Archive: September, 2010

SNACK TIME: Get outta my dreams and into my mouth, beer me, college meals Onion-style, getting baked, ImGladUtoldMe

POSTED: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 8:40 PM

Filed Under: Snack Time

Tommy Up on TwitPic

- I feel like the brand-new chicken and waffle burger at P.Y.T. came straight from a wonderful dream I once had. Phoodie.info shares a picture and all the juicy, delicious details. P.S. It has bacon on it. SAYIN'! - I will put my jealousies aside and wish Bathtub Brewery an awesome trip to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. Here they share their itinerary (sorta) and excitement for their trip. - We all know The Onion kills it, especially when they hit the "too real" side of things. Here they provide some details regarding college meal plans, and what they will cost you. I for one was partial to the ramen-for-every-meal during my stint at Temple. - So thats what you've been up to! Congratulations to Foodaphilia for your upcoming takeover of the Flying Monkey Patisserie in Reading Terminal Market. Sad to see you leave the blogging world, but so excited for your new endeavors! - Now that backyard BBQ-ing season is coming to a close, UWISHUNU shares its list of the best BBQ joints Philly (and beyond) has to offer. Complete with descriptions of specialties and a holy-crap-that-looks-awesome picture of what Percy Street has to offer, I am most certainly going on a BBQ bender this weekend.

Posted by Rachel Burgos @ 8:40 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Restaurant Week Pick for Sept. 16: Sampan

POSTED: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 7:45 PM

Filed Under: Dealage

Photo | Felicia D'Ambrosio

Need somewhere to get your deal on tonight? Every day during next two weeks, Team Meal Ticket will bring you a daily Restaurant Week pick. We will highlight some of the best deals being offered by officially participating restaurants, as well as some renegade Restaurant Weekers around town. Last night I found myself at the kitchen counter at Sampan (124 S. 13th St.) taking in the Restaurant Week festivities, and it quite possibly was the best RW meal I have ever had. Four courses (plus soft-serve ice cream for dessert) is one of the best deals going this Restaurant Week; the portions are quite generous, the selections is vast and it's cool to see Michael Schulson working the pass. Go for the edamame dumplings, calamari salad, Peking duck and the sea bass. There are plenty of tables available tonight. Here's Sampan Restaurant Week menu (pick one from each column).

Posted by Anthony Sica @ 7:45 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT DRINK THIS IMMEDIATELY: Yards' new/old Love Stout

POSTED: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 7:03 PM

Filed Under: Booze | Eat This Immediately

Photo | Drew Lazor

We dropped by Oyster House (1516 Sansom St.) earlier this week for the release of Yards' latest Love Stout, which this time around is brewed using a bushel of oysters Sam Mink's shuckerie provided Tom Kehoe and Co. for the process. Though Love Stout is brewed annually, it's been some time since they've done it as an oyster stout, a style popularized in the UK that's been creeping back into the craft-beer discussion recently thanks to local entries like Flying Fish's Exit 1. But that's actually how it started Sam's father David, who ran Sansom Street Oyster House at the same location in its day, blessed Yards with bushel of oysters for the brew the very first time they cranked out the stout, so 2010's new-look stout is actually a bit of a throwback. The beer, which was concocted using Yards' original small-batch equipment (throwback part deux) is a creamy, easy-drinking, well-rounded stout through and through, with a warm malt backbone and some nice dark chocolate flavors. As far as we can tell, the oysters don't really influence the flavor of the beer in any dramatic fashion we're told they mostly affect its texture, though maybe there is a bit of brine hiding in there somewhere but it's fun to know they're back. Look for it in firkins and on tap at Philly's finer bars. Drink this immediately.

Posted 2010-09-16 18:27:47

NOT VEGAN. BOOO. No love for vegans this year :(

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 7:03 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Pepper Mill Cafe launches in Penn Museum

POSTED: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 6:03 PM

Filed Under: Food and Art | Openings

www.penn.museum

The Pepper Mill Café opened for business this past Tuesday inside UPenn's Museum Of Archaeology and Anthropology (3260 South St.). Run by Restaurant Associates, whose 16-year contract with the Philadelphia Museum of Art just ended (Stephen Starr's got that gig now), Pepper Mill is a revamp of the Museum's café, situated to provide a sweet view of the Museum's inner gardens. Exec chef Will Brown serves a menu of sustainable and regionally conscious fare here, spanning soups, sandwiches, salads, mains and vegetarian options; signatures include a mezze plate (hummus, grape leaves, feta salad, olives, cuke/tomato salad, pita) and arctic char with mango papaya slaw. The Pepper Mill, named after William Pepper, the former UPenn provost who founded the museum, is open Monday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Brown will offer a light dinner menu option, with wine pairings, on the first Wednesday of each month.

Ticket Stubs: Meal Ticket Weekly Recap, Sept. 13-17 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2010-09-20 08:02:05

[...] UPenn’s Museum has a new eatery called Pepper Mill Café. [...]

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 6:03 PM Permalink | Post a comment

IN PRINT: City Paper Food and Restaurants, Sept. 16

POSTED: Thursday, September 16, 2010, 5:03 PM

Filed Under: In Print

Photo | Neal Santos

- OK, so the liquid nitrogen gelato (above) is definitely a show, but Adam Erace discovers that there's a quite a lot to like at The Piazza's Italian restaurant Apollinare. Just one thing: Where are all the customers? - Philadelphia's chefs are a bunch of tweeting fools. Here's a quickie roundup of some of our favorite status-updating local cooks, where to find them and samples of their finest 140-character-or-less work. - In What's Cooking, Rachel Burgos breaks down the impending sausagefest at Standard Tap, a duo of homage-to-Burgundy dinners at Bistrot La Minette, some Oktoberfest festivities and more. - Details on new Fishtown café The Lola Bean, a new owner for Reading Terminal's Flying Monkey, cupcakes, Lebanese food, hotel restaurants, Stephen Starr Brit-pubs and so forth in Feeding Frenzy.

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 5:03 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Jose Garces doesn't want you to remember your Saturday night

POSTED: Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 11:08 PM

Filed Under: Booze | Dealage

Jose Garces, in an apparent power move to ensure his is the last venue you remember visiting on your day off, is launching a new Saturday afternoon happy hour at his perpetually packed Village Whiskey (114 S. 20th St.). Dubbed "Five O'Clock Somewhere Happy Hour," the dealage will run from 2 to 4 p.m. beginning this Saturday, Sept. 18. VW's pressed-and-starched bar staff will pour $7 whiskey tastes, $6 cocktails, $5 wines and $4 draft beers; to eat, there'll be a mini slider version of the infamous VW burger, plus barbecue pork sliders and house-brined pickle canapes. After the jump, peep the working schedule, through October, of which whiskies and cocktails will be on offer for this mind-eraser of a post-brunch diversion. UPDATE [18sept10]: Here's the rundown for today's happy hour (PDF). 9/18: Rowans Creek Small Batch, a 100 proof Kentucky bourbon that is made and bottled by hand in small lots, one batch at a time; The Old Fashioned, Bottle in Bond bourbon, house-made bitters, sugar and lemon. 9/25: Ransoms Whippersnapper Whiskey, a pot distilled Oregon whiskey with similarities to bourbon, Scotch, Irish whiskey and Dutch corenwyn; The Martinez, Old Tom gin, maraschino, sweet vermouth and Angostura. 10/2: Bushmills 10 Year, a triple-distilled Irish whiskey that is aged for at least 10 years in bourbon-seasoned barrels, with aromas of honey, vanilla and milk chocolate; The Commodore, bourbon, lime, sugar, orange bitters and mescal rinse. 10/9: Dalmore 12 Year, a dynamic and varied whiskey aged in American white oak and Oloroso sherry wood for brilliant complexity; The Aviation, gin, crème de violette, maraschino and lemon. 10/16: Suntory Hibiki 12 Year, a Japanese blended whiskey that is part-matured in plum liqueur casks; Ginger Rogers, gin, ginger, lemon, Fees rhubarb bitters and sparkling rose. 10/23: (ri)1 Rye, a honey-colored rye with peppery nose, light and dry mouthfeel and glowing, reassuring finish that lingers before quietly slipping away; Village Manhattan, rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and house-made bitters. 10/30: Jose Garces' Four Roses Single Barrel, a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey with fruity aromas, delicate hints of honey and maple syrup and spicy notes; The Brooklyn, rye whiskey, dry vermouth, Torani Amer and maraschino.

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 11:08 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Intelligentsia Coffee coming to Center City

POSTED: Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 9:16 PM

Filed Under: Coffee | Food and Sports | Openings

Stopped into the awesome Bodhi Coffee (410 S. Second St.) just now and ran into Evan Inatome (right), who is in the early stages of setting up a café called Elixr in the long-vacant space that was last Hausbrandt (207 S. 15th St.). He was hooking up with some barista buddies to host an informal "cupping" (coffee tasting) for three international varietals from the lauded Chicago supplier Intelligentsia, whose roasts he'll use at the shop. (For the record, Bodhi rocks Stumptown.) The space is in good shape, Inatome says, but he plans on making a number of cosmetic changes; he hasn't landed on a food/baked-good approach just yet. Opening should be in the next few months. Inatome's brother-in-law is Eagles O-lineman and food freak Winston Justice (check out this vid of #74 making maki with Zama Tanaka), who will be involved with the café, particularly in a charitable sense for example, Inatome and Justice plan on launching a bottled water line to be carried at Elixr, the sales of which will benefit clean-water initiatives in countries like Haiti.

benP

Posted 2010-09-20 12:06:50

It's so cool to see intelligentsia coffee become more popular in other cities outside of Chicago.

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 9:16 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Restaurant Week Pick(s) for Sept. 15: Valanni and Tweed

POSTED: Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 7:35 PM

Filed Under: Dealage

Photo | Mark Stehle

Need somewhere to get your deal on tonight? Every day during next two weeks, Team Meal Ticket will bring you a daily Restaurant Week pick. We will highlight some of the best deals being offered by officially participating restaurants, as well as some renegade Restaurant Weekers around town. Two restaurant picks for you today since we missed yesterday: - Drop by for lunch or dinner at Tweed (114 S. 12th St.; above), which was just reviewed by CP's Adam Erace. If you're going for dinner, double up on dealage and arrive between 5 and 7 to take in their solid happy hour. Here's their Restaurant Week menu. - Check out dinner at Valanni (1229 Spruce St.), where the entire regular dinner menu, a not just a separate prix-fixe, is up for RW grabs. Choose your first course from the taste/tapas sections, a large plate as your entrée and a dessert from chef John Train's Medi-inspired menu.

Posted by Anthony Sica @ 7:35 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW OPEN: Hop Angel Brauhaus

POSTED: Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 6:51 PM

Filed Under: Booze | Menu Time | Openings | Photos

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

We schlepped it up to quaint Fox Chase yesterday afternoon to grab some photos of Hop Angel Brauhaus (7980 Oxford Ave.), the just-opened revamp of the Blue Ox Brauhaus from Mike "Scoats" Scotese and Patrick McGinley of the Grey Lodge Pub. The partners acquired the business from Tekla Grund, whose clan had run a brauhaus at this location for decades before turning over to new owners, who converted it into a bistro, several years ago. (The site's lineage as a bar, however, dates back centuries.) Scoats and McGinley intended on relaunching the bar as a traditional Teutonic watering hole from the beginning after all, "the architecture demands it," as McGinley says. The 80-seat space's dark wood rafters and ceilings, vintage light fixtures and intricate wood carvings really do give it that barrel-chested, basement-bar-scene-in-Inglourious Basterds feel the partners cleaned the interior up drastically and made some aesthetic/layout tweaks to open up the room for a flow of lively customers. The beer program here, Scoats says, won't be quite as elaborate as it is as Mayfair's Grey Lodge this is a German drinkery, yes, but it's also a Philadelphia bar, so expect to see Oktoberfest and otherwise Deutsch-inspired beers from local breweries on the 12-tap system, in addition to traditional German beers, at any given time. (Knowing these guys, though, they'll definitely offer some solid out-of-town American craft choices, as well.) The food is skewing traditional, too chef Matthew Hartnett, most recently of Center City's Slate (and the sickkkk short rib-stuffed burger), is overseeing a huge menu that centers on all your known-and-loved German meats and sausages (schnitzels, sauerbraten, wursts, roasted pork shoulder, etc.). Scoats adds, though, that Hartnett does extremely well with Alsatian-style food, so don't be surprised if flammekueche or other traditional dishes from the region start appearing on the menu in the coming months. Here are Hartnett's lunch menu and dinner menu in PDF format. Pictured above are two prime beef burgers off the chef's bar/late-night menu one comes topped with King Ludwig beer cheese, while the other is stuffed with pickled shallots and oozy Butterkase; both come with crispy fries and a side of curried ketchup. The Hop Angel is still is soft-open mode, so they're starting by offering the dinner menu (5-10 p.m.) and late-night bar eats (till midnight, and till 1 a.m. Friday-Saturday), with lunch launching soon.

squeak

Posted 2010-09-23 16:07:30

Frikadeller are Danish fried meatballs which are amazing with rugbrød (akin to schwarzbrot). I've never seen a big one. Sounds... scary.

June

Posted 2010-10-31 14:05:07

My husband and I were at the Hop Angel last night. I can't tell you how much we enjoyed the meal. We were seated right away (around 7:00) The drinks were great too.My husband had one of the beers from Germany( I think Munich) and I had the warm cider drink with Bourbon.Also enjoyed the decor,really gave you the feeling of being in Germany. We will be back!!

And at our backs we always hear, Krispy Kreme’s bad-ass glaze-dripping apparatus, drawing near :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2010-09-30 12:47:09

[...] on Nov. 9, when it opens a new location at 7855 Oxford Avenue in Fox Chase, about one block from the just-launched Hop Angel Brauhaus. Though the Southern-based brand plans on opening upwards of 20 locations in the region between now [...]

Johanna

Posted 2010-10-05 10:14:21

had a 5pm reservation was not seated till 5:30...not able to handle large groups...NO KIDS MENU! and when you call up making a reservation stating you need high chairs you think they would mention there is no kids menu...food was very bland...beer was warm...very very disappointed...will not be returning...

kay

Posted 2010-10-27 19:32:57

Johanna-
Why is that you felt the need to write the same review on at least 3 different review sites......the restaurant is brand new, give them a minute to work out some of the kinks.  You act like waiting 1/2 hour for a table is the end of the world, sometimes things like that happen.  Do me a favor - let me know when you are going to open your own business and I'll make sure to trash it all over the internet.

Marie

Posted 2010-10-01 11:29:12

I went to the Hop Angel Brauhaus the second week it was open and the food was great.  I had the Sauerbraten and my husband had the Wiener Schnitzel - we both enjoyed the dishes and look forward to going back to try the rest of the menu.  The service was fine - orders taken quickly and the server was attentive.  The food came out pretty quickly. We went on a weeknight.

anna

Posted 2010-09-27 21:27:36

I've been reading about this joint with my mouth watering, and I can't wait to check it out. We will be getting down there this coming weekend. I plan on eating and drinking myself silly. In response to the above review, hey...the food was good, so if I were you, I'd give it another shot in a few weeks. It's only been open a little over a week, so there are still going to be kinks to work out...obviously the servers here are the kinks. Some may need work or need to be replaced but at the end of the experience, for me at least, good food cancels out bad service.

diane

Posted 2010-09-27 22:36:23

Sad that you didn't enjoy your experience or the food.  I've eaten there several times already and the food has been perfect--it comes out of the kitchen hot and very tasty.  Remember that they just opened this place up.....I bet it will be better in a few weeks!

Disapppointed Foodie

Posted 2010-09-27 08:02:58

Bad Saturday restaurant experience with a new German restaurant - Hop Angel Brauhaus.  After a long wait got to our table and I had to track down someone to get us bread as we were starving no food was on the horizon.  After a very long wait our entrée's arrived. One was cold and the other one was the wrong one.  Granted the food was good in the end, but the service was abysmal and they lost my business in the future.  Someone needs to know how to run as restaurant.

Foobooz » Quick Bites

Posted 2010-09-16 11:00:27

[...] Meal Ticket has a slideshow of the now open Hop Angel Brauhaus in Fox Chase. [Meal Ticket] [...]

Jake

Posted 2010-11-14 09:54:47

I love hop angel, my friends and I go in almost every saturday. The food is great, best beer around and our bar maid has a great personality. All thumbs up from us!

Arterial Terrorism: The Burgermeister Meisterburger at Hop Angel Brauhaus :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-02-07 15:00:38

[...] Matthew Hartnett, chef at Fox Chase’s Hop Angel Brauhaus (7980 Oxford Ave.), sent us word on the newest arterial terrorist to join his menu  the [...]

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 6:51 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Tonight: Food Trust Happy Hour at South Philly Tap Room

POSTED: Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 4:43 PM

Filed Under: Dealage | Food Events | We're Here to Help

As we noted in last week's What's Cooking column, The Food Trust is holding a happy hour, benefiting the non-prof's farmers market programming, at South Philly Tap Room (1509 Mifflin St.) tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. Chef Scott Schroeder says he'll be cooking eats like grass-fed chicken tostadas; potato latkes with homemade apple sauce; fried okra; and roasted patty pan squash with brown butter and sage. Behind the bar, they'll pour discounted pints of Philadelphia Brewing Co.'s Kenzinger and Joe Porter. All food/drink proceeds will go directly to The Food Trust, which has launched three new farmers markets in South Philly this year.

Michelle

Posted 2010-09-15 14:02:52

I love SPTR!

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 4:43 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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About this blog

Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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