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Eat This Immediately
Like most South Phillies, Circles (1516 Tasker St.) is my Thai take-out and delivery (and, since their café opened two months ago, sit-down, too) go-to. So how, when I’ve eaten most of chef/owner Alex Boonphaya's menu, was it only two weeks ago when I finally tried the ballyhooed tofu-corn fritters?
In the most recent edition of Notes from the Weekend, I shared how my Saturday-night drunk-munchie meanderings led to the creation of Project X Dad's Sandwich, a butter-fried turkey/pork roll situation wrought from the potent admixture of wee-hour hunger and disparate fridge contents.
Rebecca Torpie of the recently opened Wedge + Fig (160 N. Third St.) caught wind of the experiment and asked if she could place a rendition of Dad's Sandwich on her chalkboard as a "Panini of the Day" special. OBVIOUSLY I SAID YES HOLY CRAP WHAT A HUGE HONOR!
Last Friday, I had pie for breakfast at Cafe Estelle (444 N. Fourth St.). Today, I repeat-offended, and I think you should join me.
Chef John Taus' favorite food? Hot dogs. He celebrated the tubesteak last summer with the krauted-up veal dogs he and Fork meatman Andrew Wood put out at the Down the Shore at Zahav event, and now he's doing even more inspired wiener work in his current post at The Corner (102 S. 13th St.). Taus' seafood hot dog, a highlight of his new summer menu, starts with a purée of scallops, shrimp and whatever catch of the day he's working with (fluke, skate, etc.), plus sherry vinegar, cream, thyme, lemon zest and little bit of chili flake. He herbs that mixture up with scallion, chive and parsley, whips egg white in for texture (more snap than you'd think) and twists the seafaring franks into shape with plastic wrap, which allows them to be easily poached off. A quick visit to the griddle for crisping, a bun slather of avocado mayo and sides of fingerling chips and classic slaw bring this dogs-day-of-summer plate home. Eat this immediately!
Photo: Drew Lazor
For as long as I remember, my ice cream man go-to has been the Chipwich. Sure, I had a brief affair with fudge-banana-fudges and Firecracker pops as red (cherry), white (lemon) and blue (raspberry) as the Fourth of July. But like a prodigal lover, I always came back to the timeless threesome of chip-encrusted vanilla ice cream between a pair of thin cookies. If the Chipwich were a human, it would be arrested for statutory; it seduced me at a very young age.
Kennett (848 S. Second St.), with its saloon vibe, wood-burning oven and Prohibition cocktails, is not exactly the kind of place you’d expect to find green curry chicken, let alone amazing green curry chicken. But chef Brian Ricci has a way with the exotic — and making the exotic seem familiar. He starts by marinating boneless Bell & Evans chicken thighs — a flavorful and inexpensive call — in a paste of cumin, curry leaves and other Far East ingredients for “up to 48 hours if I can. Two days is the ideal.” Then they hit the Forno Bravo pizza oven, whose hickory/beech inferno caramelizes the curry paste into a charred sheath that surrounds the thighs. Two smoky, moist pieces go into a bowl, topped with a fistful of Tom Culton's zippy watercress, cashews roasted with lime and shavings of quick-pickled cucumbers. Think of this less as a Thai or Indian curry than the best grilled chicken salad you’ve ever had. Eat this immediately!
Photo: Courtesy of Brian Ricci
Mitch Prensky's cooked plenty of offal preparations at Supper (926 South St.), but they haven't always sold well — guess there's only so big an audience for liver, tongue, sweetbreads and ears, aka all the bits cooks and food geeks love but the more squeamish members of the dining gen-pop tend to sidestep. Then the chef got a bright idea: Why not put together a selection offal-y eats on bite-size Le Bus brioche slider rolls? If you think about it, sliders, besides being ADORABLE (soooo small, must pinch top bun like it's a fat baby cheek!), are the ideal vehicle for this school of cookery — while a trepidatious eater might not want to stake his entire meal on a a large-format offal app or entrée that might not be to his liking, there's not much dietary (and monetary) commitment involved when you're dealing with sandwiches one could easily tuck into the breast pocket of a oxford shirt.
At last week's Meal Ticket Magazine launch party, chef Jordan "Red" Sauter from Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant/PBR (120 Market St.) insisted that we try his salceson, aka one of Poland's multiple takes on traditional head cheese. (Back in November Sauter got some love from Adam Erace for his bigos, or Polish hunter's stew.) Struck by its hearty feel and funky-rich flavor, we in turn insisted Sauter spill the details on his badass housemade snack.
Though whiskey-sipping purists might cry foul at the apparent Buffett-ization of the American South's most cherished cocktail, I say lighten the hell up — it's getting sticky outside, and this new staple at Khyber Pass Pub (56 S. Second St.) is here to help. Masterminded by Khyber GM Diana Coble, the process behind these icy wonders is simple — bourbon, mint-infused simple syrup, water and a little lime juice commingle in the silver slushy machine behind the bar, which gently churns out the classic version, plus flavors like white peach, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry (they'll rotate as more fruit comes into season). There are no frosted julep tins here, but you won't miss them much.
Drink this immediately!
Photo: Drew Lazor
Gil Ortale, who’s been hawking his maddeningly delicious Market Day Canelé at the Headhouse farmers market (Second and Lombard) for a few years now, has added tarts to his repertoire for the 2011 season. "It was at a customer’s suggestion I started baking these savory tarts," Ortale says. "Over the winter, I practiced. I made a lot of tarts — and a lot of mistakes."
All the accidents must be out of Ortale's system, because the tart we snagged on Sunday ($15 and 8 inches across) was pretty perfect, a flaky study in pastry executed with PA-grown Daisy Flour and a fat blend of local butter and Sonny D'Angelo lard. Set like gems into golden Taproot Farm egg custard, the fillings change every week but are always "classic combinations made with local stuff," like Linden Dale chevre, Livengood's asparagus and D’Angelo's boar bacon. (A fleeting combo we wish we could have tried: guanciale, spring garlic and fiddleheads.) "The idea is to tie it into what’s available at the market," says Ortale.
So what can you expect from Market Day this week? Ortale isn’t exactly sure yet, but teases with two words we always like to hear: "Tasso ham." Eat this immediately!
Photo: Adam Erace
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