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Food Events
In dire need of after-dark caffeination this evening? You might want to head to 18th and South at 7 p.m., where some of the best baristas in Philly will compete to make the best damn lattes they can muster. Tonight's competition at OCF Coffee House (1745 South St.) — the first one here since last summer — is April's edition of the monthly battle known as TNT (Thursday Night Throwdown). Watch baristas from all over Philadelphia duke it out for bragging rights, the pot of entrance-fee money, a poster, a bag of coffee and a gift card the nearby Pumpkin Market. As if watching a bunch of dedicated dripsters make foam art isn't enough of a draw, there will also be a Yards keg on the scene.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Tomorrow night is the last chance to get a discounted VIP or general-admission ticket to Flavors of the Avenue, the East Passyunk food/drink blowout scheduled for next Saturday, April 28. Securing your spot before midnight on the 19th shaves $5 off of your purchase (get 'em online), knocking VIP down to $45 and the GA down to $25. A total of 21 area bars and restaurants are participating in the event including the not-yet-open Garage and Noir, and live music and a craft market will round up the festivities. VIPs will get access to premium menu items, specialty cocktails and an extra hour in the tent before the rush. Full list of participants is below:
- Belle Cakery
- Birra
- Cantina Los Caballitos
- Chhaya
- Chiarella's
- El Zarape
- Fond
- Fuel
- Garage
- Green Olives Café
- Izumi
- Kris
- Le Virtù
- Marra's
- Mamma Maria Ristorante
- Ms. Goody Cupcake
- Noir
- Paradiso
- South Philly Bar & Grill
- Stogie Joe's
- Tre Scalini
This coming Monday, April 16, Fairmount's Lemon Hill (747 N. 25th St.) will be hosting a Brooklyn Brewery beer dinner and tap takeover TAP ATTACK. The dinner will include an amuse and four courses, each with a Brooklyn pairing (sneak a peek at the menu); bragging rights-obsessed beer geeks might want to make reservations if for no other reason than to drink Black Ops, the incredibly rare imperial stout that Lemon Hill managed to snag for the dessert pairing (Humboldt fog cheesecake, stout-poached sultanas, granola crumble). The dinner is $60 a head and there will be two seatings, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Call 215-232-2299 or email keith.raimondi@lemonhillphilly.com for reservations.
If you can't swing the dinner but still want to get in on the Brooklyn action, get to the bar between 5 and 7 p.m. to taste tapped selections like Sorachi Ace, Dry Irish Stout, and Mary's Maple Porter, a rare one-off brewmaster's reserve. All drafts during the happy hour will run $5.
Marc Vetri's Alla Spina (1410 Mt. Vernon St.) is getting all curatorial with their draft list this week, hooking up 10-plus beers in the saison style because it's spring and why the hell not. Beverage manager Steve Wildy, who was also responsible for putting Negronis on tap here, has successfully collected farmhouse-ish kegs from all over — America, Italy, Scandinavia — making for a lineup bolstered by stuff you don't often find on tap in Philly. A preview of what's getting tapped is below; they'll run "The Saisonale 2012" through this Sunday, April 15.
- Lost Abbey, Carnevale
- Dogfish Head, Noble Rot
- Brasserie Dupont, Saison Dupont
- Yards, Saison
- Sixpoint, Harbinger
- Del Ducato, Nuova Mattina
- Piccolo, Seson
- Jendrain, V Cense
- Allagash Mimh
- Brooklyn Sorachi Ace
- Stillwater, As Follows
- L'Olmaia Karkade
- Evil Twin, Ron & the Beast Ryan
- Allagash, Mimh
Photo: Courtesy of Alla Spina
Mexico meets the Middle East at La Calaca Feliz (2324 Fairmount Ave.) from April 6 to 13. Chef/co-owner Tim Spinner wanted to offer a Passover menu with a Mexican feel (matzo ball soup with red chile!). Though it's not kosher, the four-course meal meets practically every other dietary requirement of the Pesach celebration — Spinner got creative with the constrictions, e.g. using malanga and lettuce for the tostadas and taco shells to avoid serving leavened bread. The Passover prix-fixe is $30 per person, and will also be offered at Spinner's Fort Washington restaurant, Cantina Feliz (424 S. Bethlehem Pike).
Pick up this week's CP for Adam Erace's review of La Calaca Feliz.
Kevin Sbraga, who we reviewed in the winter, is easing into spring. From Monday, April 23 to Thursday, April 26, the Top Chef winner will be previewing his new warm(er)-weather menu items at five-course chef counter tastings at his restaurant, Sbraga (440 S. Broad St.). Think parsley risotto with snails, chanterelles and sorrel; branzino en croute with charcoal oil, spring garlic soup and grapes; and a Thai take on chicken and dumplings with green curry sauce and coconut rice foam. The preview tasting is $55, and with seating for only six at the chef's counter, reservations are highly suggested. Two seatings, 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Get on it.
Photo: Jason Varney
On April 4 and 5, 10 local restaurants are teaming up with Young Friends of Team Jamaica, a support group helping young people from Caribbean nations attend and participate in the very-big-deal Penn Relays. With assistance from sponsors and diners, the Team Jamaica Bickle group (bickle = food) is able to fly more than 500 student athletes from countries like Trinidad, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Grenada to Philly to compete in the relays; the funds also cover costs like accommodations, meals and transportation.
Each spot participant in Caribbean Restaurant Nights will feature special island-inspired dishes (Gigi in Old City is doing an entire food relaunch, featuring jerk chicken and lime/beer-marinated ribeye, for example) and will donate 10 to 15 percent of their nightly gross food and alcohol sales to the aspiring runners. See who’s participating after the jump.
Stephen Starr's newest endeavor, Route 6 (600 N. Broad St.), is hosting the first of three special happy hours tonight to benefit Teens 4 Good. For the second year in a row, Starr employees are participating in the Broad Street Run with T4G as their choice charity — it's an organization that helps teens turn vacant city lots into gardens that grow healthy, accessible food for their communities. Tonight's happy hour, which goes from 5 to 7 p.m., is a fun way to help out without actually running anywhere (except maybe to the bar). Yards and Victory have donated beer and they'll also have a not-yet-named pomegranate/orange/vodka cocktail available. One hundred percent of sales from the select beer and booze will benefit T4G; you can also donate on their FundRazr page.
Photo: Neal Santos
As the first of the big Navy Yard food benefits (Great Chefs, benefitting Alex's Lemonade Stand, is next), the ACHIEVEability's Food for Thought tomorrow, March 24, is a good one. The goal for ACHIEVEability is to assist low-income parents and homeless families in the area become completely self-sufficient. Tix, ranging from $150 to $300, are available here or by calling 215-748-8800.
Along with honoring the night's speaker, Salome Thomas-EL, author, former principal in the Philadelphia school system and a regular contributor to The Dr. Oz Show, the event features 21 chefs from 21 food operations in the area, some of whom are already lined up for Marc Vetri's Great Chefs event. No menus available, but the list of attendees speaks for itself.
Very excited to be on the judges' panel for this Sunday's Fishtown Neighbors Association Chili Cookoff, which'll bring together cooks both pro and amateur to complete for spicy spoony supremacy. I'll assist food writer Joy Manning and state rep Mike O'Brien in pinpointing the best chilis in a field that includes 10 in-the-'hood competitors (Frankford Hall, Pickled Heron, E.G.G., Interstate Draft House, Sketch, Barcade, Loco Pez, Soup Kitchen, Murph's and Brindle Café) and five at-home specialists (boasting awesome names like "Happiness is a Warm Chili" and "Heathen Vegans"). Lots of beer, too, from PBC, Saint Benjamin and a brand-new nano-operation called Bombshell Brewing.
Skedded for 1 to 4 p.m. at Skybox Studios (2424 E. York St.), the event runs $15 for food and drink. Cop tix online in advance or buy them at the door (it'll be $10 for chili only, no beer). Proceeds will support the recently launched RiverWards CrimeWatch and FNA programming.
- 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
