I've been a slave to the kitchen for the past few years. As anyone who works (or has worked) in a restaurant knows, there isn't a lot…err, any…time off.
Finally, this last month, a much needed break, so I jumped on a place back home to Pennsylvania. Specifically, Philadelphia, to see my best friends from college, as they were starting to think that I had either entered witness protection, run off to Europe with a striking, tan beefcake, or fallen into the depths of the Grand Canyon.
Barely out of the gate and the travel nearly killed me. Let me give you the brief rundown: 4.5 hours on a plane with a trio of crying babies (all seated at perfect eat puncturing locations, directly surrounding me). Late by an hour. Broken luggage carousel which equates to a 2 hour wait, sitting on the floor of the dirty airport, starving. Pouring down rain. So humid I step out of the airport and am almost suffocated.Good thing I have great friends to greet me with a home cooked dinner, gummy worms, and wine.
I felt the need to contribute, so I made some midnight cookies: a hodge-podge chocolate chunk-orange-pecan cookie.
Falling into a bed, in a quiet room, never felt so good.
I found the greatest table the next day at breakfast. We ate at a little coffee shop called, Gleaner's. It was probably the simplest Martha Stewart project. Get table. Paint table. Cut up favorite children's book. Epoxy to table. But, I was freaking out at how cool it was and now I feel the need to do it to all my tables at home. Would you like to eat at Goodnight Moon or Harold and the Purple Crayon?
What do you usually need after breakfast? I need a cannoli, and seeing as we were in south Philly, no better place than Isgro. There were a couple guys (customers) in there that may very well have been from the cast of Jersey Shore. But I only had eyes for the cannolis.
One of the things I've never done is to see the Liberty Bell. It was probably the easiest of any of the monuments to get into, and I didn't even have to push over any little kids to get close and get a picture.
I was kind of bummed at the setting of the bell, probably because I take part of my knowledge of it from National Treasure. For some reason, I thought it would be in an old building and that there would be a Ben Franklin impersonator roaming around.
Side note: What do people do with pictures of themselves in front of the Liberty Bell?
After running through the Liberty Bell and dashing past Independence Hall, we had to go to Terminal, because there is nothing I love more than a market.
There is so much I wanted to buy. The fish was so fresh and beautiful, displayed on their mounds of ice. Strawberries, small, sweet gems. A green sea of just pulled from the ground veg. Every kind of spice you could ever want or need and dirt cheap to boot. Tons of people, picking up all the staples they would need for their weekend getaway at the shore.
We decided to grab lunch there, as my friend wanted me to try a hot dog wrapped in a pretzel. I was intrigued. We each got something and decided to share. A pulled-pork sandwich, a hot dog that is wrapped in a pretzel, a cheesesteak that is wrapped in a pretzel and some pad thai.
The pulled-pork and pad thai were okay. I was surprised at how much I liked the cheesesteak wrapped in a pretzel. I'm a purist, but this rocked my world. Tender steak, provolone (not traditional, I know!), wrapped in a perfectly salted soft pretzel. Maybe I was so hungry from dodging all the lines of children and fanny-pack wearin' tourists, but it was definitely something I would eat again and attempt to recreate.
We also tried a hot dog wrapped in a pretzel. It was good and very interesting, but the cheesesteak was better.
For dinner, we decided on a BYOB a few neighborhoods over, in Queen Village, called Salt & Pepper. We grabbed a few bottles of wine and a group of great friends and headed to dinner.
I had an app of cavatelli in a tomato sauce. Good, not great. It was a bit tough. There was a little too much gluten developed in it.
The scallop app was delicious and the scallops were fresh and perfectly cooked.
For my main, I got salmon with potato horseradish puree and fresh veg. I tasted the chicken dish with risotto (very cheesy, very good), and the sea bass with lentils. All were perfectly cooked. The dishes were well composed and plated. I was impressed. The kitchen is very small, two guys on the line, and they were turning out really great, complicated food.
Now, dessert on the other hand, was another matter. Being a pastry chef, I'm much more critical than the normal diner. But these desserts were terrible! And everyone else in our party agreed.
Let's start with the creme brulee. I'm pretty sure that they torch them ahead of time and put them back in the reach in. I don't like that they never do it. I don't even know any pastry chef that would do that (and I'm pretty sure that there was no pastry chef, considering how small the place is).But the brulee was curdled! That is unacceptable. Even if you don't have a pastry chef on staff, make desserts that you can do well.
I got a chocolate lave cake. It was average. And the scoop of Edy's ice cream I watched him scoop onto my plate does nothing for me. Truly a wretched move. Edy's ice cream is mostly air. At least serve Haagen-Dazs, which is a much better quality.
The guys that were with us got bread pudding, which was dry and again served with a scoop of Edy's ice cream.
Lastly, $7 for berries with whipped cream. Why is that even on the menu?
It's so sad to me because it just brings down the whole experience. Dessert is the finale. That's what people leave your restaurant on. It's very, very important!
As the waiter, who I suspect may have been an owner of the restaurant, came to collect our bill, my friend commented to him her love of the apps and main, but her dislike of the dessert. She was a bit more blunt than I just put it, and she admitted she could have phrased it better, however, the waiter took it very personally. I love this friend because she will always stand up for me and is so candid, but there was a bit of a resounding groan from the rest of us when she made the comment.
We had all been talking about it, but she was the only one who said anything. He began to defend the desserts and somehow I ended up in the conversation. ::GROAN:: I never discuss my negative opinions with servers-owners unless they specifically ask. Even then, I try to present it in a positive light, highlighting what I do like and what I think could use some work. I know how hard it is to be in the grind of the restaurant everyday. I have had people complain and act rudely. I never want to be one of them. I respect the effort too much. She apologized and all was well.
Our checks arrived along with a guest from another table, yelling at our table for being so rude. He explained to us that he eats there all the time, that he loves this restaurant, and how dare we say anything was less than perfect. Repeatedly, the boorish guest explains his message to us; my friend, talking back to him, standing up for her opinion, explaining that it came out wring and she meant to be helpful, not hurtful. Still, he persisted. Finally, my friend's fiancee ends it by standing up (he carries a fairly imposing presence at 6'3" to the pipsqueak guest at 5'8") and asked him to please leave out table.
What disturbs me is that the management didn't try to stop him from standing at our table for 5 minutes yelling. They were in the corner laughing. My friend made an error and apologized for it. We could have walked away from a great dinner, where we spent over $300 (tipped generously), had a lovely evening and would have definitely returned. After the drama, I would eat there again. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
After a couple Yuenglings at a little bar, we went home and ate a huge plate of my hodge-podge cookies.
Aside from dessert, my favorite meal of the day is brunch. It's late in the morning, you are expected to eat a large meal (not just eggs and toast), alcohol is acceptable, and the word brunch evokes a lazy, conversation laden, transition from morning to afternoon.
I had to meet one of my dearest friends and catch up on his life a little bit before hitting brunch. It's rude to not eat, so I had to get a pain au chocolat and cappuccino.
After my breakfast, I zipped off to brunch at Cochon. Let's just clear something up right now, anything that has to do with pig, I'm in. I love pork. One of my favorite dishes that I have to order if I see it on a menu is pork belly.
This is brunch, so no pork belly, but I did get a plate of bacon. Mmmmmmmmm.. Bacon love. I also got the french toast. Thick slabs of crisp, eggy toast. Drenched in mixed berry maple syrup. Topped off with a cloud of whipped butter. Bold cup of coffee and I was in brunch heaven.
My friend got the flammenkuche (our new favorite word which we love to yell at each other in public "flamin' cooch"), which didn't read as very appealing (I believe my exact words were "Meh!Over that."), but I was surprised at how delicious it was. Basically a breakfast flatbread, it has bacon, creme fraiche, caramelized onions, and gruyere. I'm a sweet breakfast/brunch person, but if I wanted something savory, it would be the flammenkuche.
This is one of the top 5 brunches I've ever eaten. Downside, it's a BYOB, so think ahead and grab some champagne for mimosas to bring with you. I can't wait to go back and eat dinner at Cochon. Pork-tastic!
The best part of being home with my friends, is just hanging out. We have more fun sitting around together, watching tv and eating, then we do going out for the day. After a lazy day, we needed to get some dinner together.
What do we make for a lazy summer night dinner? My friend made some turkey burgers with spinach and feta. I whipped up skillet corn and sesame green beans. But that, my friends, was not the best part. I made homemade s'mores for dessert.
I had been telling my girlfriends about these s'mores that I made in the restaurant and they freaked out. So, I acquired all the ingredients and showed them how good s'mores can be.
Thick slabs of homemade graham cracker, fresh marshmallows, and good quality chocolate. The girls are my newest converts.
Philly, I love you! Save me some bacon, I'll be back soon.
