urbanfabric

Just went last evening for the first time. Wonderful addition to the bar scene. Enjoyed the Doc Daneeka Royale. We sat at a table, but had a server who knew his stuff and was able to recommend drinks (including some off-menu) based on our preferences. It is so nice and cool in there, that it was a welcome oasis after sitting outside at Parc and nearly sliding off our chairs in the heat. I wanted to lay my head on the cool marble tabletops. The only thing I walked away thinking it needed was a bowl of salty snacks on the table. It was interesting to log on here today and see the same comments in the last couple of days.

Can someone clue me in to this "new" trend of frozen yogurt? All I can think of is 1985 and the "new" trend of frozen yogurt that brought a TCBY to every street corner. Are the Pinkberry/Phileo folks the bringers of "new" trends from 1985? Can't we leave that to 18-yr-old art student fashion? Is there more to this trend that I'm missing?

We ate at Kanella over the weekend and found it nice that apps were a little smaller, and, I thought, less expensive than other similarly priced BYOBs. We were tempted to get three apps to split between the two of us, but decided to stick to two and perhaps make it to dessert for once! For the appetizer course we split the sausage (which we both thought had a liver-y taste- in a good way- remniscent of pate, yum!) and the dips of the day. For entrees, I had the quail. Despite philadining's warning of the mess, I dove right in and gnawed on it. It was just too good to leave any of the bird behind. My husband had the rabbit stew which he loved and cleaned the plate. For dessert, I went with the almond and date tart with the namesake ice cream and my husband had the chocolate mousse with the same ice cream topping. I think it was supposed to be lavender, but the cinnamon worked nicely. Overall, pretty cozy seating, but great food and great service.

I keep meaning to post that my husband stopped in two Thursdays ago and had some of Katie's award-winning, bluecoat gin fueled lemonade (it had a catchier name than that, but I've forgotten). It wasn't quite summer outside, but the lemonade made it feel that way. I should probably just sign my stimulus check over to the bar now and park myself there until fall. It was that good.

Beau Monde

Went in August and it was wonderful. As has been commented in the past, I preferred the cold dishes to the hot, even though there were some amazing cuts of meat in the kitchen. One of the more interesting from the cold group was a glass of guava juice garnished with a spanish olive dusted in white chocolate. Having also had dinner there in the last month, I think that Chef Levin's work with flavor combinations is really spectacular. I also recommend going early, but if only to avoid the crowds around the food tables!

They've been selling coffee from the right half of the JJ space for at least the four years I've been shopping there (you can also "check-out" there if you just have a couple of items). I don't know how much coffee business they actually do there... but it's really convenient when I'm picking up a car share car from the garage upstairs in the AM

I don't know if something happened on the Jamba Juice end, but the Whole Foods had a sign up that they were moving it out to make room for more prepared foods. Then they proceeded to demo it while the store was open. Lovely. Marathon Grill has smoothies that are more like frozen yogurt shakes, but sometimes that's what you want. They have some that are all fruit too.

If you want dancing that's not in Old City... or the 50ish crowd of D'Angelos... I would suggest L'etage, above Beau Monde. 6th and Bainbridge. Bar's not too pricey and you can even order a bottle of wine.

What about Good Dog? They have a couple upstairs rooms, happy hour specials, and good food. In the past, I've also been to happy hour at Loie where they gave our group either the front area, or the midsection of the restaurant (up a few steps) and arranged drink specials for our group. I would also recommend Sole Food at the Loew's hotel. They can give you one of the large tables in the bar area, or a cordoned off area of the couches. Their happy hour specials used to be pretty decent for cocktails (you may need to check on that). If you want supa dupa cheap... call Tritone or Bob & Barbara's! Or, hey, I hear that Chick's Wine Bar has a new rockin' bartender!

Thanks for your advice, folks. I think we'll check out the scene at both oceans and see what we think. I'll let you know how it goes!

Growing up, my parents definitely went the babysitter route until they thought we were old enough to behave... BUT, I would argue that was also a time when eating out was much more of a special occasion than it is these days. The refrain in my household, when one did an inappropriate thing at the dinner table was, "she's not ready for Jack's." (My family's definition of upscale dining, a downtown Albany old school establishment). Man, when I was "ready for Jack's"... that was a big thing for me and I was prepared to act like a grown-up. These days, not only is dining out a regular thing... it's also the age of "attachment parenting" and "helicopter parents." (That's right, I watch the Today Show) The Tinto scenario is symptomatic of a bigger issue. My parents would leave me with the first 15 year-old that agreed to give up her Friday night. And, they would probably be the first to say I turned out okay. I'm all for giving kids an experience to remember... but really, a 9 month-old? Will he remember anything more than hearing the stories of the time Daddy had to walk up and down 20th street with him as a shreiking baby? Give yourself a night off!

Hi folks, I'm bumping up this thread to ask for your suggestions... My fiance and I are planning an October wedding in Center City. Since neither of our families (or friends from college/high school) live in the area, we will have a lot of out of town guests. We're excited that our (mostly midwest-based) family will get a chance to leave their cars at home and experience Philadelphia like we do on a daily basis. Keeping that in mind, we'd like to throw a morning-after-the-wedding "brunch" and to avoid pricey hotel warming trays of scrambled eggs, and let people see more of the city, we were thinking that dim sum would fit the bill nicely. So, the challenge is to find a dim sum place that could accommodate a party of 100+ on a Sunday morning. I think that the carts are the way to go, and we'd pick up the tab at the end. Our guests will be concentrated in several hotels around 18th and the Parkway (proximity to the wedding venue). We'd prefer to not have to pay for a bus to shuttle people... so if they could walk/cab it easily, that would be best. Our usual dim sum places are Lakeside (too small), and Saigon Maxim (too far... you could take a cab there, but getting back would be tough, especially for out-of-towners). My knowledge of the rest of the Chinatown dim sum scene is lacking... any suggestions of places that would have large enough space or private rooms and have good dim sum? No point in singing the praises of dim sum only to bring people to a subpar place. Ocean City? Imperial Inn? Does anyone have experience in attending a large dim sum gathering in the city? Thanks in advance! We're looking forward to lots of "research" for this event.

I agree that Philadelphia's not a city that generally eats out every night... so maybe our "everyday" places can be slightly more expensive then New Yorks. I also feel like it's tough to find that "everyday" place with service good enough to make me a regular, or make being a regular worth it. But, I certainly find that we hit the same few places on nights that we don't want to cook. And, hit the same places for weekend breakfast/brunch. Square on Square... not in my neighborhood anymore, but they remember us everytime we dine there. And, we order a loooooot of delivery from these folks, so we know that they're consistently good. Royal Tavern... I can fill up on inexpensive sides and a beer, plus yummy brunch. Shinju... Stop at the Foodery, pick up some beers, walk two blocks for a totally decent and well-priced meal. 10th Street Pour House.... Cheap, good breakfast. Over easy, done right, every time.

-Tritone, provided you can get out of there before they start charging a cover for whatever entertainment they're offering. -Royal -Standard Tap -N. 3rd -Deuce -Sidecar ...Dark Horse? I haven't eaten there in a while. There's my list of bars with good food in the vein of gastropubs. With crowds that I wouldn't mind hanging out with.