REPORT: eG "Heartland" Gathering 2012 (Philadelphia)

[ruthcooks]

Great and thanks Jim. What was the cooked cheese dish? Also the Sweetbread dish? Thanks again.

And thank you, Holly for always posting captions above your pictures so the rest of us get full enjoyment without having to flip endlessly back and forth--or worse, not having captions at all on food or people!

[Chris Hennes]

I don't see any enchiladas!

Alas, I didn't get any photos of them... I don't know if anyone else had a camera going by that time, either.

[Kerry Beal]

I've got a few random photo's I'll add here. Sadly I was often too busy to grab a photo when I should have - because there were lots of things over the weekend that I wish I had documented.

It was great fun to put faces to names from eG. I made some great new friends this weekend and renewed old friendships.

My drink at Zahav - A 'Goldman' - 4 roses, carpana antica and a brandied cherry. Of course I asked for a rocks glass so I could properly dilute it to my plebeian taste. You have to love the hammered copper table tops.

Drinks at the Franklin Fountain - root beer, of course, for Rona, a Japanese Thirst Killer Phosphate (Orgeat {almond}, Grape juice, & Angostura Bitters with Phosphate) - sadly just tasting like fizzy grape juice, and of course a malt! Pictured in the photo - torakris and Rona's mom Cecilia.

Batch number 1 and number 2 of financiers. Batch one - the oven runs a little hot. Batch 2 - funny I don't remember browning the butter for those - cause I didn't! Wondered why they puffed up in a strange way - guess it was the no fat in them. Batch 3 was the charm.

Last 3 pictures were from Lemon Hill - within walking distance of the house we stayed in. We met up with Katie, philadining and cdh. A very nice cocktail bar with good eats. My eats photos were mostly out of focus. But the drink is a Poison Ivy and the dish is pork belly with beans. We also had some lovely deep fried chicken livers and a beet salad.

[rotuts]

many thanks for all the fine photos. thanks for that extra effort.

no fresh scrapple? bummer.

[Kerry Beal]

Saw some scrapple in the market - wasn't prepared to get it!

[rotuts]

its so under appreciated, fresh, for those who know how to properly cook it.

no SV involved.

[Tarte Tatin]

Hello! My first post in a few years, I think! Mr. Tarte Tatin and I had a great time at Han Dynasty on Sunday...it was great meeting so many of you!

Kerry, I just looked at your pictures: I'm so jealous you made financiers and we didn't get to taste them!

Missed seeing a bunch of people at the earlier events in the week. It sounded like fun.

[Kerry Beal]

Hello! My first post in a few years, I think! Mr. Tarte Tatin and I had a great time at Han Dynasty on Sunday...it was great meeting so many of you!

Kerry, I just looked at your pictures: I'm so jealous you made financiers and we didn't get to taste them!

Missed seeing a bunch of people at the earlier events in the week. It sounded like fun.

It was delightful to meet the Tarte's' Tatin. It truly is a shame you weren't able to come for the Saturday dinner - there was a whole lot of extra food!

[Kerry Beal]

Where are we going next year?

[Tarte Tatin]

Canada! To eat chocolate!

[Kerry Beal]

Now there's a great idea! Not sure if it counts as Heartland though.

[Chris Hennes]

lol, was Philly in the "Heartland"?

[Kerry Beal]

Apparently not! I have been trying to figure out what comprises the Heartland - is it any state that is landlocked?

[Chris Hennes]

I'm sure we can extend that to include provinces

[KatieLoeb]

Canada gets my vote! I'm due for some cross border travels...

[Capaneus]

Toronto good.

[prasantrin]

I finally got around to organizing my pics from the gathering. I thought I had pics of the enchiladas, but no such luck! I barely have any pics of the food from the dinner--I think I must have been pretty tired by then, so it slipped my mind.

Thanks to the organizers! Wish I could have chatted with some of the locals a little more. But perhaps another time!

[David Ross]

I've had great food trips to Toronto and Montreal. Then of course don't forget Vancouver out West.

[Kerry Beal]

How about Winnipeg?

[David Ross]

I would love to travel to Winnipeg. My only stop there was on VIA Rail on the trip from Vancouver to Toronto. Only stopped for a few hours though.

[Tri2Cook]

Winnipeg is closest to where I live but I still know almost nothing about it, only been there a couple times for business reasons. Toronto would be doable too. Of course it would probably force choosing between this and the chocolate and confectionary gathering, I doubt I'd be able to get away for both.

[KatieLoeb]

Anthony Bourdain recently enjoyed a dinner at Zahav that was quite similar to ours on his Philadelphia episode of The Layover. He also stopped at Han Dynasty for Dan Dan noodles and Paesano's for sandwiches. Seems we were ahead of the curve...

[Jeff L]

How did I miss this?? I must check in more frequently for sure.

It sounds like everyone had a really good time and Katie you selected just the right mix of venues to give visitors a real look inside the Philly food scene. So sorry I missed this one..