Some shots checking in on some food that people are right on the streets of Philadelphia. The big fig tree in the Italian Market as of May 22nd.
The figs are already way thicker than my stubby thumbs. Peep that burn mark on my left thumb. That hurt a lot. It's about 3 months old and it just won't fully heal.
Here's a newish fig tree someone has in Bella Vista. They also have a ton of great herbs on their stoop. They could still bring this one, a year or two old, inside for the harsh winters, but by the end of next summer, they'll probably have to find a permanent home for it.
Gorgeous mound of spearmint. I couldn't find another shot I have of a tire planter with Thai basil almost a foot tall already also in Bella Vista. There's so much stuff growing on the streets. It's not all for the taking, but it sure as hell is worth a stop to gawk at the beauty urban gardeners and arborists bring to the streetscape.
When GM shoots you an email asking if you'd like to cruise up to New Hope for a food crawl through several restaurants on their dime, in brand spanking new cars from Chevy, you say yes, right? Above is the Chevy Cruze Eco which tops out at a sippy 42MPG (with the 6-speed manual). I rode in the other car up and down (a Malibu), so I can't say much about this one other than it was a nicely put together small car which is roughly the size of a Civic or Corolla. We did agree that it's roomy trunk could probably stow 4 or so bodies. With 3 cars to use between 3 blogs and 2 PR people, we didn't have to find out if the claims of the sales people were true.
Here's Tushar and Bill from Philly Food Guys checking out the Chevy Malibu with it's solid aggressively styled two-tiered front grille.
Here's Thad from Philly Phoodie checking out the Malibu with it's two-toned interior. I rode with Thad and Preson in a fully spec'd out Malibu. We used the OnStar system which as a little odd to use without a dedicated map screen. It's turn by turn directions were spoken aloud and written in text on the radio panel. The XM radio was spotty while driving in the pouring rain and fully crapped out in the woods around New Hope. It even started to skip like a CD at one point which was weird. I didn't bring my auxiliary cable for my phone so we had to make do. Our ride also had a USB port complete with a super easily losable tiny rubber cap. We joked about just tossing the cap to save the future owner some heartache of the loss. This midsize car with a full size trunk could probably fit 6 bodies given that GM has cut down on it's use of the donut tire. Instead, they're loading cars with a combo sealer/inflater kit which plugs right into the lighter. Oh, this car also had a standard 120v 3-prong outlet in the back for whatever you want to take with you on a road trip. We were woefully unprepared for this and had nothing.
Thad tried his best to put the Malibu through the test while manually shifting most of the way up to New Hope and by the time we landed at the Logan Inn, I was ready for a refreshing Arnold Palmer. And before long, we had a train of food coming out.
Blooming onion ($10). Oh man, it's been at least 10 years since I saw one of these in the flesh. Their version had a spicy roasted red pepper dipping sauce.
Cavatelli pasta ($17) is a newish to me pasta which I love. My friend Julia (one half of Tatsebuds and Tidbits) has a cavatelli maker and it's really fun to use. Logan's dish had sauteed brocoli, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes with a nice toss of Pecorino. The pasta was right on and I always love juicy sundried tomatoes. Winner.
Jumbo lump crabmeat cocktail ($16) was really jumbo. The fist-sized cakes were full of big hunks of crabmeat which made you angry you ever had those horrid splintering shards of crabmeat in all those other crab cakes you've had.
Baked brie in phyllo with a raspberry preserve ($12) was deliciously gooey. The raspberry preserves offered a nice rich sweetness to cut through the heavy brie.
Michelle Greco from Visit Bucks County gave us the spiel about the area. Thad peppered her with 3rd grade book report style questions throughout the afternoon which she handled like Superman does with bullets (remember that scene when the bullet hits Superman in the eye?!). Louis Licitra, President of the Greater New Hope Chamber of Commerce, welcomed us to his stomping grounds and told us a bit about the continuously running inn (the Logan) in the county. His one-liners through the afternoon had me thinking he left early to make his rounds on the stand up circuit in NYC that evening.
Stop 2 was Marsha Brown (whose website has annoying un-shut-off-able music). The eatery is set in a 150 year old former Methodist Church which Brown, a Ruth's Chris franchisee, gutted and redid. Parts of the old church remained like the massive stained glass windows, the pew seats which were remade into the decorative quilt-like pieces on the walls and that gigantic painting. What is going on there? One guy seems to be riding a horse made of fire while stabbing a lion in the face with a spear. Awesome? Yes.
Chef and GM Caleb Letchner came out to present the dishes and explain a bit of the history of this Creole joint. First up was a chunky lobster and shrimp bisque ($5). It was more chowdery given it's texture, but it was deliciously seafoody.
Crawfish etouffée ($15) was served with a bevy of chopped vegetables on rice. Hearty eats in this simple cajun country dish.
Eggplant Ophelia ($15) was my favorite entree for the afternoon. I said something I almost never say ever: "Can you pass that eggplant dish? I want seconds." toward the end of the meal. A formed pile of shrimp/crabmeat casserole with perfectly grilled eggplant in a Creole butter sauce. Cue saliva. Many times eggplant is rubbery, slimy or overcooked. This was sublime. It had a mysteriously smokiness to it which I couldn't get out of my head.
Lentchner's Jambalaya ($15) was a cut above the rest. Duck confit and andouille sausage to go along with crabmeat and srhimp—this is special. While the confit gets lost in this heavy dish, the spicy andouille shines.
Here's the chef bringing out plate after plate of food. There's more!
Any steakhouse has a standard chopped salad to supply some ruffage for the massive cut of beef you consume. Lentchner's formed chopped salad ($10) is packed with lettuce, asparagus, broccoli, egg, artichokes, bacon bits, crumbled bleu cheese, crisp onions, croutons and Kalamata olives. There was so much texture going on in the salad. The crunch of the salad was a nice change of pace from the softer dishes offered, but it was just as heavy as the rest!
Mamere's crab cheesecake ($15) seemed to be the favorite of the entire table. While it's also listed on the entree menu, I think it's something of a combo appetizer/entree/savory dessert; I guess many savory tarts can fall into that all-encompassing category. Filled with jumbo lump crabmeat and smoked gouda with green onion coulis and remoulade sauce, it was incredibly rich (duh). Each side of the table fought a mental battle to space out bites to finish off the slices.
The baby spinach, fig and bleu cheese tossed in a fig vinaigrette atop prosciutto di Parma ($13) makes for one of my absolutely favorite salads. The prosciutto was a little thickly cut for my liking, but it made the salt kick that much harder.
The chef looking over Pati and Tushar.
A little bit of everything on my plate.
A look at the exterior of the former church.
The final stop on our food crawl: The Blue Tortilla [un]fortunately, we were all completely stuffed. We sampled some of their starters, but everyone agreed that their tastebuds were just about spent.
Fresh guacamole came out and it's loaded with dairy (Chipilo Cream and Cotija Cheese). I'm just not a fan of that style of guac. Their homemade tortillas, however, were fantastic!
A heap of vegetarian nachos with beans hidden at around layer three.
A mix of cheese, chorizo and chicken quesadillas with some rice and beans.
After stuffing our faces some more, we squeezed into our caravan and took off for Philly. We had a great time talking over our New Hope feastival and traded tips on favorite spots back in Philly. It's always great to meet new people and eat with old friends. New Hope is a great spot to do both.
The people over at Drexel's Goodwin College shot an email to me for a cool event going on later that day: their Advanced Korean Cuisine course had come back from a two week stint in Korea (sponsored by the Korean government!) and were preparing a feast and presentation about their trip. I just happened to be free so I hurried over to the Academic Bistro for what I hoped would be similar to my mom's home cooking. I was sweaty from the bike ride across town and when I got upstairs, I was greeted by a very cool scene. Hannah Hutt was dressed up in a traditional hanbok and demonstrating how to properly serve and drink tea.
Inside the bar area the dishes started to come out. The crowd was a mix of faculty, administrators, friends and family. I could tell right away that there were definitely people there who had never eaten let alone seen Korean food before from their body language. This was a pretty cool setting to try it all out for the first time.
So what's at the center of every proper Korean meal? Kimchee. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Brunch, lupper, midnight snack. Koreans eat it all day and with everything. I love the stuff. At this point, I eat a fraction of what I used to eat growing up and I love each and every time I get a chance to have it. This was a very different take on my people's national dish. In fact, most of the dishes prepared were interpretations of traditional dishes. There were hits and misses according to my native tongue. This kimchee missed. It was beautifully presented, but it was just plain sweet. The water it was sitting in was an odd purplish-red. I thought this was a harbinger for the rest of the food given the Americanized palates of the students regardless of their fortnight spent in the motherland.
Kimbap. Korea's on-the-go food which is similar to Japanese maki. Cuts of thinly sliced and cooked beef, julienned carrots, zucchini and pickled daikon rolled in vinegary rice, rolled into dried seaweed. This stuff was closer to what I grew up with. Proportions weren't quite where I like it, but that's being nitpicky, but hey, that's me, right?.
Scallops on fried lotus root topped with a soy, scallion sauce. This is something I've never seen before. Maybe it's a take on something they saw in Korea, maybe it's something I just didn't grow up with. I'm not the biggest lover of seafood and I thought it was quite tasty.
Ah japchae. It's a time consuming noodle dish which I'll describe as fried rice, but with noodles. This take on japchae was rolled into [wonton?] wrappers. Not quite salty enough, but very well done.
The guests happily dug into everything.
A shot of one side of my overflowing plate.
A shot of the other side.
Into the presentation we went. The class presented their professor, Dr. Jeehyun Lee, with a lovely gift in a familiar white ribboned, turquoise box. She brushed away a few tears as she soaked in the applause. She was the one who tirelessly led them across her homeland.
Here's Andrew Haught talking about some of the things they did early on. The group went up to the Seoul Tower where they decorated a tile commemorating the trip. Tiles are stuck onto the observation deck of the tower by visitors year round.
Marilyn Miquel spoke of the facilities at Youngsan University. You can see in the photo all the monitors at each cooking station. I've had a tour of Drexel's kitchens and while they are very nice and well equipped, there's nothing like this anywhere. The instructor can place cameras in various spots to give students the best view possible, she explained.
After the presentation, the students peeled off to the kitchen to put the final touches on each of their dishes. They then manned their station and dished out portions for all.
I lined my plate with bulgogi, ttokbokki and spicy chicken. The bulgogi was on the grainy side and that may not have been the fault of whomever prepared it. The ttokbokki's sauce was a little gloppy and there was a big thing missing from it: the heat! The spicy chicken had a nice meld of oniony heat to it. A few days after the event, I was talking to my sister in law and she remarked at how hard it is to make ttokbokki and I gotta agree, it's tough to get the cylindrical rice cakes cooked well. But like most of the other dishes, it was the spice factor which was most bothersome.
The students and guests tucked into their food in the bistro. As I watched everyone enjoying themselves, I thought of what an experience it must be for all of them. It's one thing to learn classic French techniques, but Asian cuisine is a different set of tastes which haven't fully saturated this continent. I have to commend Drexel for taking the leap to create the country's first and only Korean Cuisine course. I spoke with Dr. Lee, whose mother is a culinary instructor in the southern end of Korea, as everyone was eating and she told me a little about the journey.
She's a food science person, so not a classically trained chef and hopes to hand the course over to a chef in the future, but she knew she, a native Korean, would have to be there at the start to get the relationship with the Korean government on solid ground. She said some of the students struggled with the different coursing and portion sizes of Korea. She sent a group of them to Outback Steakhouse to get their fill and they were fine for the rest of the trip. But the first thing they said when they landed stateside was that they missed everything about Korea. She had them hustling around 10+ hours a day and I didn't have to ask her how much sleep she was getting; close to none. I thanked her for her time and let her get back to her guests.
From all of the empty plates skewed across the room, it was obvious that most of the guests enjoyed their eats. And looking at this photo, I see that I forgot to mention the drinks! They had a ginger-cinnamon drink which was just about perfect&emdash;it was just missing the pine nut floating garnish. I learned later that the bartender of the group was allergic to nuts so I understood their absence. There was also a raspberry wine and a few other drinks I can't recall.
I had a great time at the event. IT's always wonderful to see people discover what I consider to be the best food on earth. I know I'm biased having grown up with it (and with excellent cooks in the family), but I truly do believe that it's the best. Thank you for having me Drexel!
Mike Geno paints food—with oil, on wood. He started off by painting bacon (something he was familiar with after being a meatman) and after a clash with Madame Fromage, cheese. His cheese oils are being prepped for a show in Seattle, but not before a small showing at his Kensington studio.
Above is Mike talking to two friends about their favorite paintings.
Here's Mike's workspace. He paints where that loaf of challah hangs.
In this kitchen was a spread of many cheeses, all of which were painted at some point. It was great to see the cheese one after the other even though I was familiar with many of them. His heavy brushstrokes combine well with the textured cheeses he chose to interpret on wood. Bloomy rinds, thick blues, crumblers all get the treatment.
Here's Mike with former cheesemakers Debbie and Fred of Amazing acres Goat Dairy (they're retiring). They bought a painting of their beloved Sea Smoke. I absolutely loved that chève. Similar to Humboldt Fog for those who've had the broader reaching cheese.
I had a wonderful afternoon with cheese loving new friends. Give a holler at Mike if you'd like to see them for yourself and make a purchase!
Have you ever had something so quizzically bad it was somewhat upsetting? Well, that was my experience at Solo Chinese Kabob in Chinatown. I've passed by this joint several times in the year or two this place has been open. From the outside, it looks like it's just a takeout window next to the big stenciling on the front window, but stepping inside reveals a straight shot bar and single line of 2-tops along the wall. The drop tile ceiling oddly had these recessed black colored CFL bulbs which weren't on and a set of lights hanging down which were on. Enticed by the $1 – $2 prices, I went in. I didn't expect magic, but was hopeful this was one of those hole in the wall spots that had just that.
The menu is just a single-sided, third of a sheet of paper. No frills other than lamination. It was easy enough to order as I was the only person in the joint at 1.30p. Not necessarily a bad sign as it's just after the lunch rush. While I played it safe with a lamb ($2), beef ($1.50) and chicken ($1) combo, I did notice the funkier choices down menu: chicken gizzards ($1.50), chicken heart ($1) and chicken skin ($1). I thought to myself, "maybe next time around."
The charcoal (I think that's what it was) grill was nice to see. I was looking forward to a nice smoky flavor in the meat. That's the takeout window at left.
Here's a shot from the doorway. Seating for a total of a dozen or so. Everything was nice and clean and new. Nothing gross and dingy if that's what you were expecting. The two ladies in the shop were standing towards the back, behind the counter, next to a chest freezer. One lady was cutting up what I presumed to be the next day's cuts and placing them in bags. The other lady was tending my 3 kebobs and chatting.
And here they are (oddly put on plastic wrap over the plate as to cut down on dishes). From left to right: chicken, beef, lamb. You have four options of spice level: no, light, medium, more. I opted for "more." What I got was not so tasty. It was a dry, cumin-heavy, paprika spice. The only thing it did was cover up the taste of the meat, which was a good thing. The lamb was only slightly lamby. The beef didn't taste like anything. The chicken… wasn't bad. It tasted like it was marinated in a sweet soy concoction.
I ate everything pretty quickly during my measly 30 minute lunch (I know, right?) and headed back to the day job unsatisfied.
Messy not there
Picky 1/2*
The final word: If you're down to your last buck, get a back of chips around the corner.
Solo Chinese Kabob
50 N 10th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215.238.0882
I passed by one of my foraging fig trees over the weekend to see how they were doing with the nice heat. The buds started sprouting a couple weeks ago and already, figs!
Living closer to the trees I've mapped out [no, you can't see my map!] is gonna be nice.
We were invited to the Krispy Kreme preview party for the nearlyy opened outpost at 41 S 16th St, just north of Chestnut St. Messy couldn't make it, but Picky sure as hell could and he did. Is there anyone out there not familiar with Krispy Kreme? The crack-laced confection which has helped people gain more poundage than Jenny Craig could hope to ever charge you to melt away; the saliva inducing inventors of the 'HOT NOW' sign outside each mini factory; the 'buns' for the infamous Luther Burger. Either way, it's on the other side of that sheet of white icing to the left of the warm donuts where a donut becomes something else.
I was welcomed into the sparkling clean joint by these two lovely ladies with trays full of bagels, cinnamon buns, berry laden treats and chillers, their version of the Slurpee. I got there after 2p and just about had the run of the place to myself. I met Braden Young, the Sales & Marketing Manager for the region, who welcomed me to the new outpost of the franchise.
The display case was stocked solid with fresh donuts.
The famous 'original glazed' (190 calories) had several spots along the counter. They had regular flavors as well as some featured donuts with lots of calorie counts. I guess they have a pretty bad rap so it's like saying "not as bad as you'd think!" as you browse the selections and your brain thinks of the trips of the gym it'll have to remember to take.
But let's get to the magic. You've all seen the view from the store side, but I got to take a peek on the other side of the counter and in the mini glazing factory which is the heart of Krispy Kreme. Racks of donuts line the walls on tall baking carts on wheels. The donuts are put onto the wire rack conveyor belt which transforms the plain donuts into something else. The donuts are warmed up (they're traveling left to right in the photo above) before the glaze is applied. I could tell you the exact temperature the donuts need to be in order for the glaze to hold, but I'd have to kill you (and then you wouldn't be able to have any Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
They travel about 2' to the glaze dispenser. The glaze itself is heated to a scalding temperature (once again, I could tell you the exact temperature, but…) in order to adhere to the donut. I was told that if the glaze wasn't a certain temperature and the donut wasn't a certain temperature, the glaze would just glide off and wouldn't that be a shame. The glaze is pumped from a vat below the wire belt (recycling the dripped off glaze) via a tube and it's pumped to a wide surface from which it glides in a solid sheet of joy onto the awaiting donuts. Here's the moment where the angels sing in unison.
I had to fight the urge to grab the donuts right there. I knew exactly how hot the donuts and glaze were. I wanted to do it. But I didn't. The manager standing 1' to my right would not have been happy. He probably would've intercepted my hand and jostled my camera from my grip on the process, knocking it into the vat of glaze. Mmmmmmmmm glazed camera, delicious. So here they are, the nearly finished donut. They had another 20' or so of rolling along the conveyor belt to cool down.
Back on the other side of the counter, I took a closer look at a few offerings, like these minis. I haven't been inside a Krispy Kreme in awhile and don't remember the minis. It's probably been a solid 10 years actually. Me and my friends used to hit up the Krispy Kreme somewhere in VA on our way back from this huge club in SE DC called Nation. The club closed down sometime around 5a or 6a. We'd pile into my buddy Austin's car to ride back to our apartment just outside DC in MD in between Bethesda and Rockville. We drive by the Krispy Kreme looking for that neon sign. If it was on, we went in for some burn the top of your mouth off goodness.
This monster was a little intimidating. A Cookies and Kreme doughnut. Good god. Crumbled Oreos. So wrong and so right at the same time. I resisted the urge to cash in my two tickets for a pair of those.
I filled my freebie bag with an original glazed and a yeast-raised banana caramel donut. I also got a Very Berry Chiller which I happily chugged on my walk home. The syrup magically didn't come apart from the ice. I have no idea what kind of mad alchemy goes on inside that churner machine, but this is one of the very few times I've had an iced drink where the syrup didn't completely separate from the ice. Color me red—and pleasantly surprised.
Here's a closeup of the banana caramel donut I took home. It was dense and delicious. The banana wasn't overly syrupy in flavor, but there were no pieces of actual banana in sight.
It's exactly what you expect from a Krispy Kreme if you've been in one before. If you haven't, well, you should try it out. And random fact: Krispy Kreme is certified Kosher, how about that?
Last, but not least, they're having a Grand Opening Celebration with some giveaways. Be the first person through the door at 6a on the 4th and you'll win one dozen original glazed doughnuts per week for a year. And be sure to snag a paper hat if you see one around. Wear it like you mean it.
