mattohara

Thanks doc, the point of the mint julep was to get McMillan's. I'll remember to check up on that! and yes Hansen's is on the map. I grew up in York, PA though and my first job was at the Snow Palace. It's another shaved ice place with toppings and hundreds of flavors. I used to run a machine like that. But if it's hot and we have the time we'll definitely head in that direction! I forgot to mention that we're staying at one of the two Omni hotels in town. My gf works at the Omni here in Philadelphia so we got a killer hookup there. Also it's pretty centrally located!

I only have 48 hours! I'm headed down for a work trip and decided to stay an extra day and a half. Here's my plan of attack: etouffe, jambalaya, gumbo, at least two types of po'boy, andouille, blood sausage, muffaletta Cochon (the restaurant) Sazeracs, Pimm's Cups (the gf loves them), Mint Juleps and what i have available and best guesses: Monday the 6th: Dinner: Herbsaint Cocktails: Bourbon House (and oysters) Tuesday: Breakfast: Brennan's Lunch: Central Market (Muffaletta) 2nd Lunch: Pere Marquette Renaissance Hotel (Mint Julep) Dinner: Cochon Cocktails: Carousel Bar Wednesday: Breakfast: Antoine's Lunch: Parasol (Gumbo and Po'Boys) 2nd Lunch: Napoleon House (Pimm's Cups) I've created a Google Map and made it public. Anyone can add on to it I think. mattohara New Orleans map on Google I'm sure these all could move around depending on what's closer to what. I'm still looking for a good place to get blood sausage and good old fashioned street food. Are there carts or what? Thanks to all who have posted, Daniel and philadining especially, and thanks in advance for all help offered. Anything I'm missing? Still looking for that etouffe...

I got the Windsor. Yes it was prety great. I'll try those potato crisps next time!

The space looks gorgeous. There's a back room that looks like it seats about 18. The oysters were as fresh as can be. The duck liver toasts were small but perfect. The burger came out at room temp, but was still good. And the onion rings were amazing. Just perfect batter. Not breadcrumb-y but more like a thick tempura. No condiments were provided for the burger or onion rings so I had to request some dijon. If you go just to stop by and check it out don't leave without trying those onion rings!

Here's the scene 20 minutes after we got there today: If you are an alert eGulleteer today you may notice the pate of the illustrious, the inimitable, hizzonor the most righteous H. Moore in the lower left! I know very few of us ever get up high enough to view the top of his respected cranium, but that's what it looks like. We didn't recognize hizzonor right away and it was pointed out by H. Moore himself that this may have been due to the fact that he was practically a stick figure, not having been properly fed and in a preprandial somber tone. A whole softshell crab po'boy, some rice and beans and some beignets later (we split a po'boy and some cochon au lait ourselves) everybody was in a jolly mood! The sammiches looked like this: The gumbo was impossible to capture as its speed rivalled that of the Geococcyx californianus. We ate both standing up as, we were informed, not only is this traditional for a Po'Boy shack but, unlike any other shop in the market, people were lined up three-deep for a seat. If you go, go early. The good stuff was sold out around noon, just after we got there. You can do gumbo to go, which we did with gusto. Look for this sign in the southeast corner of the market: and if you have a sweet tooth you may want to hunt down these, which, besides my mother's, are the only authentic-looking schnecken i've seen in the wild: Thanks for everyone who found/recommended/reviewed this! It's a gem and was the object of our daytrip today. I've never experienced authentic cajun food before today and it was a revelation. Holly told us about "file gumbo" spice and then took us off to his favorite farmer for sweet corn- a gorgeous drive through southeastern pennsylvania. Thanks Holly! NEXT WEEK: SMOKED BRISKET GUMBO!

You're right it was creme fraîche. I don't know why I said it was boursin.

Oh right. I forgot to mention that. Yes, it was expensive. It wasn't outrageously so, but it definitely wasn't Pif prices. You're definitely paying for the mirrors and the brass cookware that hangs unused. If this post seems a bit over the top it's because I was pretty inebriated at midnight when I wrote this. Also they have a private dining room with a giant farm table in it. Very cool and seats up to 24.

Ok dagordgon and Holly, I know I poo-poo-ed your early-adopter mentality at Parc, but we were first in line at the new jawnz and we were extremely impressed. While we know there are other people on this board who may be more knowledgeable about French cuisine there are not many (hi Tarte Tatin and beau) who are more excited about it. We've both opened up a few restaurants so we know a few things about how it goes; I worked at Pif and she at Caribou so while they may be on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to French bistro fare we have some experience there as well. On to the good bits... The space is long and thin, with floor to ceiling pillars and tin ceilings. The walls are a soft yellow and banquets in a micro-fiber burgundy somehow manage to not make you think of McDonald's-despite this being one of her least favorite colour combinations. The general decor is thoughtfully contrived and does not, unlike Parc, force you to think about how many workmen it took to recreate some fanciful ideal of an authentic French bistro. The tables have white marble tops and clawfeet. There are photographs nicely framed on the wall and some authentic accoutrements are present without being overboard. The bar in the front has no seats but there are a number of two-tops at which couples can sit without being in the mix of patrons at the front door. It's cozy and despite being completely packed at 60 diners in the main room manages to be very comfortable for normal conversation with your dining companion(s). After ordering our apps our table looked like this (in preparation for the paté): There was a crock for some nice dijon and a deeper one for cornichons which, though kind of silly to have to dig them out, was kind of fun. The bread is housemade. While it smells deliciously fresh and yeasty it was smallish and chewy. It was a bit hard to take apart. Slices of a bigger baguette would be easier but this was fun. It had a hard crust that I think may have been salted on the outside. The picture also depicts her Lillet, which had too many icecubes but was nice to start, and my classic martini, which was perfect and served with a twist (Bluecoat). The butter was plain and not that mythical Pif butter (whose only difference was that it was served with the pink sea salt, by the way). We had arrived at 6:30, our optimal dining time unless you have the ability to dine at 8:00 or later. The dining room looked like this: The paté was wonderful. 2nd best I've ever had. It was moist and textured, mild and tangy from the pickle bits. Just about as good as it can get. Very obviously homemade and simply presented with the mustard and cornichons. The brioche was odd, to me, but also housemade, fresh and warm. The textures all went together very well and honestly if they're going to continue to serve it with brioche I'll be happy as a clam at high tide. Different to me but pleasingly so. The tomato tart, much to my surprise (as a not-huge fan of tomatoes in certain forms) was the highlight of the evening. The crust was stunning. It had that perfect crust formulation where it goes from extremely crispy and flaky on the outside to sublimely lardy and moist below. Just above it was a layer of creme fraiche and on top of that were some skinned grape tomatoes. The tart went beyond my expectations by far and had a tangy and sweet and salty and buttery meld in every bite. Just as highly recommended as the paté but even more so. It was accompanied by a lightly-dressed green salad that was a perfect counterpoint both texturally and visually. We took a look towards the open kitchen and noticed a beautiful array of (badly-photographed) copper pots. You could hear the cooks going back and forth from 12 feet away but it was more of a ballet than a caucophony; it blended in with the ambient music and the local conversation very nicely. I have never had flammenkeuche (sp?) before so, being in the heady post-cocktail pre-prandial state of bliss that I was, I did not realize that it was a bit undercooked. It was a very thin pizza-style dough that was topped with boursin, caramelized onions and lardons. The lady was right in pointing out that the dough itself and the lardons were a bit undercooked but I didn't notice myself. I thought it was sublime. I should point out here that the bar was incompletely stocked. The restaurant decided to serve a white house bourdeaux and a red house bourdeaux free of charge. Both were fine table wines. The white was dry, tangy and crisp and the red was bold enough to stand up to the entrecoté and the rabbit without being too huge. (the colours here are due to the camera; it's not so bad in real life. apologies to philadining) The rabbit: The rabbit was, for me, the least enjoyable. I found it a bit dry and the pasta too al dente for my tastes. It was to have been with a mustard sauce but I am a lover of the strongest of flavours and I thought there could have been much more mustarditude. She pointed out that perhaps some fresh tarragon could have helped it out of its mildness. The entrecoté We asked for this MR but it came out R, which is acceptable in our book. Better R than M. But even though we know a ribeye tends to be fatty this seemed to me like it could have used some trimming. Honestly one of my favorites bistro dishes ever is a nice au poivre. If they could get a nice sear on a killer strip I'd be stopping in once a week. Still this was a really quality piece of meat and served with a good, though watery au gratin. The clafouti: Uh, I have nothing to say here other than they should serve this only to individuals, not couples. We had some Gran Marnier each and were fighting over this with our silly tiny spoons. They should serve this with swords so that the fighting can really get down to it or at least knife and fork. Caramel ice cream and plum clafouti on a homemade pastry? ReDunkULous. and finally the bathrooms: Classy! Pernod bottles turned into soap dispensers. I can dig it. Get going now before the eGullet crowd gets there.

i would get together some money to get more equipment to start brewing in larger quantities there.

This does sound perfect. Reminds me of how surprised I was by the chopped salad at Horizons. I believe the Xochitl people are taking it over in the next couple of weeks and renaming it Paxia. Thanks for this great review, philadining. This is now on my list!

it's not residential, it's an advertising group http://www.gyroworldwide.com/contact.htm

i agree phil. it's less about changing somebody's mind than pointing things out that deserve recognition. i know it drastically affected my friends lindsey and carrie when they got BoP Urban Dogwalkers (or something like that) for their just-launched Monster Minders business. there are lots of people out there that don't spend hours browsing foodie websites or comparison shopping for dogwalkers. when they see a list, especially a well-known and widely publicized list, it makes things easy. i'm sure all of the businesses in the list are experiencing at least some kind of bump. that said i haven't seen the list myself yet.

ha, well put, Holly. i'll leave you early adopters to your misery and go back to Cochon.

where do you get your togarashi? i only found it at dibruno's and it's not great.

i think my roommate was at that same quizzo. he won a single case. around south and 3rd?

we went. that lobster carpaccio was my favorite. thinly slice and with some porcinis. gah. i actually got a Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blank that went very very well. none of the dishes is exceedingly buttery, so you could either go with buttery to fill it out or go with citrusy crisp like i did. i thought it went very very well.

amada's about 10 blocks east of the closest Capogiro. i'm going to Matyson tonight! i'll get around to Zahav at some point but i don't want to miss this lobster menu. i'm sure Vetri doesn't do lunch. not sure about Amada. Amada is guaranteed to be busy/noisy. that's one of the things that makes it fun. not sure about 3 as i still haven't been there despite having a gift certificate.

i saw this post late at night and didn't respond right away. i knew there would be a flood. here's my .02: get a sarcone's turkey sicilian on the way to a picnic. i've never had a reason to have something catered but if i did i probably would not get sarcone's subs or antipasti. it's more suitable for a baseball game than a birthday party. i'll second all recommendations for brown betty. i've sampled a lot of cupcakes around town (i was forced into it) and they are hands-down my favorite in all ways. naked chocolate does some great stuff too. the only thing i care about in the italian pastry realm is the Amaretti/Almond Macaroon. and termini's got the best.

This is only true on Sunday afternoons, right? Other times one has to get down to the 9th street storefront, right? (And it's actually Taquitos de Puebla...) or are we talking about different things? ← Heh, yes. In my alliterative exhuberance i forgot the Sunday part. And thanks for the correction. !@#$ Can't believe i forgot the banh mi. Cafe Nhuy has the tofu version and a good barbeque chicken. In my opinion Cafe Nhuy and the shop just a few doors up 8th street and the one a few blocks down (just before Washington) are all better than O. But I've only eaten at O once.

I'm sure somebody else will chime about the various carts in University City. I don't have much experience myself but if you head over to Penn Campus area you can find tons of good stuff. The pizza here is all pretty dissapointing to me. Soft pretzels are famous, for some reason. Maybe because they're only a quarter? Cheesesteaks...that's a huge can of worms. There are some ok ones in the city though. If you're down on 2nd and South on a sunny summer day you owe it to yourself to get a taco al pastor or 3 from Taqueria de Pueblitos. I'm interested to see the what other people have to say on this topic.

which PLCB outpost has this deal?

yeah this is interesting because i just had takeout american-chinese from there. it was late, we were tired and had no menu. we just ordered orange beef and sweet/sour chicken. they were both horrible. but that might be because they're much better at making real chinese food. also if you're in the area and in the mood for the above dishes check out Asia @ Cafe, just around the corner on 8th street.

I know this is not directly related to the above response, but I sincerely feel that the Turkey Sicilian at Sarcone's is the best sammich in the city. Oh and for what it's worth Cochon definitely is my recommendation for the BYO part, especially if you like French.

thanks Helen!

I have been having excellent experiences every time I go. We had the liver and onions last time we were in. They were going off the menu the next week and highly recommended from Kip and George. Awesometown. George actually had my lady convinced that the Jackalope above the entrance had been mowed down by a vicious Hoopsnake. You can't say those guys aren't funny.