Results tagged “josegarces”

It's an producers have had their eye on Garces since he took out Bobby Flay as a challenger on the show last year.

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.

My Texas upbringing makes me generally suspicious of anybody who doesn't eat meat, and even more suspicious of those who have completely sworn off animal products altogether. (To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I'd ever heard of veganism until college.) I'm tofu-averse, completely addicted to cheese, and entirely too fond of bacon in all its various incarnations. Though not generally a fan of dessert, I tend to believe that the best ones are made from metric tons of butter and/or cream and/or eggs, and so if I'm feeling like a final course, I almost always order the crème brûlée.

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!

   

*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!

The New York Times' Travel section ran a piece today that calls Philadelphia a "destination city"—something we could have told them years ago. We're happy that The Times has finally decided to show the City of Brotherly Love a little affection (instead of that Sixth Borough crap from a few years ago), but we'd like to point out that their recommended schedule is almost as improbable as the route of the Rocky run.

Somehow, we managed to forget that the James Beard awards were last night, and so it's with a lot of hometown pride, as well as a healthy love for tapas, that we wanted to pass on the good word that Jose Garces was awarded Best Chef of the Mid-Atlantic region for his work at Amada in Old City. Between that and the recent Philadelphia Magazine Top 50 restaurant list that saw each of Garces' establishments in the top half of the rankings, we can make this official pronouncement: it's Jose's world. We're just living eating in it.

It's tough to read about pets in dire straights, but important to remember to support our local shelters.

An army of cabbies? Going up against the PPA? Where’s our sharpened sticks!

It’s PW’s time for a fall guide, and they got lots of stuff for you on the cheap. But don’t expect any PA favors.

Tinto, referring to the red wine often served in abundance at tapas eateries in Northern Spain, is wonderful. Not just because we love Amada. Not just because, despite its drab, low-ceiling, somewhat claustrophobic décor, the attention to detail is still there and appreciated. Not just because the wait staff cannot only memorize, but eloquently explain, the concept as well as the entire wine and cocktail list. Or lastly, not just because the food is perfectly cooked, seasoned and well balanced in both taste and texture. It’s because it helps elevate the Philly food scene to where it belongs by using all of the aforementioned ingredients of a successful dining experience recipe. Revered by Food and Wine, Jose Garces is recognized as a maverick Chef in this area and has been a local darling since El Vez. The Michael Klein sighting last night confirmed it even further.

Since its opening, Phillyist has now been to Amada six or seven times and feel the need to go back many more to eat our entire way through the extensive tapas menu.... Must haves include the patatas bravas (not exactly authentic as we have been to Barcelona and tasted many variations, but delicious nonetheless), the ham croquetas (trust us, you will be dreaming about them), the garlic shrimp (now THAT was authentic and made us feel we were actually on Las Ramblas) and the OH-MY-GOD mixto cheeseplate.... Last but not least, would be the ramao with truffled lavender honey (we plan on duplicating this cheeseplate for our guests at our next dinner party and will no doubt impress them).