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Archive: July, 2011
Like bikes? Like farmers? Then fasten your helmets: Saturday, July 23, marks the sixth annual Urban Farm Bike Tour sponsored by Weaver’s Way Co-op. That morning, two rides will launch from (and end at) the Awbury Arboretum (1011 E. Washington Ln.) in East Mount Airy. The longer tour departs at 8:30 — be there before 8, sleepyheads — and rolls from Roxborough to Brewerytown to South Philly to Hunting Park and back, making eight stops at urban farms along the way. The shorter tour departs at 9:15, but arrives back at the Arboretum at the same time, 3 p.m., for a big-ass barbecue lubricated with lots of local beer. Want to participate? That’ll be $28 in advance, please ($25 for Co-op members), or $30 at the door. Which of course has us wondering: Can skip the exercise and just come straight to the barbecue?
Photo: weaversway.coop
Like most South Phillies, Circles (1516 Tasker St.) is my Thai take-out and delivery (and, since their café opened two months ago, sit-down, too) go-to. So how, when I’ve eaten most of chef/owner Alex Boonphaya's menu, was it only two weeks ago when I finally tried the ballyhooed tofu-corn fritters?
Center City's Rotisseur (105 S. 21st St.), which opened as a dinner-only operation in late May, is officially rolling out lunch service today. Owners Aaron Matzin and Dean Kitagawa start serving at 11:30 a.m. and roll straight through to 10 p.m., and they've added some menu items to mark the occasion — peep their new apple/chicken salad and their chicken banh mi, layered with rotisserie bird, house pickles and spicy mayo on a Sarcone's long roll.
Photo: Drew Lazor
- On the cover this week: Carolyn Wyman shares the history of Philly's own Bassetts Ice Cream, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2011 — that makes them the oldest creamery in America still run by the same family.
- Adam Erace visits Al Zaytouna, the Tunisian-owned Middle Eastern BYO in the Italian Market, and finds that this eatery, named for the olive, is still a little green.
- Lauren Boggi, creator of Philly's Lithe Method fitness regime, has launched her own line of locally sourcd, calorically correct and preservative-free eats, called Lithe Foods.
- It's CP's 30th anniversary this year, so we've taken the opportunity to look back on three decades of food/drink coverage. What better place to start than at Friday Saturday Sunday, the Rittenhouse restaurant that's been in business for even longer than CP's been around?
- We grabbed some memorable quotes from City Paper food critics past.
- Revisiting a few food-centric cover stories from the '80s moving forward.
- In What's Cooking: Info on Monday's monthly dinner at Café Estelle, a serious pizza competition, good dealage out in U-City and more.
Photos: Neal Santos and Jessica Kourkounis
Couldn’t make it to Manhattan for Le Virtù’s big splash at the James Beard House? Fear not, paesan. You can eat the feast in its carefully reproduced entirety tonight, without leaving Philly. Chef Joe Cicala will be opening with cocktails and passed stuzzicchini — that’s Italiano for hors d'oeuvres — of goat meatballs, porchetta agnolotti, headcheese and more at 6:30 p.m. in the Campo garden (weather permitting), followed by six plated courses. Wine pairings are included in the $100 per-person price tag. Peep the full menu after the jump, and make reservations by calling the restaurant (1927 E. Passyunk Ave.) at 215-271-5626.
Local artist, blogger and hot dog connoisseur Hawk Krall, who we most recently wrote about due to his work with South Street's Hot Diggity!, has just notched what is perhaps the ultimate honor for a wiener freak of his caliber — next Wednesday, July 20, he'll man an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile food truck, handing out free hot dogs to the first 1,000 people who show up at South Penn Square at 15th and Market starting at 11:30 in the morning. Krall, also a cook by trade, has dreamt up a number of frank styles he'll be dishing out to all comers, including a PA Dutch pepper hash dog, a Seattle-style dog (butterflied with cream cheese dressing) and a "Perro Colombiano," a bacon-wrapped winner topped with pineapple salsa, crushed chips, avocado, "pink sauce," chimichurri mayo and mustard (that sounds sickkkkkk). See you fools in line.
Photo: Courtesy of Oscar Mayer
This coming Monday, July 18, Opa (1311 Sansom St.), which Adam Erace determined had swagger like Zeus in his April review, will introduce lunch service with a giveaway — all comers will receive a free "toast." Before you start complaining that all you're receiving gratis is crunchy slices of rye (hey, even that would be sweet to get for free, quit your whining), know that "toast" actually refers to a Greek-style pressed sandwich; the one pictured above is layered with LanCo ham, melted manouri cheese and honey mustard (you'll get a comp side of their bangin' oregano fries, as well). Lunch at Opa, though (running weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.), will feature a bunch more options beyond these sandwiches; you've also got gyros, their bifteki burger and a selection of mezedes. Peep the menu in full after the jump (click to enlarge.)
Pizza enthusiast Brian "Brain" Dwyer is more than obsessed with pizza — he has such an impressive collection of pizza-related memorabilia that Guinness is actually coming here late this month to survey it for world-record consideration., which will be displayed at 2313 Frankford Avenue, the planned home of Pizza Brain, his pizza shop/arcade/museum/performance space. Since we last talked to Dwyer, things seem to be coming along — tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., there will be a zoning board meeting tonight at the Fishtown Rec Center (1202 E. Montgomery Avenue) that's open to the public; if they receive approval from the board, construction can get underway. Dwyer encourages all to come and show their love for the project, but has one sartorial request: "Dress nicely if you can. No wacky swim trunks or tank tops please." Don't worry though, supporters — if Pizza Brain does get doing, you can ditch the khakis and put the Zubaz back on.
Photo: Drew Lazor
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.)
Those of us that have been missing Bebe's BBQ since Mark Coates closed his tiny Italian Market shop a few years ago should earmark the date July 24. This night, from 5:30 to 10 p.m., Coates will be cooking at the Wishing Well (767 S. Ninth St.), owned by buddy, North-South collaborator and Smoke Truck partner Carmen Cappello. "Mark and I feel it is the right time to do a pop-up with Philly's No. 1 barbecue," says Cappello. "We want to share it with Mark’s fans and give people a taste of what they can look forward to." Expect pulled pork and brisket for mains and a slew of sides. Sandwiches will be $8 to $10; platters with two sides will be $15 to $17. Check the full menu after the jump.
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