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Archive: July, 2009
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| Photo | Drew Lazor |
Don't forget that tonight marks the start of a doing-us-a-solid crab deal at Oyster House (1516 Sansom St., 215-567-7683). Nineteen bucks will rope you three jumbo hardshell crabs, corn on the cob and slaw. The special will run every Tuesday through August.
If you're doing it right, your table should end up looking something like this:
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| verygoodlooking on Flickr |
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After the jump, check out the official lunch, dinner and brunch menus for Avril, the 50-seat white-tablecloth Bala Cynwyd BYO (134 Bala Ave., 510-667-2626) coming next Wednesday from chef Christian Gatti and former Daily News food editor April Lisante. The husband-and-wife team plan on putting out Northern Italian and Southern French fare � tempting-sounding supper items include espresso-infused foie gras mousse (!), lobster profiteroles (asparagus, hearts of palm and lobster salad in a mustard/sage vinaigrette) and housemade gnocchi with pistachio pesto.
After David Snyder's glowing July 23 review of Pierre and Charlotte Calmels' Bibou (1009 S. Eighth St., 215-965-8290) we knew it'd be a good idea to snag a table at the BYO's weekly prix-fixe as soon as possible. We got in where we fit in last night � and damn are we glad we did.
Every Sunday, the matchbox-size restaurant offers a $45-a-head four-courser � soup, a starter, an entr�e and a dessert (or cheese plate). There's nothing we can say that David hasn't already said better in his piece, so we'll just a) state for the record that everything was ridiculously tasty b) run down what we ordered, in order:
- Bread baked in-house
- Chilled melon soup topped with smoked salmon
- Tripes au gratin (tripe reduced in red wine, topped with breadcrumbs and baked in a tomato-based sauce)
- Fricass�e of chanterelle mushrooms
- Pig's feet, stuffed with foie gras, over French lentils with bacon
- Seared scallops with wild rice, organic swiss chard and a lemon soy emulsion
- Cheese plate
[...] Drew Lazor runs down what he had at his Sunday prix fixe and in addition to still being full the next day he found it “ridiculously tasty.” [Meal Ticket] [...]
[...] In his roundup of the 10 best new restaurants in the USA for the January issue of GQ , Alan Richman has had the good taste to hail Philadelphia BYOB Bibou (1009 S. Eighth St.) as number seven.� The full article won’t be available on GQ’s Web site until tomorrow when it goes live at 9 a.m. EST, but we can tease the fact that Richman is a definite Francophile and enjoys the braised, foie-stuffed pigs’ feet almost as much as we do. [...]
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| Fuffernutter |
| The Godfather II, if performed by snack foods |
Mitra Farmand's cartoons at fuffernutter.wordpress.com utilize clever wordplay and simple drawings to produce some honest laugh-out-loud moments.� Farmand's anthropomorphized food, especially the weather-reporting cupcakes and mocking slices of toast, make me wonder what my lunch is really thinking.
Suzanne "Beer Lass" Woods, guest-blogging over at Foobooz, provides this shot of a cease operations order pasted onto the door of Drinker's at 1903 Chestnut. Our well-placed source tells us that Licenses and Inspections came in Saturday night and shut the bar down for being over capacity (a fire hazard). The closure, as is always the case with these things, is temporary. We're awaiting word on when the bar will be running again, but as of right now it's undetermined.
Turns out Drinker's wasn't the only spot L&I hit up this weekend, either. A number of other bars � including Vesuvio and McGlinchey's, from what we hear � got the shaft for comparable violations. Y'all notice any other bars that got roughed up this weekend?
UPDATE: Felicia D just checked in with more on this weekend's closures �
Vesuvio (736 S. Eighth St.) is closed today, but the person who answered the phone (who refused to identify himself) said they would be open tomorrow. He hurriedly hung up the phone when asked why the restaurant was closed.
Ronald Sokol, owner of McGlinchey's (259 S. 15th St.), is already at work remedying the "old wiring in an old building" that earned his bar a fire hazard violation on Saturday. He is gunning to be open by Friday, but admits he finds that date "unlikely."
Apparently Vesuvio getting shutdown was for underage drinking.
It's funny. L&I messes with McGlinchey's but leaves places Moe's Tavern up in Fishtown alone. I'm sure they're completely compliant.
What's your point Mike? Sounds like you are trying to tie in what happened at the ball game with Moe's. Is that really fair? Do you know something about Moe's that we don't? Are there L&I violations we should know? Sounds like you are being a smart ass by jumping on the bandwagon. The Inquirer today stated the purpose of the Moe's sponsored bus trip to the game was to raise money for a local autism organization www.autismspeaks.org. I've never been to Moe's and don't know anyone who goes there. Yes, there were assholes in that bar crowd, just like there are assholes in any bar crowd, even assholes that frequent bars in the tony Main Line, probably where you are from. I've seen plenty of liquored up suburban boys at Phillie's games who were just as obnoxious as anyone else.
yea well chris, none of those so called suburban boys no matter how drunk they were ever stomped a kid to death after he was lying unconscious on the ground. they never lifted a man's unconscious body off the ground so that one of them could run 15 feet to land a flying dropkick to the side of someone's neck with a steeltip boot. also weeks before this happened - the main perp, the bird looking one, nearly strangled a friend of 30 years to death for knocking his hat off jokingly. it took his friends face to turn blue, plus four guys pulling him off for him to finally realize maybe he was doing something wrong. all 3 of them should be killed, no questions asked. it would be totally cool to be almost 50 years old and get into a brawl at the phillie's game cause someone accidently spilt beer on my friend. i wish i was born and raised in kensington. inventor's of the "tooth"brush.
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| Photo l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
| Brown's hot doughnuts |
Craig LaBan, most powerful food critic in five counties, blew up my spot. His July 12 article on cheap Shore eats led with a mention of "Freakies," the misshapen, dollar-a-bag doughnuts you can occasionally snag at Brown's. Located on the Boardwalk at St. Charles Place in Ocean City, New Jersey, Brown's only serves from Easter to Thanksgiving and is a must-stop for breakfast whilst down the Shore.
Though the omelettes, waffles, pancakes and coffee at Brown's are all worth a mention, it's the doughnuts that draw the crowds. The line forms daily around 8 a.m., trailing north from the window where teenage boys furiously drop batter into the conveyor fryer that turns out the sweet treats. At 70 cents each, $4.05 for six and $8.10 a dozen, the mini cakes are both delightful and appealingly inexpensive. Get yours plain or dipped in vanilla or chocolate icing, rolled in cinnamon or powdered sugar, or my favorite, glazed with honey syrup.
You used to be able to run up to the window, skipping the impatient line and ask if there was a bag of Freakies for a buck. Now, bargain-hunting beachgoers with eyes as glazed as doughnuts are asking every five minutes. Damn you, LaBan.
Brown's, Boardwalk & St. Charles Place, Ocean City, N.J.,� 609-391-0677, brownsnostalgia.com/restaraunt.html
We first told you about Nick Miglino's plan to open gastropub Sticks & Stones at 1909 E. Passyunk Avenue � let's see � nearly 18 months ago, well before this blog even existed. The former owner of Felicia's (now Devil's Den) said back then that he was aiming for a spring 2008 opening ... then we didn't hear or see anything for a long time.
In the past month or so, though, we've been catching some rumblings of Sticks' impending debut, so we got back on the case. Sure enough, we got a bit of an update from the elusive Miglino this weekend �he secured his liquor license about two weeks ago, and is prepping to finally make this happen. But when? No date cemented yet, but he'll let us know. "It's obvious I'm in no hurry," said Miglino. "That's the understatement of the decade."
[...] Sticks and Stones has been 18+ months in the making but there’s progress to report, the liquor license has been secured. [Meal Ticket] [...]
[...] back in February of 2008, predating the existence of Meal Ticket (!). Though there there have been some glimmers of progress in the nearly three years since that initial news, the doors of the P’yunk pub have yet to [...]
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| Photos | Drew Lazor |
At the Dunkin' Donuts at 16th and Washington.
Love that flag.
We were thinking this would be a great pic to molest in Photoshop � make it seem like Obama's holding a copy of Twilight, etc.
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| EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images |
We've all heard about Obama's plan to have Cambridge police sergeant James Crowley and Harvard professor Skip Gates over to the White House for a beer, to soothe the anger caused by the president's comments over Gates' July 16 arrest. Word is this drinking sesh will take place early this week. While the city of Cambridge plans to use the incident as a springboard to encourage open discussion of race and law enforcement in America, we're sitting here all hung over agonizing over the most obvious question of them all.
Which beer are they going to drink?
Picking Budweiser, or any of its big-box counterparts, would be much too obvious. Yet popping open some obscure craft brew or import would be counterintuitive to the we're-all-in-this-together, boys-and-their-beer olive branch O is attempting to extend. You want accessible, but not so accessible it seems cheap. Tasty, but not so complex it alienates the everyday boozer.
Most vitally, you want a beer you can tuck into, as we're fairly sure these dudes will need more than one to hash this out.
A beer that comes to mind (and yes, this pick could be construed as "too easy," as well) � Sam Adams Boston Lager. It's suitable for the task based on more than just its geographic relevance � this is a brew that has a national presence, but doesn't suffer from the soulless corporate stigmata tainting its more ubiquitous yellow-water competitors. And it's named after a great agitator who shook things up � and the White House, especially after the drubbing Obama took for accusing Cambridge PD of acting "stupidly," has begun spinning this incident as an opportunity to get Americans talking about race, in earnest, for the first time in forever.
But that's just us. What say you, Meal Ticketer? Which beer will quench thirsts and quell apprehensions? Or, at least, which beer do you think would appeal to a blue-collar cop, a lauded Ivy League scholar and the leader of the free world alike?
There is no question that Sam Adams Boston Lager is the one and only choice. It's exactly as you describe: American, a symbol of patriotism and freedom, a fantastic brew and not too microbrewy or corporate giant. It's the perfect fit. Lucky for them, it's also a tasty, tasty brew. I would love to see them drinking Arrogant Bastard to chuckle at themselves or something like Zima because they are all squares.
Yuengling, duh. Oldest brewery in America.
A Black & Tan might be appropriate. But if you want to use American beers your only real options are microbrews or Yuengling.
Colt 45 -- out of the 40 oz. bottles.
I suggest an Old Rasputin Imperial Stout. In matters of politics, Rasputin never steers you wrong.
In the spirit of looking outside ourselves we should turn to London for a John Courage Ale, since Eric Holder was right, we are a nation of cowards when it comes to racial issues, and hopefully we all can learn something from this "teaching moment" and the ensuing White House beer session.
Perhaps they should keep some Fuller's Extra Special Bitter on hand just in case.
How about the Utah-brewed "Polygamy Porter," whose slogan is "Why have just one?" ? I suggest this only because the surest way to defuse a PR crisis is to distract the masses with a brand new one.
Hopefully it will call for a bottle of Ohara's Celebration Stoudt. Man, I struck gold when I found that for under $5. Kept telling myself I'd go back and drink more and more, but I kept putting it off like the time I ended up missing Mr. T at the mall, and then they raised the price. Still a deal at 8 and change for a 750ml bottle.
Sam Adams is a striking choice, and one that might be right on. Other suggestions include something like Anchor Steam or Sierra Nevada - brands that are also microbrewish but have national presence. (Anchor Steam is also the oldest microbrewery in the country...? Fact checkers go!) Though you can't really deny the appeal of a certain beer that has zero advertising budget and won a Blue Ribbon in 1893....
I'm going to have to agree - Sam Adams Boston Lager is a fantastic choice. If I had to give other suggestions though, I would currently suggest the Avery New World Porter. It's really fantastic, and a porter is a working-man's beer! I also like Anchor Steam as a choice, but I think Anchor's Liberty Ale might be more... fitting - in title at least :)
[...] On Monday, we asked you to nominate the beer for President Obama’s Rose Garden sit-down with Harvard prof Skip Gates and Cambridge cop James Crowley. Some great responses in the comments, in addition to our selection of Sam Adams Boston Lager as the one beer to end racial strife. [...]
[...] to the 2:15 mark, when bepearled anchorwoman Mary Robb Jackson shouts out her personal pick for the one beer to neutralize racial strife â Yards’ George Washington Porter, part of its Ales of the Revolution series. She says [...]
[...] this, this and this, doesn’t it almost seem like Meal Ticket is suddenly a Philadelphia outpost of [...]
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| Photo | Drew Lazor |
Looks like Ristorante Mezza Luna, chef/owner Pietro D'Abbraccio's Italian Market eatery (763 S. Eighth St.), is going to be taking over the Eighth and Christian space that most recently Paxia. More details coming; hat tip to Adam Erace, who mentioned this on his Twitter earlier today.
UPDATE: D'Abbraccio's confirmed the move to Meal Ticket; we'll have more on the reopening soon.
Visit the Website www.ristorantemezzaluna.biz Phone number is the same. NEW ADDRESS 901 S. 8th street Just 1 block south of our current home!
Just got back from opening night at the new location. The place is bigger than the old spot but somehow manages to be cozy and intimate. Food is still OUTSTANDING. Gnocchi as great as it ever was. Same for the veal. Branzino, as always, is just tremendous. Max reported he will be ready to make his famous desserts in about a week, so will have to wait for that. Other than that, this is still the best restaurant in South Philly.
[...] so we popped by yesterday evening for a look. This past summer, the former Paxia space was taken over by Pietro D�Abbraccio, who moved his Mezza Luna restaurant from 763 S. Eighth to this corner space. As of right now, [...]
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