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Archive: August, 2011
The Ritz-Carlton's 10 Arts by Eric Ripert (10 S. Broad St.) has officially announced the departure of chef de cuisine Jennifer Carroll, who's run the celeb chef's Philadelphia outpost since it opened in 2008. She's gone as of October 6; on October 5, she'll participate in the Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner Series as something of a swan song. No official word on where she's heading just yet, aside from the fact that she's leaving 10 Arts "to explore a variety of exciting options open to her."
Calypso (8229 Germantown Ave.) and Philly Fare are hosting a wing-tasting party tomorrow, Aug. 18, from 6 to 8 p.m. Show up at Calypso's home base, the Chestnut Hill Farmers Market, to take advantage of tasty 50-cent wings, dollar drinks and other fresh Trinidadian food (roti, curried long beans, coconut spinach, etc.) from mother/daughter team Claudette Campbell and Iman Marcano-Sowell. Wing varieties will include Asian sesame, Polynesian, Jerk, Mango Mania and Tuscan Garlic. Diners are welcome to eat in or take out, and the evening is BYOB for those planning to make a night of it.
Because June is very different from August, September from November, etc., we love how Fond (1617 E. Passyunk Ave.), instead of overhauling the menu once a season, does so thrice to reflect shifting availability of what’s growing when. Lee Styer and Jessie Prawlucki's late-summer menu, abloom with heirloom tomatoes, figs and eggplant, premieres this week, featuring the return of our favorite risotto in town: corn! Styer tames its creamy sweetness with salty pancetta and a drizzle of tangy sherry syrup. Eat it immediately, as well as any of the other dishes listed after the jump.
It's hot as hell, you've got nothing but a dollar in your pocket and you're within shouting distance of the Polish American Cultural Center (308 Walnut St). Looks like you should grab yourself a cup of Polish Water Ice, which the PACC now carries. But what makes Polish Water Ice, which has retail shop locations in Ocean City, Wildwood and Sea Isle, so Polish? Packing in as much fruity flavor as Rita's, this Eastern Euro rendition of Philly's favorite summer treat, developed in the early '90s by Thomas B. Curyto, has a richer, more custardlike consistency. There's no dairy in the product, though — that creamy smoothness comes from a both a "secret family recipe" and the use of an Electro Freeze, or soft-serve ice cream machine. If you want ice without heading to Jersey, snag a cup of cherry, mango or watermelon at the PACC or pick some up at your local Acme.
Over the weekend, an attractively packaged quart of ice cream caught my eye in the snug freezer section of Casel's supermarket in Margate. The flavor: Lobster Tracks, churned by the fine folks of Maine stalwart Gifford's (who incidentally claim dominion over the invention of Moose Tracks ice cream). My fiancée, who spent childhood summers building houses for the underprivileged in Farmington, Me. — I do not deserve someone this virtuous — recognized the Gifford's name. "We went there every night for ice cream!" she erupted. "It's amazing!" So we bought some.
Former El Camino Real chef and Top Chef contestant Jennifer Zavala has been laying low here in Philly as of late, but she's got a new project working that she hopes to launch in 2012 — Cherry Bomb, an old mini school bus-turned-ice cream truck she's converting into her own mobile operation. "I guess it's all come around for me, since I started my career cooking on a tour bus," says Zavala, who fed Ozzfest acts prior to landing in Philly. What type of food? "Stoner food — it has no boundaries!" Zavala jokes. Mainly, she uses the moniker "because 'continental' sounds so snooty." She's quick to point out that there will be no cheesesteaks. Look for Cherry Bomb to launch next spring.
Yet another nice get for Center City's The Farmers' Cabinet (1113 Walnut St.), which just landed Jason Goodman as its new chef the other day — bartender Christian Gaal, late of the just-sold-off Noble (2025 Sansom St.), now calls the F-Cab home.
Gaal, who is no stranger to CP — Felicia D'Ambrosio profiled him when he first started at Noble back in 2009, and he also helped us out with our fall 2010 piece on peculiar spirits — joins his ladyfriend Phoebe Esmon, who's been head bartender and bar manager at the Cabinet since it opened. Perhaps Gaal and Esmon will reprise the always-hilarious Saturday-night simul-mixing "Monogamous Cocktail Experience" we enjoyed more than a few times at Noble — Gaal's slated to hop behind the stick this weekend.
Photo: Jason Varney
In case you haven't heard of that — Tria Wine Room is the new name of Biba, which Jon Myerow and Co. opened last October at 3131 Walnut. Way better name recognition, no? Tonight till 11 p.m. they're celebrating the name change and technical third location of Tria by offering your first glass of 2004 Gran Reserva Cava for just $3.33 (subsequent glasses will run $8.50). That same $3.33 price will also apply to unlimited orders of Ewe Bloom, a camembert-esque sheep's milk cheese out of Prairie Fruits Farm in Illinois. Oh, and if you're in need of stemware — since they can't use 'em anymore, the Wine Room staff is selling off six-piece sets of Biba-branded Spiegelau Vino glasses for $36.
It's National Rum Day and Cuba Libre (10 S. Second St.) is celebrating all the spiced, aged, hint-of-vanilla, make-me-wanna-drink-like-a-sailor varieties with a “Caippy Hour" tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. They'll offer an impressive list of 80 types of rum from 17 countries and 35 different rum cocktails mixed and served at half price — $4 to $19 a glass. Seems like a good reason to indulge in some Tuesday tipsiness and try the bar’s special Bacardi Solera Cuba Libre 10th anniversary rum. The small-bar bites menu, offered at $4 a plate, is also up for grabs, with items like guacamole cubano, empanadas, yucca frita and salted cod fritters.
In came a heads up from a reliable Meal Ticket tipster this weekend that 2029 Walnut — the address that formerly housed the club Strongbox — has been tentatively earmarked for a double-headed Gallic concept. We're hearing it'll be a French patisserie and café by day, only to convert into a "full-fledged French restaurant" in the evening. We're also hearing the space, a BYO, will be run by a front-of-house vet who's currently employed at a well-heeled Philly restaurant that also happens to specialize in French cuisine. Très intéressant! Though we haven't been able to get anyone to talk yet, more details to come, hopefully.
Photo: Drew Lazor
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