Fish Foodie

By chance (chance, as in I wanted to go there over and over again) I ended up at Supper three times over the past three weeks. Each better than the prior!

Week 1: A pleasant surprise, my mom and I stopped by during Restaurant Week! I know, a food blogger who didn’t realize it was Restaurant Week… what can I say, its been a while! None the less, it was wonderful. The meal included: soft pretzel, deviled eggs, green/herb salad, potato and mushroom tart (OMG!!!), vegetable Shepherd’s pie, salmon with oregano rice, grasshopper pie and banana bread pudding. Um, yeah. Ohhh yeah. 

Week 2: Why stray? I had pretty much the exact same meal. Exact. Soft pretzels, check. Eggs, check. Mushroom tart, holy-moly check. Salmon, check. In addition to my new go-to items, the table shared cheese puffs. 

Week 3: Brunch. Mimosas, obvi. Bloody Mary, two please. I enjoyed the Dixie Biscuit, hold the ham. My brunchmates had shoe-fly french toast, a supper burger and - hold onto your forks - skillet roasted mushroom toast. So mouth watering savory that someone was nearly stabbed just to get a taste.

Dinner or brunch, it is a must try. Or a must try three weeks in a row.

(Source: supperphilly.com)

Earlier this summer I was in Boston and treated to a new drinking experience at, appropriately, a bar named Drink. This is one of those places without an actual drink menu that will create something based on what you are in the mood for.

I, personally, am not a fan of waiting in line to go to a bar. I’m nearing my 30’s and find it preposterous to stand in line for anything. It may be my old age speaking.

Imagine my frustration waiting in line for nearly 30 minutes (side note, I accurately predicted that the line would be between 25 and 30 minutes) only to move inside, to continue to stand! Drink recently won some Spirit Award for best cocktail. Yes, there is such a thing. So naturally, Drink is the new place to go, thus, causing normal middle aged people to stand in ridiculous lines with ridiculous people.

But here is the secret; once you get into Drink – and find a seat – it is awesome. Awesome. I don’t have enough great words to describe just how great the experience was. I was stationed with bartenders Josey and Misty – and I have mini crushes on them both. Drinks were, in order:

            Something with champagne

            Something with whisky

     (then we got creative)

            Something gingery and smoky

            Josey’s favorite drink to make, without gin

Josey’s drink was accurately described as a “kick in the teeth,” and the smoky gingery drink was just that. If you’re up north, check it out – its worth the 30 minute wait!

Oh! And they also offer freshly popped popcorn after the kitchen closes. AND, if you tell Misty that the rude guy next to you is a douchbag and buy her a shot for having to deal with him, she’ll give you more popcorn!

Here is a wonderful to-do list for the next time you find yourself with friends in Fairmount on a Friday night…

First:

Have dinner at Jacks Firehouse on Fairmount Ave. This great, old converted firehouse offers a lot; from food to drinks to general ambiance. You have the option to sit inside, outside or by the floor to ceiling doors making you semi-inside/outside. In addition to the regular menu you’ll find a bar menu, which is just as extensive as the regular one! I had the apple, gorgonzola salad which was more than enough for one. My friends enjoyed smoked chicken salad sandwich and the spicy seitan & cous cous salad. The seitan was surprisingly good, but there was a lack of cous cous.

Don’t let the drink menu fool you, the Bellini didn’t have any champagne.

Second:

Finish up at Jacks by 6:30 and scurry across the street for the self guided walking tour of Eastern State Penitentiary. A clear, summer night is ideal as you’ll move from inside to outside. Or, a crisp, fall night when the ghosts are out haunting! The tour is about 45 minutes long, but allow for extra time to wander around.

Third:

Finish up sitting outside at Urban Saloon. For the beer lover, try the flight of four for only $6! It’s a great deal served on a little log of wood. If you are outside be careful of the sidewalks - if you’re near the edge there is a good change that someone in your group may fall over – which provides a lot of laughter, but is really quite dangerous!

Tasty biscuits that come with every meal at Jacks – warm from the oven and with fresh preserves. And homemade cookies after dinner make the night complete!

Cape May certainly isn’t falling short in the Good Food, Good Friends department. Lets begin.

Saturday:

Seaside Cheese Company – Forget dinner, we grazed on cheese, fig and pita for the evening. Some of us stopped before “cheese bloat” kicked in, others did not. Regardless of our levels of fullness, this little mom and pop cheese shop does not disappoint.

The Ugly Mug – They fell a bit short on the Rice Pilaf, but provided an awesome Cesar salad with shrimp.

Sunday:

Ellies Bakery – We started the morning off with four freshly baked cup cakes. Reece’s cup cake, Carrot cup cake, Red Velvet cup cake and (my favorite) Apple Pie cup cake. Depending on your level of excitement these treats were either “The best I’ve ever had” (Tim) or “Enjoyable” (Ryan). If you fall somewhere in-between you’re guaranteed to be satisfied. 

Key West Tacos - *Sigh* Key West Tacos. I don’t remember what I ate for lunch in Cap May before Key West Tacos made their debut. My favorite, and what I order religiously, is the Ahi Tuna Taco. I cant get enough of them. I went Sunday and Monday for lunch, for the same order and the owner said, “Weren’t you just here yesterday?”

Martini Beach – I’ve never eating at Martini Beach before, I mainly start my evening of heavy drinking here. You’ll get great service and even better people watching (and a great spot if you’re looking for a good Cougar).

Monday:

Uncle Bills – Silver Dollar pancakes worth their weight in gold. You can’t go wrong if you’re jonesing for some early morning, or even mid-afternoon, breakfast foods. I had food envy for Ryan’s blueberry pancakes, and Debbie’s home fries.

Hot Dog Tommy’s – I did not partake in this classic beach lunch, but two friends waited in the long line for their specialty dogs and didn’t regret a minute of it. Though the Potato Tornado, described as a meal with a spork - parfait of mashed potatoes, chili sauce, cheddar cheese, salsa, banana peppers and sour cream, left some bellies rumbling (and not in a good way).

And finally, while one could but probably shouldn’t eat a boogie board, I was told that my friend is an expert boogie boarder. He said that people blog about it, which was an out and out lie – but now they do. I doubt that he’ll ever read this so I feel ok making the following statement:

    His boogie board techniques were probably more successful 10 years ago.

If you live in or around the City of Philadelphia then I urge you to go to take a trip over to University City to dine at The Restaurant School. And here is why:

1.       You can take some great classes through their Community Education Program. Intro to Culinary Arts, Italian cooking, Vegetarian cuisine, Fun with Sushi and Saki (did it, so fun!), Cooking with Beer, One Pot Meals, Apps and Cocktails and so much more. They offer classes in the Fall and Spring and for a few bucks you can learn a little and eat a lot!

2.       They have an awesome restaurant. Their chefs-in-training are well educated and eater to cook. The menu may change, but the value is still the best around.

3.       The Wine and Beer Dinners. Last night my friend and I went for the final Wine Challenge of the spring. The wine experts at The Restaurant School debated the nuances of wines from Chile and Argentina. We dined on cuisine prepared from these regions and made some new friends in the process. Here is the breakdown:

First Course – Shrimp Ceviche paired with  Sauvignon Blanc from Chile and Viognier from Argentina (Argentina won that round)

Second Course – Chicken or Vegetarian Empanada with Tomato Gringer Jam paired with Pinot Noir form Chile and Bonarda from Argentina (Chile won that one)

Third Course – Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce, Black Beans and Rice or Pasta (vegetarian) paired with Carmenere from Chile and Malbec from Argentina (Heeelllo Argentina!)
Forth Course – Ancho Chili Chocolate Cake with Canela Cream & Strawberries paired with Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc and Late Harvest Tardio (Holler Argentina)

                How much would you pay for this four course meal with eight (yes, eight) glasses of wine each? Hundreds you say? No. Not at all. Mere pennies were spent for such a fabulous night.

Keep an eye on their website for the Fall sessions – it is well worth the wait!

Shrimp Ceviche and Chocolate Cake above

I’m facing a serious moral dilemma in the near future. And it’s all Whole Foods fault.

I visit the Whole Foods in North Wales multiple times a week for lunch. It’s a good sized store that offers a hot and cold bar that I’ve been happy with. I also enjoy the samples that they have throughout the week and am a sucker for fig spread and cheese.

Here is the dilemma – I want to go to the Plymouth Meeting Whole Foods. Why, you ask, is this a problem? And where does the issue with morals come into play? I will tell you.

The PlyMtg store is, from what I am told, about 8 times the size of my Whole Foods. They offer everything, literally. They have a pub, and an omelet station, they sell wine, a bangin café, bar-b-que sauce from a tap, a ROOFDECK used for yoga classes! I mean, come on people! This is absolutely blowing my mind!

So what do I do now? Do I go explore the PlyMtg store, spending hours there falling in love with everything that the grocer has to offer? Then what will happen when I’m forced to return to my regular Whole Foods the next week? I can’t possibly drive to Plymouth Meeting two or three times a week at lunch. Will I be resentful towards my small Whole Foods for not carrying the huge selection that PlyMtg has in their hot bar? Will I be angry that the check-out woman isn’t offering a yoga class?

Plymouth Meetings                     vs.                   North Wales

 vs.

If Stephen Starr had an evil (genius) twin running restaurants in the DC area, it would be the owners of Dirty Martini.

Warm olive apps, tuna ceviche, mushroom risotto, Dirty Martini Raviolis and many, many ‘Spritz’ - a champaign cocktail that goes down so easily that four later you announce to the table, “I’ve had far too much to drink!”

And the dessert, a piece of chocolate cake goodness. But lets be honest, who could eff up chocolate cake?

Recommendation: Mushroom Risotto. The ceviche was good, but a bit too much for one person. And, mother, I ate ALL of my tomatoes! My pallet is growing.

The service was beyond standard. With multiple visits from our waiter and restaurant manager (including a kiss on the hand at the end of the night) we felt like the VIP table seated near us. Four thumbs up! (two each)

http://www.dirtymartinidc.com