i love pork bun

peep the garden

Plants are thriving this year! Already had a cucumber salad and tabouli with my own cucumbers. Just waitin’ for the tomatoes to arrive…

the big cheese

This past Sunday was The Cheese Experiment, a Top Chef-style cook off sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery in which the main ingredient, obviously, was cheese. Two teams of the close to 20 that entered were friends, Cat & Erik and Michelle & Tim. We came out to support, taste all the cheesy goodness and stayed for the free beers!

stole this photo from somewhere:

Cat and Erik with butternut squash grilled cheese and gazpacho

Michelle and Tim with mascarpone cherry ice cream

Basically, the setup was like an episode of Top Chef where the contestants have to cater a big party. They had to have their food ready in small bite sizes, keep it the right temperature and make small talk with everyone who comes up to take a sample. There would be an audience vote as well as official judges.

I quickly loaded up the plate:

Some of the tasty savory dishes included a grilled cheese steak, potatoes au gratin, homemade egg yolk ravioli, butternut squash grilled cheese w/ bacon and gazpacho, crab cheesecake w/ homemade cream cheese and this srsly delicious play on cheesesteaks with a french onion beef au jus, a stinky cheese sauce and crispy fried shallots on top. Some of the teams that made these dishes are below:

“Unconstitutional Ravioli” girls had cute costumes

the play on cheese steak dudes were cool

There were also tons of delicious cheese samples from local farms available at the Fairfood Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market:

A handful of competitors were also making desserts. One of my favorites was this really creative team who made a play on macaroons, basically a mascarpone cheese ball surrounded by coconut flakes spiced with cardamom, ginger, etc. It was so delicious, I’ve never had anything quite like it before.  And, they said they invented the recipe the Friday before the competition! There were also some notable ice creams and some girls making amazing limoncello mini cannolis that could, without a doubt, rival your favorite cannoli.

After we ate our way through all the dishes it was voting time:

In the end the audience voted:

1. Phondoody (the cheese steak dudes)
2. Cat Attacks (Cat and Erik!!! woo!)
3. Unconstitutional Ravioli

Cat Attacks also received the “Nick and Theo Award” whatever that may be!

Congrats guys! Twas a fun, cheesy Sunday afternoon for all.

ping pong and sausages

Finally made it out to Frankford Hall, Stephen Starr’s newest German themed outdoor/indoor beer hall venture, this past weekend, for a super nice Saturday of day-drinking, sausage-eating and most excitingly ping ponging. If you like the aforementioned activities, you will love Frankford Hall. I liked the use of the gutted industrial building that the place once was, lots of exposed brick and large, airy space- perfect for the summertime. As you walk in there’s some covered seating near the entrance, but the main fun zone is gravel covered area in the center of the roofless structure with family style tables, umbrellas and small trees for shade, a food ordering counter on one side and a beer bar on the other. It’s all self-order, which was nice for the casual atmosphere.

Between the four of us we ordered a decent chunk of the menu… our favorites were the Knockwurst sausage ($6,below), a fat beef and pork sausage with a side of sauerkraut, cucumber salad ($4, fresh, dill-y and sour creamed) and German potato salad (creamy,vinegary and loaded with smoky bacon). The potato pancakes that came with the smoked salmon could have used a little somethin’ extra, we found them to be on the bland side and, while the pretzel was pretty good, at $4 we thought the other dishes were a better deal. Also, we all agreed that mustard beats out the boring cheese sauce that accompanied the pretzel.

As expected the beer selection was heavy on German beers, on tap were 9 beers including Bitburger Pils and a delicious Dogfish head called My Antonia.  Bottles including Schneider Aventinus, Radeberger Pilsner, and Hacker-Pschorr Munich Gold and cheaper non-imports too. Drafts were around $6 for .5L, and you could even order a full liter in a huge stein for double the price. Try that My Antonia, it’s delicious.

One of the best parts of Frankford Hall has to be the ping pong tables. Two tables on both sides with paddles and balls sitting out to use. We were on them for at least an hour that day and a great ping pong rivalry was born.

Amanda breezes one past Mike…

Frankford hall- I’m a fan. Looking forward to coming back for more ping pong and beers this summer.

Nature! and Thai Food

I’m all about the little gems in life. Like taking a few days off work to go camping when the weather is perfect, eating the ripest strawberries straight off the plant, having the best Thai food in the middle of nowhere, exploring caves, hiking, petting baby cows… little things that make you think ‘dude, this is awesome’.

This past weekend was full of such wonderful things, most of which we just stumbled upon… which made it even better! Drew finished classes forever so we decided to take an extra long celebratory weekend to go camping at Crabtree Falls and hang out in nature. Just as the rain stopped and the sun was coming out, we pulled into the campsite. We went set up our tent, went on a hike and made a fire (a really small one since most of the wood was damp). Hot dogs were cooked on sticks because we forgot to bring something to cook them with and we had some smores too. It was pretty sweet.

Scenery from the hike:

Our cute little tent!:

With the background noise of the running river:

It was pretty magical:

The next day we packed up and set off towards Natural Bridge, VA where we were hoping to see Foamhenge, the foam replica of Stonehenge, and the hokey, animatronic Dinosaur Kingdom, where huge moving dinosaurs are fighting Union soldiers. From the campsite to the Natural Bridge we stumbled upon a pick your own strawberry field and one of the most delicious Thai restaurants ever!

The strawberry fields were pretty pristine with scenery of rolling hills and cows in the pasture all around us. Berries were only $1.99 a pound and tasted so much better then any strawberry you could ever get in at a grocery store. There really is no comparison to eating ripe fruit that’s just been picked.

Ripe vs non-ripe, I have a feeling grocery store berries were probably picked closer to shade of the berry on the right.

Omgz, this baby cow was so cute:

A little ways down the country road from strawberry field was an amazing little Thai restaurant, literally in the middle of the woods. The last time I ate here was 6 years ago while I was still at UVA, after an trip out to Nelson Country to go hiking at Crabtree Falls. I remember that first time I stumbled upon this place and how blown away I was that Thai food could be this amazing off a country road in Virginia- a true gem. It seems Thai Siam Takeout has been making the residents of Nelson County happy for quite some time, while we were there a constant stream of locals rolled in chatting with the super friendly Thai lady who runs the place with a small team (Ms. Mae is her name and if you met her and tasted her food you would also wish that she could be your grandma too). The restaurant is a converted apple barn and the inside feels just like you wandered in someone’s living room, complete with a TV, scattered Thai decor (elephants and gold statues) and that unexplainable feeling of comfort. A look on Yelp will reveal page long reviews from satisfied customers, all of whom express the same sentiment- amazing, fresh cooked authentic Thai food, friendly atmosphere, in the middle of the country?!, best thing ever!! And that pretty much sums up our experience as well.

We had the green curry, a favorite dish of mine:

Definitely one of the best versions I’ve ever had, a much more complex flavor than the usual coconut milk and curry paste varieties you often get. This is the real deal. And the gauge of a Thai place, the Pad Thai, was superb, apparently the sauce is made from scratch each week. The noodles were perfect and the portion was generous.

Of course we had to have Thai iced tea and fried calamari appetizer as well! I hope it’s not another 6 years before I can come back here again.

After our satisfying meal, we headed onwards.

Finally arriving at our first destination, Foamhenge:

It was pretty sweet. Looks a lot like the real thing, from what I can delineate in photographs and even more so if you squint your eyes. We hung around there for a while. Professor Cline, the guy who created Foamhenge, apparently had a great sense of humor as well. He included a sculpture of Merlin near the site as a competing theory of how Stonehenge was built.

Unfortunately, the Dinosaur Kingdom wasn’t opening until the end of May, so we settled on exploring the Natural Bridge Cavern, deepest cave on the east coast. It was neat to me, a previously uncaved person, but Drew was underwhelmed since he had been caving before:

All that and the day was not over yet. On the way back home to Richmond that night we stopped by Charlottesville to go to the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar for dinner and chill out time. It is one of my absolute favorite places in Charlottesville. The atmosphere here is super unique, there’s a tree coming out of one of the walls, it always smells faintly of nag champa, they have lots of cool lighting, plush pillow seating, hookahs, good music, tons of tea and delicious middle eastern bites to eat.

We got this huge platter of finger foods and beers and chilled there for quite a while before the hour drive finally back to Richmond.

Great weekend and with summer around the corner, there are many more to come!

America Runs on…

A salute to the awesome people with extreme dedication to silly costumes.

Broad Street Run 2011

The contents of a disposable camera

Look what I found! Though I love my digital camera, there’s something about the quality of film, the tangibility and the non-instant gratification of it all that makes the memories so much more nostalgic. And also more hilarious when you re-discover moments you forgot about! Photos from an old disposable camera with some more recent pictures at the end of the roll first:

Sunday funday at Terrain

Last weekend Matt and I spent an overcast but mild Sunday at Terrain, listening to my uncle play some tunes, enjoying free stuff and eating lunch at the “Dig Into Spring” event. Terrain, a picturesque home/garden/kitchen store under the umbrella of URBN INC, is just what you would imagine - transitioning greenhouse indoor/outdoor space for hanging out and shopping, products clustered with the highest attention to detail, a rustic cafe, beautiful plants and trees, perfectly weathered terracotta pots, mason jars of all shapes and sizes, gourmet pickles from Brooklyn, lavender finishing salt, soap made with goat’s milk… They achieve a pretty zen-like atmosphere where I would be happy to spend a ton of expendable income (if I had some) and where you almost completely forget that you’re across the street from a  shopping center in Glenn Mills.

There were several goodies to be had during the event including copious free samples of Gilda’s biscotti (super tasty biscotti made by a former Four Seasons pastry chef with an emphasis on quality ingredients), local cheeses from Doe Run Farm, Victory beer, Root and Snap liquor and La Colombe coffee. The following are a few fun photos of the day. The La Colombe truck is a re-purposed ambulance from France circa 1967, coffee to the rescue indeed!

Mmm latte:

This is a huge lettuce plant:

My uncle, Son, singin’:

Christa and Miela watchin’ her daddy play:

Inside Terrain surrounded by pretty things:

Like colored pencils that look like twigs:

Cutes:

We had a quick lunch at the Cafe, a lamb pancetta sandwich with a side salad. One of the best reasons to grab a bite here if you stop in is the bread:

It’s ingeniously baked in a small terracotta pot that forms a beautiful crust to inside ratio, while keeping the inside super soft and tender. It was almost like challah meets french bread in all the best ways. The herbed butter served alongside was another treat in itself, just subtle enough to keep you guessing which herbs and just sweet enough to keep you guessing if they added honey or if this was just really good butter.

The sandwich was also a hit:

Lamb pancetta crisped up with arugula, tomato and great bread was just like a BLT in texture without that distinct smoky bacon flavor. It’s definitely worth the trip to come here for a sit down meal in the greenhouse cafe, for the ambiance and for the food. The handful of times I’ve been to Terrain have been a treat, just walking around and browsing is fun. It really makes you want to own a house and have a garden. Lastly, a parting look at the $1000 trees:

Someday!

Artisan Boulanger Patissier: French pastries at their best!

Artisan Boulanger Patissier, in the heart of South Philly, is one of those places that makes me really happy. It’s an awesome French pastry shop run by Asians that has some the best pastries in the entire city. Ever since I discovered their incredible pastries and breads for myself I have been singing  praises to anyone who will listen.  All the goodies sold here are made in house by the classically trained (16 years in France) hand of a friendly Cambodian man named Andre, who runs the shop along with his wife. The interior is humble, yet welcoming and there is often live music in the mornings (nice, folky mornin’ music). A weekend breakfast here is one of my favorites in the city because it’s laid back, quick and oh-so-scrumptous.

One morning when Drew and John were in town we stopped in for a few pastries and coffee. This morning Drew and I got three pastries to split, the sausage, egg and cheese croissant, a strawberries and cream croissant and an apple turnover. Delicious coffee is also covered as they serve french-pressed Counter Culture.

The sausage, egg and cheese croissant here beats the hell out of any versions of this breakfast sandwich I have ever had; definitely one of my favorite versions of pork on a bun. Their flaky, warm croissant makes the perfect vessel to envelope the sausage patty, egg and cheese melange, giving you that slight crisp when you bite in. And it’s not only the croissant that is quality, I want to know where they get their sausage patties from because they’re damn good!

Sweet treats are also something they do extremely well here, from chocolate croissants to madelines to apple turnovers. Mmmmm. We tried their strawberries and cream croissant that day, which was decadently good. Buttery, flaky, crisp on the outside, soft and a little chewy on the inside, plus some creamy custard and fresh strawberries… you can’t really go wrong.

In the same token, the apple turnover is layers of flaky, light goodness with an apple filing that’s sweet but not sickeningly so. This same pocket of goodness also comes in chicken pot pie (SO GOOD) and mushroom and spinach (SO GOOD) varieties. 

I seriously wake up in the morning sometimes with these pastries on my mind (ask Drew). The croissants are some of the best in the city for sure. You can tell they really take pride in their product. I highly recommend a morning trek to the corner of 12th and Morris in South Philly for a few pastries and a hot cup of coffee. They close at 3 so get there early and don’t forget to pick up a baguette for later because they are amazing… like eat it all before you get home amazing.

Pho Ha Saigon

Off a tip from MealTicket, saying that our favorite Pho joint’s original owners actually own a different place all the way on 3rd and Oregon, Matt and I knew we would eventually make the journey down to the land of IKEA and strip clubs, after all if you would venture that far for an $10 particle board table or a cheesesteak from a place beneath the highway why not for a slammin’ bowl of pho?

Pho Ha Saigon is in an Asian store complex that is sort of hidden a few blocks past Tony Luke’s on the left. The joint is newly renovated and is pretty nice on the inside with solid wooden tables and clean floors. Along with the nicer atmosphere, the pho is served in ceramic bowls, a nice change from the plastic you get at most places. Additionally, the hot tea we got right away was miles better than the free tea at your standard pho shop. The pho itself was pretty delicious, I thought that the broth tasted cleaner and fresher than Pho Ha’s, while Matt still preferred the latter. The meat was definitely fresh and tender. Quantity wise the noodles were less than Pho Ha, but, in my opinion, more correctly in proportion to the amount of soup (i.e. Pho Ha gives you a TON of noodles).  Overall, I really enjoyed their pho with the nicer touches in service and presentation scoring points for me.

While eating, however, we thought out loud that it’s kind of difficult to rank your favorite pho with so many good choices, whether it be your grandma’s, Pho Ha, Pho Ha Saigon or countless other places in Philly. I guess we can all just rest assured and happier that in many corners of Philadelphia there are conveniently located pho joints that will leave you satisfied for cheap. With that being said, if you’re ever at IKEA craving pho hit up Pho Ha Saigon, it’s worth it.

A Full Plate Cafe’s Fried Chicken and Waffles: The Pièce de Résistance

Surprisingly, there are more than a few restaurants in Philly serving up their version of chicken and waffles, a dish speculated to have origins in Harlem, but is probably more notorious because of Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles in LA. I haven’t tried the versions at Jones, Varga Bar, Chhaya or even IHOP, but I’m pretty sure that the chicken and waffles at A Full Plate Cafe in No Libs is up there in the ranks.

Now, I’m not a Chicken and Waffles connoisseur by any means, but I have had two different delicious versions of this dish in TX and VA to base my comparison upon.  The presentation of A Full Plate’s waffles immediately lured me in. The fried chicken piled perfectly high on the waffle all slathered in the sweet and tangy BBQ syrup was to the Altar of Gluttony as the Pietà is to St. Peter’s Basilica. Okay, maybe I just love hyperbole, but you can see the serious sculptural aspects to the stack of fried chicken. Anyways, to me, chicken and waffles is obviously two fold- the chicken and the waffle- maybe three if you count the sauce, and it’s also the ratio of chicken to waffle that is critically important.

The chicken was delicious, perfectly seasoned crispy crust, tender and juicy on the inside, with just enough salt and pepperiness to balance the sweeter waffle and tangy sauce. The waffle was pretty subtle, with a good texture and, importantly, came out fresh and hot. The tangy BBQ syrup, a genius combo, was a welcome addition for some acid and depth to a dish that can definitely become monotoned. As far as ratio, they give you three sizable pieces of boneless chicken, just enough so each bite of waffle has a bite of meat.

Needless to say, I loved A Full Plate’s rendition of chicken and waffles and gobbled it up. They also have fantastic iced tea, served in huge mason jars, and other tasty lookin’ brunch options…

(Toads in a Hole- Texas toast stuffed with scrambled eggs, peppers, sausage, etc)

If you’re in search of a solid brunch spot in the area, I’d recommend A Full Plate just for the chicken and waffles.