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Archive: March, 2012
Walking the no-man's-block that is the east side of 20th street between Walnut and Locust, we noticed that Yamaki Sushi was no more. The shop is under new ownership since its previous owner, Patrick Yuen, has retired. He's sold it to John Zheng, a longtime neighbor who's converted it into Machi Sushi ("city sushi"). It's not just Yamaki with a new sign — the interior has been redone, the menu has been revamped and there's a brand-new staff, including chef Eric Xue.
The menu features standard sushi bar fare, including a three-roll special, but they've added their own ornate specialty rolls as well as much-sought-after tuna dumplings (stuffed with avocado and crab meat). Zheng says popular rolls so far include the Halloween Roll (spicy scallop, avocado, tempura flakes, tuna, salmon, red and black tobiko, chili sauce, eel sauce) and the Sexy City Roll (spicy salmon, crab meat, tempura flakes and avocado wrapped in rice paper and topped with black tobiko and eel sauce).
For thrifty sushi-ites, Machi is offering 15 percent off orders through March 31. They're open Monday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m. Full menu after the jump (click to enlarge).
It might not look or feel like it today, but spring is upon us, and tomorrow, March 3, marks the annual opening of the nursery at Greensgrow Farm (2501 E. Cumberland St.). Yeah, urban rooftop and patio gardeners, it's time to start planning and plotting what to grow for the 2012 season already. (I’m not going overboard this year, though I tell myself that every year.) Greengrow will have seeds, soil, cold-crop vegetable starters and other grower's essentials on sale this weekend, and for dirt geeks, they’re even offering a workshop on amending your soil (Register here; it’s $20, but you get it back in a Greensgrow gift certificate.) Another cool service: window box planting. Just bring in your window boxes, and Greensgrow will plant, care for and nurture them until Mother’s Day.
Photo: Michael T. Regan
Michael "Challaman" Dolich's Four Worlds Bakery in West Philly (4634 Woodland Ave.) has added a new leavened craveable to its lineup of bagels, croissant, challah and loaves: pizza. Dolich is baking off thin-crust 14- or 16-inch pies using sourdough with no added sugars or oils; his straight-up sauce contains no sweeteners, either. His all-veg topping lineup includes simple adornments like fresh basil, garlic, mushrooms and green peppers. Full menu and prices after the jump (click to enlarge).
This Saturday, March 3, Lemon Hill (747 N. 25th St.) will open its doors for brunch. Chef Mitch Prensky and bar manager Al Sotack have developed a bunch of new stuff to eat and drink at their suddenly hangover-friendly Fairmount hang. Key items on the food side include granola pie (yogurt mousse with fresh berries and a granola crust), "Dark and Stormy" French toast (soaked in brown sugar and dark rum, with lime curd, ginger rum cream and ginger snaps) and Mike's Irish breakfast (three eggs, house-cured Irish bacon, boudin blanc, boudin noir, roasted tomato, grilled mushrooms). Sotack's cocktail list, meanwhile, features wakeup drinks like the "Gentile e Onesta," Aperol, Clement Creole Shrubb liqueur, cane syrup, muddled grapefruit and Champagne. Lemon Hill's serving brunch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m Saturdays and Sundays.
Photo: Courtesy of Lemon Hill
South Philly natives Joey and Lou Campanaro — J's got Little Owl, Market Table and Kenmare in NYC, while L holds down our Village Belle (757 S. Front St.) in Queen Village — will appear on Food Network's Iron Chef America this weekend, taking on Iron Chef Marc Forgione and his cooking hermano, Bryan, in a TBD-themed battle. The episode will first air this Sunday, March 4, at 10 p.m., and the Belle's hosting a happy hour-style viewing party during a re-air next Saturday, March 10, at 5 p.m. We imagine it will be replete with delicious little Campanaro meatballs.
Do-gooder group Philly Stake (we told you about them last year) is up to its philanthropic, food-lovin' ways again with its latest nomadic dinner party planned for Sunday, March 2 at the First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut St.). Menu should be sured up by mid-month, when half the $10-to-$20 tickets will go on sale online. (The rest will be available at the door.) Guests will hear proposals from various individuals and community groups, and after a vote at the end of the meal, one of the projects earns the proceeds from the event. Cool, right? Grant awardees from November's Philly Stake include Sink or Swim Philadelphia, a web-donor fund for uninsured/underinsured Philadelphians; and Girls Rock Philly Library, a multimedia library focused on empowering women through music.
Have a worthy project that needs funding? Stake is accepting proposals from March 4 to 11. (Get details on their website.) You can also try for individual grants for creative endeavors at the new Small Stakes, a mini version of Philly Stake starting this Saturday, March 3 at Shot Tower Coffee (542 Christian St.). It goes down from 7 to 9 p.m., and the $10-to-$20 sliding-scale tickets can be purchased at the café.
Rex 1516 (1516 South St.) hosted a media preview last night, but seems to have a few more knots to massage out before opening to the public. Though originally slated to debut tonight, March 1, it's now looking like they're aiming to open this weekend. No official timetable yet but we'll keep you posted. For what it's worth, we really didn't mean to post two Pavlovian burger pics in a row on Meal Ticket, it just worked out that way — this is Rex chef Regis Jansen's hamburguesa, a filet tip/brisket/pork belly blend with gorgonzola and onion marmalade.
UPDATE [05mar12]: Rex will open tomorrow, March 6, at 5 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Rex 1516
- Adam Erace is not much of a "must-have-burger" person, but he's flipping over the one at Fairmount's Hickory Lane. Matt Zagorski's new restaurant does right by one of his signatures, blending filet tips, brisket and beef deckle for his customized meat blend. But the all-day bistro cooks much more than posh patties.
- In Feeding Frenzy: the newly revamped Chick's Social, Marc Vetri's new Alla Spina and new Old City steakhouse Reserve.
- In What's Cooking: BigBite's Philly Chili Bowl, an Allagash dinner at Chifa (tonight), a b-day party for Random Tea Room (also tonight) and more.
Photo: Neal Santos
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