|
|
|
Archive: September, 2012
Rhett Vellner, a Doylestown boy and St. Joe’s alum, was recently named the new head chef at Resurrection Ale House. After the past few years of hustling on the line at joints-about-town like Smokin Betty’s, JG Domestic, and Resurrection, he’s gearing up to fully run a kitchen for the first time. Meal Ticket sat down with Vellner at the P.O.P.E. and, over pints of Bell’s Amber Ale, he shared some of what he’s got planned for his big deal new gig.
MT: Congrats on this development at Resurrection - how’s it going?
Vellner: Very busy! But it’s going well. Up until September 26th we’re slowly adding my dishes to the menu, one at a time as old dishes run out. Our servers verbalize all the changes, and it’s a good way to explain to people that we have this new menu in the works.
A trip out to Terrain in Glen Mills is always magical but this Saturday's Autumn Bounty Festival promises to be nothing but pure Fall-forward elegance.
Aside from autumnal activities such as pumpkin carving and crafting, the folks at Terrain have arranged for a wild foraging walk with the Land Conservatory for Southern Chester County that guides edible nature hunters through local woodlands and ends up with a foraged goods cooking class. The day's other enticing classes include how-tos on assembling the perfect harvest cheese platter and a fireside food demo.
But the real highlight of the day has got to be the Canal House Launch & Luncheon with the lovely Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, the ladies behind the Lambertville kitchen-atelier-quarterly cookbook series Canal House Cooking.
Having had the pleasure of both dining with the ladies of Canal House and cooking our way through their recipes, the lunch is surely going to be an ideal way to while away a crisp afternoon. The $25 prix fixe includes a copy of Canal House Cooking, Volume 7, La Dolce Vita.
Today on Afternoon Snacks, we’ve got guest sommelier action at Amis, new brunch in Old City, and some awesome menu additions at Lemon Hill.
But before we get to that, a quick PSA: Whole Foods South St. is donating 5% of their profits today to Vetri Foundation—so if you’re debating between running errands and putting off until tomorrow what you could do right now, may we kindly suggest that you get a damn move on?
Since you won’t have to catch up on your grocery shopping tomorrow after all, maybe you’ll want to drop by Amis (412 S. 13th St.) for a guest sommelier stint from Agostino Lenci of Tuscany’s Fattoria di Magliano. Twenty bucks nabs you a flight of three special wines Lenci’s selected for the occasion. You can opt for the flight whether you stay for dinner or just drop by the bar, but the deal’s only available Wednesday, Sept. 26th from 6 to 8:00 p.m.
The best part about Center City Restaurant Week is reading all the grumpy tweets from some of our favorite chefs around the city who hate Restaurant Week. But the second-best thing about Restaurant Week (which starts this Sunday, September 30th) is the opportunity to score a genuinely good deal, and we mean to help you do just that.
We combed through the list with the following criteria in mind: Who’s offering serious variety? Who’s refusing to dumb down their menu, opting instead to give diners options like goat and escargots and foie, just like every other week of the year? Where will we actually save money at places we’d want to visit anyway?
If you’re looking for a full run-down of your CCRW options, we suggest taking a look at the guide the good people at Foobooz already put so much work into. Then, once you realize that there are over 130 restaurants on that totally overwhelming list, come check out our much more manageable list of crit picks!
It's still pretty early in the week but there's loads to report on the food news scene.
The Insider is reporting that the 11th Street location of Santa Fe Burrito is no more. Could it have something to do with the proximity to both Chipotle and Qdoba?
Also closing up shop is Walnut Street rum-porium, Rum Bar. According to Grub the building's landlord has chosen not to renew the lease. Last call for Mai Tais is Saturday night.
Eater checked out Flying Fish Brewing Company's new digs in Somerdale, NJ. The tasting room isn't quite done but eager beer nerds can tour the new facility this Saturday.
In chef shufflage we've got David Katz consulting at Terence Feury's upcoming Tavro 13, Eric Paraskevas taking the helm at the soon-to-open Bainbridge Barrel House and Christopher Lee heading back to Philly to revamp Passyunk's Salt & Pepper.
And finally we've got Grub sitting down with Fette Sau's Joe Carroll dishing on the details for the oh-my-god-this-place-can't-open-soon-enough Fishtown barbecue, beer and brown liquor spot.
In other cookbook news, Jose Garces' second cookbook, The Latin Road Home is set for an October 8th release date. To celebrate its release Garces is hosting dinners at all of his restaurants highlighting the pan-American recipes beginning with a tasting dinner on October 9th at JG Domestic (2929 Arch St.) For $125 guests will receive a signed copy of the book along with a get up and walk around meal featuring dishes from Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain and Peru all served from stations set up first floor of the Cira Center. This virtual journey through Latin America includes appealing layovers at taco, empanada and ceviche bars, and plenty of mango margaritas and sangria. Head over here for tickets to the cookbook kick off
Garces will be continuing the cookbook party with tasting takeovers at all of his other Philadelphia restaurants. Chifa is going Peruvian, Garces Trading Company is heading to Cuba, Amada and Tinto are hosting Spanish degustacions, and Distrito, you guessed it, Mexican.
Alright industry folks, according to a tweet from Marc Vetri last night, October's Industry Night at Amis (412 S. 13th St.) is going to be co-hosted by Top Cheftestant Mike Isabella of season 6 fame.
Isabella is going to cooking up a spread inspired by recipes from his new cookbook, Crazy Good Italian which hits shelves today. The intro to Crazy Good Italian bills Isabella's fare as one part old-world-inspired-Italian, one part old-school Jersey, one part modern Mediterranean making his style of cooking more than complimentary to Amis's Brad Spence.
No word on cocktails or menu yet but we're hoping that Isabella's Pumpkin Bucatini with Duck Liver and Golden Raisins makes an appearance along with a few other former Top Cheffers who might just happen to be in town.
As per usual the party starts at 10 p.m. on October 1st, the buffet is gratis and there are drink specials happening all night long. Just be sure to bring that pay stub to prove your industry cred.
Notes from the Weekend is a feature that sees the members of Team Meal Ticket compiling all the food/drink highlights uncovered during prime eatin' time, Friday to Sunday. We'd love to hear all about YOUR weekend eating adventures in the comments. Go for it! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)
Caroline Russock: CR
Emily Kovach: EK
Today on Afternoon Snacks, get yourself some food education the old-fashioned way (like, with books), the quick-and-dirty way (with a glassful of history), or the hands-on way (by eating your way through it).
Kitchen geeks, take note: there are a couple of free evening classes starting soon at the Wagner Free Institute (class locations vary; see links) that you might want to check out. More Physics and Chemistry in the Kitchen starts this Thursday, Sept. 27th, with a series of eight weekly lectures on the science of cooking. The course will cover topics from the basic chemistry of the building blocks of our diet, to fermentation, to modernist techniques including emulsions, foams, and gels. A second class offers An Evolutionary and Global Perspective on Food and Diet, a 6-week course of lectures with a more anthropological approach to how the human diet has changed over time and space, starting on Tuesday, Oct. 2nd. There are no fees or preregistration required, but you can check out the links above for location details, full lecture schedules, and suggested reading lists.
Tastes of brewing history and fall's favorite fruit after the jump! »
Don’t forget: tomorrow continues Will’s series of one-track Tuesday night prix fixe menus, priced at $45 for five courses. The follow-up to last week’s shellfish tasting is duck, and look—we don’t want to sound easily bought, but foie gras x two, duck fat pasta, brioche beignets, the mystery and allure of gizzards in quotes? The tiny spot will likely book up if you spend too much time fretting over your arteries, so you might as well just get on with it. You’ve still got a day and a half to give yourself over to an all-roughage diet to prep!
Green Apple Macaroon
Foie Gras | Black Pepper
Smoked Foie Gras Terrine
Vegetables à la grecque | Coriander Blossom
Duck Fat Enriched Pasta
"Gesier" | Consommé
Duet of Rohan Duck
Membrillo | Pickled Shallot | Saffron-Almond Financier
Brioche Beignets
Coffee | Hazelnut | Praline Ice Cream
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
