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Food and Sports
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| Courtesy of 10 Arts |
Monica Glass at 10 Arts (The Ritz Carlton, 10 S. Broad St.) has caught the Phever, and it seems to be contagious, as it's spreading into her work. These red velvet Phillies cupcakes are the latest edition to the pastry chef's mini cupcake trio, which is available both at lunch and dinner for $10. Wonder if Glass, chef Jennifer Carroll and the rest of the 10 Arts crew have challenged the Le Bernardin mothership over the impending World Series. What would two of Eric Ripert's kitchens draw up as terms, anyway? Buckets of caviar? Scrubbing each other's walk-ins? Ripert doing a lap around the dining room dressed as the Phanatic? (So Phrench!)
Three mini cupcakes are ten bucks? What the fuck?
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| Dining with 'Dre |
Last night, Andre Ethier went 3 for 5 in the Phillies' squeaked-out Game 1 NLCS victory over his Dodgers. He'd probably be batting worse this postseason, however, if he paid a little more care to Dining with 'Dre, his MLB-sponsored food blog. The outfielder hasn't updated since January of this year, when he sang the praises of Mexican fry bread in Phoenix. (In the past, though, he's done elaborate writeups on places like L.A.'s Pizzeria Mozza, which Meal Ticket peeped out in April.) We think it's only fair that some Philly restaurants invite Ethier in for a meal when he gets here for Game 3 this Sunday � you know, get his mind off work a little bit.
Pigskin Gourmet is a new Philly-based Web cooking show from Philly fans Cecil E. Rudd and Brent Evans, who share tailgating ideas for season's eatings. They drop a new episode every Friday before gameday. Check out the latest installment above, where the duo prepares strawberry-jalapeno chicken wings, buffalo chicken dip and stuffed celery.
I tried the strawberry jalapeno wings and they're awesome! Great combo of spicy and sweet!
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| Smiths-Restaurant.com |
Local and seasonal are descriptors that apply equally well to both food and sports.� Brendan Smith, chef/owner of Smith's Restaurant-Lounge (39-41 S. 19th St., 267-546-2669) is a self-professed Philly sports fanatic as well as a classically trained chef.� Smith merges his twin loves by offering fresh, locally-sourced iterations of classic pub food at special prices during Sunday Eagles' games shown on his bar's ten flatscreens.
The Birds kick off their season at 1 p.m. this Sunday, when they take on the Carolina Panthers in North Carolina. � Smith's is offering a few healthful, discounted choices for hungry fans: jumbo wings that are grilled rather than fried (15 for $9, 20 for $18, 45 for $27), turkey chili loaded with white, black and pinto beans ($8.50) and onion skins (definitely fried, $7.50) with chipotle ranch.
In addition to 8 craft taps, look for $2 Miller Lites and Bud Lites during Sunday games.� "Bucket specials" of five Miller Lites for $10 are available during Monday Night Football.
Visit smiths-restaurant.com for the full Sunday specials menu.
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Parc (227 S. 18th St., 215-545-2262) is doing a few special things to ring in the final week of the 2009�Tour de France, which climaxes this Sunday in Paris. All week behind the bar, they'll be doing $4 Kronenbourg drafts, $8 Grey Goose French martinis and $6 Chambord Kir Royales. For eats, chef Art Cavaliere is putting out a daily special starting tomorrow � lineup after the jump.
Oh yeah, the bistro's also giving away this sick 2009 Jamis Ventura Sport, courtesy of Trophy Bikes. Inquire at the host stand.
Wednesday: Coq au Riesling $24
Thursday: Cote de Boeuf $32
Friday: Crispy Zucchini Blossoms $12
Saturday: Frog's Legs $16
Sunday: Lapin aux Olives $26
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| Photo | Drew Lazor |
European cycling fans are accustomed to getting up too early � to catch the live broadcasts of the Tour de France, for example, you have to be awake at 6:30 or 7 in the morning, which we don't even think is physiologically possible. But wait! For every remaining stage of this year's TdF (it runs till July 26), Brauhaus Schmitz (718 South St., 267-909-8814) will air the daily replay, which begins at the much more human-y hour of noon. Three-dollar Kronenbourg 17776 and $1 off Franziskaner while it's on. Today's stage takes place in Montpellier. Great Ghost of Floyd Landis!
RELATED: Brauhaus Schmitz in pictures
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| Photo | Neal Santos |
Back in April, I previewed the Phillies' 2009 season from an eater's perspective with the piece "Crowding the Plate." I made mention of Citizens Bank Park's plethora of vegetarian options, for which they've been honored:
... CBP, which PETA has named the No. 1 vegetarian ballpark in Major League Baseball two years in a row, is aiming for the threepeat this season with meat-free eats aplenty � black bean burgers with cilantro sour cream and pepper jack cheese, veggie quesadillas, vegan burgers, veggie cheesesteaks and veg-friendly hoagies courtesy of Planet Hoagie will be available at various locations throughout the stadium.
They aimed for it, and they got it � CBP's been named best vegetarian park in the majors once again! It's the first stadium to take the honors home three years in a row. (Granted, they've only been doing this since 2002, but that's still hot.) From a PETA statement:
With the addition of the new Southwestern black-bean burgers and mock crab cake salad to a lineup that already featured Philly-style faux-steak and faux-chicken sandwiches, veggie dogs, and meatless wraps, CBP was a shoo-in. And ranking number one with PETA could portend good things for the Phils: After receiving a first-place ranking from PETA last year, the team went on to win the World Series!
... did PETA seriously just try to take credit for us being World F. Champions?
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| Getty Images | cnn.com |
| Two of the game's best: Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Man U's Cristiano Ronaldo |
UEFA Champions League Final. Manchester United FC vs. FC Barcelona. Today. 2:45 p.m.
If any of the above is alien to you, consider this: A visit to the right bar today will mean an immersion into excitement, expectation and awe � taps will flow, songs will be sung, bitter enemies will draw together. The only thing like it, of course, is any given day of the all-too-brief World Cup tournament. So shed insularity and come along for the biggest match in European soccer � though, of course, many of the people you�ll meet today will be born and raised stateside.
Pitting the best teams from every major European soccer league against each other, the Champions League runs from August until today � imagine if the Phillies had to play a home series against the Mets before flying out for a three-game affair in Japan with the Saitama Seibu Lions. This is just what these soccer teams face as they battle through group stages and past elimination on their way to claiming domination of Europe.
The winners of the English Premier League and La Liga (Spain�s top league) will meet in Rome this afternoon, with both squads helmed by luminaries of the game. Manchester United looks to become the first team of the Champions League era (started in '92) to repeat as champions against a gifted Barcelona squad. Though The Red Devils (Man U) look to stifle first � their defense has been incredibly stingy all year � and punish on the counter, fans new and old should expect to see brilliance up and down the field. Don't worry if you�re at a loss for nuances or names � after a few pints, you'll certainly find enough new friends to elucidate things for you.
Meal Ticket's rundown of where to watch the game (arriving early is a MUST) after the jump.
Fado Irish Pub | 15th and Locust streets, 215-893-9700
The soccer pub in Center City. Expect crazed supporters from both sides and hence, a sea of red (MUFC) and red/blue (Barca�s two-color shirt). Get ready to cheer and chant. Multiple large flat screen TVs. $4 Heinekens.
Dark Horse Pub� | 21 S. Second St. 215-928-9307
Headhouse Square�s contender for best soccer pub in the city boasts three distinct rooms that are often jam-packed with devout supporters on the weekends well before most of us have turned off the alarm and given up on running. Multiple big-screen TVs and flat screens.
Tir Na Nog | 1600 Arch St. # 103, 267-514-1700
Corporate as hell for lunch the week through, she lets her hair down for top matches. Down comes the projection screen and up goes the sound. TVs around the bar, as well.
The 700 Club | 700 N. Second St, 215- 413-3181
Celebrate ecstacy with a Mackeson�s XXX English Stout. If agony is the rule of the day, then bend your head further with a Delirium Tremens. Either way, this usually laidback setting, which lends itself to a quiet study of the game � wraparound windows on lazy mornings/afternoons with diehard regulars � will offer one of the best beers selections around for the raucous event. One giant flat screen; happy hour prices during the match.��
New Deck Tavern | 3408 Sansom St., 215-386-4600
An enthused crowd is a guarantee as you�ll be watching and drinking with grad students and overworked scientists from around the world. Heineken Lite and Heineken bottles/drafts and Amstel drafts: $3.50. Multiple flat screens.
O�Neals | 611 S. Third St., 215-574-9495
Immerse yourself in one of the finest beer menus around while enjoying the subtleties of the Beautiful Game. $3.50 LandSharks. Multiple TVs.
The Blarney South | 323 South St., 215-413-8294
A cool spot to down a few pints before or after a show at the TLA, The Blarney draws a good crowd for footy, as well. And that has nothing to do with the fetish boutique around the corner. Multiple TVs.
Memphis Taproom | 2331 E. Cumberland St., 215-425-4460
Ease up to the bar and pair world-class soccer with well-crafted food and a plethora of also-world-class beers at this emerging landmark. One sizable flat screen.
National Mechanics will have it on the big screen too
Has anyone else noticed that food writers eventually become overweight or sick and slowly convert to chronicling their struggles with diet and exercise? Once the grim realization that you cannot, actually, have your cake and eat it too sets in, the "sensible eating" and "increased activity" mantras start flying off the keyboards.
Take Serious Eats founder Ed Levine. Serious Eats is the highest-trafficked national food blog, with subsidiary blogs that discuss nothing but pizza (Slice) and burgers (A Hamburger Today). But for the past year, Levine's main written contributions to SE have been focused on his trials losing weight, a lifelong struggle magnified by a career in food journalism. The hundreds of comments his Serious Diet posts garner suggests Levine is not the only Serious Eater who must mind their waist.
My personal favorite food blog is cook eat FRET, the culinary output of transplanted New Yorker Claudia Young. Living in Nashville, if Young wants Lupa-type pasta or pine nut cake, she's gotta make it herself. But for the past few months all she talks about is eating less, while posting tempting calorie-dense recipes for things like bagna cauda, the anchovy-rich, Italian hot oil bath perfect for dipping other caloric things into. You cook it, you eat it, and then you fret about it. All the damn time.
Even my hero Mark Bittman (NY Times' The Minimalist, Bitten) has been on a weight-loss binge for months now. His credo? Eat vegan before 5 p.m., then add a bit of your much-lusted-after animal protein for dinner. He's lost 30-plus pounds with this method.
Since most foodies aren't going to shun pork belly, butter and Vosges haut chocolat wholesale, we have to start moving to balance the multi-course chef's tasting menus.
Marc Vetri has two locations in Philly, but Sweat Fitness has seven. $20 gets you a 30-day trial that includes new, free group training sessions � so even if you don't know how to work a weight machine, you're out of excuses.
Kevin Hensei of Fit4Life has a 30-Day Challenge on right now � sign up by May 19 for two free group training workouts per week and nutrition tips from this seriously motivated personal trainer. Workouts are Tuesdays and Thursdays at Fit4Life in Cherry Hill, and you can't really beat free.
If the boot camp approach is too scary, Dhyana Yoga has three studios (Old City, Center City and a new one in West Philly) and teaches Ashtanga, Kundalini and Yin Vinyasa styles of yoga. Bikram Yoga of Philadelphia on Sansom Street is the city's only hot Bikram studio, adding gallons of sweat and a serious challenge to the flow.
No matter what tack you take, spring is here and it's time to bypass happy hour for the gym hour. Or else start writing about your discipline skipping those cream puffs on a trip to Paris.
You can also get a really nice discount on Sweat Fitness's monthly rate by using globalfit.com.
You can also get a really nice discount on Sweat Fitness's monthly rate by using globalfit.com. OH! You're my new favorite blogger fyi
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"Humble" Bob Shoudt, who's currently ranked fourth in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, placed third yesterday in the first-ever Stroehmann Sandwich Slamm, which required contestants to throw down on 6-ounce corned beef sandwiches on Stroehmann's rye bread. The Royersford resident managed to eat 13 sandwiches, but was edged out by winner Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, currently #2 in the world, and top guy/Nathan's hot dog titleholder Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, who's #1 but finished second this time around.
Shoudt really lives up to his nickname, as he is the the nicest dude you'll ever meet. I wrote a profile of him � then ranked fifth in the world by the IFOCE � in August 2006. He also contributed a recipe to Felicia D.'s 2007 Thanksgiving recipe roundup.
Also, one time, sixth-ranked eater Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas spit root beer on my foot.
I have met Humble Bob in the past. He is "the nicest dude" I have ever met. After seeing the picture on Philly City Paper of him lifting his shirt up, maybe Bob should be exploring a new name. I'm questioning the humbleness of that move! Anyway, nice to see Bob (and his FULL belly) doing well in another competitive eating contest. Nice job Humble Bob!
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