When I first started work at my current job we’d get occasional visits from our Head Salesdude, who lives in NYC. He’d come down with a big bag of delicious fresh bagels and cream cheese. The big fluffy rings with the chewy outside and the light doughy inside were just perfect bagels. Nothing more nothing less but somehow the gold standard.
There were some sourpusses in the office though. People who said “what’s the big deal? They’re just bagels.” But a good bagel is not so easy to find in Philly! There’s South Street, with their recent Best of Philly win, and there’s some place north of Rittenhouse which is pretty mediocre. That’s all that comes to mind. Except for… Continue Reading »
Sabrina’s is an hour wait. Butcher’s is closed. Where can you and your visiting family eat on a weekend morning down in south philly? You’ve got lots of options! Continue Reading »
An art gallery has opened in south philly and it’s about damn time. We have blocks of prime real estate in the Italian Market/9th Street Market area and the fruit/veggie vendors can only do so much to keep this historic area of the city vibrant. DiBruno’s and Claudio’s, Talluto’s and Esposito’s and a number of (really good) mexican joints work together in symbiosis to keep it going but there are *easily* a half-dozen prime storefronts that, in any other halfway decent city would be snapped up by people with business.
So where are they and what are they doing? I’ll sit here and pontificate with my Chestnut Delight (thanks to the Chestnut St. Smoke Shop WHAT!?). Please join me and comment as I’ve only lived in this fine city for three years now. Continue Reading »
Check out the link below from the City Paper. The beer distributor mentioned is three blocks from me so this is very exciting. Coincidentally the article mentions George Hummel, the subject of my last post!
Big move for Bella Vista Beer Distributors :: The Clog :: Blog Archive :: Philadelphia City Paper :: Philadelphia Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs.
We had one of those amazing meals today that leaves you with the feeling that everything’s right in the world. I wanted Karen to have the amazing barbeque pork ribs and well, a magarita for brunch isn’t anything to sneeze at on the 4th of July. I also wanted to try the pork wings that were so highly recommended, but apparently they were only available as a special.
The tamarind barbeque ribs, called Costillitas, have a killer sear and practically drip off the bone. The pineapple salsa adds a tangy bite and the jalapenos add the heat. It’s just fantastic and Karen agreed.
Ribs by themselves would be a weird brunch so I got the eggs benedict with chorizo and a chipotle hollandaise. I’ll just let you marinate on that and tell you that Karen declared “this is the best eggs benedict I’ve ever had.”
For drinks we had a “City Bike,” an “El Dorado” and Prickly Pear Mimosa. All three were perfectly balanced and really interesting. I’ll let you check out the drinks menu to find out what they’re all about. This is probably the fourth time I’ve been in a month and I can’t wait to go back!
Can’t wait to check out their new venture up in Northern Liberties as well.
Cantina Main Site (with all menus)
Cantina Los Caballitos
1651 East Passyunk Ave
South Philly
(215) 755-3550
Hardena is not the newest of restaurants, but there are lots of reasons it’s been around as long as it has. This place is amazing.
More photos and some food descriptions after the jump.
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After a brief hiatus, we’re back! There was a short time there where the official Finding Philly camera was misplaced. It took the cleaning of both our rooms to find it but we’ve got it again. I won’t say whose room it was in – even though that person was pretty sure it was in the OTHER person’s room, and the OTHER person feels a little righteous poking and tickling is order.
This post is one I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s a bit related to my Walk to Work post . It’s about three artists whose work I see every day when I’m walking to and from work. Each of them has product that they sell but they’ve chosen to go out and decorate the city they live in, each in a very different way. Keep on this way to find some pictures…
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Pif is one of our favorite restaurants in the city. We first went just over a year ago for my birthday. I loved the food and atmosphere so much both at Pif and Ansill (where we ate a few weeks later for Karen’s birthday) that I decided I wanted to work in either. I introduced myself to some of the people at both restaurants and soon after got a call to see if I could start work.
I started off at Ansill but soon after I started help was needed at Pif and I moved down there. Very convenient because it’s just a half-block away from my apartment. Over the past year I’ve been learning what I can about french food and getting to know the regulars. It’s pretty amazing how many regulars there are for a restaurant so small. I’m sure they’re all very dissapointed to find out that it’s closing after 6 years.
The short version is that David Ansill (the chef) wants to focus more on Ansill, his newer restaurant. I’m not going to get maudlin and spend the rest of the post being sad, but instead point you to my collection of Pif photos (click on the photo to the left). Enjoy and goodbye Pif!
One of the most wonderful things about Philadelphia is the little side streets hidden around town. I walk around constantly on the lookout for these back alleys and cobblestone streets because they contain so much hidden beauty. I’ve recently perfected a route to work that winds its way from my place in the Italian Market to a point just a couple of blocks from my work in Center City and I’m only on the main streets for a small part of the journey.
A Walk to Work in Philadelphia (Google Mapped)
Here’s a link to the slideshow on Flickr:
I’ve been promising this post for a long time. It was pretty damn annoying to write the whole thing and have wordpress somehow lose it in the ether between here and there. So this post, while written with love and tenderness, is going to be a bit shorter than originally planned. What follows are some personal experiences and photos about four amazing bakeries right here in South Philly…
(that’s my mom outside of Termini, HI MOM!)
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