|
|
|
Archive: October, 2012
On today's Afternoon Snacks: Day of the Dead tequila tasting, free booze on South St., boozy jack-o'-lanterns, and where to score one Halloween must-have.
While Halloween might be just about to wrap up, there’s still plenty of Day of the Dead fun to look forward to. At Distrito (3945 Chestnut St.), the annual Día de los Muertos celebration is tequila-fueled, as always. This Fri., Nov. 2, they’re offering happy hour specials all night long, from 5 p.m. to close. Drink specials include $3 cans of Corona and $7 tequila flights highlighting Cuervo 1800. You can also snag a deal on chicken or steak alambres, gambas a la Mexicana (featuring—what else?—tequila!), or chicken mole poblano tamales. (If you find yourself craving those tamales afterward, you’re in luck: the recipe can be found in Jose Garces’ latest cookbook.)
Though the city seemed to be spared the worst of Sandy, our outlying burbs and farmland got plowed (and not in the good way). "The hurricane turned me into an unintentional hydroponic farmer," joked Ian Brendle of Green Meadow, whose Gap pastures took on water like a Swiss cheese ship. "I expect more of our root crops to split and crack due to an abundance of moisture."
Yesterday morning, Tom Culton picked as much as he could from the soggy ground of his Silver Spring farm, Culton Organics, also in Lancaster County. "It's very messy, numbing hands," he said. "I'll be wearing my harvesting gear and carrying a knife constantly from here on out."
In Chester County, Dean Carlson of Wyebrook Farm spent Sunday night worrying about his 15 just-born piglets. "We keep the pigs out on pasture, and I was scared they would drown," Carlson said. "There was so much water. We just kept bringing straw down to keep them dry." All piglets survived the storm, as did a calf born Monday. Carlson doesn't name his animals, but if he did, we've got a good recommendation you can probably guess.
There's nothing inherently creepy about Alla Spina on any given night but this evening things are getting a little dark over at 1410 Mt. Vernon Street.
Beverage director Steve Wildy is bringing in a sideshow for all of your fire-breathing and sword-swallowing enjoyment from 9 p.m. until midnight and there will be Italo-horror classics screening all night long from the giallo oeuvre of Dario Argento. Wildy is throwing together a creepy-cool mix of Halloween appropriate classics including 10/31 must-hears from the Misfits, Bauhaus, Daniel Johnston and chills-inducing Goblin.
Head on up to Alla Spina for inky black shots of Ferent Branca, sinister scenes from Suspiria and in keeping with the dark theme of the evening there will be 8 black beers on tap, Elysian Dark o' the Moon Pumpkin Stout on special for $3.50 and $2 off any porter or stout if you come in costume.
Tonight at Monk's (264 S. 16th St.), you'll have the chance to taste a bunch of brews from Funky Buddha out of Boca Raton, FL—many of which sound positively dessert-like. If you've had enough candy (not possible), this sounds like a great way to stay in keeping with the All Hallow's Eve spirit. Here's your annotated tap list:
Blueberry Cobbler (5.6% ABV)
Unfiltered wheat beer flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, and blueberries.
Bonita Applebum (6% ABV)
Moderately sweet brown ale with flavors of apple and warming spices à la classic apple pie.
Floridian (5.6% ABV)
Fruity hefeweizen brewed with Florida orange blossom honey.
Hop Gun (6.5% ABV)
Despite its name (and its 90 IBUs), this IPA is reportly well-balanced with caramel malt.
Last Snow (6.3% ABV)
Porter with notes of chocolate, coconut, and coffee.
Maple Bacon Coffee Porter (6.3% ABV)
Maybe self-explanatory, but you know you want to try it: coffee porter with mild bacon flavor and smoky aroma, balanced with sweet maple syrup.
Staying in and doling out Snickers to trick-or-treaters is great and all but if you'd prefer to spend your evening eating a bit more adventurously there are a few spots that are getting deep into the All Hallow's spirit.
Ella's American Bistro (214 Sugartown Rd., Wayne) is serving up an odds and ends menu of offal including Silence of the Lambs-inpsired Veal Kidneys with Fava Beans and Chianti, Calves' Brains with Slow Scrambled Eggs and Beurre Noisette, Pigs' Ear Terrine and a Mexican Tripe Stew with Hominy and Cilantro.
The tasting menu happy Matyson (37 South 19th St.) is getting in on the offal tip with a Pacific Rim Style menu with all sorts of creepy, Halloween perfect organs for $45 a (severed) head.
Well, there's an upside to all of this post-Sandy madness, at least for Marc Vetri and Jeff Michaud. Due to the hurricane the two chefs have had to extend their Italian adventures by a few days. They've been eating their way through Italy since October 25th and have been doing a bang-up job documenting their adventures via Twitter. Vetri's first tweet read "In Italy 4 hours and already downed two bottles of wine, a quarter pound of cheese and all the salumi you need in a year!" And there has been nothing but epic meals, wonderful wine tastings and scenic Italian vista since.
To follow along with Vetri's and Michaud's Italian eating odyssey with the #stuckinitaly hashtag.
Notes from the Weekend is a feature that sees the members of Team Meal Ticket compiling all the food/drink highlights uncovered during prime eatin' time, Friday to Sunday. We'd love to hear all about YOUR weekend eating adventures in the comments. Go for it! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)
Adam Erace: AE
Caroline Russock: CR
Emily Kovach: EK
While the psychedelic-labeled, grape juice-y Beaujolais Nouveau is the wine that gets the most November attention, the wine forward folks at a.kitchen (135 South 18th St.) are directing their attention to more serious gamays with a selection of 17 Cru Beaujolais.
If you're not acquainted with the lovely, delicate wines from west of the Rhone, a.kitchen sommelier Tim Kweeder will be serving three Beaujolais by the glass all November long. Serving the wines in three and five ounce is the idea way to taste your way through the various cru regions of the appellation from Moulin à Vent to Juliénas.
And keeping with a.kitchen's commitment to wines that are not only food friendly but also true to their terrior, many of the Beaujolais being poured come from natural wine producers such as Michel Tete and Pierre Chermette whose thrilling bottles are rarely seen on Philadelphia area wine lists.
Calling all fame-seeking home cooks! Food Network is going to be in town on November 8th casting the 9th season of Food Network Star. If you think you've got what it takes to host your own cooking show i.e. cute catch phrase a la "EVOO" or "garbage bowl",or TV-ready swagger in the form of spiky bleached hair or sunglasses worn on the back of your head, head on over to the Loews Hotel at 12th and Market to try your luck. The casting call is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and more info and applications can be found at www.FoodNetworkStarCasting.com.
Remember when SPTR and Sardine Bar chef Scott Schroeder was flirting with veganism a while back? Well while he's not back on the animal-free wagon, he is doing a guest chef vegan dinner at Miss Rachel's (1732 W. Passyunk Ave.) on Nov. 3. "I love what Rachel is doing at her place, and it definitely shows how far this part of South Philly has come," Schroeder says. "There's no way we would have seen a vegan spot down here three years ago." The $50 four-courser will begin with assorted antipasti before moving into tomato soup with garlic croutons, fresh pasta with kale and celery root and a maple pear tart for dessert. Beer's included. Call or email Miss Rachel's for reservations
- 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
