repeats of last year's semifinalist noms.
Tashan (777 S. Broad St.), a name constantly on Team Meal Ticket's lips, is up for Best New Restaurant, along with Washington Square's The Farm and Fisherman (1120 Pine St.). Unsurprisingly, The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. (112 S. 18th St.) is included in the new Outstanding Bar Program category. As for a few of this year's repeat noms, we've got Vetri (1312 Spruce St.) on the docket for several categories, Lee Styer of Fond (1617 E. Passyunk Ave.) up for Rising Star Chef of the Year and Bibou's Pierre Calmels (1009 S. Eighth St.) earning a nod for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic, a category in which Philadelphia is very well-represented.
Check out the full list of deserving semifinal nominees after the jump. Finalists will be announced March 19, and the awards ceremony is scheduled for May 7 in NYC.
Holly Ricciardi, a newcomer to the local baking scene, will open Magpie Artisan Pie Bakery & Boutique at 1622 South Street this summer. Ricciardi, who holds a culinary degree from at The Art Institute of Philadelphia, previously opened 20nine, a brand development agency, with her husband in 2002, and has decided to take on this different, more yeasty endeavor.
The smoke is still clearing on what exactly happened last weekend at Little Bar, Eighth and Fitzwater’s beardo live venue and drinkery, but somewhere between Saturday night and Sunday morning, PVP, the crew behind Little Bar’s live bookings, quit, and Michael D'Addesi closed the bar for good. While PVP is currently moving its shows to Teri's (where it will book permanently) and JR's, D'Adessi contacted me to say that he's getting out of the bar biz to attend law school in North Carolina, that all pending shows are cancelled and that "the new tenants are going in the neighborhood bar/restaurant direction, so no more music venue." He will be the landlord of the new restaurant/bar through a local agent. He wouldn’t say who it was or where it was the new tenants were from. Stay tuned.
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