We thought maybe we'd take a look at their special happy hour menu [above] and order an app or two to nibble with our drinks. Yet somehow we ended up having a full-blown meal at the bar after our man behind the bar, Kip, handed us the full dinner menu packed with seasonal delights. For drinks, Picky ordered up his prized Bitches Brew (a steal at $6/glass for the 5p – 7p happy hour) and Messy left herself in the hands of Kip who suggested a Corpse Reviver #2 as a pick-me-up (gin, cointreau, lillet, lemon, absinthe, $11). By the time we finished our first round, the management had to send a server outside to serve as doorman as the space was at capacity. Everyone wanted a piece of the Dogfish + Southwark action. We got there just in time.

Picky ordered up the chicken liver terrine with beer bread [$5 happy hour special menu]; he's become a fiend for anything offal-y in the past two years. Dollops of vinegary whole grain mustard adorned the plate. The whole grains were a strong textural complement for the medium-rare, soft (but deliciously heavy in taste!) liver.

Messy went with a tried and true favorite, the roasted potatoes with fresh herbs and roasted garlic aioli [$6], which always make us happy. Chef Sheri never skimps on the accompanying dips— you never need to ask for a second one and if you don't feel like you need it, nobody's holding a gun to your head, so put it aside. After Messy was finished with her cocktail, Kip offered up a delicately rose-tinted Pinot Gris (Prentice "Ramato" 2008 Victoria, Australia). The color comes from the skins being left on the grapes after pressing for awhile to meld with the juice, Kip informed us as he gave Messy a taste.

Red and gold beet carpaccio and ricotta fritters with gigante bean and lettuce salad [$19].

It's just not right to pass up ribs with a bourbon mustard glazed baby back ribs, kidney bean and potato salad, spicy greens [$23], right? That's exactly what Picky thought. A delicious crispy exterior with a just too dry interior. Picky likes his ribs super succulent (but not just sauced). He wasn't complaining though. He was too busy licking his fingers to sip down the mocha-scented, rich Brew. Some say that the summer is not the time for a Russian imperial stout; Picky licks his thumb at thee.

Post carnage: Picky's a good eater.

Dessert was a difficult choice. The always awesome homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich with homemade chocolate shortbread cookie [see here] was on the menu, but so was a ginger pound cake with lavender caramel [$7], strawberry-rhubarb profiterole with fresh whipped cream [$10] and then their homemade ice cream offering of strawberry and peanut butter swirl [$6]. After some guidance by George, the GM and barman as you can see up top, we settled on the ice cream. Another Bitches Brew was needed to round out the night and what a perfect pairing with ice cream! (Normally, we would have ordered up more cocktails, like Picky's favorite Old Fashioned in town, but it was a special night for a special brew, which will hopefully see the light of day once again in the future!) As the sundae glass made its way over to us, one of the servers, Laurie, said she was a fan and thought it tasted like a PB&J. Spot on. It was like an ice cream PB&J, but not like anything you grew up with. The hunks of peanut butter didn't swirl uniformly, but it left for delicious chunks at odd bites amidst mouthfuls of creamy vanilla bean caviar-speckled ice cream.

Sheri came out to say hello and we gushed over the awesomeness of the ice cream (and everything else we gobbled up). By 7.15p, the happy hour was over and there was some breathing room at the bar once more. Sheri said it was a nice beer week with a bunch of special events. We heard the Country Time pork night went well Thursday night and PBC night was a packed house the night before.

And here are two of the hardest working people in Philly, Sheri and Kip Waide taking a breather after the rush. Kip's old boss, Fergie, was at the bar having a few brews with the Dogfish Head crew along with Curt from Nodding Head. As chance would have it, we sit in these seats at the end of the bar pretty much every time we're here. It's a great place to observe the inside workings of the restaurant, and a great place to say hi to all the folks who stop by. Picky had to introduce himself to Dogfish's Wendy, whom he followed around, event after event, for the week. After nearly three hours at the bar, we took off for home, fully stuffed after a fantastic meal with the added flair and madness of Beer Week added onto it. It being mid-June, it was still light outside, which made the night that much more awesome.

Southwark
701 S. 4th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215.238.1888
Food: Tu-Th: 5.30p-10.30p
F-Sa: 5.30p-11.30p
Su: 11a-5p
Bar: Tu-Sa: 5p-2a
M: Closed

Pics from Philly Beer Week 2011

We walked inside the cozy spot and were greeted by a lovely dark wood bar with Kip serving up drinks. We made our way to the dining room which seats about 30 (with room for another 25 or so in the garden when it's nice).

Freshly made potato bread with little strips of parmesan and rosemary baked in made its way to our table with two pearl-onion-sized spheres of butter. Since Southwark is very conducive to drinking, we figured we might as well live it up and order drinks. We kept it old school with a Tom Collins for Messy and an Old Fashioned for Picky. We chatted with our supremely helpful server and ordered up a good amount of grub off of their menu. (We went in the fall so what you see might be different.)

Messy started off with the soup du jour: pureed late summer vegetables with cold olive sour cream. It was delicious.

Messy, not having too many non-meat options, decided to order up a series of small plates instead of the one vegetarian entree. We shared the heirloom tomato and buffalo mozzarella caprese with purple and green basil, another one of the daily specials, which are dictated by what's available from the farms in the region.

We split the grilled peach salad – charred red onion, baby greens, mascarpone, honey-mint dressing. Cut into wedges and reformed into a whole with mascarpone stone – ingenious! Messy ordered up a Domaine Lafage "Novellum" chardonnay (2007 Côtes Calalanes, France) after finishing her Tom Collins. Picky stuck to the rye and ordered up another Old Fashioned.

A surprise came out as a secondi: seared salmon with a watermelon and ahi tuna ceviche. Picky has become a big fan of ceviche as of late. Light and juicy, it gave away perfectly while slicing into the crispy, seared skin of the salmon.

Messy's main course was the goat cheese – baked Shellbark Hollows Farms goat cheese with herb and parmesan crust, poached apple, pepper-rosemary lavash, buckwheat honey. It was absolutely delectable, but clearly insufficient as a main course. This is not Southwark's fault — Messy shouldn't have shared her other small plates.

Picky's entree was the probably the best plate of food he's had this year. Barbequed smoked pork belly, baked beans, wilted collards, and Birchrun blue cheese sauce. The on-the-bone slab of bacon (let's face it: that's what it is, folks) was tender and intensely flavorful. The pork was not masked by the BBQ, but thoughtfully enhanced. Picky dutifully dipped into the Birchrun blue cheese sauce with each bite and did his best to keep Messy's fork from stealing scoops of sauce. The beans were undercooked, but after talking to some friends, that seems to be the current style, for some reason. They did provide some contrast to the tender pork, but Picky wasn't expecting an almost-crunchy bean. Of course, when Messy pointed out the near-crunchiness, Picky informed her that for non-vegetarians, "the beans really aren't the point."

And for dessert — yes, we had room for desert — we got one apiece. Chocolate Pot de Crème topped with whipped cream for Picky, whose sweet tooth can't resist a rich chocolatey finale to a meal. It didn't disappoint. More of a cold ganache than a custard, but Picky wasn't complaining.

Messy's chocolate shortbread mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich with fresh spearmint ground into the ice cream was shockingly flavorful and fresh. The homemade mint ice cream was unlike any either of us has had. Bits of real spearmint (not some flavoring) spiced up each mouthful. If only a six-pack of these were available to take home, we'd eat them every night.

Southwark is just plain classy. It's classy when you first walk in. It's classy after a few drinks. It's classy when you roll your full self out of there. Our meal was fantastic and so was our server (we're so sorry we forgot his name — we did have a few drinks!) which makes the experience so much better.

Southwark
701 S. 4th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215.238.1888
Food: Tu – Th: 5.30p – 10.30p
F – Sa: 5.30p – 11.30p
Su: 11a – 5p
Bar: Tu – Sa: 5p – 2a
M: Closed

Don't be fooled by the exterior, this dingy-looking take-out joint has freaking amazing hoagies! Slack's is a local chain with an awesomely extensive selection of hoagies, sandwiches, burgers and dogs, steaks, wings and salads. A "half" sandwich is about 12" long and overflowing with inside goodies. Not as great were their speciality "teezers," cheese-filled tater tots, served, strangely, with salsa. There's only one vegetarian hoagie served hot or cold, but for the meat lovers, there are 14 varieties of 'steak, 7 varieties of hot dogs as well as tons of specialty sandwiches.

One of their best deals could be the 100 wings for $33.99 – great for Eagles parties! Picky's polished off 50 in one sitting, but not the Slack's variety. Picky's favorite is a half Italian Deluxe hoagie which is overstuffed with Genoa salami, peppered ham, cooked salami, extra capicola, plain ham and extra provolone cheese, at $6.15, a steal. There's one weird thing about this place, though: there are always cops here.

Messy ****
Picky ****

The final word: We'd go back in a second!

Slack's Hoagie Shack
41 Snyder Avenue, Snyder Plaza North
Philadelphia, PA
11-10 Daily

Upon walking into the diner, the first thing you will notice is an extensive old school cigarette vending machine. This is information is crucial because cigarettes are the most important aspect of this diner, and they have quite a variety. Their menu is similarly comprehensive (and reasonably priced) but it's hard to read it through the clouds of smoke. Messy's allergies prevented her from sitting through a meal: we settled on mozzarella sticks and decent vanilla milkshakes served in Styrofoam cups. Honestly, there isn't a whole lot to recommend this place. You're better off going next door to Slacks' and getting a hoagie that will last for three meals.

Messy *1/2
Picky *1/2

The final word: Smoky and mediocre.

The Diner at the Plaza
43 Snyder Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
215-755-7899
7 am- 2 am daily