Philadelphia excursion, Part 4, Sampan and Sigur Ros

Dinner was at Sampan on 13th street. (I've heard NYC has a Sampan too, but they are not related.) My lovely companion and our friends and I ordered the tasting menu. At $45 per person, and 7 courses, you really can't beat it, and we had plenty of leftovers.

Hamachi ceviche and fried chicken bao buns were the starters. The ceviche was served in individual miso-soup-spoons and disappeared before I could take a photo. Truffle was the unexpected secret ingredient. Rice bao buns were fluffy inside, but strong enough to hold together contained crunchy edged chicken cutlets, Panko-fried and covered in a sticky sweet chili glaze. I could have made a meal out of just this.

Next we had lamb satay, mini lollipops with a spicy seasoning, and cold noodle salad with warm grilled beef tenderloin. Both meets had perfectly charred edges, but neither were standouts but they got the job done like Bacardi and Cola.

Threatening to drown ourselves in noodles, we also had the Korean BBQ short rib lo mein. This beef was so tender. It seriously fell apart at the touch of our chopsticks. So much flavor was packed into each caramelized bite that I don't think anyone noticed the noodles underneath. Kobe beef fried rice was sweet and tender and disappeared quickly.

Sea bass over roasted cauliflower was a standout. Topped in shredded apples and tossed with grapefruit, it was such a bright contrast to the smokey sweet favors of the fish. This is a must-eat. I mean it. Go there and order it and eat it and tell me how good it was so I can enjoy it again vicariously.

Lastly, tiny baby soft serve ice creams. Rice Krispy treats flavor, and Snickers bar flavor. They make 2 different favors every day, and we got a selection of both. Adorbs. And small enough to find room for after all that food.

If you can make it here during happy hour, they have some of the best food deals in the city. Just sayin.

Chicken bao buns

Lamb satay

Beef tenderloin over cold rice noodles

Short rib lo mein

Kobe beef fried rice

Mini soft serves

Rice Krispy treat mini cone

Sigur Ros was ethereal. Perfect for an outdoor concert in the summertime. I hope a lot of you got to enjoy their show at the Prospect Park bandshell on Tuesday. Their opener, though, Perfume Genius, sounded too much like a sad bullying scene from Glee, and had a firm stance against songs over 2 minutes long, to the point that most of them seemed to cut off abruptly in mid verse at around 1:50. You could have made a drinking game out of it. Or, you know, whatever that smell was wafting in the air...

-SdJ

Perfume Genius. Feel their pain in two minutes or less.

Philadelphia excursion, Part 3, Oddfellows

We were in Philadelphia for two days, and on both days we found ourselves at an old favorite Oddfellows. Housed in the first floor of a building that was once home to the Philadelphia branch of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, this is the second venture from the owners of the now under renovation Spruce Street Espresso.

Our first visit was just a quick stop for a cool pick-us-up after the museum and a parking ordeal involving our little Zipcar mini cooper. I drank a Fentiman's dandelion and burdock soda, and my lovely companion ordered the special: an iced honey vanilla latte. The vanilla had just kicked, and the resulting honey-only version was actually better than the intended special (which we ordered in its full glory again the next day, and learned to skip the vanilla.) Our friends met us there and it was a short walk to dinner.

Oddfellows from the outside.

Iced Honey Latte, and a Fentimans. 

Rather than post twice about Oddfellows, I'll speak about the second day's visit too. Oddfellows is a cafe as well as a casual Latin restaurant. The Counter Culture coffee based offerings really can't be beat anywhere, but they also offer a short but complete menu of dishes for lunch and dinner. (Brunch too, on weekends.) There's also plenty of outdoor seating and some excellent people watching to be had here.

On our second day, we had enjoyed a huge lunch and were eating light for dinner before another concert. We split the house guacamole with homemade tortilla chips, and the fried tilapia fish tacos.

The guac wasn't made table side or anything, but was full of chunky tomatoes and sweet with plenty of red onions and cilantro. Chips were thick and crunchy, and faintly salted. There's usually a problem of not enough guac to finish all the chips when you order this appetizer, but we encountered the opposite. Those delicious chips were gone and there was avocado to spare.

The tacos came in an order of three and I'm never good at remembering to take a photo until there's at least a bite out of something, so forgive me, but they we're good. A hot red salsa came on the side of three large soft corn tortillas with crispy-outside flaky white fish, a ginger slaw, tomatoes, and a boring looking but very flavorful aioli. And our extra guacamole had found a home.

Lastly we saved room (always save room here,) for the Tres Leches with berry coulis and toasted candied walnuts. This is the perfect rendition of this classic. My favorite dessert, and the portions had gotten bigger since the last time we'd visited. Dense but spongey, wet with condensed milk, but not oozing everywhere on the plate, you have to order it. And for $6, you'd be a ridiculous human being not to.

-SdJ

Chips and Guac. Rotated.

Fish tacos, half eaten. Also, pardon the washed out look.
We were outside and the sun was going down and everything was golden.

Tres Leches with Berry Coulis and some flash.

Philadelphia excursion, Part 2, Underdogs and Rodin

Sunday, we had 7 hours to kill before the Sigur Ros concert at the Mann Center, and the weather had turned unexpectedly sunny, so we decided to take a walk along the Ben Franklin Parkway and visit the newly re-opened Rodin Museum before meeting some old friends for dinner.

On our way up to the Parkway we stumbled on Underdogs. Opened in the last year, they serve 23 different hotdogs and sausages for prices starting around $3 and not exceeding $5.50. Combos with fries and a choice of over a dozen gourmet dipping sauces still won't cost you more than a $10 bill, including tax and tip.

They are located below ground on 17th street, next to Bonte, the Belgian waffle and coffee place between Walnut and Sansom streets. Photos of boxers line the walls, (Philadelphia has loved an underdog since before Rocky came out,) and anyone who eats all 23 dogs gets their name on a stenciled fist on the same wall. (You don't have to eat them all at once; there's a punch-card.)

My lovely companion chose the Texas Tommy. Tried and true, the all beef dog had been wrapped in bacon and then deep-fried before being topped with 3 kinds of cheese on a much more substantial roll than your average fluffy street fare.

I had the Chihuaha. Spicy Mexican chorizo topped with sauteed onion, queso blanco, and chipotle mayo. Nice and spicy, the cheese and mayo were needed to cool things down a bit. Fortified, we were off to the museum.

Underdogs' entrance on 17th street

7/8 of a Texas Tommy

The Chihuahua. Tastier than I made it look in this photo, I assure you.

If you've never taken the walk from Philadelphia's City Hall up to the Art Museum on a warm day, you're missing one of the most beautiful concentrations of art and architecture in the country. At least 5 museums are open every day but Monday, and we chose the Rodin for its manageable size and outdoor garden.

More to come,

-SdJ

Fountains on the Parkway

The new Barnes Foundation, relocated from it's suburban home to the Parkway

Free Library of Philadelphia. Birthplace of Shakespeare.

Entrance to the Rodin Museum. Not a famous statue at all.

Philadelphia excursion, Part 1, La Colombe and Rittenhouse

Hello readers,

There's so much to write about from the last 48 hours that I'm going I parse it into more manageable bites, so to speak. A trip back to my hometown, lots of great food, friends, two concerts, and some great little random moments in between.

The view of the Philadelphia Skyline from the Mann Center's Skyline Stage

My lovely companion and I booked a room at Rittenhouse 1715, not to be confused with the Rittenhouse Hotel. This is a charming little Bed and Breakfast half a block off of Rittenhouse Square Park in center city Philadelphia. While the desk staff at lunch time are very sweet, they were a little awkward too. Charming? As we were early, the room wasn't ready yet, but we left our bag to go kill an hour while they finished it.

Our choice of beverage while waiting for check-in was La Colombe, across the park. If you haven't seen their dove-in-flight logo at coffeeshops in Brooklyn and Manhattan, or either of their three free-standing locations here in New York now, you just aren't paying attention. This Philly-based roaster has had their cafe on 19th street since the dawn of time, and it's always been pure class.

Standing in line across from the early 1900's style coin operated refrigerating despensor for their house "Pure Black" bottled iced coffee, (put in coins, door unlocks. Grab a 4 pack holder, and fill it with bottles!) we watched a barista in vest and tie work the line. I stepped outside of my normal routine and ordered a coffee granita (house cold brew, ice, sugar, milk,) and my lovely companion ordered a bitter iced mocha. We receive our drinks at the end of the line, near the free water machine, serving super-purified room temperature, cold, or even sparkling water. (eat your heart out, Molecule!)

The mocha was very chocolatey and hardly sweet at all. (just perfect, if you ask me.) My drink was refreshing on the surprisingly sunny day as we wandered through the park, and got to sit and watch swing dancers from Lindy and Blues having a great time on one side of us, while a young couple with a banjo and tiny accordion performed at the other end of the park. Perfect way to kill an hour while your room gets ready.

Back at the hotel, our room was large, with a couple of requisite antiques, but a modern and super comfortable bed, substantial modern bathroom (rain spout shower head and wand, teak bench, etc.) and a much larger than necessary flat screen TV. The only drawback was our view of the alley behind the building, but we were really using the room as a base of operations and not as a place to hole up for the weekend. Free chocolate chip cookies in the lobby were a cute perk, and the basement cafe was as adorable as one could probably make it.

More to come in part 2

-SdJ

First Post!

Though I was born in the woods in Virginia, I consider myself a native Philadelphian. I love Philadelphia. I lived within 30 minutes of our 5th largest city since I was 6, and moved right into the heart of it the year I turned 18. I've never lived higher than the 4th floor, and I've always known the local shopkeepers, waitstaff, most of the general pedestrian population.

I recently transplanted to New York through work in the last year. I went from living in a "Greene Country Towne" as William Penn called it, to living in the most important city in the world, as far as most people are concerned. My first 2 months were spent in a corporate sponsored 60 story high-rise near Times Square shortly before the holidays, and I've never felt so far from home.

When I wasn't working or heading back to my beloved city to spend time with loved ones and organize my affairs there, I was learning how truly awful New York's broker system of renting can be. I'd seen "one bedroom" apartments the size of my old living room with mold on the walls up to my knees being shown by a straight-faced young woman explaining why $2,000 was a great deal. I was feeling the desperation that I'm sure a lot of first time renters in New York feel. It was November. It was getting cold and I needed to get out of that glass tower that was paid for until December.

I finally found a little apartment in Park Slope purely by chance while walking around after an extremely bad showing several blocks away. I had forgotten where the subway station was that I had taken to get out here, and figured I'd spend the afternoon meandering until I found one, and maybe finding a nice bar or coffee shop along the way. There was a sign on the outside of the building, which I called, and was let in by the super 10 minutes later. The girls moving out had made the place look super cozy, and weren't fleeing a creepy landlord or a crumbling ceiling or anything. They even had nice things to say about the neighborhood. At that point, that was enough for me.

Winter was a blur of freezing wind and crowded subways to Manhattan. I barely got out of my apartment except to do laundry and buy groceries. But then spring came, and I realized that I'd struck neighborhood gold. Without any Brooklyn natives to give me advice, I had no clue what parts of town were good or bad when I found this place. I had no idea how lush it is here, or how much there is to do! I feel like every day I see a new restaurant I want to try, have coffee at yet another delicious and adorable cafe, or see a new bar opening up that merits a visit. Having had to leave Philadelphia for another place, I can't imagine anywhere I'd be happier to call home than Park Slope.

My idea for this blog was initially a food and drink blog, but I'll probably add a few things outside of that box as they come up. I hope you natives can welcome a newcomer to your fair hood, and I hope other transplants can be encouraged to try some of the things I'm discovering here each day.

-SdJ