mattohara
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Posts posted by mattohara
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That article by Trillin was great. We rotate through Singaporean interns here where I work (I have an open invitation to Singapore) and they seem pretty convinced that there are no Singaporean restaurants in Philly. Besides the vegetarian kosher one on 10th and Race, which they seem really uncomfortable at the idea of.
This sounds to me like a great opening for an aspiring chef.
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I stopped by last night and had a great time. Two floors, two bars, quality mexican food and a really nice selection of beers.
I tried the snapper and grouper tacos and they were delicious. I can't remember too much about them cause I was half in the bag. The place was very busy. Turns out my buddy's girl bartends, Casey, ex of Royal Tavern is part owner and an old coworker of mine Trevor put together the menu. It's a nice place and I think they hit upon the right combination of beverages and food for the area.
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Royal Tavern's my favorite. A block from my apartment!
Vintage is also fun (they have half-glasses of beer!) and has great food. A block from work!
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For more location info, from their website... off the beaten path, located in a very desirable
neighborhood.
Located in the Midtown village, Zinc is around the corner from Jefferson Hospital
If the 11th and Locust area is Midtown, is downtown Washington Ave or Old City?
Would that they were open for lunch.
nah, Old City is the East Village, Midtown village is the West Village (duh), Rittenhouse is the Upper West and East Side, Bella Vista is Hell's Kitchenish, but I don't think that Washington Ave is anything except Washington Ave.
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Zinc Bar just opened last night. It's owned by Olivier, who also owns Caribou and is a reworking of the other restaurant he owned in the same spot.
I stopped by (Karen works at Caribou, that's how I found out it was open) to check it out. It is small, about 26 seats and a bar (zinc and imported from France). It has a small menu, does brunch, has a French aperitif selection similar to Caribou's and looks great.
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I forgot to mention the great pickles from S&C. It's a Mom n Pop operation that only sells two kinds of pickles - mild and hot. I just went for the milds but they have plenty of spice. They are extremely crunchy, dilly and vinegary as well. I've been snacking on them all week. Check them out!
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There are some interesting tidbits in this (longish) Vanity Fair article:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features...currentPage=all
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Yep. I was lucky enough to get in before this batch of Rhoobie Juice ran out. That is some cocktail. I'm so glad I brought some friends in to check it out! It's another one of those "comes in an up glass because if it came in a pitcher everyone would be on the floor" kinda drinks.
Katie I seriously expect, nay DEMAND to know when you've got new stuff going on.
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ok, i'll do that. where is it?
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Turns out I know a couple of people who work here. You might recognize a few faces from Ansill. Karen and I stopped by on Sunday for a delicious and very filling brunch. They're still w/o license but we were offered complimentary mimosas. A very nice idea but one I think they should skip unless they're willing to pony up for better champagne/OJ. They were free and we drank them though!
The Spread:
Crispy Duck Confit:
This was interesting. The duck was almost like hash browns, it was so crispy. Two soft-yolk fried eggs on top and some diced potatoes on the site.
Eggs Florentine:
Cooked in a ramekin! I can dig that but the presentation could be spruced up a bit. This and the duck came with the delicious homemade bread (white and wheat, no rye that day). Maybe the bread could spruce up the presentation if given in some nice thick ole slices. The dish itself was eggs and spinach and a creamy sauce, not sure what, maybe Mornay. Very mild.
Cheesy Grits:
Boy these killed. I always have grits with syrup but these didn't even need it. I think the cheese was Comte but I'm not sure. I did ask for syrup though and it made it even better.
There is no picture of the brown-sugar bacon because we ate it too fast. It was thick cut and coated in brown-sugary goodness.
All in all very nice and charming, great service, great atmosphere, and very convenient to the Headhouse Square Famer's Market!
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yesterday we got a bag of mixed bean soup for (added tomatoes and summer savory and fresh garlic)
a loaf of multigrain bread and some apples went into a PB + Apple + Quince paste sandwich beside the soup
some concord grapes.
this is turning into a weekly ritual for us.
oh, and i almost forgot, we started off with brunch at Coquette. *looks for that thread*
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damn! i meant Diem. where should i go for a good pho in this dreary weather?
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i don't know how i missed this thread. i've been going to Huong Lan. Diem always seems to be closed when i stop by. must always be on wednesdays.
i'll be there tomorrow for dinner around 7:30 if anyone's in the area.
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And now we can say we had it Katie! Thanks for being our guide on our first night out in Chinatown. Yes, it's as good as everybody's saying. Diann my skin is looking great but my belt is complaining.
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there was originally an attempt to make a snarky punny reply like
ouch! no mention was made of a stiff 'barb cocktail! i got stiffed! what a barb in my side!
but it didn't turn out as well as planned. so i'm just going to say that i hope it's available next time i come in.
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Karen and I had a wonderful dinner here last night.
Negative first: Even if it's a BYOB and casual, and there's just one waitress and one busser, there are still only a small number of tables. Getting the wine open and water on the table should happen first. And between courses your dirty silver should be replaced and napkins folded.
But of course we don't really mind stuff like that since we both wait tables and we care more about the food, which was great.
Apps: Berbere-crusted Tuna, Calamari with Pastina
Of the four dishes we had the Tuna was my least favorite. It was perfectly seared, the berbere crust had a nice flavor, it came with spaghetti-shaved papaya and some avacado mousse and some morrocan nuts. Beautiful but I just didn't think the flavor combinations were as impressive as those in the other three dishes.
The calimari was almost a stew. Tender little rings with orzo and tomato and almond slivers in a tomato, caper, olive, currant broth. It was a bit salty but we both like that a lot. All of the flavors and the tender, tender (did I mention how tender it was?) calimari just made this a great starter.
2nd: Escolar with Asparagus and Orzo, Copper River Salmon with Bacon, Spinach and Chick Peas
This had to be the last of the Copper River so I went for it. The crispy skin goes so well with smoked bacon! The chick peas were underneath and propping the salmon off of the buttery sauce at the bottom of the plate. A quinelle of fig-mustard uh, jam? compote? gelee? sat on top and added to the complexity.
The Escolar absolutely killed it. Just perfect and crispy, the asparagus was perfectly cooked, the lemon vinaigrette gave it a nice tang. Orzo. There must be a couple of things here that I'm forgetting and I'll have to come back and edit this post when Karen helps me remember.
We drank a bottle of Keller Reisling. Nice and dry but with enough tartness and acidity to balance out the buttery flavor of the escolar.
DEFINITELY going back. A little annoyed that I didn't stop by earlier. Especially since it's only 5 blocks from my house. Fish on!
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lutecia's croque monsieurs is one of my top 5 sandwiches ever. (we should have some top five threads here)
i just went to brown betty for the first time. it's not a gooey cake but damn, it's a *little* gooey cake. those cupcakes are ridiculous. and they make cakes.
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i was very very excited to see taquitos de puebla! i got three tacos of course.
other purchases:
marinated duck breast (soy and ginger)
plums
peach cider
shiitake and those big grey/white mushrooms (from the asian shopkeep)
and we made grilled duck with a red wine/basil/plum sauce accompanied by sake/butter mushrooms. sooo delicious (and fresh)
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I just went back to revisit last week. The blood orange margarita is wonderful on a hot day and Katie introduced me to a lighter tequila drink called a Diablo. I think it has ginger ale in it. My buddy and his girl devoured a cheese plate with me.
The first time I went I thought 6 dollars was expensive for the (not huge) piece of cheese that you get. This time we had 5 and I think the deal is: for every piece of cheese you get beyond the first one take off a dollar. 5 cheeses (with accompaniments and bread) added up to 26$ instead of 30$. The lesson here is "order lots of cheese."
My buddy got a Pinot that the menu recommended be paired with one of the cheeses and was blown away by how well the two went together (i think it was the Tomette). His girl loved the Corpse Reviver II that I convinced her to get and I loved my cocktails. Katie was tons of fun as always (comparing ringtones was fun).
My friend Erin Swann works there as well so if you're at a table and a bright bubbly server named Erin is helping you out introduce yourself!
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haha, can do! now that i'm done with waiting tables i'm going to be eating out a lot more. look out, stomach!
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i know! i actually turned down the lights at one point in the night to you know, "fit the mood" a bit, but then i felt bad because philadining was taking shots but i couldn't suddenly turn them up a bunch for the photos (even though i wanted to, for everybody's sake). beautiful shots as always. and nice to see/meet people! i hope eGulleters get to come by tomorrow night for the after-party. it's guaranteed to be an all-night love-fest (with a whole roast pig!).
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i was there last night. i was a bit rusty so made some mistakes and was slow, but everybody was having a good time. lots of people bringing wine and other gifts for david. it was only one couple's first time there and they had a great time. everybody else was regulars and wanting to talk a lot to me and bridgit. we were a little too busy though!
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southwark is a great idea! can't believe i didn't think of it. and it's nice so they probably have the outdoor seating open.
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i wish i could tell you more about the food at Ansill but it's all changed in the last couple of weeks! (i used to work there)
waterworks is really far away but it's a great place to have cocktails by the water under the stars.
Pif in Philadelphia
in Pennsylvania: Dining
Posted
Pif nights at Ansill have just begun. The 2nd Sunday of every month.