|
|
|
Food News
Since Matt Levin stepped away from the stove at Adsum (700 S. Fifth St.) in late July, the role of top cook in the Queen Village bistro has been in flux. Though Levin's sous, Rahjan Shabazz, was initially tapped to head up the kitchen, both he and co-sous Mark Regan left the restaurant last week. Owner Kar Vivekanathan, whose schism with Levin was rooted in philosophical differences over the nature and direction of Adsum's cuisine, has just brought in a brand-new guy to execute a brand-new menu: Matthew Harnett, the Hop Angel Brauhaus and Slate vet Meal Ticket readers might be familiar with thanks to his handiwork in the realm of extreme burgercraft.
We hear Audrey Claire Taichman's Cook (253 S. 20th St.), the collaborative kitchen space and culinary boutique we first mentioned in the winter, is relatively close — should be up and running in Rittenhouse around Labor Day. But you can get a jump on registering for the many classes planned for the spot before the physical doors even swing open, as the team will begin accepting online rezzies for programming this Wednesday, August 10, at 4 p.m. Keep an eye on their site for more info; right now they're teasing demos with choice phrases like "wine, cheese and more wine," "beer, beer and more beer" and "coffee and doughnuts (seriously!)" Cookie, baby, I think we'll get along just fine.
Bummed we couldn't make it out to this one but very glad there's a sweet recap of it — ginger bon vivant Brian Dwyer, the Pizza Brain proprietor and avid pizza swag collector whose quest for a Guinness World Record we've followed her on Meal Ticket, officially entered the pantheon this past weekend, and Hawk Krall was on hand to cover the proceedings for Serious Eats' Slice blog. Congrats to Dwyer and the entire Pizza Brain crew for earning Philly some positive daps for once! Pizza Brain, at 2313 Frankford Avenue, is slated for a spring 2012 opening. Here's more background.
Photo: Hawk Krall via slice.seriouseats.com
Michael and Billy Weiss, owners of 13th-and-Walnut institution Woody's (202 S. 13th St.), have been hammering away at a big renovation of their Center City gay bar for some time now, a series of updates that'll bring with it a dramatically altered beer approach overseen by Charlie and Heather Collazo of The Institute (549 N. 12th St.). The Collazos, who've known the Weiss brothers for years (Charlie, a professional lighting designer, has worked with them on their various ventures), have designed a program for the bar's impending 32-tap draft system. "Charlie and I are started out with a lot of locals, sticking to what we consider to be more of a 'gateway' tap list," says Heather, who adds that the list will grow and evolve gradually over time.
Out on the other side the bar, there's plenty changing, too. They're building new bars that'll feature granite bar tops, they've replaced the top-level dance floor with brand-new hardwood and they're working on plans for an outdoor seating café. Chef Thomas "Tommy D" Deeney, who we profiled back in 2009, will get an entirely updated dining room, too. We're hearing work will be completed in the next two weeks or so, with a grand relaunch party coming soon after.
Here’s a reason to extend your mid-week boozing into the wee hours: Jet Wine Bar's (1525 South St.) new Wednesday night happy hour, Turbulence, launches tonight. From 9 p.m. until last call, the bartenders are pouring $5 house wines and cocktails (tonight’s specialty: margaritas on the rocks), and the kitchen is dishing out a handful of small-plate variations. This week's snackage includes $6 shrimp/cheddar quesadillas and beef empanadas, fresh guac for $8 and housemade potato chips coming in at $3. In addition, DJs are spinning all night, and owner Jill Weber tells Meal Ticket the good times aren’t just here for the summer — "Expect this to run for the rest of the year."
Photo: Drew Lazor
It was the ultimate Montreal-style bummer when an on-the-fritz oven and subsequent fire shut down Spread Bagelry (262 S. 20th St.) just days after its early May debut. They flirted with reopening a few times since then, but now owner Larry Rosenblum tells Meal Ticket he's dead-set on this coming Thursday or Friday — today they re-lit their brick oven, which takes 48 or more hours to heat up to fighting temperature, so keep your schmear-lovin' fingers crossed for fresh hot bagels for the weekend. "We used the time to make more improvements, add more refrigeration and air conditioning, hire more staff, make more refinements and more," says Rosenblum. "We're really excited to start baking again."
UPDATE: In case you need photographic evidence, check out a pic of the lit oven after the jump.
Jim Burke, whose restaurant James has been sorely missed since it closed in May, has a new project lined up for the fall. It'll be Italian — "modern, simple, elegant," says Burke, who's drawing inspiration from cicchetti bars of Venice for the venture. "And we're going heavy on the pasta and risotto." Which means a resurrection of James faves like truffled gnocchi, risotto alla Kristina and the famed tagliatelle in chocolate-and-orange duck ragu, a serious coup for the tweakers suffering withdrawal. There's just one catch: For their fix, they’ll have to head to New York.
More specifically, they'll have to head to 77th Street and Central Park West. The ooh-la-la intersection is home of the New York Historical Society Museum, an institution in the midst of a top-to-bottom renovation that will add a full-service public restaurant on the building's 77th Street side. How'd the museum get on board with Burke? Stephen Starr, a former boss of Burke's from his Angelina days, recently won their catering contract.
Great piece today by Jen Colletta of the Philadelphia Gay News profiling local same-sex couples who are taking advantage of New York state's recent legalization of same-sex marriage. One of those couples? MaryAnn Brancaccio and Maria Vanni, owners of South Philly's August (1247 S. 13th St.), who have been together for 40 years.
The couple exchanged rings on their 25th anniversary but never had an actual ceremony since Pennsylvania wouldn't recognize the union. When the opportunity in New York arose, however, they decided to take the plunge to coincide with their upcoming anniversary.
Earlier this month they put their names into the lottery that was opened for couples to get married in New York City on July 24, the first day marriage equality was legalized, and received a call Thursday night that they were one of the approximately 800 couples randomly selected.
The Manhattan slate was full, so Brancaccio and Vanni elected to get married in Queens. The couple brought along Vanni's goddaughter and another friend to serve as witnesses and used their bands from their 25th anniversary.
"We didn’t have much time to get ready, but we held it together," Vanni said.
August, in case you were wondering, is named in honor of the month Brancaccio and Vanni first got together. CONGRATULATIONS!
Photo: epgn.com; h/t @wtzgoodPHL
Much as we like the whiskey at Village Whiskey (118 S. 20th St.), a nip of the brown can’t compete with a burger’s true beverage BFF: milkshakes! Taking a page from the carhops and soda fountains of yore (and maybe Tommy Up?), Jose Garces' swanky saloon is now serving shakes with their estimable burgers. The Garces camp has created three signature shakes — the Irish Car Bomb, Negra Modelo, Bailey's- and Jameson-infused devil’s food cake blended with vanilla and chocolate ice creams; Strawberry-Rum, with strawberries thrice (fresh, sauce, ice cream) and a slug of Gosling’s; and S’mores, a mix of toasted marshmallow ice cream and chocolate sauce garnished with graham cracker and a housemade marshmallow. There’s also plain chocolate and vanilla, for purists, and alcohol-free versions, for teetotalers and tots. Shakes are $6 to $9, served all day.
The Philadelphia Daily News, which just relaunched with a new look and approach earlier this week, has made the counterintuitive decision to put its two top editors in extreme physical danger. That danger will come in the former of the 5-Pound Philly Challenge at Jake's Sandwich Board (122 S. 12th St.), a feat of great gustatory valor that top editor Larry Platt and managing editor Pat McLoone will separately tackle tomorrow night at 6 p.m. "Man vs. Food is one of my favorite shows," says Platt, realistically noting that it's unlikely he or McCloone will polish off the challenge's 2-foot sandwich, four soft pretzels, 12 Tastykakes, 24 Peanut Chews and one Champ Cherry soda in the allotted 45 minutes. "Neither of us is going to be able to [complete] it," says Platt, "but we can compete with one another." The stipulations of the wager between the two editors are TBD.
What element of the behemoth spread is Platt — who describes himself as an "absolute hedonist" of an eater — most concerned about? "The fucking Peanut Chews," he says. "That just seems mean. There's no way. It just doesn't make sense."
- 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
