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Archive: January, 2012
Cantina Feliz duo Tim Spinner and Brian Sirhal are looking at mid-week next week for the debut of La Calaca Feliz (2321 Fairmount Ave.), the Fairmount Mexican restaurant we first noted in October. (It's also one of the five new anticipated projects we named in our year-end restaurant recap.) Garces alum Spinner's menu, featuring dishes like tlayudas (Mexican-style pizzas), alambres (skewers; look for an octopus rendition with poblanos, pearl onions and lemon vin) and tableside guac, will be executed by Lucio Palazzo, last chef de cuisine at Xochitl. The food'll be complemented by Sirhal's beverage program, featuring more than 50 types of tequila and craft beer, wine and cocktail lists. The space (formerly Illuminare) will feature the badass Dia de los Muertos imagery of Philly painter Alison Dilworth, who hooked up the partners' year-old Ft. Washington restaurant with its elaborate murals. Room for 60 in the dining room, 12 at the bar and 30 in a unique soon-to-be-completed greenhouse room.
Photo: Jason Varney
Notes from the Weekend is a feature that sees the members of Team Meal Ticket compiling all the food/drink highlights uncovered during prime eatin' time, Friday to Sunday. Consider this a place for good deals, great dishes, wicked cocktails, recipe triumphs (and tragedies), bizarro conversations and more. We're eager to share our notes, but especially excited to read yours.We encourage you to leave notes from YOUR weekend in the comments. Have at it! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)
We first talked to the folks at Philadelphia Mobile Food Association (PMFA) back in December when they were organizing their first-ever meeting — and still calling themselves the Philadelphia Food Truck Association. Founding member Andrew Gerson of Strada Pasta says they decided on a name change to make things more inclusive — vendors of all kinds are welcome to share their thoughts and voices with the organization.
They'll get a chance tomorrow, January 11, from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m., when the PMFA holds its second meeting at the Free Library (1901 Vine St., fourth floor). They'll get into the nuts and bolts of the association, including the formation of committees and the election of a board of directors. Discussion will also focus on the three communal vendor lots the PMFA hopes to get up and running soon, which would allow multiple vendors to operate at private gathering places. Gerson emphasizes that Philly eaters, and not just business owners, are encouraged to attend the meeting. “These food trucks are for Philadelphians," he says. "[Customers] should let us know where they want the food trucks and why."
Mike Stollenwerk's Fish, which half-debuted over New Year's, officially reopened in its 2.0 digs at the corner of 13th and Locust last night. Located in the ground floor of The Independent (1234 Locust St.), the restaurant is far larger, brighter and spit-shined than its original home at 1708 Lombard, which'll become Brick American Eatery in the near future. There's now a full-on illuminated bar running parallel to a dividing drink rail/banquette, a small plush lounge area for cocktailers and an entirely separate elevated raw bar station for oysters and other shellfish. Coming by the spring: lunch, brunch, room service for Independent guests and outdoor seating in a dedicated courtyard.
Peep after the jump for Stollenwerk's opening dinner menu, split into raw starters, snacks, and first and second course columns that actually feature a little bit of meat (looking forward to devouring crudo off those pink Himalayan salt blocks). We've got pastry chef Monica Glass' opening dessert menu, too. (Click both to enlarge.)
Not sure about the plotline of this tale on the bathroom walls but it seems very compelling.
Zento (138 Chestnut St.), open since 2006, is relocating — management dropped Meal Ticket a line yesterday confirming that the slight eastward shift of the restaurant's signage means the currently-BYO sushi joint is indeed taking over the neighboring Grey Social at 132 Chestnut. The two-floor, 1500-square-foot space will comprise a main dining room with tables and a 10-foot-long sushi bar (same menu as before, with expanded options), plus a top level making best use of Grey's existing liquor license — it'll feature a premium sake bar overlooking the downstairs through sliding windows. The move should be completed by February.
Ever since Federal Donuts (1219 S. Second St.) opened in Pennsport this fall, the acquisition of the shop's lauded fried chicken has become a source of ire for the impatient — folks not so fond of the teeny café's finite, first-come first-served policy have griped about the inaccessibility of that mythic pollo, dusted and doused in unconventional seasonings like harissa and Korean-sticky red chile. Dramatic reenactment: "Waaaah I'll neeeeeeever get their chicken ughhhhhh!" *crumples to ground weeping*
Here's good news for the lot of you crestfallen cluckstalkers: FedNuts has amped up their operation to allow for evening fried chicken service on weekends, beginning January 14. They'll still adhere to their 12 p.m. chicken kickoff time during lunch on both days, but now they'll rock a second shift, at 5 p.m., every Saturday and Sunday. Same rules — they'll start handing out numbers about 15 minutes in advance and will begin taking orders promptly at 5; once every half bird, whole bird and order of wings (six or 12) is spoken for, they're all done.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Back in 2007 Sam Tremble wrote a great piece about training to enter the multi-tiered "Spicy Contest" held at Moon Krapugthong's Chabaa Thai in Manayunk (4371 Main St.). Our writer, a self-proclaimed hot-food enthusiast, put his threshold for spice to the test in preparation for the barrage of heat the unforgiving Thai chef had in store for him:
I've spent the last 70 days training myself to endure painfully spicy food with the testicular fortitude of a heavyweight boxer. With Manayunk's Chabaa Thai Bistro's second annual Spicy Contest looming in the distance, I've inhaled habaneros whole and sucked hot sauce straight from the bottle, my mouth burning constantly with a sting reminiscent of cheap liquor. I've even turned down offers for free haircuts: I need my ratty locks to hide any sign of sweat from the prying eyes of the judges' panel. Yup, instead of dedicating my time and energy to more noble pursuits (organizing a protest of the war, Racing for The Cure, finding a job, etc.), I focused it entirely on expanding my capsaicin capacity.
Tremble didn't end up taking the belt, but he and everyone else will have a shot at a $1,000 cash prize in the 2012 installment of the Spicy Contest, Chabaa's fifth. Want to enter? Simply visit the restaurant between January 23 and February 29, sign a waiver (yes seriously) and dive into the first round, which requires contestants to order and consume a starter and an entrée off a special "qualification menu." The 10 entrants who display the most poise during this task (Chabaa staff judges; they're only releasing some of the parameters to ensure no one games the system) willl be invited to the final round on March 13. Whichever eater impresses a judges' panel the most on this day will snag $500 cash and $500 toward a charity of his/her choice. Full rules/regulations here. Happy burninating.
Illustration: Ryan Casey
Walking aound this weekend and discovered that Gaja Gaja (627 South St.) has paper in its windows. Phone seems to be disconnected, too. The combo Japanese/Korean spot had a pretty decent run, replacing a Wasabi House location way back in 2007. This eastern stretch of South, meanwhile, is rife with activity — Old City's European Republic is working on its second location at 602 South; signage is up at the suburban-based New York Bagel Cafe & Deli, which is opening a branch at 514 South, next to Manny Brown's; and Jersey Shore transplant Paul's Idaho Potatoes is moving in a block down at 429 South.
Cheers to the Meal Ticket tipster who passed along this snap of activity in the former Snow White Diner at 19th and Chestnut — looks like Eyal Aranya and Yoni Nadav, who opened Burger.Org at 326 South Street this past spring, are moving into Center City with their organic, glatt kosher fast-casual concept. No word on timeline just yet but we'll keep you posted. This news also means the official end of the Snow White brand in Philadelphia — the long-running Old City location (200 Market St.) was converted into Revolution House, which opened in June. Pour one out!
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