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Archive: July, 2011
Help save a couple creatures while eating a little healthier tonight at Khyber Pass Pub (56 S. Second St.) as they host the latest installment of Vegan Cocktails Philly, a traveling monthly mixer that promotes vegan awareness. From 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., KPP invites vegans, vegetarians and those who might still be stuck in a July 4 hamburger/hot dog coma to stop by and veg out on new food and drink. The Khyber, whose menu already favors options for the meatless, will tap a number of vegan beers, mix three vegan cocktails (Blackberry Palmer, Sourpuss, Melonhead) and offer eats like the vegan-friendly version of their delicious bacon grease popcorn, green tomato gazpacho, vegan Natchitoches meat pies, grilled sweet potato po'boys, Creole ratatouille, and of course dessert (vegan red velvet cupcakes). Prices for the event’s food and drink items are consistent with that of their regular menu.
Dropped into the brand-new second location of Raw Sushi & Sake Lounge in The Piazza this weekend after the first-ever Philadelphia Vendy Awards (more on that a little later today). Three places to perch here — at the open-air bar, which is right off the Piazza grounds; the dining room, done up with movable two-tops and a big wraparound banquette; and the sushi bar, peering directly into the state-of-the-art kitchen. Dinner hours are pretty more or less identical to Raw's original location at 1225 Sansom — Sun.-Tue., 5-9:30 pm.; Wed.-Thu., 5-10:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11:30 p.m. Management says lunch service will kick off on Monday, July 25. Check out more photos after the jump. We've also got chef Sam Yoon's opening sushi and hot-entrée menu, which features an all-new robata (Japanese barbecue skewer) section and fishy options galore. Click 'em to enlarge.
Save the date July 17 for a BYOB(lanket) picnic with Philly Stake at Bartam’s Garden (54th Street and Lindbergh Avenue). Don’t know Stake? It’s a recurring nomadic dinner party at which diners are presented with proposals for community-engaged projects over cheese plates, whole-grain salads and potato-leek soup with optional bacon. At the end of the meal, everyone votes, and the winner gets the proceeds from the dinner to enact their endeavor, say, a creative workshop for veterans or a community garden for Burmese refugees, both previous Stake victors. It's like Shark Tank, with artisanal pickles.
The 10 proposals for the July 17 picnic range from letter-pressed matching games for autistic kids to yellow-bus transportation for a zombie dance troupe. See the whole list here, then order pre-sale tickets here. (You can also buy tickets in person at Shot Tower Coffee or at the door.) The Stake dinner is $20 and goes from 5 to 8 p.m., with an optional pre-dinner twilight tour of Bartram’s with curator Joel Fry for an additional $5 to $10. Sneak-peek the menu at phillystake.org; we hear there might also be tamales.
Monday, July 4
Tuesday, July 5
We've got details on the Sabrina's team's plans to open in University City.
Brand-new Thai BYO Sawatdee is open on South Street.
Victory beer now comes in ice cream form!
Wednesday, July 6
Plenty of holiday weekend eating in Notes from the Weekend.
Is Dunkin' Donuts tuna salad delicious or suspicious? Esther Martin bravely investigates.
Thursday, July 7
Will someone please help Adam Erace fix his cherry pie? He messed it up.
Friday, July 8
Eat the Meal Ticket-inspired sandwich "The Jawn" at Wedge + Fig.
Teams from Kanella and Vetri will take each other on in a proper soccer match later this month.
Today, neon-colored frozen drink-guzzling denizens of Philadelphia, is July 11 — 7-Eleven Day. That means all participating 7-Eleven locations will be giving out free 7.11-ounce Slurpees all day. To sweeten the deal with massive amounts of high fructose corn syrup, two local Sevs will also host timed Slurpee-drinking contests and other 7-Eleven-related challenges for prizes. Stop by the Rittenhouse store (226 W. Rittenhouse Square) between now and 9 a.m. or the Northeast Philly location (9001 Frankford Ave.) between 3 and 5 p.m. this afternoon to gawk/participate. And remember: Do not, under any circumstances, try to fill up if that red light on the Slurpee machine is on. That means the stuff is not even close to frozen yet and your cup will be filled with weird melty sticky death liquid. No one wants that to happen to you on 7-Eleven Day, of all occasions.
Note: I'm not really patriotic. That’s not to say I'm a bad American, but can you blame me? My mom's British and my dad's a misplaced Swiss German. I have no real past in America besides my relatives, who came over during WWII. So this is my way of commemorating America — just a few days after July 4 — with articles about the beginnings of America’s food origins. And some other stuff.
- Thomas Jefferson, America’s original food dude, traveled extensively to research other cultures' food, as detailed in this Salon piece. While I admire him to the fullest for his food expertise and activism, I call into question his hypocritical feelings toward his slaves — after all, they're the ones who did all his actual growing, cooking and brewing.
- Apparently, America owes its independence to the food eaten by the soldiers during the war, as provided by local farmers. Without them, we’d still be shit out of luck/still a colony. Granted, the food they ate wouldn’t be great for commemorating July 4 (mmm, dried meat and flour cakes), but at least we've got modern-day barbecue and hot dogs to supplement.
- It's called "gourmand syndrome," and it's for real, just like restless leg syndrome. The disorder is characterized by "a preoccupation with food and a preference for fine dining." That's all of us, right? Wrong: The syndrome can apparently cause obsession so great that it can lead to career change (not so bad) or eating disorders (bad). Still, it'd be cool to get your health insurance provider to cover all your food expenses, wouldn't it? "No, seriously. I need to eat all this expensive cheese. Doctor's orders."
- A Clifton Heights grandmother sat on her grandson and sprayed him full-on in the face with a garden hose for eating too much bacon at breakfast. We all know bacon is delicious, amazing and peculiarly versatile, but it is worth torturing your loved ones?
- South Koreans can now do all their grocery shopping while waiting for the subway. Huh? Home Plus (the British supermarket chain Tescoe) has created virtual grocery stores in subterranean SK. All customers gotta do is scan product barcodes with their smartphones and the groceries are delivered straight to their doors. It's funny: the west is advocating for slow food and the east is all about getting it done fast. Will we ever reach a happy medium?
- Wendy’s has sold off Arby’s to a private equity firm. To this I say: good. Has anyone else noticed a decline in the quality of Arby's roast beef since Wendy’s acquired them in 2008? The stuff's become so flimsy. Hopefully the quality will come back. I miss original Arby's. Sadface.
Here are some shots of the cavalcade of marketing-minded cattle that took to the Philadelphia streets this past Wednesday to celebrate the 16th anniversary of Chick-fil-A's "Eat More Chikin" campaign. Tasty sandwiches/fries/nugs and generous street teams notwithstanding, gotta say that we're a little put off by the dead, slightly sullen look in all those jet-black bovine eyes. Kinda reminds us of Michael Pitt's character in Murder by Numbers. Shudder. I'LL EAT MORE CHICKEN OK I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT JUST LET THE GIRL GO
Photos: Courtesy of Chick-fil-a
On July 24, teams from Konstantinos Pitsillides' Kanella (1001 Spruce St.) and Marc Vetri's three Philly restaurants will square off in a fullscale, 11-on-11 soccer match in Fairmount to determine who's best at The Beautiful Game. Pitsillides, who actually played semi-pro ball both in his native Cyprus and in England, says he's pulling together a roster of his servers, cooks and dishwashers — "People that I know can kick the ball, hopefully" — to run up against Vetri's squad. They'll host a training session early next week. The chef, who promises more than a few slide-tackles, says he'll be playing a defensive-minded, Bill Russell-style player/manager role on his team. No official smacktalk from Vetri yet — he's a veteran of inter-restaurant athletic competitions, battling Jose Garces each year in a Thanksgiving-day football game — but we'll surely update when he chimes in.
Here is an amazing compilation of Ron Swanson, Nick Offerman's steak-loving, bacon-inhaling, turkey leg-gnawing, whiskey-swilling, vegetable- and hippie-hating character on NBC's amazing Parks & Recreation, and his all-time best food-related moments. Right up there with Tom Haverfoods in terms of incredible edible P&R ephemera.
Good way to start the weekend: Chef Edwin Ramirez over at The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) will be handing out free blunts at happy hour tonight from 6 to 7. Before you ditch that half-cracked green Dutchie, perhaps we should clarify: The blizzies in question are actually a signature item of Ramirez's, a tortilla filled with boneless buffalo chicken, lettuce and blue cheese and twisted up tight like a White Owl a skinny burrito. Like all the best blunts, they're designed to be wielded with one hand only, leaving the other hand free for beers/high fives. Check out a video of Ramirez rolling one of his blunts above. He is really good at that.
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