Kennett Square

[wkl]

Longwood to Wilmington is about 25/30 minutes.

Parking in Wilmington is nothing like Philly. Deep Blue has a garage right over top or you can valet.They will stamp your ticket, and I believe that gets you two free hours. You won't pay more than a couple bucks at most. I never valet because the parking garage is literally over top the restaurant.

Check out www.bigchefguy.com for info on Deep Blue and Dan Butler's other restaurant Toscana.( Which is next door to Moore Brothers in Trolley Square)

I would call them about seasonal specialties. It wouldn't suprise me if they are doing something with Maryland crabs.

There are several fine restaurants around the West Chester/Longwood area also. Gilmore's, The Orchard, Sovana (more casual than the previous two.) I'm sure there are threads on all these somewhere.

[TarteTatin]

Well, we went to Longwood Gardens yesterday - beautiful, by the way!

Not too hot, not too crowded early...

No, we didn't go to a restaurant, but we did bring a lovely picnic!

Since this is forum is about food, I thought I'd tell you about what we brought!

We had fresh shelled peas from our CSA and more from Fair Food. Shelled the peas, blanched them for a few minutes, ice bath....added mint from our garden and a tiny amount of cream and salt and put it in the blender. Fresh pea and mint puree! Delicous!

Spread that on a baguette with Port Salut cheese. Yummy.

Brought baby beautiful carrots from our CSA, along with big, red radishes.

Gorgeous, tiny, sweet, so sweet strawberries. Like candy.

A few vegetable fries/chips, or whatever they are called, from Whole Foods.

Hubby and friend from France had Red Stripe, I, who don't drink beer had an Irish dry cider.

There's a great shaded place for picnics at Longwood.

(And the French love to picnic!)

[menton1]

Are there any retail seafood stores in the area that sell Maryland Crabs? I believe they are in season now through September.

[wkl]

If you are coming to the Wilmington area I can give you some names. It's about 25 minutes or so by car from Kennett Sq.

[menton1]

If you are coming to the Wilmington area I can give you some names. It's about 25 minutes or so by car from Kennett Sq.

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Sure, I'll go to Wilmington for Md. Crab-- I'll bring a big cooler!!

[wkl]

Try:

Dawson's Seafood 821 N Madison Wilmington.302-658-4238.Mainly wholsale, but does sell to the public.

Actually close to Kennett Square in Hockessin De, is Tomm's Produce 302-239-6900. On Lancaster Pike, which is Rt 48. Rt 41 comes south from Avondale/ Kennett Sq? and merges into RT 48, so not a bad drive at all.

Feby's 302-998-9496, about 10 minutes further south on 48 from Tomm's.A restaurant with a retail store attached.Phone number is for the retail store.

Also not a bad drive from Kennett Sq is Hadfields on the southbound side of RT 202 is Hadfields.They are actually right on the state line.I called them and they have Blue Claws. They quoted me $165 for a live bushel.I'm not a big crab purchaser, so I have no idea if that is a good price or not.

I would go to Hadfields first, then Tomm's, then Feby's, and finally Dawsons in terms of minimizing drive time. I have bought seafood from all these places for many years and can vouch for their quality and service.

[wkl]

BTW, that price is for #1's.

[philadining]

Checked put Taqueria Moroleon tonight. Was keeping my eye out for Mixteca, or some other hole in the wall, but Moroleon won out by being the one I found first.

The menu is pretty Tex-Mex, and the clientele was pretty flour-tortilla, if you get my drift.

But there's some good stuff on the menu, and while I haven't tried enough of it to make any grand pronouncements, what I had tonight was quite good.

Things got off to a promising start with the salsas on the table, a nice simple, chunky salsa fresca, and a smoother, hotter, really tasty, slightly smoky one.

They had a Molcajete on the specials menu.

As discussed up-thread, this is a term for the heavy lava-rock bowl, as well as a stewy concoction served therein, and this version was quite delicious. It had lots of tender braised beef, a couple of pieces of cheese, onion, tomato, and a roasted chile that was a good deal hotter than I expected! It came sizzling and bubbling, and wasn't much cooler by the time I finished.

It came with a warmer full of corn tortillas, and a generous plate of rice, beans and guacamole. I barely made a dent, I probably only ate about a third of it, this was plenty of food for two or more people. And only $12.

Thankfully the Mexican food options have improved in the area in general, enough that it's probably not imperative to drive all the way out here just for decent Mexican food, but if you're in the area, this isn't a bad choice.

Edited July 31, 2005 by philadining (log)

[KatieLoeb]

*bump*

Bringing this back up to see if anyone has any additional suggestions to add to this list since July 2005. I may find myself in this area over the weekend and wanted some good suggestions for some grub.

Is Moroleone's still open? How about Buckley's Tavern? Is it still any good? Make some suggestions please. I'll likely be with some eaters that aren't as adventurous as myself, so if Moroleone has some more mild or "Tex-Mex-ish" type dishes that would be good. Anyone been recently?

[philadining]

Moroleon is still open, and if you keep heading south, past there, you'll come to El Cuñado. I'm not sure if they have the taco tent out front all the time, but if so, DEFINITELY stop for a couple. Then go into the store, it's amazing.

There's a cool panaderia right on the main part of Kennett Square, almost across from Talula's Table. Which of course, suggests Talula's.

There are a lot of little Mexican places around there that I've been curious about. I think you should stop at some, and tell us how they are!

[KatieLoeb]

Alas, if it were up to me, I'd do a "taco tour", but my dining companions seek less adventuresome eats. I suspect Moroleone will be the outer limits of where we can all find something to eat on the menu. But it's high on my list. I'll report back as to where we actually end up.

[percyn]

And don't forget to stop by Talula's Table and pick up some goodies for later.

[KatieLoeb]

We passed Talula's Table en route to Taqueria Moroeone for dinner. Alas, they were already closed by the time we were done with our late lunch/early dinner. Moroleone was very good though, and I still have some leftover Carne Asada for lunch tomorrow.

Miss Claire and I really enjoyed Moroleone. We were stuffed as little Buddhas by the time we left there, too. Really delicious guacamole, salsas and chips to start (probably our downfall) and she had a couple of different quesadillas (chicken and pork if I recall) and I had the aforementioned Carne Asada and a tamale. All was delicious. It's a whole mess of food for not so much money, either. Very authentic and I was piqued to see so many natives in the place. I suspect there's a large population of native Mexicans in and around Kennett Square due to the farming in the area. Would that be an accurate assumption? We were there around 4:15 PM, sort of a between lunch and dinner time slot and there was still a pretty good crowd in the second dining area up the stairs. We sat in the dining room you enter from the parking lot level and it was empty save for ourselves and another table when we arrived. A few more folks on our side before we left.

I'm not so sure I'd drive all the way to Moroleone from Center City for a good Mexican meal. There are enough good places a lot closer to home, but it was good to know about when I find myself in that area again. Another slightly shorter drive away is Taqueria La Michoacana in Norristown, and I'd be likelier to make that drive than the long trek down I-95 and Route 322 to Moroleone. Then again, I find myself out that way a lot more often than I do in the further reaches of the Brandywine Valley. It was, however, a gorgeous autumn afternoon, and the trek through Longwood Gardens was invigorating and gave us a good appetite for our meal at Moroleone. It was a nice way to end a very lovely afternoon.

Of course, I passed out in front of the TV the instant we got back and started watching the Eagles game. Apparently, I didn't miss much.

[gfweb]

*bump*

?  How about Buckley's Tavern?  Is it still any good?  M

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It is open, but not very good anymore.

[KatieLoeb]

Well, then I'm doubly happy that we chose Moroleone instead.

[gfweb]

Well, then I'm doubly happy that we chose Moroleone instead.

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Other good ones in the area...

Brandywine Prime, in the old Chadds Ford Inn building, is a nice mix of steaks & seafood. Nice wine list.

The Farm House, in Avondale, is generally good too.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

For those of you who haven't read this yet

Talula's Table in the Inky via Laban (no, not the comics)

[SouthPhillyFoodie]

For those of you who haven't read this yet

Talula's Table in the Inky via Laban (no, not the comics)

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Grab a bottle of wine from Chaddsford Winery www.chaddsford.com - their Portfolio collection is excellent...and then head to The Orchard, it is a BYOB located a few minutes from Longwood - (610) 388-1100 - you might even get a Wyeth sighting...

Or if you aren't in the mood for a BYOB - check out Brandywine Prime, Dan Butler's restaurant which is also very close to Longwood...steaks are delicious!