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Archive: October, 2011
When Eric Ripert brought Jennifer Carroll to his 10 Arts at the Ritz-Carlton in 2008, she became a favored chef — of mine, of the city and of viewers of Bravo's Top Chef, where audiences got two looks at the blonde Philadelphian, in both a regular season and its All-Stars session. "From Eric, I definitely learned patience, how to have refinement in my food and how to edit myself," Carroll told me the other day. "But now I have to go. If I don't get out now I won't have the opportunity to see what's out there for me."
With that, Carroll left her post at 10 Arts, but not with a quiet goodbye or even a singularly Carroll-centric meal. Instead, she invited a rogue's gallery of friends, chefs and mixologists to join her in her farewell to Broad and Chestnut, as well as for the Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner that benefits the James Beard Foundation.
So we've kinda given up trying to get a substantive answer as to when the Chinatown cocktail bar Hop Sing Laundromat (1029 Race St.) will truly debut to the public — we first mentioned it in March, sneak-peeked snuck-pucked it in July and told you a little about its drunken floor décor in August. Now it's October and no Last Words or Red Hooks or Penicillins have crossed the bar top. Proprietor Lêe is in no particular rush to open, preferring everything to be in place the way he wants before his bartenders start pouring, so let's just say it'll open when it opens, yeah? But if you're curious about what it looks like inside beyond our cryptic wall photos, swing by the space tonight between the hours of 8 and 10:30 — you'll probably be in the 'hood for Night Market anyway — when Lêe will be on hand to lead tours. No drinks yet, of course.
Photo: Drew Lazor
As we mentioned in What's Cooking this week, River Ward Restaurant and Café Week is serving helpings of Fishtown/Kensington/Port Richmond lunch-and-dinner dealage from today through Saturday, Oct. 8. Check out neighborhood eateries for food and drink coming in within an easy-on-the-wallet price range of $5 to $30. Some items that have us intrigued including the three-courses-for-$30 dinner menu at Hinge Café (2652 E. Somerset St.), offering items like pork scallion pot stickers, housemade, sun‐dried-tomato-infused gnocchi and pan-seared scallops with bacon. Frankford Hall's (1210 Frankford Ave.) Jagerschnitzel entrée at $14 includes a half-liter of Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel served with the pork-and-mushroom gravy main and German potato salad side. Other restaurants and watering holes on deck include Johnny Brenda’s, New Wave Café and Soup Kitchen Cafe. Peruse the complete list of participants here.
- Adam Erace visits Headhouse Square's own "juke joint," The Twisted Tail, to take in the experience at the blues hall, bourbon house and temple of grilling goodness. Of the three passions that inspired the place, he finds that two are beautifully expressed.
- Fishtown's Moe's Tavern had a bad reputation that escalated after a tragic 2009 death at Citizens Bank Park. But now that bar has a new look and a new name — Interstate Draft House — and its new owners are looking to bring something completely different to the neighborhood.
- In Feeding Frenzy: Crisp, Loco Pez, Lucky's Last Chance and news from Zinc, Little Fish and Bistrot La Minette.
- In What's Cooking: mas tequila at Distrito, The Food Trust's next big Night Market, a squashable tasting menu at Meritage and more.
Photo: Neal Santos
Stateside (1536 E. Passyunk Ave.), the American whiskey bar and restaurant from the owners of Green Eggs Café, has been plugging along just off the Passyunk Fountain for months now, and we've finally got some preliminary details on the hush-hush project.
In the latest Notes from the Weekend, I promised you my recipe for buffalo chili — which I normally refer to as bison chili when circa-1988 videos of Neneh Cherry are not involved. What ground bison lacks in fat (most blends are a lean, mean 90/10) it makes up for in rich, wild, free-grazin' flavor, and the meat has the added benefit of being way lower in saturated fat and calories than chili's traditional protein, ground beef.
If you can't get your hands on bison, this recipe will work with ground chicken, turkey, beef or lamb. The powerful mole spice blend is the more important element. Think of it as an abridged, powdered version of dozen-ingredient sauce from Puebla; I don't claim it to be authentic, but it'll make the whole house smell like you’ve got a Mexican granny in the kitchen.
The bar at Opa (1311 Sansom St.), always a solid destination for left-of-center tipples, has just rolled out a trio of fall-friendly cocktails built around Greek flavors, all spins on classic drinks:
- The Thendro (pictured), a take on the Sazerac: Metaxa (Greek brandy), Mastiha (a liqueur derived from mastic, the peculiar-flavored evergreen sap produced exclusively on the Isle of Chios), Peychaud's bitters
- The Xinouli, a take on the margarita: Espolon Blanco tequila, Veev, lemon, Cava
- The Maimou, a take on the Monkey Gland: Plymouth gin, orange juice, ouzo, grenadine
Also, you might not know about Opa's happy hour, which runs Monday to Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. — $3 beers, $4 wines and $5 "bartender's choice" cocktails on the drinking end. Crazy food deals, as well — $4 saganaki, $6 calamari and half-price souvlaki ($3 to $1.50) and fries ($6 to $3). Chef Andy Brown will be rolling out a brand-new fall menu within the next couple weeks, too.
Situated right on that crazy confluence of Seventh, Carpenter, Kimball and East Passyunk, Falcon Café (1001 E. Passyunk Ave.) is a new gallery/coffeehouse from Marty Katzoff. Taking over a long-vacant storage space, the corner shop serves up a simple selection of coffee, espresso, tea and light bites, but Falcon's main function is highlighting local artists. Right now, painter and tattoo artist Katzoff, who created the mural outside the Baja Room at 15th and South, is starting by hanging work from local UArts and PAFA students, and will move into solo shows from local artists in the near future. They're open from 7 or 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with later hours for openings or First Friday events. More pictures after the jump.
Photos: JC
Marnie Old likens a good Rioja to a sommelier's LBD (little black dress) — it's a wine whose versatility works with many foods on multiple occasions. To test this theory, join Old as she teams up with chef Jose Garces at Amada (217-219 Chestnut St.) for a Rioja wine dinner and pairing lesson next Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. You'll start off with Rioja Rosado, then settle into a flight of Riojas Blanco and Tinto paired with a selection of Garces' Spanish tapas. Make sure to save room, as the meal continues with Crianzas and Reservas served with family-style portions of Wagyu beef, scallops and chicken a la plancha, habas a la Catalan and garbanzos con espinancas. End the night sweetly with lemon torta, a personalized copy of Old's latest book, Wine Secrets, and lessons on the sensory science behind pairing vino not just with a protein, but with a dish's seasoning and cooking method. Dinner is $70 per person, not including tax/tip; to make reservations, call 215-625-2450.
Rich Landau, who's just a few weeks away from opening Vedge (1221 Locust St.) with his wife and partner Kate Jacoby, sends along an early peek at the all-vegan restaurant's beer and cocktail lists, dinner menu and dessert selection. The "dirt list" heading you see under the small-plate dinner menu (figure on three-ish plates per person) will not comprise servings of organic topsoil, but rather a constantly rotating lineup of seasonal vegetables Landau lands from his Lancaster County farm contacts. Jacoby, in addition to being a pastry chef, has also become quite the cocktail head since Horizons, so the drink list is a reflection of her vision, as well. Peruse them all after the jump, read up on the concept here and stay tuned to Meal Ticket for further word on this much-anticipated opening.
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
