Eat This Immediately

Get your Trinidadian food fix ... at Doobies?

POSTED: Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 12:13 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately | Food News

When you go to Doobies (2201 Lombard St.), you go to drink, and maybe play a buzzed board game or two. But if you go regularly enough, you know that the kitchen is capable of cranking out some simple, solid grub — and if you hit it on the right night, there's a chance you'll get down on some home-cooked Trinidadian dishes, courtesy of owner Patti Brett's Trini husband, Preston.

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Posted by Drew Lazor @ 12:13 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Kokoretsi at Opa

POSTED: Tuesday, April 5, 2011, 3:03 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately | Weird Regional Foods

Vasiliki Tsiouris, who owns Opa (1311 Sansom St.) with her brother George, has not tried her chef Andy Brown's rendition of kokoretsi just yet. It's not that it's not good — on the contrary, it wouldn't be getting our ETI treatment if we didn't think it was well worth ordering — it just ain't for her. That she'll readily admit as much should tell you all you need to know about the reputation of this very traditional Greek delicacy, various organs (in Brown's case, a lamb's sweetbreads, liver and heart) bound by lamb's intestines.

Wait, where are you going?!

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Posted by Drew Lazor @ 3:03 PM Permalink | 3 comments

Empanada deliciousness at Gavin's Cafe

POSTED: Monday, February 21, 2011, 7:54 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately

Photo | Adrian Pelliccia

Gavin's Cafe (2536 Pine St.) has been quietly offering the area just west of Fitler Square some rare Argentinian delight since it opened last summer. Directly abutting Taney Park, the narrow space offers standard lunch and breakfast fare, like croissants, bagel sandwiches and salads. The Argentinian side of the menu, though, is what sets it apart. Gavin's traffics in some of the freshest empanadas around they're a treat that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in town, much less in the (nearly) restaurant-free surrounding neighborhood. After hearing that these puppies tend to sell out within just a few hours of being made, I booked it over there early and camped out to secure a few for myself. The empanadas are prepared from scratch daily, and if you arrive around 10:30 a.m., you can actually watch the entire process in the open kitchen, from the rolling out of the dough to the carefully timed removal from the oven. I managed to get my hands on two spinach empanadas (the filling of the day) while they were still piping-hot as far as freshness is concerned, you'd have a tough time finding anything on the level of these puffy pastries.

Tweets that mention Empanada deliciousness at Gavins Cafe :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2011-02-21 15:54:33

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by gavinscafe and MidtownLunch:Philly, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: Empanada deliciousness at @GavinsCafe: http://ow.ly/40BRL [...]

Posted by Adrian Pelliccia @ 7:54 PM Permalink | Post a comment

DRINK THIS IMMEDIATELY: Rhino Tooth at Oyster House

POSTED: Friday, February 11, 2011, 8:25 PM

Filed Under: Booze | Eat This Immediately

Photo | Drew Lazor

We like drinks with teeth, so it's no surprise that we're infatuated with one that's actually got a dental-type name. Head to Oyster House (1516 Sansom St.) for bartender Jordan Stalsworth's Rhino Tooth, a straightforward whiskey drinker's delight that recently made its way onto OH's official cocktail list. Stalsworth combines 1792 Ridgemont Reserve bourbon, Bonal Gentiane Quina (a gentian-flavored French quinquina, or quinine-based aperitif) and B&B (aka the pre-fab blend of BÃ©nÃ©dictine and cognac), topping it all off with a grapefruit twist and a single rock. It's stiff, yes, but it's also a remarkably well-balanced whiskey cocktail, and we tend to notice different little flavor elements with each sip. "The Bonal picks up the spice and smoke [of the bourbon] in a unique way, and the splash of B&B supports the vanilla notes without masking them," says Stalsworth. "The grapefruit twist blends it all together and evens out the finish." Oh, the name: There's an old restaurant-industry hazing tradition that involves asking green rookie employees to run to different restaurants to pick up or borrow wholly fake items (e.g. "a caviar peeler," a "left-handed cheese knife," or our personal fave, "the keys to the handtruck"). Stalsworth, messing with a new barback one night, told him that he needed to keep her stocked with "Rhino Teeth." He called Stalsworth's bluff, so she warned him that he'd end up feeling foolish when it eventually showed up on OH's menu â and BAM, it did. Now go get her a bucket of steam. Drink this immediately!

Tweets that mention DRINK THIS IMMEDIATELY: Rhino Tooth at Oyster House :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2011-02-11 16:23:51

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by eden brown, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: DRINK THIS IMMEDIATELY! Rhino Tooth at @PHLOysterHouse: http://ow.ly/3UUHP [...]

Tom N.

Posted 2011-02-12 00:59:41

Sweet mother, that sounds delicious.

Paul

Posted 2011-02-14 16:50:10

Lazor, Buck a Shuck again soon? I want to try this ASAP.

Jeff M

Posted 2011-02-14 17:24:27

Jordan is a very classy bartender

Notes from the Weekend: Feb. 14 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-02-14 17:31:10

[...] 35• O Burger coming to South Street• Ticket Stubs: Meal Ticket Weekly Recap, Feb. 7-11• DRINK THIS IMMEDIATELY: Rhino Tooth at Oyster House• Opa for V-Day• Getting twisted with Hammond's Pretzels• PREVIEW: Kitchen at Penn [...]

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 8:25 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Iannelli's Vanilla Cupcake

POSTED: Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 5:00 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately

Photo | Adam Erace

There are two kinds of cupcake people. The lovers of big, dense, luxurious cakes with lavishly shellacked frosting are the beneficiaries of the long-ago-shark-jumped cupcake craze. I am not one of these people. Give me the other kind: cheap box cupcakes, bake-sale cupcakes. Give me a cupcake light enough that I can eat it in one sitting and not feel like a prime rib's sitting on my diaphragm. Give me Duncan Heinz and Betty Crocker. Give me Iannelli's (1155 E. Passyunk Ave.), the recently expanded bakery that, tardiness be damned, is getting its slice of the cupcake action. âGourmet Cupcakes,â advertises the A-frame sign on the sidewalk. âCaution! Highly Addictive!â They ain't kidding. Vince Iannelli's simple vanilla-vanilla is the confection that single-handedly revived whatever fleeting interest survived in the dark recesses of my soul after Food Network premiered Cupcake Wars. His cupcakes are spongy joys, with a fluffy textured yellow cake and not-too-sweet frosting whipped high and sprinkled with round rainbow jimmies. (The turret of icing looked prettier in the bakery case than it does in the shot above â damn wax paper wrap-job.) There's chocolate, too, red velvet, black-and-white and a mint-chip I've heard is just sick. But the plain old vanilla works for me. Eat it immediately.

Gina

Posted 2011-01-19 18:05:41

These are the absolute best cupcakes ever. Look beautiful and taste great. I had them at my daughters birthday and the crowds went wild!!!!  Yummy!!!

Tweets that mention EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Iannelli's Vanilla Cupcake :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2011-01-19 15:13:28

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Manuela Durson, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY, says @adamerace: Iannelli's vanilla cupcakes http://ow.ly/3GzU6 [...]

Zee

Posted 2011-01-19 15:39:44

They're sooooooooooooooooooooo good! :D

Michelle

Posted 2011-01-19 13:21:35

Mint chip?! I must try it!

Crab Gravy, a family tradition, now available in a jar :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-02-02 09:47:30

[...] a taste of the summer (of an Italian summer, anyway) can be had at Iannelli's (1155 E. Passyunk). We told you about their cupcakes last week, now comes the word on their magical Crab [...]

Posted by Adam Erace @ 5:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: For Pete's Sake's cream of potato soup

POSTED: Tuesday, January 4, 2011, 3:40 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately

Photo | Adam Erace

I can't remember the first time I went to For Pete's Sake Pub (900 S. Front St.), but I do know it was a long time ago, way before gastropub was in the vocab of the everyday Philadelphian, way before it was legal for me to partake in the Queen Village saloon's tightly edited beer list (though I'm sure that didn't stop my fake I.D.-equipped youngin self from trying). And I do know I had their cream of potato soup, which many years later, is still on the menu, and still a personal fave. Dark, drawn-out winters nights like the ones upon us call for â no, command â soups like this. I had it just last week, the cup of creamy potato puree so smoking-hot, spuddy vapor rose from its scallion-strewn surface like ski-resort Jacuzzi, melting a garnish of shredded queso into an orange-yellow web in seconds flat. This liquid loaded baked potato could thaw the Grinch's heart. Eat it immediately, preferably with a pint of Allagash Interlude, a punchy, plummy Merlot- and Syrah-barrel-aged sour making a brief appearance at For Pete's.

Tweets that mention EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: For Pete's Sake's cream of potato soup :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2011-01-04 14:53:50

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: Eat This Immediately, says @adamerace: cream of potato soup at @ForPetesSakePub http://ow.ly/3y5oq [...]

Posted by Adam Erace @ 3:40 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Tortilleria y San Roman's salsa verde

POSTED: Monday, December 27, 2010, 7:45 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately

Photo | Adam Erace

As one of my non-tradish Feast of the Seven Fish dishes were mahi tacos, I made my way up Ninth Street on Christmas Eve Eve to Tortilleria y San Roman (951 S. Ninth St.), where they sell fresh corn tortillas by the butcher-paper-wrapped $2 kilo. With dos kilos warming my frostbitten paws like a sable muff, I was making my way out the door when one of the tortilla-makers "Amigo!"-ed me, holding open a sack of fresh tortilla chips they make those too and gesturing to the shallow plastic bowls of salsas verde and rojo. I swirled a chip through the verde, popped it in my mouth and stiffened. Up front the salsa was sharp and citrusy enough to slash through a blanket of rain clouds, a lime-flavored Crybaby whose zing quickly dissipated into an herbal-compress coolness of cactus, cilantro and tomatillo. The chili caboose rode in last, fanning flames I didnt even know were there till it way too late. Salsa is rarely this thrilling. Eat it immediately.

Tweets that mention Eat This Immediately: Tortilleria y San Roman's salsa verde -- Topsy.com

Posted 2010-12-27 15:54:24

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by salsacityhoppers. salsacityhoppers said: EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Tortilleria y San Roman's salsa verde ...: Up front the salsa was sharp a... http://bit.ly/fbXOfP #Salsa #SalsaAmt [...]

Posted by Adam Erace @ 7:45 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: N'duja at Southwark

POSTED: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 11:26 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately

Photo | Drew Lazor

The Devil's Toothpaste. That's how we like to describe n'duja, the fiery spreadable pork salami native to Calabria. (Say it en-doo-yuh, like the beginning of "andouille.") Charcuterie beast Nick Macri, who cooks at Southwark (701 S. Fourth St.), comes from a Calabrian family; he combines pork fat and pork (a 3-to-1 ratio; that's how you get the spreadability) with ungodly amounts of red chili pepper, which turns the fat cast off during the curing process the near-neon hue of fruit punch Kool-Aid. When it's ready (it's running as an $8 special until Macri's current batch runs out), they spread the n'duja over toasted baguette and top it off with cubes of young pecorino, pickled red onion and fava bean shoots. These additions temper the hothotheat a little bit, but if you're sensitive about such things, this is not the salumi you are looking for. Us? We're spicy-food fanatics. We're not sure if they make it this goddamn satanic over there in the motherland, but if they do, we're booking a trip. Eat this immediately!

Marco Federico

Posted 2010-12-16 11:25:39

Okay!!! I have been waiting years for N'duja to make its stateside mainstream debut!  I cant tell you how many bottles iv had confiscated at the airport as if they were uncut columbian cocaine, or a Nigerian toner cartridge.  Thank you for writing this and thanks to Southwark for doing it!

Ticket Stubs: Dec. 13-18 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2010-12-20 08:31:27

[...] Spicy, spreadable salami, so good  peep the n’duja at Southwark. [...]

mike jones

Posted 2010-12-16 01:05:52

looks dellishh felishh!!

rauuuuuuuusss!


IMOUT!!!

Marie DiFeliciantonio

Posted 2010-12-15 21:06:22

I kinda need to eat this. I think, partly, I want it so much because it half reminds me of the mortadella mousse (which, similarly, I've referred to as meaty toothpaste) at Amis. Greatness.

domenic stagliano

Posted 2010-12-24 22:53:03

I am delighted that old time Calabrese tradition has arrived at Southwark. This delight as presented by Nicola Macri' looks absolutely scrumptuous. The pork spread infused by special condiments and a hint of peperoncino can only embrace the palate sending a unique sensation to the taste buds.  A glass of pinot grigio red or a savigion cabernet would compliment this dish.  Congratulations to the chef.

Tweets that mention EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Nduja at Southwark :: Meal Ticket :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2010-12-14 18:58:33

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Nick Macri, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: @la_divisa_meats' n'duja at Southwark http://ow.ly/3ph6R [...]

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 11:26 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Soondubu at Giwa

POSTED: Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 7:49 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately

Photo | Drew Lazor

In a perfect kimchi-craving world, Center City denizens would be able to instantaneously teleport themselves up to North Fifth or out to Upper Darby to get their Korean fixes. But since none of us has wand game like Hermione, thank God for slick little Giwa (1608 Sansom St.), where Yong Chi caters to a pavement-pounding American crowd without skimping on quality. An ideal, easy-peasy antidote for that quickly-creeping-in Philly chill is Giwa's simple soondubu, or soft tofu stew. There are innumerable variations on this Korean staple, but all are built around that crimson-tide chili powder broth. There are spicier, more elaborate soondubu renditions out there, but we don't mind, as each spoonful of silky, melty tofu and meat (got ours with tender beef) radiates sustaining heat faster than you can say "red pepper paste, please." You get your stew (served at a roaring boil, be careful now), a bowl of white rice and two banchan (side dishes; they change daily) for under $10. Eat this immediately.

Tweets that mention EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Soondubu at Giwa :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2010-11-30 15:18:21

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by MidtownLunch:Philly, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: Soondubu at Giwa is a stew you should eat immediately: http://ow.ly/3hIA8 [...]

Drew Lazor

Posted 2010-12-01 11:06:17

It would DEFINITELY help with a clogged-up head. I'm sure you can get it sans meat.

Felicia D'Ambrosio

Posted 2010-12-01 10:49:51

This looks ideal for my current head-cold.  Can you get it without meat?

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 7:49 PM Permalink | Post a comment

EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Thanksgiving Zone at D.P. Dough

POSTED: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 7:51 PM

Filed Under: Eat This Immediately | Food and Holidays

Photo | Drew Lazor

God Bless the crew at Philly calzonerie D.P. Dough (33 S. 40th St.) for putting together this holiday-themed frisbee of deliciousness: It's the Thanksgiving Zone, a dough pocket stuffed with cubed turkey, stuffing, gravy and mozzarella cheese, along with a side of cranberry dipping sauce. It costs $6, is available for the next two weeks (at least) and, unlike most Turkey Day meals, does not require that you bite your tongue while your extremely racist Uncle Randy talks about Obama in order for you to enjoy it. Brilliant. Eat this immediately!

Tweets that mention EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: Thanksgiving Zone at D.P. Dough :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2010-11-18 15:36:31

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by DP Dough and Jim McMenamin, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: EAT THIS IMMEDIATELY: The "Thanksgiving Zone" at @DPDoughPhilly http://ow.ly/3c6zb [...]

Michelle

Posted 2010-11-18 16:04:30

The pesto cheese sticks at D.P. are sooooooo good!

Foobooz » Can’t Wait till Thursday?

Posted 2010-11-22 12:02:06

[...] The Thanksgiving ‘zone at DP Dough is a must-eat according to Meal Ticket. [...]

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 7:51 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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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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