Notes from the Weekend is a Monday 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!
FD: Felicia D'Ambrosio
MD: Marie DiFeliciantonio
DL: Drew Lazor
I'm well on my way to cardiac arrest if this weekend is any indication.
Starvin Marvin's signature foot-long,
Geno's Whiz whiz, wings and
Founder's Double Trouble at
P.O.P.E., Primo's Nonna's veggie. Not sure how I, or my waistband, survived.
—MD
Friday, went to our ever-frequent haunt
The Sidecar for "one drink" and ended up having a number of drinks that was higher than one. Also dug into their sick soft-shell sandwich ... get 'em while they last, crustacean heads.
—DL
Spent sunny Saturday hitting up a few of Philly's more essential beer halls on a tour de force of digital video and drinking — my solemn duty as guide to the boys of
Beer Nation, whose Philadelphia webisode premiers in July. Dudes with expensive cameras running backwards in front of you attracts more attention than one would think.
—FD
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
Saturday, day: The most badass
9th Street Italian Market Festival we can remember. If you missed it, you suck — weather was SoCal-perfect, everyone was in high smilin' spirits and the $5 Peronis flowed like
overpriced beer water. Among our favorite eats: Fall-apart-delish roast pork on a roll from
Cannuli's (look at those heads!), a
Taquitos de la Puebla al pastor plate that was prepped and in our hands before we could say gracias and refreshing strawberry sorbet from a spot whose name we were a little too Peroni-ed to recall.
—DL
Every year I look forward to the same thing at the
Italian Market Festival: the chili-and-salt bedazzled mango on a stick. Not only was the line shockingly short for the sticky prize, but my fellow patrons seemed boggled — nay, fearful — of the sight of chilito piquin. I hope they tried it, because the powder is the very thing to sass up summer's abundant mangoes, corn and watermelon. The brand
El Gallito's blend "Pico de Gallo-Sabor a Limon" is available at the bigger Mexican groceries.
—FD
 |
| Photo | Drew Lazor |
Saturday, night: Thought ahead of time for once and prepared a
Zuni Cafe-style chicken for dinner. The extremely high oven temperature the recipe calls for all but ensures that your abode will be filled with acrid smoke shortly into the roasting process, but it's it worth the trouble — just open all your windows and get really low to the ground as you eat the thing with your bare hands.
—DL
Got custard (non-fat! lay off me!) at
Rita's Saturday night and was intrigued by the many styles of water-ice consumption. Some slurped. Some spooned. Some alternated the two. One kid had a straw! What's your technique?
—MD
Was saved from public humiliation by fellow
Headhouse farmers market hunter
Adam Erace when I came up a dollar short for my
Bodhi iced coffee, which was so smooth it didn't need a drop of sugar. The sugar (and vanilla, and rum, and eggs) was taken care of in my admittedly luxurious breakfast of a
Market Day Canele. That combo is surely is a Sunday started right.
—FD
After we thoroughly embarrassed my pseudo-brother and his date during pre-prom photo sessions, my pseudo-family came back to the house for some drinks. We poured a
2003 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru and a
2006 Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva. The silky, fat Chevalier-Montrachet left mineral and oak notes on the tongue, with the slight bite of licorice. The Chianti was a bit fruitier and floral. —MD
 |
| Photo | Drew Lazor |
Sunday, day: Filmed an episode of the Travel Channel's
Food Wars with
Tony Luke Jr.,
Frank Olivieri of
Pat's King of Steaks and cheesesteak queen/CP contributor
Carolyn Wyman, author of the indispensable
Great Philadelphia Cheesesteak Book. (That's host
Camille Ford grillin' Tony Luke above.) Cannot confirm or deny a rumor that we were coerced into performing a Bollywood-style dance routine toward the conclusion of filming.
—DL
Dear
Herr's, are you really selling
Dark Russet Potato Chips expecting us to believe they are a special variety, rather than simply the burnt chips you rejected from the
Kettle Cooked production lines?
—MD
Sunday, night: Sat at the bar at the revamped
Twenty Manning Grill (261 S. 20th St.) to take in Perfect Manhattans, ittybitty crabcakes,
Dock Street's Rye IPA and Flyguys dominance.
—DL
