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Booze
In late December, Dock Street (701 S. 50th St.) announced a new weekly promotion of sorts that jived with the anti-corporate ethos of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Every Wednesday, from open to close, the West Philly brewpub temporarily adopts a cash-only policy. This keeps them from having to pay the requisite 2 to 2.5 percent fee for every credit-card transaction, a discount they pass along to drinkers in the form of 3 percent off all food and drink. "Operating on a cash-only system allows us to keep the money in the pockets of the 99%," writes Dock Street on its website.
If you're one of the many Philly drinkers who've loudly lamented that there's nowhere in the 215 to acquire dangerously powerful drinks of the Polynesian persuasion, cast your hazy orgeat gaze to spring 2012 — that's when Philly's first proper tiki bar will be arriving. As of Jan. 1, Matt Scheller and Matt and Colleen Swartz of The Farmers' Cabinet (1113 Walnut St.) will have a lease in hand for the huge Frank Furness-designed building at 600 Spring Garden, most recently operating as a club called 90 Degrees (Transit and The Bank before that). While they'll dedicate the ground floor to an as-yet-undetermined concept, the basement of the space, which resembles the inside of a ship, will be all tiki all the time. Bartenders Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal, both of whom work behind the F-Cab bar, will design the entire cocktail program, consisting of around 10 tiki classics and 10 originals. You should also expect huge shareable tiki bowls (think Flaming Volcano) and an "American dimsum" menu (think pu pu platter). Get geeked.
Word from on hoppy high is that the first in-the-city-limits brewpub for Iron Hill Brewery, at 8400 Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill, will open next Wednesday, Jan. 4. (Adam Erace first mentioned it way back in March.) City Council members Bill Green and Cindy Bass will host a ceremonial toast an hour before the 5 p.m. launch time for Iron Hill's newest location, which will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week. The brewing part of the equation will be overseen by Paul Rutherford, who's doing a blog about the project; he'll oversee six house brews, plus regular one-offs and bottled reserve selections. It's the ninth overall location for the 15-year-old brewpub brand, joining existing branches in Lancaster, Maple Shade, Media, Newark (De.), North Wales, Phoenixville, West Chester and Wilmington.
For most of us, Christmas is about one thing and one thing only — the birth of our Savior excessive drinking in the name of the season. NO mom, it's totally cool that I destroyed a 12-pack and canteen of nog by myself in 45 minutes, I'm just holding it down like Fezziwig, nawmean? NO, I'm not going to let Uncle Jim drive me to the ER to get my stomach pumped, why do you hate fun so much? What we're trying to say here is much love to Percy Street Barbecue (900 South St.) for marrying holiday mirth with unchecked booze consumption in the most direct way possible via their 8-foot-tall "Badass Beer Can Christmas Tree."
Percy GM Aric Ferrell and staffer/artist Desiree Howie spent something like 12 hours drilling the tree's PVC pipe trunk and feeding construction marker flags of varying lengths through the holes, on which they suspended more than 400 empty cans culled from Percy's peerless craft can collection. The end result, which we got to see with our own eyes last night, is shiny and glorious and makes us much thirster than that stupid tall one at Rockefeller Center. Well-done, Percyites.
Photo: Drea Rane
The Farmers' Cabinet (1113 Walnut St.), purveyor of all things excellent to drink, is hosting the Italian Beer & Food Experience this Wednesday. For $90, you’ll get nine rare Italian beers (many on draft) from the likes of Del Borgo, Del Ducato and Almond '22, a microbrewery making chestnut-honey barleywine and pink-peppercorn IPA in the mountains of Abruzzo. Matthias Neidhart, who pioneered bringing Boot-bred beers to the States via his B. United International importers, will be on hand at the dinner to discuss the beers, as well as the brewing revolution in Italy. Meanwhile, chef de cuisine/paesan’ Steve Forte will be cooking housemade cotechino, gnocchi with lamb ragu, a take on vitello tonnato and more Italian plates to pair with the brews. Full food/drink details after the jump; call F-Cab at 215-923-1113 for reservations.
The fifth of December is Repeal Day, and The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. (112 S. 18th St.) is celebrating America's 78th consecutive year of legally sanctioned alcohol consumption with a "Dealer's Choice" night headed up by Franklinite Colin Shearn and visiting New York drink slanger Nick Jarrett, who opened the Philly cocktail joint in 2009. In lieu of the bar's usual big-azz menu, the twosome will simply distribute checklists designed to gauge each table's boozy proclivities — indicate how you prefer your drinks (shaken, stirred, bitter, savory, tart, effervescent, etc.) and the gents will do the rest. "There were no cocktail menus in the '30s," says Shearn. "That's the whole idea — we're The Franklin, and we're good enough that you should trust us. Hopefully that will fly. People might revolt."
While we're pretty sure this is going to go well for open-minded drink consumers, Shearn vows that they'll fix something very special for anyone who gets smartass-y with the Repeal Day system (i.e. glibly checking both "shaken" and "stirred"). He won't say what. Just pray for your sake that it doesn't involve Jeppson's Malort.
Photo: susanhessel.wordpress.com
Munish Narula's Tashan (777 S. Broad St.), which earned a bang-up review last week from our Adam Erace, is hosting a fast-and-loose beer "dinner" next Wednesday, Dec. 7, with Meadville, Pa.'s Voodoo Brewing. In contrast with most events of these nature, which have eaters paying a flat fee for a multi-course, beer-paired meal, Tashan chef Sylva Senat is keeping it casual: He'll pair various small plates from his menu with four-ounce pours of Voodoo beers, all for $8 each. (Brewmaster Matt Allyn will be in the house from 7 to 9.) Peep the pairings after the jump.
Photo: Drew Lazor
This was mentioned in What's Cooking this week, but here we've got room for more soused chatter: This coming Monday, Nov. 28, David Wondrich, preeminent American cocktail historian and author of Imbibe!, will hold court at The Farmers' Cabinet (1113 Walnut St.) for an evening of strong, strong punches.
Running from 7 to 10 p.m., the pay-as-you-go event will feature seminal many-boozed admixtures like The Professor's Orange Punch (cognac, rum, Seville orange, sugar and water), which originates with bartending godfather Jerry Thomas, as well as Philadelphia Fish House Punch (peach brandy, cognac, Jamaican rum, lemon juice, water), one stiff cup our city can officially call its own. Head bartender Phoebe Esmon and the rest of the F-Cab crew will be mixing cocktails, as well, including The Buck and Breck (cognac, absinthe, bitters, Champagne, sugar and a twist), a Thomas recipe featured in Imbibe! There will be a light spread out for all drinkers. Wondrich will join Esmon and Co. behind the bar to regale the curious, serve the eager and fancifully flag the overserved, so be sure to come equipped with your best cocktail-based queries.
Who-needs-a-last-name publican Lêe, who's been stringing Philly boozehounds along for months teasing out his Chinatown cocktail bar Hop Sing Laundromat (1029 Race St.), tells Meal Ticket that he's passed his PLCB inspection and is now legally capable of serving alcohol. Of course, that doesn't automatically mean he's flinging open the doors to his dressed-up watering hole right away. In classic slickster fashion, Lêe was unresponsive to a guesstimate request on an official opening date. "Within the next five to six years," he avows. See you and your robot bartenders in 2016, dude!
UPDATE [3:10 p.m.]: Lêe says he'll announce his official opening date on Twitter (@hopsinglaundry), and that he will select 50 of the bar's Twitter followers to invite all-inclusive for the debut. I wonder if Lêe wants you to follow him on Twitter ...
Photo: Drew Lazor
Join Southwark (701 S. Fourth St.) this Wednesday, Nov. 16, for a four-course dinner inspired by the food and beer from their friends at Nodding Head (1516 Sansom St.). Nick Macri and crew will be cooking their own renditions of menu items at the Center City brewpub, all of which will be paired with the Head's house beers — nicoise salad (done with tuna crudo) and Saison; beer-steamed mussels and spicy house fennel sausage joined by IPA; a "French dip" (braised beef, caramelized onion/thyme broth, ricotta dumplings) with Grog; and chocolate pot du crème, Nodding Head owner Curt Decker's favorite dessert, with Phunkin Wishniak. There will be a 7 p.m. dining room seating, with the Nodding Head team on hand to talk up their wares; the $45 menu will also be offered throughout the evening to those who opt to sit at the bar. Call 215-238-1888 for reservations.
Photo: Courtesy of Southwark
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