For his entree, Picky opted for his standby at Korean restaurants: dol sot bibimbap, the hot stone bowl of mixed rice topped with a fried egg. The bowl is crazy hot and you mix in the hot pepper paste – he asked for a second plate of it – and the rice gets nice and crispy and the veggies cook down a bit while in contact with the scalding hot stone bowl. This is a shot of the dish before the paste is added.

Messy really wanted the jajang myung, buckwheat noodles in brown sauce with freshly chopped veggies, but they were all out, so she opted for the tofu chige, soft tofu soup in spicy broth. It ended up being a little too spicy for Messy's still-adapting-to-Picky's-heat-tolerance-after-seven-years palate. She added in the bowl of rice to bring down the heat to a more approachable level. Although she found it a little too tofu-heavy, the dish did well to warm her up for the rest of the afternoon of errands about Center City.

Here's a shot of Picky's halfway mixed bibimbap after adding in the hot pepper paste. He gobbled this up quickly and had plenty of room to have about a quarter of Messy's soup.

A shot of the empty restaurant as we were about to leave. By that time, it was when they were getting ready to change over to the early dinner crowd. Usually, there are much more people in there.

Messy ***1/2
Picky ***1/2

The final, final word: Authentic, spicy Korean food at a nice price.

2034 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 569-1200
Mon – Sun 11am – 9pm

We made it over to the Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse table (where we're getting married!) for another dessert. The event had 40 restaurants and a ton of them had desserts, making it especially friendly for vegetarian Messy — there weren't any meat pie desserts that we saw.

Eventually, we stopped by the Chase Sapphire Lounge where we walked by the velvet rope with our badges. No, we didn't do the Wayne's World bit of flashing it all over the place (but maybe we should have?). We checked in at the table to pick up an awesome schwag bag. A signed copy of Susanna Foo's Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine, Max Brenner's Chocolate: A Love Story: 65 Chocolate Dessert Recipes from Max Brenner's Private Collection (Brenner was there, but we didn't catch him in time to sign), a mini bottle of Cîroc vodka, a Chase labeled Built wine tote, a coupon book to all 40 participating restaurants, a bag of Melitta Blanc et Noir coffee and a copy of the latest Philly Mag all in a nondescript black tote bag. Yes, we got two bags. Commence hating.

And here's Chef Foo signing books in the lounge. We got one signed to Messy's dad who loves to cook Asian food. While in the lounge, Picky helped himself to a Cîroc cocktail. It was a Cîroc Cobbler. He can't remember exactly what was in it, but Messy noted that it reminded her of the sweet, strong drinks she had in college. Picky can't argue with that assessment.

There was so much to eat and see and we could barely make it to every table just to see what was being offered. In addition to the main room, there was a hallway full of tables and an additional room with more delicious offerings. We had a delicious tiramisu from what we think might have been The Dining Car.

And while we didn't get our picture taken in front of the Philly Mag backdrop to be all up in the society pages, Picky did get Messy to (grudgingly) pose for a frame. Check her out with her exclusive access badge and fan-cay bottle of Perrier!

Thank you again, good people at Chase Sapphire! And now, how about hooking us up with one of those big willie status credit cards?! Kidding, kidding. We're having a grand old time paying off our debt as it is!

It's a cozy spot on Girard where you can warm up and grab a bite to eat or a treat to take home.

They have hot and cold drinks and small batch items ranging from cured meats to baked goods and cheese. Stop in for lunch to try out one of their sandwiches on whole wheat or baguettes or a salad.

This classy joint even has cubed sugar for your hot beverage of choice.

Everything about this spot screams cute. They have lots of local fare too. Goods from my favorite blogger and baker Foodaphilia and treats from Metropolitan Bakery are what I can remember from my quick stop into Quince.

I left the store with a little bag of dark chocolate covered cherries which I happily munched on while riding the El back to Center City. Quince is definitely worth a browse when you're up in Northern Liberties and one day, I'm gonna make it out for a cheese tasting with Mme Fromage herself as my cheesy guide!

set on flickr

Quince Fine Foods
209 W. Girard Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19123
215.232.3425
M – Fr: 8.30am – 6.30pm, Sa: 10am – 6pm, Su: 12pm – 4pm

Here's a shot of me from last year taken by my friend Thad. You can get a sense of scale from this shot. From a distance, and close up, they look like giant avocados. The color will range from a lighter chalkboard-green to an almost black green. The texture will vary from smooth to deeply pebbled. Apparently, each emu lays a particular looking egg so the farmers can identify which eggs were laid by which bird, pretty cool! These emu eggs are roughly equivalent to 8 – 10 regular chicken eggs, so, you're looking at brunch for 4 with one egg.

But this egg will taste a little different than your average farm fresh egg with their bright orange yolks. Emus have a different diet so they're going to have a different taste and look. The emu egg isn't as rich as the other eggs at the Farmstand from Meadow Run, Natural Meadows (my favorite are the rainbow dozens), Lancaster Farm Fresh… The yolk to white ratio is crazy – the yolks are HUGE! The ratio is closer to 50-50 instead of roughly 1/4 – 1/3 yolk to 3/4 – 2/3 white. The whites of the emu eggs are thicker as they have less water content – this will make for fluffier eggs.

And there you go, an emu egg cracked into one of those large soup mugs with my hand and a quarter for scale. That sucker is GIGANTIC. The yolk is roughly the size of a donut. What in the world does one do with such a large egg? You can make a serious frittata or omelets. Make a custard or some quiche. Bake a cake. Messy is terrified of the gigantic eggs and refuses to go near them.

A closeup shot so you can see the texture of the eggs.

A gigantic emu egg can be yours for $10 at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market. They're going for $30 at Whole Foods in NYC according to Serious Eats NY. Get them before spring settles in (can you remember ground without snow on it?!) as they'll stop laying and that'll be it for emu eggs until next March. If you want one for Easter, don't worry, grab one now. The shells are so thick that they'll last for months on your counter unrefrigerated and a good 6 months in your fridge. What makes eggs go rotten are actually hairline cracks in the shells. Thicker shells mean hairline cracks don't let air into the inside of the egg so no rotting! And if you're feeling especially adventurous, you can blow out the inside of the egg and save the egg for art like these people.

Messy started off with a big mug of delicious hot chocolate which had some subtle undertones that were reminiscent of pumpkin pie spices. It came out with some freshly whipped cream (a real hearty plop, not that watery stuff that dissolves right away!) and a slice of strawberry. Honey's touts itself as a big supporter of the Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign and we found it odd that they had these superfluous slices of out-of-season strawberry (there were more later).

Everything in the place looked cozy and fun. Here, a table to our left which had yet to be cleared.

Picky especially liked the little condiment caddy. Cream, ketchup, salt and pepper, hot sauces including a big bottle of Siracha. Dovetailed ends and several compartments so things didn't slide around too much. Everything fit perfectly.

Messy had a vegetarian chicken fried steak (Honey's has lots and lots of vegetarian choices) which came with a buttermilk biscuit and two sides of Messy's choice. She went with mac n cheese and slaw [$8]. It was all quite tasty and the portion was huge. The chicken fried steak tasted wasn't what Messy was expecting — the best way to describe it is to say it tasted like the insides of a samosa heavily fried in a pancake — but it was good. The only off note was the sauce, which tasted like a bland nutritional yeast concoction. In addition to all of this delicious carbs and cheese, Messy ordered a broccoli casserole appetizer which was fabulous — is there a better way to eat broccoli than smothered in delicious, gooey cheese and topped with French fried onions?

Picky had Bubby's Brisket Sandwich on brioche with Swiss, sauteed spinach, mushroom gravy and a side of horsey mayo [$10]. He had heard good things about it and it's supposed to be one of their stellar dishes. The brioche was thick, toasted and sesame seeded. It seemed like too much thick, dry bread for such dry brisket. Sadly, the brisket was dry. Why is meat ever dry? The horsey mayo didn't make up for the dry brisket, it was also pretty dry, not creamy at all. (The consistency was somewhere around very cold, hard cream cheese.) Picky tried a hunk of brisket by itself — it was under salted, too. Enough to make all of the Jewish mothers and grandmothers in Picky's hometown back in NY would cry. A stronger cheese would probably have helped. The side of hand cut fries [$2] were tasty – on the undercooked side, but nice and salty. If you need more salt, they have nice mini Ball mason jars of salt and pepper at the ready in those lovely dovetailed condiment trays at each table.

For desert, Picky was able to scarf down a blueberry cobbler [$5] a la mode [$2.50] with Bassett's vanilla ice cream. Messy helped, but she was really too full to make a solid dent. Spoonfuls of custard and pear dipping sauces circled the ramekin of cobbler along with more slices of strawberries and a big spearmint garnish. White-centered strawberries in December? We like to wait until the summer for deep red hearted local berries. The cobbler top wasn't rich enough for Picky's tastes, but it was pretty. Given the cakey cobbler top, you definitely want to go for the ice cream on this one.

After all the complaining from Picky — Messy enjoyed every part of her meal — he'd go back. He doesn't say this often, as there are just too many great spots in town to go back to a place that didn't sing the first time, but what can we say? Something about Honey's just felt so right.

Messy ****
Picky **

The final word: The food was a mixed bag, but the cozy, cool vibe invites us back for more.

Honey's Sit-N-Eat
800 North Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
215.925.1150
M – Sa: 8am – 10pm
Su: 8am – 4.30pm

Above is a shot from our dinner a few months ago which we recapped here. It was some seriously good eats. It was so good, we kept the thought of Picky's entree rattling in our heads to recreate, but so that Messy could enjoy as well. We've become seitan fiends over the last few years and we've settled on Ray's Seitan as the real deal, hands down, best we've had. One day, we'll get around to making our own wheat meat, but that's another story. Ray's is available all around town in places like Fair Food in RTM, Whole Foods, Essene, among others. It's an incredibly flexible meat alternative which can take on flavors, but it's got tons of flavor and not much like tofu which relies more on soaking up flavors. The texture is close to shredded pork.

We use a shake and bake (actually, fry) recipe from our friend Liz comprised of nutritional yeast, flour, garlic salt, salt and a liberal grind of pepper. Dredge the seitan after squeezing out some water and toss in a container. Fry up in some oil – we prefer it in a cast iron skillet. Add in a pour of your favorite BBQ sauce and let the sauce carmelize. For the rest of the dish we used sauteed savoy spinach (with salt and pepper and garlic in oil, from FFF), a can of beans from TJs (yeah, yeah), and 1/4lbs. of bleu d'auvergne (from Salumeria in RTM) reduced over low heat.

Plated, it looks pretty similar. As similar as you're gonna get without the piece of "meat" being a single, huge, 9" slab of delicious belly fat. The taste was, as you guessed it, not the same. But – it was fantastic. We can't think of a way to vegan up a blue cheese sauce, but if you've got a recipe, let us know.

I can't stand wine snobs and while Dave loves his wine, he's no snob. He's the first guy I can actually listen to talk about wine. He's excited about it, generally enthusiastic. I still vividly remember meeting him for the first time at a food blogger potluck when he brought a few bottles of vino for the gang to taste test. He didn't tell us how much each bottle cost or it's Wine Spectator ratings. He simply poured glasses, asked us what we tasted and refined our words with hints of this and notes of that inviting us into the conversation through each wine's bouquet and terroir.

We love telling friends about David's enthusiasm for wine and direct them to his reviews which almost always include PLCB numbers for easy access to what he's describing. Dave knows the limitations of PA's arcane liquor laws, but he makes the best of it.

He's busy with some stuff concerning his day job right now, but be on the lookout for a Snyder review. And if you're seeing this post form somewhere out in Yinzerville, Dave's hometown magazine is running a story with the same photo as above. Dave came over to our place, bottle of deliciously mushroomy vino in tote, for a photoshoot. We had a good time setting up shots shielding his mug with a CP. I thought it would be funny to stick a big old honeycrisp apple in the middle of a table setting, complete with bottle, in the shot.

Marisa's got two classes coming up and you can take part. She's got a post up on her blog about the classes at Philly Kitchen Share on Sunday

Cranberry Jelly
Sunday, November 15th
3 – 4: 30 p.m.
Philly Kitchen Share
$45 (price includes all supplies and one pint of cranberry jelly to take home)

And the newly relocated Fosters next Saturday

Cranberry Chutney
Saturday, November 21st
11 – 12:30
Foster's Homewares (their new location at 33 N. 3rd Street)
$39 (price includes all supplies and one half pint of cranberry chutney to take home)

Supplies are included, but afterward, you can stop by Fair Food Farmstand and pick up some local, heirloom cranberries as mentioned in Thursday's Inky column by Rick Nichols.

I hailed a cab from work at RTM in the pouring rain in late October to head to Bluecoat gin (by Philadelphia Distilling) sling: lemon, thyme infused simple syrup, sparkling mineral water and a big lemon slice; their take on a gin fizz. These were good. It had a nice tang to it with sugary sweetness. Landon and I had 3 or so of these by the end of the [long] night – they were so easy to drink.

But the gin fizzes weren't the only alcohol on tap for the night. We had a keg of Yards Brawler on tap with Yards brewer Tim Roberts pouring away. Tim was seated to my left with his lovely wife across from him. Every time our Bell Mason pint jars were about half empty, Tim would top them off and refill the pitcher. Our other tablemates Drew Lazor from City Paper and Foobooz himself, Art Etchells, were putting away pints as quickly as Tim could refill them. I think I had about 6 pints to go with my 3 gin fizzes. I was tanked when I got home even with all the food we downed.

There were some pickled cucumbers (full sours, bread & butter) tomatoes and beets on the tables for everyone to nosh on before the courses started pouring out. Landon previously did not like pickled beets or bread and butter pickles. After trying these he changed his mind about the beets but not the bread and butters. I'm picky about my pickles (duh) and the full sours were good and pickled tomatoes are something I've recently been introduced to and definitely like. Above, the chefs for the evening. From left to right: Chef Tim McGinnis, Chef Brian McManus and Chef Brad Jennings aka, the Baldy Fella (Tim told me to call you that!).

The first course was Suzuki Peruvian ceviche (black sea bass, citrus, tamari romesco sauce, rice cracker) served in one of those pho spoons. I took mine down in eager 2 bites, first with the cracker and then without. Ceviche is one of those things I'm now branching out into eating; I've recently vowed to eat more adventurously. Landon was a fan of the rich and oily spoonful.

Next up were Tempura green beans (blackening spice, cajun remoulade). Our table of 8 got 2 baskets and we ripped through them like drunks at a bar. They were good, but they had us wanting the versions at Grace Tavern or Prohibition Taproom. Landon suggested that if the spices were incorporated into the batter and not added afterwards, it might have changed his opinion. It should be noted that Landon is a frying maestro. He and his housemates hold an annual Fry Fest – I went this year, it was awesome.

The shrimp pho cocktail (Vietnamese court bouillon, tiger shrimp, Asian slaw, Thai basil, hoisin, peanut) was something I was really looking forward to as I had never had pho outside of a hole in the wall Vietnamese spot. I had my spot in NYC I used to go to and now I have my spot here in Philly. But a fancified version?! Landon thought the shrimp had a really wonderful flavor from the fennel rich broth that it was cooked in, but the peanut sauce was a little too much overwhelming the shrimp. I thought the sauce was a bit thick especially considering the portion. The noodles had a great heat to them.

Chefs Jennings and McGinnis slaving over a super hot grill top preparing the next course.

The next few dishes were a trio of sliders. The reuben (house-brined brisket, Sriracha 1,000 Island dressing, Gruyere, homemade rye) had me worried as it could've been the one thing I didn't want to eat since I'm not a fan of 1,000 Island dressing. Landon took a lick of the toothpick holding it together and, before taking a bite, thought it was a winner. He assured me I'd like it and the dressing was light. Grilled hard, the strong, flavorful rye held up well. The dressing was light and was barely noticeable as Landon promised – I think everyone had at least 2 (or 3).

Fiorella's sausage being grilled.

Our next slider was a Fiorella's sausage (fennel and fig mostada, taleggio, arugula, Parc baguette). Hunks of fig/fennel mostada and bunches of rocket filled out the slider. Landon liked building these little sandwiches, they had to give us at least a little something to prepare since we were sitting in the kitchen. He wishes that the fennel and fig mostarda lived in my fridge his home. I gotta agree, the fig and fennel mostada was great. I might not dislike fennel so much anymore.

The final slider was my favorite part of the meal lamb shoulder (lamb and veal demi-glace, Parc baguette). Afterwards, Landon said that the simple pairing of the lamb shoulder with tarrgon was unexpected and delicious and I couldn't agree more. These and the Brawlers just kept coming and they were really complimentary. Landon felt like one could perpetually eat these little guys so long as there was a fresh Brawler in hand, but alas that theory did not pan out as he passed out promptly after dinner. Messy can attest to me passing out promptly after arriving home as well – I think I had 3, maybe 4 of these? They'd come around with a little wooden cutting board full of sliders and egg us on to just have one, two, three more.

What's a polpo pizza(octopus, marinara sauce, Claudio's smoked mozzarella) I wondered when I initially read over the menu, and then there it was. I'm not a big fan of octopus but this marked the second time this year I'd had it. Landon would've opted for simply having the chunks of octopus and smoked Claudio's; I would've opted for everything but the octopus. Unless it's cooked just a certain way, I just can't get into it. I'm also not the biggest fan of pizza that's not simply by the slice, but this was good. Claudio's has Messy and Picky's favorite mozzarella in the land.

And for dessert – what? Dessert?! – was Stock's pound cake with pear and mint applesauce and Capogiro's Fior di Latte gelato [Milk gelato. Milk from an Amish family's single herd of hormone free, grass fed in Lancaster County. Crazy good.]. Stock's is a bakery in the NE and, apparently, they have the goods when it comes to pound cake. It was heavy, but not too buttery. Landon thought it was good but after a meal that inspired several references to "just one mint, it's waaaafer thin," pound cake, gelato, seriously. His taste buds and stomach were worn out – too stuffed to appreciate dessert even though he ate all of it. Growing up in a family that owned a Carvel ice cream store, I always have room for ice cream. I downed it, but was also feeling the heft of the entire meal.

We thought that was it, but there was one more treat. Apparently, Market Cafe is also a PKS user and they left a big tray of their caleles for us to enjoy with our meal. I had heard about these for some time. Some of the other diners hadn't heard of them. I've had the ones Metropolitan Bakery makes which are lovely, but these were that much better. Smaller, denser, with more of a crust to them. The creamy center makes you contemplate your life pre-canele for a bit.

I can't thank Tim, Brian and Brad and their crew of significant others and friends who rounded out the crew for having us. Tim mentioned that they're thinking of doing more of these tasting menu events in the future – perhaps even an all veg affair!

Here is the problem: we have no idea where. We are hoping to have a very small ceremony and restaurant lunch or dinner for our immediate families (about 25 people) sometime next spring. Later on, we'll have a big old party for all our fine friends. Since we are low-key and unconventional, you'd think this would be easy enough. But, it's not, because:

a) we want the food to be delicious, and
b) we don't have much money.

We're not looking for a reception hall or anything — just a good restaurant with private dining and a nice ambiance that won't bury us under a pile of debt. We are not particularly geographically limited: Philadelphia is our beloved home city but Messy is from Connecticut and Picky is from New York so we're open to those places as well.

We would love it if we could rent a place on a Friday or Saturday (so far all we've found is Sundays). It would be great if the food was local and/or organic and of course, we need something vegetarian friendly. This affair is likely to be blogged to bits so what we don't have in cold, hard cash, we can surely make up for in free p.r.!

Anybody got any suggestions? We appreciate the input!