drinking outdoors

One major complaint I've always had about Philly is the lack of outdoor seating at bars and restaurants. I remember visiting Montreal and seeing tons of places for al fresco dining and drinking - and we certaintly have a longer stretch of warm weather than they do! But as I was putting this list together of places where you can enjoy a cocktail AND an outdoor seat, the list ended up being fairly lengthy. I think the problem is the number of seats available. If you can't grab a seat by 5 or 530 during the week, you're out of luck. Luckily, I have an advantage since I don't currently have a job (or unluckily, depends on how you look at it).

As I was doing some research, I found this list that Uwishunu posted. It's a pretty good list of restaurants/bars that offer outdoor seating, but I have a few additions:

University City

1. Biba Wine Bar

I have yet to try this place out but if it's anything like Tria, I'm sure I'll love it. The deck is under construction as we speak and should be done any day now...and will seat 12 lucky people.

Rittenhouse Square

2. Vango

They have a cool rooftop bar (one thing we are DEFINITELY lacking here) and there's a DJ on the weekends and gets pretty dance-y...which I like. And as you can see, there are pretty awesome views.

1. Twenty Manning

I love this place - the food is good, it's well designed and has that cool, neighborhood-y feel to it. Plus, under the awnings are spritzers that will spray you lightly with water to keep you feeling cool on those hot Philly summer days.

1. Tequila's

This photo doesn't show it, but when it's nice out, they put tables and chairs along the front of the building. There isn't room for many, but it's a nice spot to sit. The food here is also delicious and the margaritas are even better! They have a pretty good happy hour too.

Midtown Village/Gayborhood

1. Graffiti Bar at Sampan

I've been to Sampan a few times but haven't yet tried out their backyard bar. It looks cool - and at least I know the food and drinks are good.

1. Raw

I almost forgot about this place until Eric reminded me! I've only eaten here once but I remember the tuna tartare was really good. The courtyard is really nice also - and pretty spacious. I definitely need to hang out here more often this summer.

Bella Vista

1. Creperie Beau Monde

I had to to include this place - the crepes here are delicious and the bar upstairs (L'etage) used to be my favorite dance place in the city. The music is still pretty good, but it's been feeling really young lately. Or maybe I"m just getting old...

1. Bistro La Minette

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Philly. The food is incredible and in the summertime they play French movies in their courtyard. I think there are some outdoor seats in the front of the restaurant as well.

Northern Liberties/Fishtown

1. Silk City Beer Garden

Haven't been yet, but sounds good to me! It's the only beer garden in Philly right?

Anybody have any other suggestions??

meatball subs

If you read this blog, I'm sure you've heard me mention Smitten Kitchen before. If not, and you love food, check it out ASAP. She has awesome recipes and takes beautiful photos of her food. This is another recipe that I found on Smitten Kitchen and it is seriously amazing. One of my favorite things to make and eat. It's a pork meatball sub with carmelized onions. Yum right? Believe me, it tastes even better than it sounds! The first time I made it, it took FOREVER - only because it makes a ton of meatballs and I didn't start cooking the onions until the meatballs were almost done. The second time I made them, it took about an hour which isn't so bad. It's definitely worth the time and effort. And if you are in the Philly area, you have to eat them with Sarcone's bread - incredible.

Here's the recipe:

Yields about 24 to 28 2-inch meatballs

Ingredients:

Meatballs
The baguettes or seeded sandwich rolls you’ll use for your sandwiches (see Note above for how to estimate)
2 pound ground meat of your choice (I used pork but have in the past used beef, veal, chicken, turkey or a blend thereof)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
Olive oil
4 cups prepared tomato sauce (plus extra if you like a lot of extra sauce)

Caramelized onions
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt

Assembly
2 cups coarsely shredded Gruyère

Make the meatballs: Split your rolls almost the whole way through, leaving one side attached. Scoop out some of the roll to create a channel for the meatballs to rest in. Grind the bread you pulled out in a food processor or tear it into minuscule bits. You will need 1 1/3 cups or 2 3/4 ounces of fresh breadcrumbs for the meatballs. If you’re not making subs, you can get this same amount of breadcrumbs from 2 to 3 sandwich bread slices. Set rolls aside until later.

Place the fresh breadcrumbs in a large bowl with 3/4 cup warm water and all of the meatball ingredients except for the olive oil and tomato sauce. Combine with a fork, breaking up clumps of meat until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Form mixture into 2-inch meatballs are arrange on a tray. I find wet hands make it easier to form meatballs without them sticking too much.

Heat a generous slick of oil (few tablespoons) in a large saute pan with a lid. Brown meatballs in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan or nudge them before they are nicely browned or they will stick and you’ll leave delicious meatball bits in the pan. These meatballs are soft, so use a gentle hand. Transfer meatballs to a paper towel-lined tray and continue until they are all browned.

Discard the oil and heat your tomato sauce in the pan. Add the meatballs, cover the pan and simmer them on the lowest heat possible for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.

Caramelize onions: While the meatballs are simmering, you can cook the onions. Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion, sprinkle with salt and a little pepper and cook until they’re tender, sweet, and a deep golden brown, stirring occasionally. This takes me about 30 minutes.
**This part does take a while, so I like to start them when you start browning the meatballs**

Assemble subs: Arrange meatballs with sauce in the hollowed-out roll(s). Drape caramelized onions over the top and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Place subs under a broiler or in an oven at top heat to melt the cheese.

sampan

Sampan is one of several new restaurants that have opened up on 13th Street in the Gayborhood AKA Midtown Village in the past couple of years. The first time I tried it was during the Midtown Village Festival this past October (when I debuted my sumo wrestling skills) where I tried their pork belly banh mi that was delicious. I went back a couple months later for some drinks and some small plates and really enjoyed it, so I knew I wanted to go back for a full meal. I finally had a chance to do that a couple weekends ago with Karen and we had a great time! The space feels very hip and cool - something you'd find in NYC. I thought the decor was nice - nothing super special but it was nice to have a space like this in Philly. It felt different. And young.


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They also have an outdoor area in the back - called the grafitti bar - I will need to check it out when it gets warmer!


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Karen and I did the tasting menu which was only $35/person that night (because it was the night before Valentine's day - yep I had two Valentines this year, Karen AND Eric) but usually its $40/person which is still a fantastic deal. It was sooooo much food - you get to choose 6 plates (they're all small plates) from the menu plus dessert. We started with some drinks:



I can't remember what kind of cocktail Karen ordered, but I tried one of their sake flights. Loved it. Our first dish was the Korean short rib satay. Yum, it was one of my favorite dishes of the night.



We had meant to order the shrimp dumplings but somehow got the edamame dumplings, but I'm glad we did because they were soooo tasty:



Tuna rice cracker (I think that's what these were...):



Crab wonton taco:



Korean fried chicken - good but not as good as Meritage's or Momofuku's which I will be having again in a month!!!



Kim chee fried rice:



Broiled sea bass:



At this point I was STUFFED but I still ate all of my dessert:



Aren't they adorable? One was butterfinger flavored and the other was twizzler. Yummy.

brunch for one

I had a dentist appointment yesterday morning and while walking back towards the subway to go home, I passed by the new Le Pain Quotidien that opened on Walnut Street. I've been looking forward to their opening ever since I ate at one in DC. I can be a snob when it comes to restaurant chains, but what I love about these restaurants is that they don't feel like they're part of a chain. They all pretty much look the same but are so well designed. Think rustic chic with exposed ceilings, lots of reclaimed wood (at least it looks like it), marble counters, and metal fixtures. They also have these large beautiful wood tables where you can sit and eat with strangers or would be perfect for large groups. I wish I could fit one in my house! And a big plus - the food is really good! Since I didn't have much planned for the rest of the day (besides going home and shoveling a foot of snow) and I had a new British Vogue in my purse, I decided to treat myself to brunch.





I had some green tea and quiche lorraine and it was delicious. I like how their mugs are more like mini bowls - allows you to wrap your hands around them completely - perfect for a cold, winter day. I had a lovely time by myself. Wish I could do this everyday!!

house love pt.6

Okay, so this post might a bit biased since this house belongs to Eric - but even if he wasn't my boyfriend, I'd still love it. About 4 1/2 years ago, Eric bought a 900 SF, 2-story rowhome in South Philly. The house was built in the early 1900's but not very many of the original details were left - the stairs, some doors (not all) and some trim around the doors and windows. He preserved as many of the original details as possible, but it required some updating - the before:




Look at that terrible arch! Eeek. This is what he did:

I removed dropped ceilings from some of the rooms and put up drywall. I installed bamboo floors throughout the living areas and bedrooms. I did a mini kitchen renovation that involved painting the cabinets, installing a new countertop, backsplash and cork floor. I installed some salvaged doors to match the remaining original doors. I painted every single surface of the interior of the home. The exterior of the house was in relatively good shape and just needed some minor sprucing up and painting.

And the after...



Can you believe the difference? Pretty amazing right? The change in flooring from that disgusting carpet to the beautiful, light bamboo probably has the most impact to the space - and also Eric's favorite element of his home:

They were my first DIY home improvement project, so I'm sort of proud of that. I love the color, it really warms up the house.



I love the image above - it shows off some of my favorite pieces that he owns: the gargoyle, Eames rocker, Saarinen end table, arco lamp and Badger (do you see him, he's lounging on the chair). It's a great mix of materials, styles and color - really shows off his design sensibility. This is how he describes his personal style:

I love modern design, but I also love old houses, so I'm really into mixing the two. I wanted the house to have a sort of mid-century modern, bachelor pad feel to it, while also retaining all of the original woodwork and detailing that still remained. The furnishings are a mix of classic modern pieces (eames rocker, saarinen table and arco lamp), vintage finds (refinished dining chairs and console) and new pieces with clean lines. I used color and some funky accessories to inject some fun into the space. Sary helped quite a bit too.

Thanks for the shout out Eric :)













Eric's work on his kitchen is probably the most impressive thing that he's done to his house. Not only is it an incredible transformation, but besides the countertop, he did it all himself. I can't say enough about his craft - he's a perfectionist. You wouldn't be able to tell that he's never had experience doing home improvement projects before.





Eric lives in the best part of South Philly (in my biased opinion - I also live in the area) and I was curious to see what he would say his favorite local spots were:

I'm fortunate that Fond, one of my favorite restaurants in the city, is only a couple of blocks away. It's an amazing little BYO on Passyunk that Sary has already given lots of love on this blog. Cantina de los Caballitos and Devils Den are two other local spots that I frequent often.

They would be my picks too:)

Awesome job, Eric! You did an incredible job - you should be very proud of yourself!!

amada

Last week I expressed my love of Jose Garces and his newest restaurant JG Domestic. Today, I'm continuing the lovefest and talking about his first restaurant in Philly - Amada. Amada pretty much started the tapas trend here in Philly and set a pretty high standard - and still continues to do so. It's a wonderful restaurant to go to for a delicious (Spanish) meal or to stop in to grab a drink and some snacks. And it doesn't hurt that the space is beautiful - it's hard to see all the great details in the space through photos - you'll need to stop in to see for yourself...


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I stopped in the other day with a friend to have a couple of drinks and a couple of dishes. But a couple dishes turned into 5, and by the time we left I was pretty full. And very happy.

We started with some cocktails - I had a "Dark Habits" - lime, strawberries and gin. Tasty, but I preferred Coll's choice - "Tie Me Up Tie Me Down". It had lemon, vodka and rosemary. I was nervous that the rosemary would be overpowering but it was perfect.



Complimentary dish of tortilla-like chips and dip/spread that tasted somewhat fishy and very yummy:



Alcachofas y setas - Spanish flatbread with artichoke, wild mushrooms, black truffles and manchego:



Gambas al ajillo - garlic shrimp. So good we had to order extra bread to soak up the garlic oil:



Madre e hijo - chicken breast with fried egg, mojama and truffles. I'm a sucker for anything with an egg on top:



We had the leche frita - fried vanilla cream, chocolate hazelnut sauce, hazelnut ice cream - for dessert. But we ate it so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to photograph - I seem to have this problem with Jose Garces's desserts! It was delicious!!

jg domestic

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I heart Jose Garces. He has really well designed restaurants, makes amazing food and also seems like a really nice guy. I've now been to every restaurant he's opened in Philly and I've only been dissapointed once - and it wasn't even with the food. It was the house margarita at Distrito - it's not your typical margarita - wasn't tart at all. Maybe if it wasn't called a margarita and I was expecting something completely different, I wouldn't have been so dissapointed...Anyways, I went to his newest restaurant,JG Domestic, with some friends last week and knew I would have a good meal but didn't realize just how good it would be! It was the perfect combination of interesting and cool decor, fantastic food and awesome company. The photos that I took of the space with my iphone just don't do it justice, so I found better images online:


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If you're not familiar, it's located on the 1st level of the Cira Center - basically in the lobby. They did a great job creating an intimate space within such a large and open area. It has a very natural, organic feel - very fitting with the type of food they offer. They specialize in the "season’s best from American growers, making available to you ingredients at their peak: premium pastured meats, farm fresh vegetables, and organic dairy". Their menu consists of smaller plates - sort of like tapas but a bit larger. The idea is to order a bunch of different plates and everything is served family style.

Our meal started with complimentary bread. How adorable is the little pan that it came in? And it was delicious.



Next came the wood oven flatbread topped with chanterelles, black truffles, chedder and egg yolk. Yes, it was as good as it sounds:



Then we got the blue crab gratin. C'mon, can you really go wrong with crab?



Our meat dishes came next - the wild boar rack on the left and the Adobe rubbed ribeye on the right. I've been eating a lot of wild boar lately and I like it! This dish had a mustard glaze and came with maple grits (yum!). And the ribeye - so fatty and delicious. Some people think its gross to eat fat, but it's the best part!!



And more meat: rabbit and duck. I was a bit nervous about the rabbit - I've never had it before and I'm not a huge fan of game-y meats. But I was assured that it tasted just like chicken, so I gave it a try. And it tastes just like chicken! Well, at least the loin did. There were parts that were definitely more game-y than others, but in general it was tasty. The duck was probably my favorite dish of the night. There were 3 parts of the duck prepared - the breast, duck confit made with the leg and seared foie gras. I wish I had this entire dish to myself!



We decided to be a little healthy and ordered a veggie dish...and it was probably the richest dish of the night. Hey, at least we tried. We got the crosnes which came with potato dumplings and artichokes. I had never heard of crosnes before and to be honest they look pretty gross - like worms. But they're not worms - they're a tuber and pretty good. Especially with potato dumplings and artichokes. And butter. A lot of butter.



By this point, I was pretty stuffed and definitley would've been happy without dessert. Until I saw a nearby table with beignets. We ate them so fast I didn't even get a chance to take a photo! SOOOO GOOOOOOOOD.