Results tagged “diningout”

Aside from generally awesome weather, the arrival of autumn has one big perk: fall food. Heavier and more flavorful than a summer menu, but neither as comforting nor as fattening as winter meals (if you don't count Thanksgiving, that is), fall brings with its gorgeous color palate a collection of foods you can't get fresh any other time of year. (And really, who wants pumpkin in July?) A plethora of new produce appears in supermarkets (does anyone know what to do with a five-pound bag of assorted gourds, by the way?), and restaurants roll out new menus and seasonal events. Among them, Old City's Fork Restaurant, which will (among other events in the coming weeks) hold a special fisherman's dinner on October 10—featuring fish that the guests catch themselves in a fishing excursion earlier that day.

We got a press release today from the Food Network, which announced the new season of The Next Iron Chef will kick off October 4th. Not, perhaps, Phillyist-worthy, but for one thing: James Beard winner Jose Garces of Amada/Tinto/Distrito/Chifa/soon-to-open Village Whiskey will be appearing on the show. You'd best believe that we on the Phillyist staff will be watching every week. Good luck, Chef!

The recent onslaught of celebrity chef- and restaurateur-helmed dining establishments in casinos could run the risk of turning Atlantic City into a Vegas-style cheese-fest (next stop: Celine Dion!), or it could help turn the town into a dining mecca. Here pulling for the latter situation are our pals at the Atlantic City Harrah's Casino Hotels, who this weekend bring us the awesomely star-full (if your stars are on the Food Network) Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival.

   

*Yes, it's Wednesday. But we needed some extra time to prepare our new Foodsday Tuesday feature, Quick Nosh, which will feature snack-sized servings of food news that we couldn't dedicate a full post to. Check out the first one at the bottom of this post. Got a Philly food tip? Send 'em over!

Take a good look at this photo. Does it look like a place you'd be able to go for a quick, affordable lunch on a weekday, just a few blocks from major streets and public transportation? No?

While this video probably leaves a few things to be desired (like the pronunciation of "tilapia"), we can't fault anybody who loves one of our favorite spots in the city.

This week's planned Foodsday Tuesday post will have to wait, because we'd much rather tell you about a media alert we just received about one of our favorite suburban restaurants (Alison at Blue Bell) and one of our favorite preparations of "call-me-a-bad-Jew" meat (whole roasted pig). Next Wednesday, June 17, Chef Alison Barshak will be celebrating almost-summer with one helluva prix fixe meal: $35 will get you a choice of gazpacho or Caesar salad; split roasted pig (from Maple Acres Farm Market, a tamale, and a salad; and a dessert of either berry crisp with ice cream or a chocolate torte with berry sauce. It sounds delicious and perfect for summer—and maybe if it's a success, Chef Barshak can be persuaded to make this a regular event over the next few months?

TRADITION! TRADITION!

We were thrilled a few months ago when it was announced that Chef Michael O'Halloran of Bistro 7 on Third Street in Old City had acquired the former Sovalo location in Northern Liberties and would be converting it into a Hong Kong street food-style restaurant, inspired by visits to the Hong Kong home of the chef's wife and partner, Sophia Lee. And now we're even more excited, as it appears Kong is nearing its opening, currently is slated for July, with menu items like dumplings, noodle bowls, steamed buns all capping out at $20. We'll post more details as we receive them!

We'd gladly eat lamb shoulder right out of your hands, too. Want to invite us over for dinner?

This, Phillyist readers, is shaping up to be the best. weekend. ever. With no less than three major outdoor events this weekend—all of which involve food or drink in some capacity—we'd be fools to tell you to do anything except going outside and exploring Philadelphia. We know we'll be out and about this weekend, even if thunderstorms are in the forecast. We never let a little rain get in the way of good times.

Chris Illuminati at phillyBurbs.com wrote to let us know the Philadelphia Business Journal is reporting today that "Organic burger chain Elevation Burger plans to open eight restaurants in the Philadelphia market." We at Phillyist are completely pro-organic, free-range foodstuffs, but we'd like to take this opportunity to remind you all that the food will still be high-fat and fried. Eating organic may be better for you overall, and it's certainly better for the environment, but five Elevation burgers a week won't be any less likely to result in a quadruple bypass than five Five Guys burgers would be. That being said, we're excited about the prospect of another place to get our beef on.

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. Hell, it's not even a holiday celebrated in all of Mexico. (Wikipedia actually has a decent explanation here.) But, here in America, we like to use the holiday as an excuse to get wasted anyway. (It's like St. Patrick's Day, but with tequila.)

First came Center City Restaurant Week. Then came South Jersey Restaurant Week. Legal drama ensued between the two Restaurant Weeks. And when that was done, even more legal drama ensued, this time kept within South Jersey. But really, all we want is a drama-free, food-filled Restaurant Week. Something reflective of our more laid-back temperament. Maybe something new, or at least someplace that doesn't generally get a whole lot of attention. Thanks to the New Kensington Community Development Corporation and Phoodie.info, our wish has been granted in the form of the Riverward Restaurant Week, which runs from this Friday, May 1, to next Wednesday, May 6. (Yes, the timing of the restaurant "week" to span two weeks and not run a complete week is a little odd, but apparently this was due to some scheduling issues.)

American brasserie XIX (Nineteen) is located on the top floor of the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue, right at Broad and Walnut, and its website boasts that it is the highest restaurant in Philadelphia. With four balconies, all of which offer a breezy and spectacular panoramic view, the whole place has got a swank, jet-set kind of feel, and the fabulous thing is their menus are incredibly varied. One can enjoy oysters on the half-shell at the raw bar, mango mojitos at the regular bar, or antioxidant smoothies from the new juice bar.

We just received word that Pod, the sole Stephen Starr endeavor west of the Schuylkill, will be hosting an evening of sake education this Wednesday (April 29), complete with food pairings, for $65. We know how much we usually spend at Pod (hint: a lot more than $65), so to us, it sounds like quite a deal! Reservations for the event are available from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. by calling 215.387.1803.

We at Phillyist love food. And Shakespeare. So when we heard that City Food Tours was teaming with the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre to present a tasting tour in honor of the Bard's birthday, we naturally had to pass our findings on to you—and then we found out the one-time-only tour is completely sold out.

Ah, Passover. That lovely time of year where God—via a series of biblical writings and ancient rules—tells you to go on Atkins. (Unless you eat lots and lots of Matzah—that stuff is pretty carb-heavy.)

Hugs for Puppies, the awesomely-named foie gras-hating organization that now seems to have become The Humane League of Philadelphia, has provided more than a few dinnertime laughs for me. It's not that I hate animals. It's just that with all of the other crap going on in the world, the fact that a group of people is assembled to hate on my dinner, which may or may not consist of fattened goose liver, seems so arbitrary and pointless that I can't help but laugh.

Proofreading Philly tries to capture typos, wordos, and all other kinds of grammatical mistakes that we see around the city. But we need your help! Email photos to us from your computer or your phone, and show the city that you care about good grammar.

So you may be cutting back on meat every Friday between now and Easter, but what about the rest of the week?

I'm Jewish, so Fat Tuesday was never anything but a holiday to me. I knew that it kicked off Lent, but seeing as I'm not supposed to give anything up for the next forty days (instead, I'll spend a week in April when God puts me on the Atkins Diet), the significance of the holiday that many of us will celebrate tonight (pass the beads, please!) has always been lost on me. As has the meaning of its name.

Last Thursday, Positano Coast (212 Walnut Street) unveiled its new eco-friendly menu to members of the press. During the night, Phillyist tried several of the new ecologically sound cocktails (like the "Aloegin"—composed of, amongst other things, organic gin, aloe vera, and chamomile flower syrup) and enjoyed dishes such as a crispy branzino cooked with parsley root puree, sauteed leeks, mushrooms, and truffle oil (pictured). The new menu focuses on locally-sourced, sustainable ingredients: no more endangered Chilean sea bass, for instance. However, in our opinion, your taste buds should not notice the difference.

We'd like to introduce you to Andrew P. Goodman, an old schoolmate of Editor Jill's, and our newest addition to the Phillyist staff. Andrew is a planner at Penn Praxis and sometime-contributor to PlanPhilly.com—meaning we can count on him to keep us updated on all sorts of cool stuff going on in Philly's urban development. But for now, he's just going to tell us about some serious soul food. Welcome, Andrew!

We agree.

Foobooz reminds us that in honor of its opening, the new University City Chipotle is giving away free burritos—any burritos, even with the good stuff on top—all day today. And on top of that, Dunkin Donuts' Philadelphia locations are celebrating the Eagles' spot in the NFC Championship by giving away free 10 oz. coffees. So head out to University City today for lunch and save some green for dinner tonight. (If you can stand waiting in long lines in the cold, that is.)

The Metro is reporting, via Foobooz, that the displaced Rick's Steaks (remember the drama?) may be in talks with Park Hyatt at the Bellevue to move his establishment to move to the food court there. We wonder how long it'll be before he gets into a fight with the management there, too.

Lately, it's kind of seemed like it's always Restaurant Week—but then 2008 went by in a blur, so maybe it's just us. But today, at least, it's not just us, because Restaurant Week is once again on the horizon. The restaurant list features old favorites and new additions alike, and even though the price has gone up a bit in the last few years, we still think most restaurants put out special price-fixed menus that are tough to beat for $35 (plus tax, alcohol, and tip—of course).

Adding to the list of Philadelphia dining establishments coming out with recession-busting prix fixe menus is Old City's part-kitschy, part-lovely Positano Coast, the Aldo Lamberti restaurant helmed by the restaurateur's son, Pippo. Their "3 for $33" holiday menu, offered Sunday through Thursday evenings through December 30, features some of the restaurant's most popular appetizers, entrees, and desserts—and I was able to sample some of the dishes last week.

I read the Northern Liberties community message board a lot, and post on it with relative frequency. It's always nice to know what's going on in my neighborhood, even when the news posted is, well, less-than-nice.