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Archive: July, 2011
If you were in Old City yesterday, you might've come across the social experiment set up by Honest Tea at Fifth and Market — the drink brand put out a bunch of unguarded teas with a cash box, and requested one dollar from passers-by if they wanted to walk with a bottle. Knowing Philly, we were a bit cynical about how this would turn out, but the results are pretty surprising — in addition to not getting booted by the PPA, Philly's Honest Tea station reported an impressive 96 percent honesty rate. Tell me you saw that one coming! Expecting a press release from Nutter about this any minute now.
Check out the the ratings for the 11 other cities honesty-tested after the jump. Spoiler: If you're like us, you'll be pleased to learn that the cheapo d-bags in New York and Los Angeles are in last and second-to-last place.
On Monday we shared the bummer news that Far From Home Café food truck would be leaving Philly for a new opportunity. Then, they planned on breaking down shop this Thursday, July 21, but due to excessive heat expectations, Larry Comroe says today will be the truck's final hurrah at LOVE Park. They'll have plenty of empanadas for a revisit of their recent Empanada-Palooza, and if you say the phrase "Thank you for the love Philly" when ordering, you'll get a drink for 25 cents.
10 Arts (Ritz-Carlton, 10 S. Broad St.) has teamed up with Philabundance to introduce new permanent-fixture lunch and dinner tasting menus that benefit hungry people in the Delaware Valley. The three-course lunch tasting runs $22 a head and includes a Victory beer; the five-course dinner tasting, meanwhile, is $59, with a wine pairing option that bumps it up to $95. (Both tastings feature local meat, fish and produce, in keeping with Eric Ripert and Jennifer Carroll's cooking philosophies.) One dollar from each tasting ordered goes directly to Philabundance. If this doesn't sound like a lot to you, remember that the non-profit's access to wholesale food distribution, in addition to its cache of donated foodstuffs, means that they can provide an individual with a full, healthy meal for as little as 50 cents.
The Philabundance fundraiser officially launches this evening, and Ripert is in town to see it off. (He's also cooking a super-classy Perrier-Jouët dinner with Carroll tonight.) Check out the current lunch and dinner tasting menus after the jump; courses will switch up in accordance with availability and seasonality.
Demetri Pappas, who along with partner Peter Leontaras just acquired Xochitl (408 S. Second St.) from Steve Cook and Michael Solomonov, tells Meal Ticket he has no grand plans to overhaul the four-year-old Headhouse Square Mexi restaurant — but there are some tweaks in store. (Cook and Solo gave it a makeover in early 2010.) While the restaurant's staff (including GM Sergio Ruiz and chef Lucio Palazzo) has been retained, Pappas (former chef/owner of Bryn Mawr's Cafe Fresko) says he does have plans to launch a new bar menu themed around Mexican street food; he's working with Ruiz on a slew of new cocktails. He also mentions that a physical overhaul of the restaurant's downstairs lounge — a real hidden gem — is also on the to-do list. Last but not least, especially at this heavily trafficked Headhouse locale, Pappas (his cousins, George and Vasiliki Tsiouris, own Opa) plans on applying for an outdoor seating license.
Photo: Felicia D'Ambrosio
"Food trucks are fun, but they're brutal," says link lord Dan Semko, who's told Meal Ticket today he's ending the year-plus run of his Renaissance Sausage truck. The last day for the mobile sandwich op will be Sunday, July 31 at the Headhouse Farmers Market (Second and Lombard), but don't fear, Renaissance men and women; Semko is still selling his links at local markets and will be doubling up wholesale efforts in the coming months. "The business is still going, and in a positive direction."
Renaissance's wheels are for sale, by the by. Inquire at renaissancesausage@gmail.com and stay tuned to Meal Ticket for upcoming details about Semko's top-secret future plans.
Philly's coffee-roasting community is small, no doubt, but it's growing. We recently told you about Fishtown's ReAnimator, and now there's a new microplayer on the way up north — Chris Molieri's GreenStreet Roasters, based at Broad and Girard. It's a brand-new operation and industry for Molieri, who developed a passion for roasting while working the financial services sector in Portland, Oregon; there, he put in a lot of time researching the bigger PDX players (Stumptown, Ristretto, etc.), eventually plunging into roasting thanks to some tutelage from the owner of Portland's Courier Coffee. Molieri, who started prepping green beans on a popcorn roaster before investing in a high-end Ambex setup, is starting off small, with a house blend and an espresso, but he plans on introducing single-bean varietals as well as a fair trade/organic blend in the near future. The roaster's also in talks with a number of cafés, restaurants and caterers to carry his products. "[I] am passionate about the specialty coffee world and optimistic about the growth of the specialty industry," says Molieri.
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.)
It's been a bit of a slow go at the site of the 10th-and-Christian Santucci's location we first mentioned last summer, but recent flurries of construction activity in the Italian Market space have given us buttery-crusted hope. Good news: Third-generation owner Alicia Santucci tells Meal Ticket the shop can and should be ready to open as soon as next week — they're just waiting on their city health inspection. We'll keep you posted.
Photos: Drew Lazor
It's been a little while since we'd done a WWE challenge, huh? Here's a lunch place we visited recently. Clue: The employee's blue shirt is a telltale sign ...
Pardon my Swedish, but it’s time for a Kraftskiva. The American Swedish Historical Museum (1900 Pattison Ave.) is inviting everyone over to their place for their 20th annual crayfish party. It won’t be your usual American bayou-style crayfish meal, though: ASHM is taking the old-school Swedish approach, boiling the crayfish in salt water and plenty of dill. Eating them will also be by the book. The mini-lobster-lookers will chill before the crowd begins cracking the shells with their hands and slurping them down (don’t worry, there’ll be bibs on hand). And don’t forget the sides, which will include potato salad, green salad and toasted bread with sharp cheese. But a Kraftskiva is also about the celebration itself. Partygoers usually indulge in plenty of aquavit — maybe that’s why a the events usually involve singing Swedish songs while wearing paper hats.
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