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…

The Philadelphia Bagel Co.
The place is in a strip mall at the intersection of Washington Ave. and Delaware. You’ve probably seen it a million times but never stopped in. Next time you’re driving by in the morning do yourself a favor and check it out. Not only do they supply Whole Foods and most of the better hotels in the city, it also has a really nice selection of bagels, their own cream cheese blends, bagel pizzas and even my favorite, the bialy!

Their best feature though is their genuinely friendly and helpful attitude. If you ask for a bialy with cream cheese you may have a concerned bagelier (that belongs in the dictionary, btw) asking you if you’d like the top half placed upside-down, so the garlicky-oniony goodness doesn’t all fall off. There may also be a “hon” or “sweetie” thrown in for good measure if you’re a lady, and I can practically guarantee some heartfelt good wishes for the rest of your day. You canNOT walk out of there without feeling like you made a new friend. Plus they have salt bagels, which I love. And pumpkin cream cheese!

You can find an in-depth discussion of Philly’s bagel scene on Chowhound if you want. I’ll admit I have yet to check out South Street, so I’ll update this post when I do. But apparently I’m not the only one who thinks that Philly suffers from a lack of bagel options. Consider this piece from a bit on phoodie.info

As a Jewish boy raised on really good bagels growing up in D.C. of all places (not exactly a deli/baglery hotbed), I’ve been shocked since moving here twenty years ago Philly doesn’t have good bagels. Just about the only exception I’ve found is the bagel maker on Delaware Ave. in the strip mall where American Applicances used to be. There bagels are definitely the real deal, hot out of the oven after being wonderfully boiled. Good commitment to the basics with some allowance made for those weirdos who like things other than sesame or poppy seeds on their bagels. Don’t know the name, it might just go by “Bagels”…

That place is, without a doubt, Philadelphia Bagel Co.
1100 S Columbus Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19147-5513
(215) 336-7211

Yes, Sabrina’s is pretty good. There’s an extensive, creative menu and it’s great for kids. Considering the crowds they get the service is pretty quick and very friendly. Heck, it’s even BYOB, which we’d forgotten until we saw a family pulling out a bottle of bubbly last time. But from early in the morning until early afternoon you’ll see 30-40 people standing outside waiting for their table. 30 minutes is considered a short amount of time to wait.

Butcher’s Cafe, across the street, always played a second fiddle to Sabrina’s but now it’s closed. Now Shank’s and Evelyn’s has closed up shop and moved to center city. The first thing to come to mind is Sam’s Morning Glory Diner at 735 S 10th St, just a couple of blocks away. Though lesser-known Sam’s is just as popular as Sabrina’s. The food is typical American breakfast/brunch, just like Sabrina’s, but it’s in a quieter setting. It’s well worth the wait, but there you are again. Starving family? A bit of a headache? You’re going to need one of the other options. The best part is that they’re all only a quick walk away.

1) Royal Tavern and Cochon. Did you know that two of Philly’s most respected eating establishments serve brunch? I don’t think anybody else in Philly knows, because when I go to these places they’re practically empty. It’s a travesty of brunch. From either Sabrina’s or Sam’s just walk east a couple of blocks until you hit Passyunk. North takes you to Cochon and south you’ll see Royal’s coat of arms.

The Royal is dark, as always, which might be great for your hangover. They also always have a few house drinks, like lemonades and teas and sangrias, for that Hair of the Dog that Bit You kinda thing, and there are always creative specials as well. We had a corned beef hash last time. Cochon is just another two blocks up the street and there’s plenty of light coming into this little BYOB. They may be putting tables outside again soon and East Passyunk’s trees are one of Philly’s better outdoor dining options. The only drawbacks here are that Cochon doesn’t open until 11 and Royal opens at 10. But we’re talking about *you* after all and your main problem is that you didn’t get up early enough and you’re still waiting outside of Sabrina’s or Sam’s!

Royal Tavern Brunch Menu
Royal Tavern
937 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19147-2943
(215) 389-6694
Cochon Brunch Menu
Cochon
801 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19147-3018
(215) 923-7675

2) Carman’s Country Kitchen. I’ll let Holly Moore’s review speak for itself:
Holly reviews Carman’s
We actually tried to eat at Carman’s today but were told that the four open seats at the bar had been reserved. Let that be a lesson to you! This place is pretty tiny but call ahead and reserve! We haven’t eaten there yet but we have the feeling that it’s up there in terms of character and south-philly authenticity(edited thanks to sage advice from Holly) so much so that it could probably rival Shank’s and Evelyn’s. To get there you’ll have to head over to 11th street and walk a few blocks south of Washington.
Carman’s Country Kitchen
1301 S 11th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147-5601
(215) 339-9613

3) Mexican/Chinese. What? You want waffles and scrapple? Shame on you. Walk over to 9th street and try some of the tacos al pastor at Los Taquitos de Puebla if you (for some inexplicable reason) haven’t been doing so for the past year. It’s way better than a breakfast burrito and they’re less expensive here than they are in Headhouse Farmer’s Market!
Los Taquitos de Puebla
1149 S 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 334-0664

Yes, I know there’s better dim sum in Chinatown. If you want to drive up there, search for parking for 20 minutes, wait at the door in a noisy crowded restaurant and then hope there’s still food left on the cart when it whizzes by then more power to you. I’d rather just walk down to Washington, turn right (for Wokano) or left (for Saigon Maxim), sit down immediately and have nonstop carts roll up in a rather quiet setting. You can even hear the music.
I can’t find recent reviews, so here’s an old one from Chowhound.

4) Teri’s. Still not satisfied? You want that american-style brunch but you’ve been to the Royal and Cochon, done dim sum and tacos al pastor, and Carman’s was closed? You need one more? Or just looking to find that secret hole-in-the-wall? Well then you’re just like we were this morning, wandering around south philly, hot and hungry. Luckily Karen remembered reading about Teri’s here:
Teri’s review in Citypaper.

There’s no pretention here. No fancy plating or micro-greens garnishes. When I ordered a scrapple, egg and cheese sandwich on white toast that’s exactly what I got. It handled the hot sauce treatment on one side just as well as it did the maple syrup dunk on the other. Karen’s corncakes with scallion butter and a fried egg on top fit the bill nicely and the salty, crispy bacon and ham sides rounded us out perfectly. Service was great-very friendly and attentive and regulars were all around. They like the word “clean” a lot and it shows both on the menus and all over the restaurant. I think it’s soon going to become another south philly institution (if it’s not already and I’m just the last one on the bus).
Teri’s official site
1126 s. 9th St.
Philadelphia Pa. 19147
267-761-9154

A 30-minute walk around south philly and we still had an awesome brunch before we would have even gotten sat at some of the other places. I’m sure some of the people we saw outside of Sabrina’s and Sams’ were still waiting, tired and hungry with a slight headache, while my scrapple sammich was energizing me for a day full of bottling beer and playing Wii.

BONUS
Famous 4th Street and Cantina de los Caballitos
Famous 4th Street Deli is where you go when you want a 15$ bagel/cream cheese/lox/tomato/onion/caper sandwich that will last you all week or some pastrami or matzo ball soup. Bangin, big, and expensive. 4th Street just south of South Street.
Famous 4th Street Official
700 S 4th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147-3102
(215) 922-3274

Cantina is The Jam but we were on foot today and didn’t feel like walking that far south. Just keep going down Passyunk a while and you’ll hit it. Nothing wrong with some killer margaritas and modern mexican for brunch.
Cantina’s Brunch Menu
1651 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19148
(215) 755-3550

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.

The first thing I think of when I think of Philly is South Street.  It’s not a touristy thing; it’s me coming here with my buddies to skate and hook out of school when we were sixteen.  You can say what you want about it but driving two hours to spend the day skating at Love Park and cruising South Street was a teenager’s view of heaven in 1993.  So we were too young to be turning down fiends asking for change but it was exciting.  The spot where Johnny Rockets is now used to house an old-school Star Trek pinball machine and I played that thing for longer than I thought possible when I was sixteen and my parents thought I was spending the night at my buddy’s house a few doors down.

That was the same time The Roots were out in the street looking for their big break and it’s before Zipperhead had to move around the corner.  It’s a time when a guy in the street would say “spare some change so I can get drunk and high?” and that seemed like the funniest thing in the world.  It’s a time when I first drank Brass Monkey and The Beasties were on 24/7.

Yeah, it’s a bit silly to romanticize.  But it’s my formative years.  It’s a good bit before I started getting really into food.  It’s disconcerting to walk down those same streets and see people following in the shadows of those memories.  South Street’s been ripped up.  All of the old trees were just replanted, the old stores are gone and riding a skateboard down the street used to be like riding an asphalt wave.  But those just got ripped out too.

So where does that leave us now?  Well South Street has lost all its romanticism and we’re going to have to wait another 10 years before those trees grow back.  The 9th Street Market has a hole every other shop.  But if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel it might be T & P Fine Art Gallery.

See, Los Angeles and San Francisco and New York have had wonderful modern art (pop) galleries like this for a long time. Philly has Olde City, a collaboration of the B&T crowd, bad restaurants that the Jersey crowd goes to on the weekend, and some really expensive galleries. Philly just isn’t big enough to support all of its artists in a tiny grouping of expensive blocks. Sure there are some well-to-do artists that get to show in places in Olde City but Philly, the birthing ground of Cornbread, has no place to show *street* artists. People that might not get a buy-in to expensive shows in Olde City.

So where better for the nascent underground/sticker/graffiti art scene than the remnants of an immigrant market built around the needs of locals? The Italian Market has the makings of an emergent underground art scene. It’s close to Center City, the rent is cheap and it already gets a ton of foot traffic. What’s to stop T & P from leading the charge?

Big move for Bella Vista Beer Distributors :: The Clog :: Blog Archive :: Philadelphia City Paper :: Philadelphia Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs.

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

More photos and some food descriptions after the jump.

Normally we try to post stuff here that we’ve found ourselves. In this case my buddy Scott was the informant, and it turns out that Philly Weekly has a review from 2005 and, wouldn’t you just know it, those damn PhillyFoodGuys wrote the place up in March!. Well, it’s nice to be in good company.

Well, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones in the case of a place as fun as this one.

There is one drawback to Hardena, and it’s that the place is so far south. It’s three blocks west of Broad Street on Moore. Look for the sign in the picture below, cause that’s the only way you can find it! It looks like a closed cornerstore. The first time Scott and I got down there it actually *was* closed. It happened to be the one day a week when the place is closed. I think it’s Monday. So plan ahead!

The easiest way to get on in is to just go back to the counter and ask for a little bit of everything. You can see from the photos above that we went all-out for just the two of us. When we first walked in the place was empty. Scott was a bit taken aback because apparently it had been packed full his last trip. We spent a few minutes saying hello to Hari and his wife Ena. According to Scott Hari used to be the chef for the Indonesian embassy. We ordered away with no hesitation. Ena was very accomodating and filled the styrofoam plates to the brim. If not having to pay servers and bussers is what keeps the prices so low I have no problem! Sometimes I wish other places that had really really fantastic food were self-service. Enough with the teasing already! Here comes the food!

[flickr matt.ohara 72157602865982803]

Everybody talks about the satay, and with good reason. You get four skewers and a whole lot of a perfect peanut sauce. It’s not too sweet and it’s just thick enough to lay a nice smooth and crunchy covering over the skewer. Don’t forget that dark sauce with the jalapenos though. If you like spice like me you’ll want to spoon some of that on top as well. In the last section of the styrofoam plate is a selection of pickled veggies. A little of this after every piece of chicken makes for a very complex array of sweet, hot and tangy that just tickles the tastebuds.

Our next two plates were the mix-plates. Rijstaffel, I believe they’re called. I had beef rendang, some of the homemade tempeh, jackfruit and collard greens. The tempeh was interesting but a bit too bland for me. The jackfruit looks like meat or a fake meat, but tastes like a sweet and half-tart mix between the textures of pineapple and pudding. Fun! The beef rendang has a moderate kick to it and just falls apart in your mouth. The collard greens are right out of the Louisiana and taste like they’ve been cooked in some bacon fat! Worth going for them alone.

Perhaps Scott can comment and talk about his own dishes; I can’t remember everything he had!

The last dish was veggies with a peanut sauce and some garlic crisps. Very simple and straightforward, but a nice way to finish the meal. A peanut sauce salad! The garlic crisps I think are puffed rice or flour. I have no idea how they’re made but they’re fantastically potent (perhaps not the best way to finish the meal on second thought!).

As we finished up about twenty Indonesians came in and all of a sudden the place was jam-packed and jolly.  Our bellies were full and we were pretty jolly ourselves.  I hope my descriptions are enough to get you way down south to try this fantastic little place, and I hope I see you in there when you do!  I stil have to try the homemade sambal and the whole fish and the…everything else!

(These pictures will be added to as I take more and move pics over from different flickr sets, so check either my flickr page or back here to see a lot of other philly street art!)

[flickr matt.ohara 72157602211191670]

My friend David once told me an old neighborhood joke. It goes like this:
“Don’t stop to tie your shoe in Bella Vista.”
“Why?”
“You’ll have a mirror attached to your ass when you stand back up.”

For anybody that doesn’t know, Isaiah Zagar is a mosaic artist. If you’ve been to Philly before and visited South Street/Bella Vista you may have noticed that the neighborhood is sprinkled (some might say covered) with mosaic murals created out of ceramic, mirror, bottles, bicycle wheels and more. Take the time to explore the neighborhood and you’ll see doors, walls and whole buildings covered with mosaic tiles. I’ll add a whole bunch more photography of his work to the set above in the coming weeks.

Philly is also the home of a huge mural art program. Everywhere you go in the city you’re bound to run into some murals. Here’s a nice photoset on Time’s website.
Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell (Amazon)
They’re all different shapes and sizes and styles and subject and places. Many deal with famous locals. Many more are focused on positive messages for the community. They all provide a nice bit of visual stimulation when you round a new corner and find a piece that you haven’t seen before. There’s one artist I like particularly and that’s David Guinn. His 4 seasonal pieces are abstract and depict simple, colorful cityscapes in each of the four seasons. I’ve found three (all in the photo slideshow above), but I can’t find the fourth! If anybody can help me locate it please let me know in the comments. Update:Thanks Art from Foobooz for the spot, now I’ve just got to go get a pic of it!

My favorite artists in philly are a lot less well known than Zagar or Guinn. They’re El Toro and Bob Will Reign and they work with markers, stickers and paint. They work on train cars, signs, newspaper boxes, sneakers, vinyl records and well, anything you can put a mark on. They’re two of the first artists I found when I first moved to philly. They have more coverage than Zagar and Guinn put together but I’ve talked to a lot of people who have never seen any of their stuff!

El Toro on flickr

A Bob Will Reign slideshow on flickr

Toro has huge horns and giant toofs. Sometimes he’s wearing a gasmask. Bob Will Reign (AKA Bob) has a big head with eyes way out on the side and sometimes some arrows. Try walking around philly and looking for Toro and Bob pieces (they’re together a lot of the time). Soon you’ll be spotting them everywhere! Give yourself more points for non-obvious ones (like newspaper boxes and stop signs). Look in the photoset above for the painting of El Toro as Captain Ahab (it’s hanging in my house).

Philly has a ton of other street and sticker artists. It’s really fantastic that they keep their work in the city on signs and boxes and dumpsters, as opposed to marking up any of the old buildings we have around here. It’s illegal art for the most part but they have respect for the older art and architecture. And each other! Check out the box in the photoset above and notice how nobody has stickered over somebody else’s piece. If you have any other favorites that you’d like to share please let us know in the comments!

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!

A Walk to Work in Philadelphia (Google Mapped)

Here’s a link to the slideshow on Flickr:

The Philadelphia Italian Market Cookbook: The Tastes of South Ninth Street

Termini (official)
Termini (gmaps)

Termini has a lot going for it. It’s got a classy old-time feel and tons of style. The pastries are mostly in a case in the middle that looks like a a very well-made salad bar (complete with sneeze-guard). You’re not allowed to touch so you have to ask the ladies to get your pastries for you. If you buy pastry you get a coupon for a free coffee at the Termini coffeeshop across the street. It has a nice video about the history of Termini playing on a huge TV. To top it off (pun intended) Karen and I agreed that they had the best cannoli at the Italian market festival. Negative points for refusing to sell me an empty cookie tin though. You can only get a tin if it’s filled with an expensive assortment of their cookies. -1 point.

Cosmi (official)
Cosmi (gmaps)

Cosmi is my roommate Nick’s favorite. He grew up in south philly with his grandparents and Cosmi. He maintains that their cannolis are the best. Unlike Termini they were willing to part with a cookie tin. +1! Cosmi is a little tiny shop all the way down south on Oregon Avenue. Excellent amaretti (my favorite).

Isgro (official)
Isgro (gmaps>

Isgro is the first of the bakeries I experienced and probably the most well-known due to their location just north of the Italian Market on Christian Street. They have neat things like chocolate cappucino cups filled with whipped cream and meringue swans.

Varallo (insiderpages)
Varallo (gmaps)

Varallo was the last bakery I found and it’s a cool little spot on 10th Street. They have the advantage of having tables to sit at and drink their excellent espresso drinks while you munch on a cookie. Very pleasant staff as well. I asked about some of the pastries and cakes and had a nice conversation about the business.

I’m not going to pass judgement on these shops. All of them have something different and excellent. It’s enough to say that each is a treasury of sweet sugary knowledge and each has its strengths. I have fewer photos than I thought I did, but I will be adding more to the flickr set next time I step inside one of them.

My Italian Bakeries Set Slideshow on Flickr

and finally here are some linkage:
Amaretti recipe
Cannoli (wikipedia)
Pizzelle (wikipedia)
Zeppole (wikipedia)

Buon Appetito