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Archive: August, 2012
Note: Frida Garza is spending the rest of her summer on the trail of Philly’s weirdest foods. First up: BeerCakes
If you think macaroni and cheese doesn’t belongs in your breakfast, think again. Honey’s Sit ’n Eat (800 N. Fourth St.), the home-style cookin’ place nestled in NoLibs, has concocted a new addition to your breakfast table: Mac and Cheese Pancakes. The restaurant is famous for its creative brunch items (we’re talking no-reservations, two-hour-wait-on-a-Saturday-morning famous), but this one seems to take the cake. No pun intended.
When chef Michael Thomas first rolled out the cheesy creation, the combination provoked more fear than salivation. “People thought they would be gross,” he told me, “but then they started eating them.” Any culinary hesitation his customers had disappeared with their first bite. Yes, it’s made with whole elbow noodles and real cheese in the batter, making these lightly browned cakes extra rich and gooey. And topped with powdered sugar and maple syrup, they’re as sweet as they are savory. If you’re up for the challenge, come hungry — and ask for a glass of water with your order. This one’s a serious mouthful.
Elixr Coffee (207 S. 15th St.) has got a big move coming up and they’re celebrating the grand opening of their new, larger space with an event to benefit arts education in Philly.
Back to School Brews, scheduled for Wednesday, August 29th at Elixr’s new digs (1512 Walnut St), will give customers their first look at the new shop while encouraging them to donate to the construction of an art classroom for a charter school in southwest Philly.
In one of the speediest turnarounds we've seen here at Meal Ticket, Christopher Kearse's Will (1911 East Passyunk Ave.) will open this Friday, making good on his promise to whip a vacant Passyunk storefront into shape for his solo debut by summer's end. The clean, gray-and-choolate stage is now set for Kearse's style of precise, driven cooking; opening menu items include poulard with goat's milk gnudi; scallop with uni creme and wild fennel; and Atlantic skate with clams and scapes (see what he did there?). We've got the full menu (with some sick-sounding desserts) after the jump. Need additional convincing? Read Kearse's gripping bio and peep this video of his meticulous plating, both by Drew Lazor.
Christopher Kearse's highly anticipated Will is opening Friday. Menus right this way. »
One of the big perks of holding down the fort at Meal Ticket HQ is that on any given day of the week there will be some sort of edible delivery. Sometimes they're great (think a dozen donuts or a bottle of rye) and sometimes they're gross (if anyone is interested in a freeze dried seasoning mix packets, we've got plenty) but they're always a nice surprise.
Today's special delivery was a curious one: Cotton Candy Grapes. Grape delivery? Who would have thought, right? And what's with the name? Well, honestly they've got a real cotton candy things going on, super sweet with hints of bubble gum. After passing bunches of the little green guys around the office, the Cotton Candies were nominated as the best grapes ever.
This new variety of grapes is going to be available beginning tomorrow at DiBruno Bros., Iovine Brothers in the Reading Terminal, Rittenhouse Market along with a bunch of other fruit and veg stands in town.
Next time you order a pulled-pork sandwich in your suite at Citizens Bank Park, you can feel a little better about it. No, they still haven't figured out a way to make it a low-fat food. But at least the pigs (from which, we're told, pork does tend to be made) will have been produced in a more humane fashion.
Philadelphia-based Aramark, the largest corporate food-services provider in the country, has agreed to stop selling pork produced by way of gestation crates, the factory-farming set-ups that keep pregnant pigs in a cage so small they can't turn around. "They're virtual iron maidens," says Josh Balk, director of corporate policy for the Humane Society of the United States, which helped convince Aramark to adopt the reform. He says breeding pigs are kept in the crates pretty much for life, except for a few weeks off every four months to give birth and wean their young.
If you love Belgian-style sour beers—or if you want to learn to love them—you’ll want to clear your schedule after work on Thursday and make plans to head to Perch Pub (1345 Locust St.), where they’ll be highlighting a couple of very rare pours from Orange County’s The Bruery.
Attendees will get to sample Oude Tart (7.5% ABV), a Flanders red ale aged 18 months that’s a two-time gold medal winner at the World Beer Cup. It might be well worth it to skip dinner and rush over, but those drinking on an empty stomach may want to opt for the 5.6% ABV Tart of Darkness, a small-batch oak-aged stout.
Considering that after Thursday’s event you may never see either beer again unless you visit the brewery’s California tasting room, $10 each all night sounds like an altogether reasonable price. The special happy hour price of $5 (between 6 and 7 p.m.) should really make you feel like you’re getting away with something—you know, aside from ducking out of work early.
Labor Day is just around the corner, but today on Afternoon Snacks we’ve got options to help you make summer count while it’s still around.
Tonight at Lemon Hill (747 N. 25th St), $45 per person gets you a three-course Southern summer feast, with options like biscuits with bacon jam, smoked baby back ribs or chicken, and plenty of classic sides like baked beans and braised collards. Be sure to come thirsty, because for an extra $20 you can supplement your meal with all-you-can-drink brews from Oskar Blues Brewery of Colorado.
For a more outdoorsy experience, hit Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd.), where Top Chef Kevin Sbraga will be hosting tonight’s Guest Chef Happy Hour. From 5 to 7 p.m., you’ll enjoy drink specials and a Brazilian barbecue menu featuring cachaca-marinated skirt steak.
Barbecues, picnics, and other summery favorites after the jump! »
Lots of warm weather beer happenings up at Resurrection Ale House (2425 Grays Ferry Ave.) Tomorrow night they'll be hosting a Smutty Nose night with a seven tap takeover including Big A IPA, Homunculus, Old Brown Dog Ale, Shoals Pale Ale, Pumpkin Ale, Rye IPA, and Short Batch (Brett and I), a sour Belgian-style ale. Reps from Smutty Nose will be on hand from 6 to 9 p.m. to answer all beer-related queries.
Being the generous employers that they are, the good folks at Resurrection give their employees a day off at the end of August. But the staff aren't the only ones who benefit. On the night before the staff party, Sunday, August 26, Resurrection is hosting a Kick the Keg Party, where the goal is to, you guessed it, kick all of the kegs. Fun starts at 9 p.m.
Victory is going to be taking over the taps for Labor Day brunch. Expect the usual suspects plus a few lesser known brews like Ranch Double IPA, Braumeister Pils, and a cask of Uncle Teddy's Bitter. Brunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. but the Victory will be pouring to the bitter end.
Bon Appetit's 10 Best New Restaurants in America issue hits newsstands today. To accompany the the issue Jonathan L. Fischer has put together a Spotify playlist, with some pretty sweet tracks corresponding to each of the features. On the local tip we've got Marc Vetri slow and low roasting a pork shoulder to DJ Screw's We Got the Hook Up, a feature on modern delis is accompanied by a pretty amazing Dick Dale cover of Hava Nagila, Wild Flag's Romance is the soundtrack to a roundup of international spots in Portland (obviously), and Fugazi's Cashout is the DIY anthem for LA's Josef Centeno of Baco Market. Pick up an issue and get the playlist here.
Looks like the corner of 15th and Sansome is getting ready to welcome yet another chain restaurant. Come spring 2012, Ocean Prime will be replacing high end Hawaiian chain Roy's. As one might discern from the name, Ocean Prime specializes in seafood and steak, with a menu that reads like a fancied up version of Capital Grille. Steaks will be served a la carte, steakhouse style and seafood plates are composed. With seating for 260 in the dining room and 60 in the lounge, this outpost of Ocean Prime is a sure to be a fast favorite with the expense account crowd.
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