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Archive: June, 2011
Hey all you ultra-frugal, fresh-air-loving peripatetic types out there in bloggyland! Tonight marks the return of the University City District's first-Thursday Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, a promo that sees a collection of West Philly establishments offering up treats for just 100 cents.
Scrounge up some singles and eat lentil wraps at Dahlak, mango lassis and samosas at Desi Chaat House, focaccia at Dock Street, vegan cupcakes and mini sandwiches at Green Line, dollar beers at Queen of Sheba and Elena's Soul, Bassett's ice cream scoops at Milk & Honey and more; it's also a good chance to check out the just-opened Mood Café (from Desi Chaat House's owners), who will be handing out fresh-squeezed juices, lassis, samosas and ice cream for a buck. The stroll, which lasts from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., is concurrent with the farmers market at Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore, 3-7 p.m.), which'll feature street eats from Guapos Tacos and the Country Meadows BBQ stand. There will be three more strolls this summer, on the first Thursays of July, August and September.
Pucker up, buttercup, it's Philly Beer Week. Though suds of every sort will flow through town like the Mississippi River creaming Memphis, lambic-heads have a much shallower range of events offering a fix of funk. As always, professionals arrive early, cash in hand. Don’t be 'that guy" and you might even earn a precious extra ounce of Cantillon from your harassed server. Our picks for gueuze-y glory after the jump.
We here at Meal Ticket may never be able to recline like F. Scott Fitzgerald characters along the polished balustrades and leather chaises of our own Rittenhouse mansions, but at least we can pretend at First Friday at the Wine School. "Starting this week, we’re swinging open our doors to a different type of wine education," says president and founder of the Wine School of Philadelphia, Keith Wallace, who recently relocated the grape academy from Fairmount to a Victorian manor on 22nd and Sansom.
Each week, Wallace and his team selects half a dozen thematic wines, beers or spirits. Tomorrow, from 6 to 10 p.m., they’re showcasing their favorite summer wines. "We don’t select them until the day of," says Wallace. "I like keeping that spontaneous and centered around what we really want to be drinking ourselves — which makes it much more fun."
Thirty bucks covers entrance, light education and vino. "There isn't a set limit, which can be a bit tricky, but after about three glasses we turn off the tap, so to speak," Wallace explains. "Basically, we keep an eye out for overconsumption, but as long as folks are chill, enjoying the vibe, then there isn't an issue."
- Philly Beer Week is precariously close to upon us — don't forget to eat, OK? Here we've got a quick roundup of food-forward PBW events, at restaurants like Noble, Southwark, JG Domestic, London Grill and Good Dog, to name just a few.
- Beach-bummin' Adam Erace chats with Jen Miller, author of the recently updated The Jersey Shore: Atlantic City to Cape May, about her favorite Jersey Shore eats.
- In Feeding Frenzy: Word on brand-new spots Fare, Wedge + Fig and Al Zaytouna.
- In What's Cooking: Laurel Rose Purdy's got just a few Beer Week picks out of the 86 bajillion to choose from.
- Over in Icepack, A.D. Amorosi's got a juicy rumor involving a James Beard-winning chef scouting a space in North Philly.
- In Agenda, Meg Augustin has word on this Saturday's Pints and PinUps Block Party at Varga Bar.
Photo: Neal Santos
The slightly star-crossed commercial kitchen space at 1514 South — first the commissary Philly Kitchen Share, then, for a brief while, the proposed home of chef Tim McGinnis' American Blackboard — has new life from some near neighbors: husband and wife Jill Weber and Evan Malone, the owners of Jet Wine Bar (across the street at 1525 South) have officially signed on to open a restaurant here, ideally before the end of the summer. (The dining room will be adjacent to the kitchen, at 1516 South.) Chef Matt Zagorski, who consulted on the menu at Jet, will also lend a hand in the early going, but fulltime cooking duties will be handled by Regis Jansen, formerly of 1601 and Fuji Mountain. The still-nameless restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, offering a very vegetarian-friendly selection of "comfort food, but a little more on the high end," says Weber. They're going for a liquor license but may open as a BYOB depending on timing.
The between-bread selections at Jake's Sandwich Board (122 S. 12th St.) can come with several sides: mini latkes, fries (free on Wednesdays!), crunchy onions. The new Ghost Pepper steak sandwich comes with its own obligatory side: a waiver. Heat seekers that wanders into the 12th Street sandwicherie and order this volatile new concoction (an upgrade of the still-existing Fire Steak) must sign a disclaimer and be over 18 years old. The set up of thin-sliced rib eye, onions, mushrooms, provolone and a deep-fried long hot would be spicy enough right there on its Carangi roll, but the Jake's crew really sets the sandwich ablaze with a fiery 20-drop anointing of hot sauce made with pure capsicum extract and the mysterious Indian ghost pepper, said to be 125 times hotter than the jalapeno. Get the milk ready.
Photo: Courtesy of Jake's
Capogiro's gelato-izing dukes and duchesses have come up with a number of beer-based treats for Philly Beer Week, which officially kicks off on Friday, June 3. (It's here already?!) After the jump, have a peek at which boozy gelati will soon find their way into the cold cases at any of Capogiro's four locations (Capo's tasting notes included). Oh, and we'll have plenty of written-while-sober Beer Week coverage coming up, so keep an eye open for that.
Last Thursday saw the debut of Cosmic Café, new in Fairmount Park's Lloyd Hall backed by Philly's Department of Parks & Recreation. at #1 Boathouse Row. The operation joins locations like Centennial Café at Ohio House, Valley Green Inn and Trolley Car Café at the Bathey on the list of restaurants Chef Peg Botto, who ran Cosmic Catering for 10 years before opening these permanent digs, is cooking with local produce and products; here's the menu, which features breakfast sandwiches, deli-style lunch sandwiches, fresh-cut potato chips and daily specials. Looks like they'll also launch an outdoor barbecue tent right on the water Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The café is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
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! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)
- 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
