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Archive: August, 2011
Ever since Scott Schroeder launched a grilled halloumi salad with galia melon at SPTR (1509 Mifflin St.), I’ve been thinking how good that honeydew/cantaloupe crossbreed would be buzzed into a chilled summer soup. Well, summer's almost over, but we're high in melon season, and this 5-minutes-flat recipe will work with any ripe specimen.
Bindi (105 S. 13th St.), the new-style Indian BYOB Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran opened along their 13th Street fiefdom in late 2007, applied for a liquor license earlier this summer. But simply adding alcohol to the modern Bombay fray was never the plan — the duo will soon reconceptualize it into Jamonera, a wine bar inspired by their many travels through Spain. (That wanderlust was also, in part, the inspiration for Barbuzzo.) They'll redesign the space, constructing a bar that'll add room for 10 to 12 in addition to Bindi's existing capacity; expect draft beers, plus Spanish-speaking food, wine and cocktail programs. Fall opening. More soon.
Gordon Dinerman, whose Birra (1700 E. Passyuk Ave.) we first talked about back in March, has been testing recipes and baking pizzas in his standard-issue apartment kitchen, but that will be changing soon enough — the chef/owner expects to complete construction of the restaurant any day now and hopes to start cooking using his brick-lined, gas-burning deck ovens next week. (Opening should be around Labor Day.) Dinerman's menu will also feature small apps, pressed sandwiches, their signature "Birra Bowl" and more, but the main focus will definitely be pizza. As far as drinks go, Dinerman hopes to have a mix of at least six American and Euro craft beers on tap, plus bottled beers and growlers. There will also be a selection of wines and cocktails. For a sneak peek at the preparation of a Birra Bowl, see this Dandy Warhols-soundtracked video.
Once a week, Team Meal Ticket shares its latest sugar-laden fixations. Do not tell our dentist.
IN QUESTION: That'd be the amazing Mint Pocky, packaged in a box the color of mouthwash. Why does mint-flavored shit always rock this color? Real-life mint does not look like that whatsoever. Anyway, minty zesty chocolate meets the characteristic Pocky stick crunch. That's it! It's tremendous.
WHERE TO BUY: Here's where you can help me out, candy fans. I purchased this box at Hung Vuong (Wing Phat Plaza, 1100 Washington Ave.), where I usually cop my Pocky. Lately though, the candy selection over there has been sparse and weak as hell! I literally found this rogue box of Mint tucked in with a few others in a Pocky splinter cell located behind some sardines in my second-favorite aisle, "Various Kinds of Cans." What gives? Why do I gotta perform a storewide scavenger hunt to find all the good flavors?! I'm mad at you, Hung Vuong. Where else can I acquire the Pockys I require on the reg? Get at me in the comments.
HOW MANY DO WE TYPICALLY EAT IN ONE SITTING: There are two sleeves in this particular box, so two sleeves.
FINER POINTS: It's amazing how similar Mint Pocky tastes to Girl Scout thin mints — same satisfaction, skinnier, more Asian delivery system. You know what that means — freeze 'em!
Photo: Drew Lazor
Not really sure what's going on with the reverse E in "peppers," "peaches" and "chevre." Kinda like a Ke$ha thing?
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. (Check out CP's coverage.) To commemorate the event, Yards has prepared their own barrel(s) of fun — the brewery's first-ever lager, Folk Fest. The 6 percent ABV beer, brewed on Yards' pilot system, uses German malts and Hallertau and Tettnang hops. They produced only six barrels, or a dozen kegs. "We will be pouring the beer at the Folk Fest and only at the Folk Fest," says Yards' director of operations Steve Mashington. "We may keep a keg for the tasting room [in the Philly brewery], but that will be it." So if you want to taste their latest creation (Mashington provided "pretty awesome" as a tasting note), prepare to trip it out to Old Pool Farm. Expect to find a number of the brewery’s signature ales — Philly Pale, Brawler, IPA and ESA — in the festival’s beer garden, as well. Folk Fest tix are available here.
- Adam Erace discovers that the name is only the tip of the zany iceberg at Llama Tooth on Spring Garden. Between the Asian-inspired "Bonsai Mac" and the Photoshopped camelid art that carries "all the seamlessness of an AOL-era celebrity nude," it's a strange place — but it's got some pretty good food.
- Nicole Rossi profiles local beekeeper Don Shump, who's started to sell wildflower honey through his Philadelphia Bee Company imprint. But retail is just one part of the equation for the apiarist — it's as much about education as it is about eating.
- In Feeding Frenzy: MilkBoy is open, Noble is closed and there's plenty to talk about with Tria Wine Room, Ramen Boy and more.
- In What's Cooking: Details on next week's birthday party at Dock Street, the fast-approaching Bar AIDS fundraiser, a canned beer dinner at Percy Street and more.
Photo: Neal Santos
- Peaches are one of the greatest parts of summer, but Philadelphia is luckier than most. We have Three Springs Fruit Farm, purveyors of the greatest peaches known to man. Ben Wenk, who you’ll see at Headhouse Market on Sunday mornings, gave Collin Flatt at The Feast six reasons why Three Springs has the best peaches on earth (I added the "on earth" part).
- Speaking of Snack Time, Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh have started a weekly 40-minute podcast about snacks, where they eat them, discuss them and rate them.
- The munchies: one of the most dangerous side effects of weed smoking. The desire to eat the strangest and potentially dangerous food combinations known to man. Here is one woman’s guide to navigating the munchies (don’t eat sausage). Speaking of marijuana …
- Things to watch while stoned: this. http://eyewhatyoueat.com
- This is sure to be a blow to food-snob haters everywhere. Food Day, which will be something like Earth Day, is scheduled for Oct. 24. The event encourages local restaurants to partner with hunger and sustainable-agriculture groups to inform the masses about their food.
- OMIGOSHLOOKATTHESEADORABLEKITTYDOUGHNUTS! *cuteness overload*
Photo: @floresta_mama on TwitPic via Serious Eats
There’s a new booze blog in town: Home Speakeasy is Jon Kostesich and girlfriend Jen Killius' way of chronicling their amateur adventures in the world of craft cocktailery.
Both Kostesich and Killius were big spirits fans long prior to launching the blog: Kostesich spent his time drinking whiskey at Southwark (701 S. Fourth St.), his favorite neighborhood haunt, while Killius explored Columbus, Ohio, where she was living at the time. During their travels they discovered quite a few great cocktail bars, but all those $15 drinks soon began taking their financial toll. So the two started buying their own bottles and experimenting with their own original cocktail recipes.
Gatsby doesn't typically ride through Center City, but he can be found with Danielle Jowdy (above) at farmers markets in Jenkinstown, Media, Skippack and the Navy Yard. No, we’re not talking about Fitzgerald's mystery man — Gatsby is the nickname of Jowdy's light blue truck that doubles as home for Zsa's Gourmet Ice Cream. Peanut butter, lavender honey and chocolate truffle are but a few of the ice cream flavors she churns; Jowdy sources local ingredients and makes all her sauces from scratch. Even more tempting: She whips up homemade ice cream sandwiches (vanilla with cinnamon chocolate chip oatmeal cookies; peanut butter with double chocolate chip cookies).
Though it's definitely in the works, Jowdy's still in the process of branching out into Center City and doesn’t have an exact date of when this will happen, but she does tell me to be on the lookout for Zsa’s at the next Food Trust Night Market, scheduled for Oct. 6. Until then, someone please take me to Media? I'll buy you ice cream.
Photo: Zsa's on Facebook
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