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Archive: November, 2012
Things are getting nice and cozy for the cool weather over at Vernick (2031 Walnut St.) Chef Greg Vernick's wood-fired oven is warming up the dining room as well as charring up Brussels spouts with green apple and smoked chile. Other fall-centric menu additions include pumpkin and brown butter toast, braised veal osso bucco with preserved lemon, diver scallop crudo served with a cranberry vinaigrette (with optional caviar if you're feeling flush) and pecan pie with coffee gelato for dessert. The cocktail program is changing with the season as well with the addition of an herbaceous house-made vermouth, all-spice spiked sangria and make your own Manhattans.
Consummate Philadelphia food dude Rick Nichols is talking Philadelphia candy history tomorrow as part of the First Person Arts festival. He'll be recounting everything from Old City colonial cocoa mills to Northeast-made Whitman's Samplers and Peanut Chews. Nichols will be joined with a cast of local candy-makers including Ryan Berley of Shane Confectionary and Tegan Hagy of LoveBar.
The talk is happening from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Christ Church (20 N. American St.) and tickets are going for $25. And as is the case with any decent candy lecture all guests will be sent home with a goody bag filled with locally made chocolates and confections. Get your tickets right here.
Marcie Turney just unveiled her menu for next week's Colorado beer dinner at Barbuzzo (110 S. 13th St.) and—no huge surprise here—it looks great. We're big fans of Left Hand Brewing Company, and while we're less familiar with Avery Brewing, we've heard lots of praise for their brews.
The menu features four beers, which will be poured alongside the dishes but also utilized in brining, braising, and dressing the five-course offering, lending a boost to the earthy fall flavors found throughout. Among the dishes you can look forward to are hearty plates featuring IPA-braised veal cheeks paired with lamb sausage, roast poussin with sides of squash and Irish oats, plus a fall salad that's got us seriously salivating: smoked trout with arugula, our crush-of-the-moment sunchokes, roasted grapes, Marcona almonds, and a jam made with Left Hand ale.
The 5-course dinner is $55 inclusive of pairings and will only be available next Wednesday, Nov. 14. We're thinking locking down a reservation now might be wise.
Head on out to Glen Mills tomorrow for a chance to chat with Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, the ladies behind the Canal House series of cookbooks. They're going to be at Terrain (914 Baltimore Pike) signing copies of their newly published cookbook, Canal House Cooks Every Day and mixing up holiday cocktails and snacks. The event is part of Terrain's Holiday open house which promises festive treats, warm greetings, fresh greens and decoration inspiration.
This week Phyllis Stein-Novack kept it close to home, checking in at Nam Phuong (1100 Washington Ave.) at 11th and Washington. Generous portions, a predilection for Vietnamese and a Cheesecake Factory-calibre menu brought her into this South Philly stand-by and she's totally into this family friendly strip mall spot.
While sipping bargain-basement martinis ($5.50) PSN and husband Edward enjoyed summer rolls and a generous appetizer platter.
An entree of roll-your own rice paper wraps was a big hit with PSN who amped up the "Asian blintzes" with "splendid" peanut sauce and hot sauces from the condiment caddy.
No mushy fish plus spot on service afforded Nam Phuong a stellar three tips of the toque from our favorite South Philly Review restaurant critic.
Hot dogs, food politics, and beer sampling x2, on today's Afternoon Snacks!
We just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of the November special "Pilgrim Harvest" dog (above) at the Hot Diggity (630 South St.), a dog topped with roasted veggies, apple-Brussels sprout slaw, orange-cranberry mostarda, and fried onions, all on a sage butter-toasted bun. They've also got a new pumpkin soup on special, which should pair perfectly. And because one can never have too many seasonal hot dogs in their life, don't forget about competitor Underdogs' (132 S. 17th St. and 1205 S. 9th St.) Tryp dog, which tops a smoked turkey sausage with cranberry sauce, gravy, and stuffing.
Marion Nestle and lots of free beer: all tonight, all after the jump! »
Hey, Stout Day is an official holiday, depending on your definition of "official." More importantly, you never have to twist our arms here at MT to down a pint of anything pitch-black. So here, thanks in large part to Philly Tap Finder (which, we think it's safe to say, is one of the most straight-up useful websites around), is a list of a few of our picks for celebratory pints:
Allagash Bourbon Black - That's the Portland, ME's brewery excellent Black, aged for 10 months in bourbon barrels. They're pouring it at St. Stephen's Green (1701 Green St.) in Fairmount. Of course, you can sample the non-aged version for free at Newbold Brew tonight alongside a handful of other Allagash brews.
Bell's Special Double Cream Stout - Bell's makes a number of very good stouts (including one we've not tried, a cherry stout that's pouring at Varga), but we've got a soft spot in our hearts for the Double Cream. You can try it at Kraftwork (541E. Girard Ave.).
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - MT's got strong ties to Brooklyn, so it's no surprise that something from Brooklyn Brewery would have to make the list; this particular stout weighs in at a not-insignificant 10.7% ABV. Sip some at a reasonable pace at either Hawthorne's (738 S. 11th St.) or Varga (941 Spruce St.).
DuClaw Macchiato Milk Stout - We haven't even tried this milk stout from Maryland yet, but it sounds so good we think tonight's all-DuClaw event at Perch (1345 Locust St) might be a must-visit.
Left Hand Milk Stout - A personal go-to, which you can try at The Butcher and the Brewer (216 S. 11th St.).
Pretty Things Babayaga - A really complex and intriguing stout that counts rosemary among its flavors. It's on tap at a handful of Philly spots right now, including Alla Spina (1410 Mt. Vernon St.) and for a one-night Pretty Things event tonight at Barcade (1114 Frankford Ave.).
Triumph Imperial Pumpkin Stout - If you're not pumpkined out yet, give this warm spiced stout a shot at Triumph (117 Chestnut St.).
No joke: we left a ton of incredible beers off of this list for brevity's sake. Our point is, tonight's a great night to cozy up with some comforting, toasty dark beers, regardless of your choice.
So, asyou've probably noticed, foodie festivals with lots of food and drink samples tend to come with fairly hefty price tags. Of course, they're usually charity events and you never know when you might see something like Scott Schroeder in a buttondown, so we always endorse coughing up the cash if you can—but for a fun night of sampling at a more manageable cost, the Fairmount Fling on Nov. 15 is a great bet.
Just $40 gets you in from 7 to 10 p.m.to enjoy samples from tons of great Fairmount spots, like Lemon Hill, La Calaca Feliz, Bridgid's, Rembrandt's, Kie & Key, Zorba's, and many more. And of course, there's plenty of beer and wine included in the price. All the proceeds go to community projects in the Fairmount neighborhood, like playgrounds, parks, and local arts initiatives.
If you want to pony up a little more, a $75 VIP entry fee gets you into the Fairmount Food Fight, where 8 of the participating restaurants will serve special tasting plates with pairings. Everyone with VIP tickets gets to sample these plates from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and vote on a winner. But while you won't get a vote if you're not a Food Fight ticket holder, all of those restaurants will serve samples to the general admission crowd from 7:30 on, as well. Tickets and more details here.
Heads up: Reading Terminal Market just launched a new contest, and it couldn't be easier. Share a photo (or twelve) that captures "what makes the Market your market," then try to wait patiently until the contest closes on Nov. 17. If your picture is chosen as the best of the bunch, you get a $100 RTM gift card to spend any way you please. (The runner-up gets a $50 card.)
You know you're Instagramming all your food anyway, so why not? A good shot of Herschel's pastrami or the apple dumpling at Dutch Eating Place would certainly tug on our heartstrings enough to warrant a vote. But the pictures don't have to be new—so if you've got a great childhood snapshot of your first visit on a class field trip or family outing, you could wrap this thing up with a little adorable nostalgia.
You can submit a photo through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram—be sure to tag entries with #MyMarket. (Full rules on their FB page, but be aware that you've gotta be at least 18 and can't work for the Market... and nothing "Obscene, provocative or otherwise questionable," so you'll have to hold onto those snapshots of your topless Market escapades for another time, we guess.)
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