|
|
|
Food Events
Philly has its famous edible signatures — cheesesteaks, pretzels, scrapple, hoagies. But there are just as many regional foods that have fallen out of favor, due to changing tastes, environmental shifts or simply just the passage of time. Tomorrow, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Reading Terminal Market (12th and Arch streets) is bringing some of these eats back during its second biannual Festival of Forgotten Foods in Center Court.
The event will feature tastes of archaic Philadelphia dishes and products, like Wilbur Buds (the chocolate treat that eventually evolved into Hershey's Kisses); fried catfish and waffles; pepper pot soup; fried oysters and chicken salad (a classic Philly combo that's starting to come back into favor); raspberry shrub (the vinegar/fruit/water concoction that was a favorite of playboy Ben Franklin); and paw paw ice cream.
Vendors providing these delights will include Pearl’s Oyster Bar, Down Home Diner, Beck’s Cajun Café, Martin’s Quality Meats and Sausage, Fair Food Farmstand, Pennsylvania General Store and Bassetts Ice Cream. All the samples will costs between $2 and $5 apiece. For those attending between 11 and 3, there will be a live banjo player on hand as you make the rounds.
A few weeks back Lou Mancinelli told you all about the hard cider coming out of Desiato Vineyards, aged in Laird's applejack barrels by main cider man Rich Smithson (above).
While English-style hard cider is characteristically tart, Desiato's 7 percent ABV rendition is fashioned after the old-world French version. It's a thin-mouthed concoction made from a combination of apples — including Granny Smiths, Galas and heirloom and cider varieties — pressed off-site, fermented and aged in oak applejack barrels. When poured, it bubbles like a soda, resembling a Chardonnay in tint and aura. Upon first whiff you can detect a hint of whiskey generated from those barrels, which Smithson landed courtesy of Laird & Company ... the taste is light but substantial, like apple juice spiked by something strong, with a tang subtle enough to drink a few.
Now you'll have a chance to try the stuff within city limits: Tonight at 7, The Buxco-based beverage drops at London Grill (2301 Fairmount Ave.), where they'll tap a firkin of the brut-dry double hard cider on the bar.
Photo: Jessica Kourkounis
This Sunday, Nov. 13, David Katz's Mémé (2201 Spruce St.) hosts Marissa Guggiana, the Cali-based butchers' advocate and food writer (and editor of Meal Ticket fave Meatpaper) who's just released Off The Menu: Staff Meals From America's Top Restaurants. The book highlights the tradition of the simple meal that restaurant employees sit down and share pre-service; Guggiana features spots from around the country, highlighting Katz (plus Marc Vetri and Jose Garces) here in Philly. Expect family-style portions of meatloaf with macaroni, egg, reggiano and black pepper (from the book); spinach/potato/gruyere frittata; potato gnocchi with lamb neck ragu; Canuck-style pork pie with prunes; and Katz's dessert "secret weapon," jelly doughnut bread pudding with coffee cream. Seats are $55, which includes a signed copy of Off The Menu but excludes tax, grat and booze (though they will be selling $20 bottles of wine); 215-735-4900 for tables.
If Scott Schroeder wasn’t the chef at SPTR (1509 Mifflin St.), he’d have a career in developing press-release intros like the attention-grabbing gem above. Today, he dropped word of his upcoming two-part Allagash dinner with former 10 Arts chef Jennifer Carroll and Collegeville's Longview Center for Agriculture, the first part of which takes place at SPTR on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Schroeder and Carroll will be taking diners on a culinary drive up 95 with seven courses inspired by New England. Think scallop carpaccio, clam chowder with milk-braised bacon (a la Southwark's Nick Macri), short rib pot roast and more, all paired with Allagash beers. (Full menu after the jump.) The dinner is $80-plus-plus, and reservations can be made starting tomorrow at noon by calling SPTR at 215-271-7787. The second part of this dinner series will be held at the Longview Center; stay tuned for more details.
Tiny Dynamite, which put on the A Play, a Pie and a Pint theater/pizza/beer series in October, enjoyed sellout crowds for each of its four productions at Society Hill Playhouse, so organizer Emma Gibson (above) is serving a second helping at Fergie's Pub (1214 Sansom St.). Laugh your ass off during Steve Lyons' one-hour comedy, Peaches en Regalia, while sipping beers and grubbing on traditional English meat or veg pies (in lieu of pizza this time). The first performance will be this Wednesday, Nov. 9, with additional shows on Nov. 13 and 17. Tickets are $15.
Next Saturday, Nov. 12, there'll be 12 bars equipped with busses to cart your craft beer-lovin' behind all over this craft beer-lovin' city. You can start wherever you'd like, but the first neighborhood on the 2011 Craft Beer Express tour for us will be Fishtown: Kraftwork (541 E. Girard Ave.) will be featuring some strong nitro beers and Johnny Brenda's (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) is offering an all-wet-hopped lineup, including Philadelphia Brewing Co.'s seasonal Harvest from the Hood IPA, brewed with hops cultivated at Greensgrow Farms. In Northern Liberties, Standard Tap (901 N. Second St.) is planning on serving Dogfish Head's Ancient Ales; a little further west, there will an abundance of porters and stouts at The Institute (529 N. 12th St.).
Michigan's Bell's and New York's Ommegang will be taking over Fairmount's Bishop's Collar (2349 Fairmount Ave.) and Kite & Key (1836 Callowhill Ave.), respectively. Jose Pistola's (263 S. 15th St.) is the next stop on the Express before The Sidecar (2201 Christian St.) for Founders beers. The P.O.P.E. (1501 E. Passyunk Ave.) will have a slew of pumpkin brews on hand in South Philly; if you don't feel like waiting for a bus (they run on 25-minute circuits), just walk around the corner to Devil's Den (1148 S. 11th St.) for a variety of autumnal options. Brauhaus Schmitz (718 South St.) will pour a "Bock-It" list of doppelbocks before you stumble into a "battle" between reps from Great Lakes and New Holland Brewing at the end of the line, Old City's Race Street Café (208 Race St.).
Remember: Even though the CBX will take you to all these watering holes, you have to find your own safe ride home. The Express will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; tix available here.
View galleryLast week, I snagged a seat at visiting chef Massimo Bruno's Supper Club at Cook (253 S. 20th St.), presented by Mavea Inspired Water and Art in the Age. His bio says it best: "There is no 'ball sheet' [bullshit] at Massimo's table, but there's plenty of great food, a lot of passion, and maybe an opinion or two (or three or four)." Some highlights from the evening were the moist, meatless egg/cheese/bread balls in tomato sauce, the salt-crusted fish (keeping the scales on locks the moisture in and the salt out), and the flourless lemon ricotta cake, perfect for that I-don't-think-I-can-fit-anymore-in-my-belly feeling.
In between courses, Toronto-based Bruno shared some words of wisdom: salt your pasta water by the punch and not the pinch, don't let your wife move the Madonna on top of the TV when Italy is playing in the World Cup, etc. For the full Massimo experience, venture with the chef to his homeland on a Puglian culinary tour.
Alexis Siemons of Teaspoons & Petals presented a post-meal tea tasting, an exceptional digestif alternatif that has inspired me to head over to Premium Steap (www.premiumsteap.com, 111 S. 18th St.) to pick up an infuser and some leaves in the near future. To find out more about upcoming events at Cook (including a tea-inspired cooking lesson with Siemons), check out audreyclairecook.com. Bruno's full menu is after the jump.
When people think of Patrick Rodgers, they think of the shows and records he's produced and released under the Dancing Ferret and Digital Ferret banners, or as one of the gun toters in Kyle Cassidy's Armed America, or maybe as the homeowner who foreclosed on Wells Fargo and made national news. Yet here he is, uniting with Paul Brown at National Mechanics (22 S. Third St.) and Uyghurian master chef Ahmet Mamut (pictured) to create a one-night event celebrating food from China's Xinjiang Province.
Uyghurs are a Chinese ethnic minority descended from Turkic peoples, their land sharing borders with Russia, Mongolia, Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Their language, culture and history is distinct from their Chinese counterparts. In August 2010, Rodgers was on vacation in North Korea, and before flying home decided he'd visit Beijing. "Before that trip, I learned about the Uyghur people and was determined to sample their food," he says. "There was a lovely little Uyghur place [in Beijing] called Xinjiang Crescent Moon." He was floored by the meal, stick-to-the-ribs cooking that incorporated multiple culinary influences. "The most subtle aspect of the cuisine is that on paper, it's fairly simple, but when it's in your mouth, it's pure genius," says Rodgers.
Chipotle is holding its annual "Boorito" Halloween promo today. In the past, the Mexi chain has encouraged patrons to dress up like menu items to get free food, but this year they're doing it a little differently — show up at any Philly location between the hours of 6 p.m. and closing dressed in a costume inspired by "the family farm," and you'll get a burrito, tacos, a salad or a bowl for two bucks. Come as a humanely raised animal (a jolly pig perhaps?), a farmer or a locally grown vegetable for access to a cheap dinner; the idea is to drive funds and attention to Chipotle's Cultivate Foundation, which shows support to family farms and promotes sustainable agriculture and food education.
In addition, there’s an online costume contest. Take a photo of yourself dressed in your farm-inspired costume at a Chipotle today and upload it at chipotle.com/boorito, or text “COSTUME” to 888222. The grand-prize winner will get $2,500, five runners-ups will get a grand each and 25 honorable mentions will receive a burrito party for 10 friends.
Last week we challenged y'all to answer a very simple question — If you spotted Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert sitting at your local bar, what drinks would you buy for them and WHY? — for the chance at a pair of tickets to this Wednesday's chef-blabbing event at the Merriam. This was a super-tough one that required an impromptu City Paper straw poll, but we've concluded that Meal Ticket commenter rb215 had the winning response (based more on the reasoning than the actual beverage choice):
"the citywide special (pabst and a shot of beam) 1) because i'm broke 2) they don't need to be impressed 3) WHY WOULDN'T YOU?!"
Congrats, rb215, and see you there.
- 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
