Thanksgiving Day Buffet at Bistro St. Tropez

Hey, that rhymes!

Anyways… my friend Melanie, her Dad, and I checked out Bistro St. Tropez for Thanksgiving dinner. It was $35/per person (plus drinks, tax, and gratuity) and I felt that it was worth it! I am disgustingly full as I type this. I will jot down the menu below and add commentary on the items I tried.

Boston Salad
Bibb lettuce, gorgonzola, roasted beets, pears, walnut pralines and walnut vinagrette
This was a nice start! The beets were a perfect touch. My only (minor) complaint was the salad was a tad over-dressed.

Charcuterie & Cheese Station
There were various cheeses and thinly sliced prosciutto displayed on a 3-teired cheese stand and a board platter. I definitely noticed bleu (possibly Stilton or Roquefort), brie, and goat’s cheeses. I sampled the chevre on a crispy cracker. It didn’t taste like a cheap chevre either.

Corn Chowder
with lobster, shrimp and cockle clams
I skipped this due to all the seafood in it, but Melanie’s father said it was delicious.

Braised Pork Short Ribs
with Yukon gold potato purée and creamy Swiss chard
The ribs were super tender and not dry. It hinted of something spicy, perhaps in a rub? Very good. Not sure where the purée was as I only had mashed potatoes which were dry and lumpy. Probably the only thing absolutely not good on the menu, to be honest. I didn’t try the chard and I’m sorry I didn’t. I love Swiss chard!

Free-range Roasted Turkey
with giblet gravy
Not much to say about the turkey. It was turkey. I had a small piece, but it was certainly good and moist.

Cornbread Stuffing
with sausage, toasted almonds and apples
The stuffing I had really was not this; the stuff I had was more like Stovetop™ stuffing. I could not taste any sausage at all. It was good, but I would have preferred hunks of cornbread. Alas. It was still edible. Just my second not-favorite item on the menu.

Roasted Butternut Squash
with carrots, peppers, and zucchini
What can I say? I’m a sucker for roasted vegetables. I do believe they were lightly herbed, too. Probably with herbs de provence.

House-made Cranberry Relish
I failed to put some of this on my plate. Totally regretting not trying it. It looked really good.

Baked Virginia Ham
I never thought I’d say this, but I love baked ham. And this was simply scrumptious – nice and moist!

Grilled Alaskan King Crab Legs
with garlic parsley herb butter
I stayed away from the crab legs – due to the garlic herb butter. (I have a slight garlic allergy – not deadly, but enough to make me uncomfortable)

Bourbon Roasted Sweet Potatoes
I hadn’t seen the menu before we ate and I immediately knew that bourbon was involved in this dish. It was pretty obvious without it being overwhelming. Simply divine!

French Green Beans
with Truffle Wild Mushrooms
These green beans were expertly made. They had been blanched then sautéed with the wild mushrooms. Delicious!

Fresh Baked Rolls and Biscuits
with Pesto and Butter
I enjoyed a roll. It was a hard roll. I would have preferred some sort of French bread or brioche, but eh… it was good enough.

Dessert Station
Pumpkin Profiteroles, Lemon Tart, Apple Tart and Chocolate Mousse Cake
I enjoyed the pumpkin profiterole and apple tart. There was also a spiced whipped cream on the side that I put on both. A beautiful end to a supremely filling meal!

All in all, I think it was a great Thanksgiving meal! Definitely worth the $35. All the yumminess without the hassle of cooking and better yet – no cleanup!

I’d go back for a holiday buffet for sure. I also want to go back for a dinner some time.  Maybe I’ll start doing Philly Grub dinner meetups again.

What’s More Social Than Food? Social Media Club Philadelphia Meet Up @PYT

We all know that there is nothing more social than food. Cooking, eating, enjoying – our shared love of all things edible brings us together and gets us talking.

Join us as we talk with some local food bloggers and restaurateurs who have been effectively using different forms of Social Media to spread their love of food and cooking.

Jesse & Bart from ChefAMe        

Marissa & Scott from ForkYou

and Tommy from PYT            

will be joining us to share their experiences and lessons learned.  We also encourage other local food bloggers and foodies who use social media and those who want to learn more about different uses of social media to join us in the conversation.

Register to save your space at this event!

Oyster House Receives Special Shipment of Arctic Char

Just got this press release – I’ve always wanted to try Arctic Char.

The Oyster House (1516 Sansom Street, 215-567-7683) has just received four, 10 pound Nunavut Arctic Char, a fish rarely available on the East Coast.  Often described as a cross between trout and salmon, the flavorful Arctic Char will be available on their menu for just a few short days.  As the name implies, these fish swim in some of the cleanest and coldest waters next to the Arctic Circle.  Their harvest season lasts only one month, which makes Arctic Char an extremely rare and special fish.

To highlight the distinct flavor and freshness of the fish, the Arctic Char will be simply prepared and served two ways:  Smoked Arctic Char with pickled vegetables ($16);  or Arctic Char with red wine bone marrow sauce and served with root vegetables ($31).

Pub & Kitchen To Celebrate 1st Birthday

On Wednesday, September 9 at 9 p.m., Pub & Kitchen (1946 Lombard Street, 215-545-0350) will celebrate its first birthday with $2 drafts, $3 glasses of “End of Summer” sangria and delicious Cape May Salt oysters for $1 each.  Also, Executive Chef Jonathan McDonald has teamed up with Yards Brewing Company to brew a special “One Year Anniversary Pub & Kitchen Ale” which will be tapped promptly at 9 p.m. to kick off the festivities.  At 11 p.m. Betty’s Speakeasy cupcakes and champagne will be served to all.

“It’s a small gesture of our appreciation to those who’ve helped Pub & Kitchen into a great neighborhood spot this past year,” says owner Dan Clark.  Managing Partner, Ed Hackett shares similar sentiment, “We’ve wanted to keep the friendly ‘corner bar’ feel and our customers have really made it happen.”

PUB & KITCHEN CELEBRATE’S FIRST BIRTHDAY

PHILADELPHIA, PA – On Wednesday, September 9 at 9 p.m., Pub & Kitchen (1946 Lombard Street, 215-545-0350) will celebrate its first birthday with $2 drafts, $3 glasses of “End of Summer” sangria and delicious Cape May Salt oysters for $1 each.  Also, Executive Chef Jonathan McDonald has teamed up with Yards Brewing Company to brew a special “One Year Anniversary Pub & Kitchen Ale” which will be tapped promptly at 9 p.m. to kick off the festivities.  At 11 p.m. Betty’s Speakeasy cupcakes and champagne will be served to all.

“It’s a small gesture of our appreciation to those who’ve helped Pub & Kitchen into a great neighborhood spot this past year,” says owner Dan Clark.  Managing Partner, Ed Hackett shares similar sentiment, “We’ve wanted to keep the friendly ‘corner bar’ feel and our customers have really made it happen.”

WHO:         Pub & Kitchen, popular neighborhood bar and restaurant

WHAT:      First birthday celebration

WHEN:      Wednesday, September 9 at 9 p.m.

WHERE:    1946 Lombard Street, corner of 20^th and Lombard Streets

Lack of Grub

Hey folks!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I have been slammed with my “day job”, so I have sadly neglected this blog! I got nothin’, but this apology right now. I’ll post again soon, promise. Until then,  follow my tweets @phillygrub on Twitter.

Love,
PG

Edible World Food Tour Coming to South Philadelphia

Ellen Yin Leads Next Edible World Food Tour
Fork Owner Creates Eclectic Walk

First Person Arts has devoted itself to telling real-life Philadelphia stories. Many of those stories lie in the foods of the various neighborhoods of the city. For the next quarterly Edible World Tour, Ellen Yin, owner and founder of Fork Restaurant and author of Forklore, will lead participants through a unique and varied journey through the streets of South Philadelphia. The tour will begin at Vietnamese restaurant Nam Phuong at 11th and Washington on Thursday, September 10th from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. The tour will conclude with a champagne toast and book signing of Forklore.

Tickets for this event cost $75 per person, $140 per couple, and $65 for First Person Arts members. Tickets include all food, gratuity, and champagne toast. Tickets are available online at edibleworld.firstpersonarts.org or by phone at 267-402-2055.

Fork owner Ellen Yin will take guests on a culinary voyage through the streets of Philadelphia, from Vietnamese food to Mexican cuisine, sampling the panoply of flavors that inspire Fork’s eclectic cuisine.  Attendees will taste summer rolls, fried oysters and clams, goat tacos, and much more as Yin showcases the range of tastes that influenced her renowned cookbook.  Her recent book was the winner of a Pewter Award at the Gold Ink Awards.

Yin is owner of Fork Restaurant, the acclaimed New American Bistro in Old City, Philadelphia. Since its opening in 1997, Fork has received many regional and national accolades, including being named one of the “Best New Restaurants” by Philadelphia magazine and one of Philadelphia’s “Top Tables” by Gourmet magazine. In 2004, she expanded Fork to include Fork:etc, a specialty food store with prepared foods, artisanal and gourmet products. Now celebrating its 12th anniversary, Fork continues to delight new visitors from throughout the world as well as its own local fans. Her last cookbook, From Our Restaurant’s Kitchen, a compilation of the restaurant’s recipes and staff favorites, benefited scholarships for inner city students.

First Person Arts is a nonprofit organization that produces the annual First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art and other programs that tap into the power of personal stories and speak to diverse audiences, including people whose voices are not often heard. First Person Arts believes that everyone has a story to tell and that sharing our stories connects us with each other and the world. For more information, please visit www.firstpersonarts.org .

Otolith Sustainable Seafood

I haven’t used this service, but apparently there is a Community Sponsored Seafood service right here in Philadelphia. I got the scoop on Twitter today, of course.

Otolith Sustainable Seafood is a family-owned business based in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.  They offer seafood À la carte , wholesale, or via CSS (Community Sponsored Seafood). According to the website, the CSS program was initiated to provide savings to the seafood consumer and to share the fixed costs associated with sourcing direct seafood.  It works much like a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture), where you get food in bulk for a fixed price. In this case, you get a 3 month supply of salmon for $180.

Unlike their À la carte offering, it looks like you can only get salmon via CSS at this time.

“It’s the best seafood ever!” proclaims @CaptMarko on Twitter.

Don’t just take his word for it, check ‘em out and report back to me!

Philly Grub is one of 55+ Foodies to Follow on Twitter!

Thank you Mashable for including us on your list of Twitter Foodies! We’re a food-crazed bunch happy to share and discuss food with others.

Click image to see list of other Foodies to follow!

Half Hour Meals

I got an email today from Blog Catalog introducing me to a new recipe site  they’ve developed called Half Hour Meals.

This is Tony Berkman one of the owners of BlogCatalog. We just launched a new food site called Half Hour Meals and thought you might want to list your blog and perhaps review or submit some recipes. We would love to hear your feedback. http://www.halfhourmeals.com

So I checked it out. Seems they are trying to cash in on the quick fix meals market ala Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals.  I’m all for quick, inexpensive meals these days. So far there are 206 recipes, but I’m sure that will grow in time as more people join the site.

It was an easy sign-up process. Setting up a profile is not at all complicated. It looks like submitting a recipe is quick and easy, too. I have not done so yet, but it’s pretty straight forward; mostly you just fill in the blanks and check-off categories.

If you’re into recipe sites and like to share your recipes, by all means, sign up.

Veggie Trader

Veggie Trader

A lot of people make fun of my Twitter “habit”, but just tonight I was informed, via Twitter, about a cool site called Veggie Trader. It’s a site where if you’re looking for local produce: you join, enter your zipcode and see what your neighbors have available. Fresh fruits, veggies, and other things your neighbors are growing and want to buy/sell/swap with you. You can also post specific produce you’re looking for in their Wanted section and see which of your neighbors answers your request. What a cool concept, eh?

I joined and did a search within 10-15 miles of Philadelphia, but didn’t find anybody offering, selling, trading, or swapping veggies. How utterly sad. I mean, I know for a fact there are home produce growers in the Philly area. But on this site — well none represented in Philly.

People in the Metro San Francisco and NYC area that are already using this service. NYTimes just did an expose story on the Veggie Patches that people from Manhattan to Brooklyn to Long Island have spawned. People that sign up, meet and exchange veggies, fruits, nuts, and other home-grown foods via this service.

Just a couple weeks ago, via Twitter, I found a user who wanted to part with a bunch of vegetables they had. She had proclaimed “Free zucchini” to anybody who responded. I sent her a message, and via Twitter, we made arrangements for this transaction. I gave her my number, she texted me, and we made plans to meet up, close to my house. Our exchange happened in a minute or less. But it was facilitated through Twitter. I thought, how fucking cool is this?! Really, how awesome is that. I offered money, but she wouldn’t take it, because it came straight from her garden so it wasn’t necessary.

This is a fluke, though. How often does this happen? I have no idea, but I’m guessing not too often. I think people in Philly who grow or need fresh produce need to get up to speed on VeggieTrader.com.  If you’re into communal food growing and trading and into helping your neighbors, join VeggieTrader.com. A WIN-WIN situation all around!

Join, also, because I’m willing to take home-grown veggies off your hands!