|
|
|
Archive: March, 2012
This coming Saturday, March 10, the team at 1 Shot Coffee (217 W. George St.) is hosting a Buffalo Trace pop-up bar in honor of the launch of Vivo Chocolate Co. Created by nutritionist Juliet Burgh and her husband, Vivo specializes in handcrafted raw chocolates. In its raw, unroasted form, it is very high in antioxidants, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, fiber and Omega-6 fatty acids. It also balances hormones and is good for weight loss. "It's an amazing thing, getting so much nutrition from one fruit — and it really is a fruit," says Burgh of her specialty.
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.)
Attention, beer geeks, attention: Iacopo Lenci, mutton-chopped brewmaster of Tuscany's Birrifico Bruton, is in town. Part of Italy's new beer guard gaining global attention, Bruton brews will be flowing tomorrow (love their Lilith ale) at a.kitchen (135 S. 18th St.), and Lenci will be in the house to chat about them. Chef Bryan Sikora has come up with three vegetable, three fish, three meat and two dessert dishes, priced $8 to $19, to support the Italian drafts (all $6). You can order a la carte or get a four-course tasting with beer for $65. We’ve got out eye on the Dieci, a potent barleywine paired with chocolate panna cotta and pomegranate semifreddo. Check out the full menu after the jump and call 215-825-7030 for reservations.
If you didn't know the end of Le Bec-Fin was near, you've not been paying attention to the signs. Despite the rebranding of its basement space as Tryst and the threats of closure from Georges Perrier that resulted in a temporary reprieve, those in the real estate business (let alone the food biz) will tell you: Georges wanted out. He told me as much last week — how he waited for someone as formidable as Nicolas Fanucci (the former LBF GM last of French Laundry) to want in, that he was tired of long days and short marriages. A recent negative critique from the Inquirer's Craig LaBan had nothing to do with the sale. Perrier simply had enough.
To paraphrase Noah Cross in Chinatown, Perrier built this town. OK, not all of it, but he was the architect of Philly's restaurant renaissance, the guy who put us on the map when New York Times scribe Craig Claiborne claimed LBF as the East Coast's best. That was Georges. About 15 years ago, I dined on his Grande Degustation menu and it was magnifique. No matter what you thought had become of LBF — its loss of Mobil stars when it went a la carte, its questioned culinary reputation — Perrier's castle surely wasn't going to shutter with a whimper. It would end with a bang, and I wanted to be there. So I gathered my wife, and, along with 130 other diners, we sold out the last night featuring Nicholas Elmi's cooking and Perrier's reign on Walnut. (Elmi has moved on quickly to Rittenhouse Tavern, opening in April in the nearby Art Alliance.)
This summer we mentioned that the restaurant space at the Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S. 18th St.), which has long seemed like an ideal venue for a next-level restaurant concept, was under the control of Michelin-starred chef Ed Brown, food/beverage honcho of Restaurant Associates. Signage recently went up revealing the name of the slated-for-spring project — Rittenhouse Tavern — and now the heads of both front and back of house are locked in. Nicholas Elmi, chef de cuisine of Le Bec-Fin up until this weekend, will run day-to-day at the Tavern, working with Brown to develop and execute a modern American menu. They've also tapped Dan Elliott, a veteran of Oyster House, Rouge, Alma de Cuba and Lacroix who last opened Fairmount's Hickory Lane, as GM.
As if losing Le Bec-Fin this weekend wasn't enough (check back soon for more), there's been another sad passing in the local food community.
Once upon a time, Meritage (500 S. 20th St.), currently owned by Michele DiPietro and Irene Landy, was devoted to French cuisine with Middle Eastern and North American influences. They made a pressed duck dish daring enough to rival Paris' La Tour D'Argent. Their wine list was impeccable. Blame James Colabelli (pictured, right) for such dedication to detail.
This weekend, Katie Cavuto-Boyle announced via email that she plans on closing Healthy Bites to Go (2521 Christian St.), the G-Ho café she opened two Februarys ago. The instructor, writer and educator will shut the doors for good on Sunday, March 18 (lots of sales/discounts leading up to this), as she plans on focusing her energies on nutritional consulting, catering and cooking classes. (The space will still be used for classes and meal delivery.) She will also continue to contribute to wellness outlets like Food Network's Healthy Eats and Philly Mag's Be Well Philly and is working on a cookbook.
As former G-Ho residents, we tip our hats to Cavuto-Boyle for putting in two good years in one tough retail location, on the sparser side of Grays Ferry in the shadow of the Trigen plant that looks like Arkham Asylum.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Crepe Town, which has been hustling its fast-casual pancakes in the Bellevue since the fall, is working on a second location. Taking over a defunct Quizno's at 15th and Spring Garden, right off CCP's campus, owners Mike and Julie Bartfeld will have a wealth a space to work with in contrast with their tight food-court digs. In addition to the existing menu, this Crepe Town will offer what they're teasing as "exciting Philadelphia-originated and well-known menu options." Please involve scrapple. They should be open sometime in the spring.
Monday, February 27
Sharing an Asian-American's take on the Roundeye Noodle name controversy.
Sleek new steakhouse Reserve opens in Old City (in the same building as Meal Ticket HQ).
Nomad Pizza has launched a serious movie screening series.
Tuesday, February 28
Fresh uni, shakshuka and more ramen that we know what to do with in Notes from the Weekend.
Fish has added buck-a-shuck oysters to its weekly happy hours.
Happy fourth birthday to NoLibs' Random Tea Room.
My Jello Americans out themselves as the makers of the awesome Toynbee gelatin T-shirt.
SoWe Bar & Kitchen is coming to the Graduate Hospital neighborhood.
Wednesday, February 29
The Lil' Pop Shop, specializing in gourmet popsicles, is opening in West Philly.
Local sausage emporium Underdogs is now open in Center City.
Why doesn't Nomad Pizza slice its pies for you? They elaborate on the philosophy.
Check out Adam Erace's recipe for roasted cauliflower soup.
Thursday, March 1
Running down CP's March 1 food section, including Adam Erace's review of Hickory Lane.
The Rex 1516 opening is pushed back.
The next Philly Stake is scheduled for late March at FUC.
Friday, March 2
South Philly's Campanaro brothers compete on Iron Chef America.
Lemon Hill launches brunch in Fairmount.
Michael "Challahman" Dolich is now making pizzas at his West Philly bakery.
Greensgrow Farm's nursery department has opened for the season.
- Remember how we posted about that awful tipper in last week's Snack Time? Looks like we, and the rest of the internet, were HOODWINKED! Turns out the whole thing was a sham. Well, I never.
- If you know anything about me at all, you know I love sushi. The bros over at Bamboo Sushi seems to have heard about this and made this little video just for me. It documents the journey of a fish from the water to the table and Bamboo's approach to sustainability.
- Grub Street New York posted this article on using bitters in food. They're used all the time in the Carribean, as Angostura bitters are from Trinidad and Tobago. Rarely do chefs in the States use bitters in cooking, but one who does resides right here in Philly: Fish's Monica Glass includes bitters in her cherry meringue.
- In addition to the overhaul that the PLCB performed on 10 liquor stores, they've also released an iPhone app that acts as a state-store locator and locates bottles you're looking for, among other features. For those of us not on the iWagon, they'll be coming out with an Android version soon.
- The Union League's Joan Carter doesn't care about hot dogs. Carter mentions in a letter that she had exiled a hot dog vendor from Broad and Sansom to "buy back [their] corner" and make it a "cleaner, safer and better" place. Hot dog-related crime has really been on the rise lately. Strong move, Joanie.
- Guys look, a whole photo gallery of the country's 50 fattiest foods. That's one from each state. Peep PA at No. 48. Bet you can't guess what our dish is.
- If you were hoping that we would post a vid of a really cute baby sloths, today is your day. It's food- related, in that they drink milk and get coated in lard. And then wrapped in this really precious patterned gauze, like they're wearing clothes!
- 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
