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Archive: May, 2009
Vivid kitchen nightmares plagued my sleep all last night � serving raw Moroccan-spiced lamb to angry vegetarians, that irritating Leah from Top Chef stealing my Cuisinart, receiving half-frozen blocks of Acme mixed berries instead of the promised Greensgrow blues. None of this is made up.
The anxious dreams produced by my subconscious could come to life tonight, when I cook at the second-ever Open ChefAMe event at The Dark Horse. Aptly described as kitchen karaoke, Open ChefAMe brings culinary hobbyists into a commercial kitchen, preparing food for guests who have paid good money for a ticket and expect you to bring the flavor.
Alyssa Shilliday (an aspiring restaurateur and student at The Restaurant School) and I are each preparing three courses, to be served tasting-style in small portions. Your $35 ticket ($5 off for Meal Ticket readers, promotion code after the jump) buys six courses of fun, drink specials and the opportunity to "play food critic" and give Alyssa and I feedback on our dishes.
I'm packing my knives and "lucky wooden spoon," good advice from chefs Marshall Green (Cafe Estelle) and David Katz (M�m�) along with some seriously furious stainless-steel butterflies in my belly.� Meal Ticket czar and City Paper food editor Drew Lazor has committed his time as chief chopper/washer/moral supporter.
Come out tonight and taste the efforts of two culinary chicks-around-town. Promo code for $5 off the ticket price and my border-hopping menu after the jump.
Open ChefAMe featuring Felicia D'Ambrosio and Alyssa Shilliday at The Dark Horse, 421 S. Second St., 6:30 p.m., openchefame.com
Felicia's Round-the-World-Menu
First Course
Sweet corn soup with chives and bacon garnish
Second Course
Goug�res with dry-cured ham, watercress and Dijon cream
Third Course
Moroccan spiced braised lamb shoulder with lentils and minted yogurt
Enter Code 2009CP for $5 off your ticket price; openchefame.com
Felicia KICKED ASS.
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... next Friday, May 22, in the Radian Building at 3925 Walnut Street. This location will offer a cocktail list and a non-gelato Italian menu, both of which we'll share with you when we get them.
Finally! Just in time for the warm weather too. If you have never tried Capo Giro you should--avacado? cucumber? olive oil? You name it, they can make gelato from it and it will be GOOD.
I have a whole host of favorite flavors: Rosemary honey goat's milk, black raspberry for that one beautiful week in july, mint stracciatella which they only make on the weekends.
Sooooo good to hear!
You might want to start fasting now, as there's so much eating we gotta get done out in the rain sunshine this weekend. In the latest What's Cooking, Lauren Fleming tells you about two major opportunities to get your grub going � the 9th Street Italian Market Festival and the Upper Darby Greek Festival:
Top Guns Photography There's no better time to stroll from Fitzwater to Federal than during the annual Italian Market festival. Local vendors will take their products to the streets, enticing the crowd with cheese, fresh meats and cannolis galore. Vendors taking part this year include Anthony's Italian Coffee House, Orlando's Meats, Isgro Pastries and more than 100 other local restaurants and producers. (Right: Mayor Michael Nutter checks out Anastasi Seafood's spread at 2008's Fest.) Apart from the eats, the festival will also have three spots for live entertainment � the Triple Play Sports Stage, Pat's King of Steaks Philly Mix Stage and the Comcast stage. WMGK will broadcast live from the street, with John DeBella in attendance making cheese and serving porchetta. Sat.-Sun., May 16-17, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. Visit 9thstreetitalianmarketfestival.com for more info.
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Take a weekend trip to the Mediterranean by attending the Upper Darby Greek Festival, sponsored by Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church. Starting this Thursday, the fest will host an array of vendors offering authentic Greek pastries, wines, beers, food and more; expect traditional treats like moussaka, stuffed grape leaves, tourlou (a baked vegetable dish), pastitsio (Greek pasta layered with beef in a B�chamel sauce), shish kebab and gyros. Also check out live music, church tours and a $10,000 raffle. Fri.-Sat., May 15-16, 11 a.m.-mid.; Sun., May 17, noon- 9 p.m., free. Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 229 Powell Lane, Upper Darby, 610-352-7212, saint-demetrios.org/festival.dsp.
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DISH is City Paper's annual full-color mag that deals in all things edible and drinkable. The 2009 edition just dropped yesterday. There's a copy inserted in every print edition of CP, and you can also check out all the content at citypaper.net/dish. What content, you ask?
- RESTAURANT REMIX: Meal Ticket darling Felicia D'Ambrosio shows you how to replicate three popular Philly restaurant recipes at home � Chickie's veggie hoagie, Zahav's Turkish hummus and Pub & Kitchen's whitefish roll mops.
- SWEET CHARITY: James Saul shares the story of Camden soup kitchen Cathedral Kitchen, the only "green" facility of its kind in the area.
- DOWN IN THE DUMPLINGS: The Pierogie Kitchen just might be Roxborough's best-kept secret.� Amy Strauss learns about the subtle art of dough-pinching from owner Marie Thorpe.
- WHO'S TOMMY?: Have you ever eaten at Woody's? Probably not. But Aaron Stella wants to change that, profiling Thomas Deeney, the South Philly native who works magic in the landmark gay bar's tiny kitchen.
- EATING EL NORTE: Our very own bilingual staff writer Isaiah Thompson heads up to North Philly to grub out on Latin-Caribbean food. He returns full/with this guide to the best eats in the barrio.
(Specials thanks to art director Allie Rossignol and photographer Mark Stehle, both of whom played a huge part in making this year's DISH kick-ass!)
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| Milk stout shake? |
Warm weather inspires a real itch to do some damaging daytime drinking. Businesspersons' special Phillies games,� the smell of wafting barbecue smoke and the new lunch hours at Dock Street Brewery & Restaurant are all conspiring against your productive afternoons. Starting Monday, May 18, Dock Street will open at noon, serving their micros and pizza to daytime drinkers.
If sugar is your preferred buzz, why not enter the upcoming Dock Street Dessert Contest? The only rule is a hoppy one: your entry must include beer, preferably Dock Street, in the recipe. Bring your entry to the contest on Monday, June 1 and be judged by a panel of beer, and ostensibly, sugar experts: Dock Street head brewer Ben Potts, Grey Lodge Lodgemaster Mike "Scoats" Scotese, Left Hand Brewing rep Dan Conway, venerable beerhead Eddie Friedland of Origlio Beverage and Chef Peppino of the Restaurant School.
Where's the love for the ladies, Dock Street? We eat more desserts per pound than beer dudes, who are forced to save up calories for their beverage of choice.
Anyway, anyone can enter. First prize is a growler and fill of your choice and a shot at Dock Street putting your creation on the menu. If you yearn to win the top spot, email your pledge to participate to dockstreetrenata@gmail.com.
Dock Street Dessert Competition, Mon., June 1, 6-8 p.m., 701 S. 50th St. 215-726-2337, dockstreetbeer.com
[...] Dock Street Brewery & Restaurant has added weekday lunch to their hours starting yesterday. [Meal Ticket] [...]
On Tuesday, we provided an early look at Varga Bar, the beer bar from the team behind Valanni and Mercato. Just got the final versions of the menu and beer lists for your consumption. Check 'em out below. Varga will open this coming Wednesday, May 20.
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The menu looks great. I just hope the food lives up to it. I am sure it will. I have heard good things about this team.
Not one decent vegetarian option? FAIL.
Yo, try eating meat. It'll make your insults stronger.
Photo | Mark Stehle
Check Meal Ticket a little later for a full rundown of what's in this year's DISH dining/restaurant guide, which dropped today!
- Right now, our very own David "PhilaFoodie" Snyder is on vacation in France, but the food at Symphony House's Girasole had him second-guessing his European destination. Sure, the prices are a little high, but the eats are worth the price of admission.
- Trey Popp drops a little food science, letting y'all know that human hair (or more precisely, an amino acid derived from human hair) can be found in way more foods than you might think. Yummer!
-Lauren Fleming is on the festival beat with What's Cooking, filling you in on this weekend's 9th Street Italian Market Festival, the Upper Darby Greek Festival and more events you can eat.
- In Feeding Frenzy, I throw you word of spots like Gold Standard Caf�, Varga Bar, Max Brenner and Blackfish Stone Harbor.
Great DISH this year! I love the Pierogi Kitchen pierogis, wonderful to see them featured. Also, thank you thank you thank you for Zahav's hummus recipe. Making it tomorrow.
e: Really happy to hear you like it. Let us know how the hummus goes. I still can't get over how much butter is in there.
It's only as much butter as is REQUIRED, Drew.
I made the Zahav hummus on Wednesday. I forgot to add the garlic butter at the end (i was somehow unclear on it being the reserved butter) but it still turned out pretty good. Anxious to make it again and making it correctly next time.
The good dudes of Salt Pepper Ketchup, Philly's own street food Internet show, visit the Taco Loco cart near the soccer fields at Fourth and Washington for some tortas.
There is some torta confusion, but it all works out in the end.
Check out all the SPK episodes at salt-pepper-ketchup.com.
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| Photos | Drew Lazor |
I have one more pic of the interior of this place but I felt like it was too much of a giveaway. If this proves to be too hard, I'll post it!
UPDATE: Paco wins. Extra pic after the jump just for fun.
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| Photo | Drew Lazor |
standard tap.
You got it, Paco. Man that octopus was good. I got a softshell crab sandwich too which was excellent. Why do I not go to ST more often?
a.I love the Standard Tap b. I love soft shells even more. can someone right a run down of all the places serving them, especially the most delicious ones. I had great ones a Dmitri's last night.
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| amazon.com |
| Fashion in the kitchen |
Granddaughter of legendary writer Roald Dahl, model and unabashed hedonist, Sophie Dahl once caused traffic accidents when her curves were displayed on Opium perfume billboards. Now, the English rose is sharing her love of guilt-free eating in a new cookbook.
Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights (HarperCollins) is subtitled The Art of Eating A Little of What You Fancy, appropriate for a woman who showed the world that both size 14 and size 6 can be stunning. Dahl is now down to a more typically model shape, partly due to� the healthy eating code taught to her by her grandmother, Gee-Gee: three meals a day, lots of fresh vegetables and no snacks.
The BBC is rumored to be interested in Miss Dahl's approach for a new cooking show. I wonder if the blonde beauty could dethrone the current Brit-cook queen, Nigella Lawson.
"Granddaughter of legendary writer Roald Dahl, model and unabashed hedonist, Sophie Dahl once caused traffic accidents when her curves were displayed on Opium perfume billboards." Say whaaaat?
Also, Sophie's on Twitter. Yay! http://twitter.com/dahlhalla I don't get the "political refugee" part in her profile descrip though...someone help me out...
Also, Sophie's on Twitter. Yay! http://twitter.com/dahlhalla I don't get the "political refugee" part in her profile descrip though...someone help me out... Oops...forgot to say great post! Looking forward to your next one.
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