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

I was up in Chinatown a few weeks back getting some grub on a Sunday. While looking for a parking space I passed a shop window so gorgeous I did a doubletake. Sneakers and Peking ducks hanging side-by-side! Just today I rode my bike back to take a look inside and I’m glad I did.The shop opened up six weeks ago and I’m pissed that I missed the opening. These guys are super-nice and obviously know everything there is to know about the streetwear scene. I don’t know jack about anything except Adidas (they informed me that Nike is on the verge of buying Adidas) but these two are all up in it. Ky Cao, the co-founder along with Jackson Fu, showed me a pair of ultra-limited Bodega Pumps that they’re sitting on for the time being. They have a whole bunch. These guys are sick!

Just like Afficial and WTHN it’s mostly Nike and BAPE, but they have clothing and vinyl toys too. My favorite part of the shop is the design sensibility. Take a look at the pics and notice the Donkey-Kong display, the Peking duck display, the restaurant setup for the clothes and the walk-in fridge setup for the changing room. Glad to see a couple of young guys put together something so slick and be doing something they obviously love.

abakus official site
blog (tons of fun photos)
Sneakers in Philly Google Map
Full Slideshow after the break:

I have to say that, for its size, Philly has a varied and well-stocked set of sneaker stores. I’ve rounded up a selection of my favorites, along with a map and some commentary on each. Hit the link below for the goods.

The first stop is South Street. There’s a lot of footwear goodness to be had here. There are two places that will airbrush Biggie or Bob Marley or Elmo onto your sneakers. There’s bunches of clothing stores that sell sneakers. And there are plenty of exclusive sneaker stores.

Between 5th and 6th you’ll find Samsun, Olympia, Afficial and The Adidas Store. Samsun is a nice shop and all about sneakers. You will find sneakers and only sneakers there. The help is not extremely helpful but the sneakers are displayed on the walls by brand and I’ve found Lavers here for 40$ so there are some good finds. Olympia is practically right next door and they’ve got some great deals too. There’s always some deal going on where you get two pairs for about 70 bucks, so look for the ones with the round stickers on them. They get a lot of the Adidas Originals a month after the official store has them and Olympia’s prices are always much better. They also have a nice selection of branded clothing. These are both serious shops where you can find some great deals.

Afficial is on 5th between South and Bainbridge. It’s a tiny little hole in the wall that stocks almost exclusively Nike and BAPE, so it’s not really my thing but I dig it nonetheless. You will get your Nike exclusive rocks off here and if you’re into patent leather then you’ll love the BAPEs (I only like patent leather when it’s on my Adidas). They also stock some laces and some clothing. So hip it’s almost a knee.
LINK to MySpace page (sorry, can’t find an official site) LINK to article

The official Adidas store on a weird little block right between Passyunk and 5th. Cool little building. Rather than going off on a long rant about how despite being an official store they never seem to have the exclusive stuff they say they’re supposed to (always the one pair I’m looking for that they never have) and how it’s lame that you’re not allowed to take photos in the store, I’ll just let the photos spell it out. It’s a fun store and the staff is very helpful. They once had to order a pair from the NYC store for me. DJs play on the weekends as well. I love seeing the exclusive and new goods and I’ve bought a lot there, but like I said most of the stuff can be found in Olympia a bit later.
LINK to crappy, slow-loading flash site

There are a couple of other shops in the area that have sneakers but I’m going to skip up to WTHN. This is really a shop that you would expect to find in NYC so it’s fresh to have it letting it all hang out in Philly. They have vinyl toys, books, clothing and sneaks. It’s street fashion with design sensibility and a playstation by the front window. I would hang out here if I lived up in Olde City. Owned and operated by a dude who used to work at UBIQ. I will try to get back in here for more pics.
LINK to official site LINK to article

Speaking of UBIQ, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it. It’s in the ritzy shopping area that’s Walnut Street west of Broad. It’s another hip joint mostly filled with Nikes but has also a whole floor filled with Vans. Again not my thing but Respect Due. Just a couple of doors down from the Puma shop too (Adi Dassler’s brother’s brand). Check out the cool displays, the mini-sneakers and the giant pair of vans in the pictures above.

I’m sure there are a couple of hot spots that I missed so if anybody has any recommendations please leave them in the comments. Oh and there are two other Samsuns. One’s on 17th and Chestnut and one’s on 12 and Chestnut. 12th and Chestnut also has some sneaker-hunting. Check out the MAP!

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!

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!

Musical Goodness courtesy of MF Doom’s Special Herbs series. This one’s called Eucalyptus.

The market is in the open air mall just north of Lombard on 2nd Street (go to the end of South Street and take a left) and only open Saturdays. They’ve extended their season until December 23rd, so you still have time to go pick up some of these wonderful finds.

First is Betty’s Tasty Buttons (official site). Fudge is very near and dear to my heart because my mother makes the very best peanut butter fudge on the planet, and most likely the universe. She doesn’t make lavender-honey flavor though, or any of the other little button-shaped bits of flavor that you can find at Betty’s Buttons. It’s a locally made product and deserves support for that alone; good thing it’s also delicious and in a cute little package. (Fudge sauces also available for Sunday Sundaes) ((Disclosure: my friend Angie works there))

Next up is S&C Pickles (AKA PhillyFresh Pickles) (official site). I love pickles as much as the next guy but damn, there’s something different about these jawhnz (yeah that’s right, I spell it with a Z, to keep it fresh). They have a spicy version that I’m afraid to try because of the warnings I’ve gotten from friends. Everybody that I turn on to these pickles is just blown away by whatever the super-secret secret is in this secret recipe. And you can also get them in Whole Foods so there’s no excuse not to try these bad mofos. I always have a jar in the house. (Picture to follow when I can find a jar that actually has some pickles left in it)

Los Taquitos de Puebla’s main place is on 9th Street just south of Washington. I found this site online. It’s all in Spanish. Phillyfoodguys.com has a review of some of the taquerias in South Philly. The have an outpost during the Italian Market Festival, where I first tasted their tacos al pastor, and they also have one open at Headhouse Square. I eat three a week. It’s pork roasting on an open spit below some fresh pineapple. The outside bits get nice and crisp while the inside pieces are moist and tender. There’s a lady making fresh tortillas to order (using hand tortilla-press no less) and calling out “tacos! quesedillas!” I order three to go, with both red and green salsas. Don’t forget to grab some Mexican coca-cola before you ring up!

Finally, my find of the year. It’s actually my buddy Scott’s. He told me it’s amazing stuff, and I trusted him. I’m so glad I did. Wanna know what it is? It’s Griggstown Quail Farm’s chicken pot pie. I want to always have one in my freezer. I want to share them with everybody. I want to know I can always get my hands on one. Good thing they’re right over the border in New Jersey. I’m so serious right now. In fact, I think I’m going to eat one tonight.

The first thing to know about Ants Pants is that it’s Australian. The name itself is an Aussie expression that is the equivalient of “The Bee’s Knees,” meaning of course that it’s very good. They have Aussie coffees and Vegemite (which I like very much but makes Karen gag) as well as a little candy bar called Violet Crumble.

All of that’s great. Try the vegemite if you’ve never had it. Have a nice breakfast sandwich or some of the coffee. But don’t sleep on the best thing on the menu, the Violet Crumble Milkshake!

Words cannot do it justice. It’s too small by far. I ordered two of them this morning. Get it with the whipped cream, it’s the real stuff. I could try for hours to describe it but I’m not going to because I’ll get hungry for it again. Go get one!

UPDATE: I hesitate to accuse anyone of anything, but I posted this on the 6th, Foobooz picked it up on the 9th and then Craig Laban posts his on the 12th.  Imitation being the most sincere form of flattery and all…

(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!)

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!

Upcoming posts for FindingPhilly will include a hidden treasure trove of books, some sing-along, paint, mirrors and stickers…

Brown Betty Dessert Boutique
1030 N. 2nd Street # 601 (Northern Liberties Walk)

215. 629.0999

Elizabeth Ruthie Hinton passed down a valuable gift to the women of her family in her vintage cake and pie recipes. I have always had a weakness for a good cupcake. And since baking sweets does not come easily for me, I thank the lord for the women of Brown Betty Dessert Boutique!

My first visit to Brown Betty was on their one year anniversary. I’m not sure why I was on the guest list, but the invitation said there would be pastries and champagne, so I brought my friend Harmony and we started sampling all the goods. At first we were only interested in the generous pours of bubbly, but once i had my first bite of vanilla sourcream cupcake, I knew it was a million times better than any cupcake i have ever had. You can order vanilla, almond, lemon, strawberry, pineapple, chocolate red velvet, coconut, and carrot. My favorite is vanilla. They are not stuffed or sprinkled or fancy, but they are for real, and they are huge! You can order on line at www.brownbettydesserts.com. If you’re in need of more than a dozen of these perfect treats call two days ahead for special orders. The store front in Northern Liberties Walk is closed on Mondays.

On a daily basis I am also lucky enough to walk past Naked Chocolate Cafe . These cupcakes are nothing to sneeze at. Quickly becoming one of their signature sweets, the bakers spread pistachio icing on vanilla cupcakes and stuff mammoth keylime cupckaes with lime curd. Excellent idea! It seems like they have new flavor every week.

An honorable mention must go to Flying Monkey Patisserie located in the Reading Terminal Market . It seems by the time I get there most of the cupcakes have vanished. But, I managed to select two, and then let them melt in the back seat of the car. My picks were a dark chocolate cupcake with lavender buttercream icing, and a poundcake covered in cream cheese, with a pinapple wedge. Next time, I hope I am lucky to try the peanut butter jelly dot on top…pound cake stuffed with strawberry preserves covered in peanut butter buttercream. Their website’s cupcake map can help you along with your decision and if you still can’t decide they offer the cupcake fleet.

Matt surprised me with the most darling accessory, an individual cupcake holder from Grocery on 13th and Chestnut.