Posted by Jason Sheehan on February 3rd, 2012

This is going to be a busy weekend. Between the Super Bowl and Craig Laban threatening to explode the entire Philadelphia food scene with the power of his Bells, everyone has plenty to occupy them. But in case you have a few minutes and need something to read, here are some of our best stories from the past few days.
Four Bell Odds In which we handicap Laban’s potential picks
Roundeye Noodle Pop-Up In which Art drinks the last of the soup
Supper In Winter In which we discuss how farm-to-table works when the snow falls
Sbraga In The Real World In which Trey Popp discovers what Kevin can do when the cameras are off
Foobooz on Foursquare In which we make lists, lists and more lists
Peter McAndrews Coming To Northern Liberties In which Peter McAndrews comes to NoLibs
Top Chef Recap In which Pee-Wee Herman does…some stuff
Oh, and one more thing? We just heard that Whipped Bakeshop has an ad scheduled to run in this weekend’s Super Bowl. Well, not really an ad, exactly. But some of its shortbread cookies (emblazoned with the smiling face of Deion Sanders, who is bringing them to an open house) will be making an appearance in a Super Bowl ad for Century 21. If you just can’t wait to see how Deion Sanders, Donald Trump, Apollo Ohno and Whipped all come together into one ad for a real estate company, you can check out the ad early at the Century 21 Youtube channel.
Related: News
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Posted by Foobooz on February 3rd, 2012
This week we’ve been completely consumed with figuring out what Philadelphia Inquirer critic Craig LaBan means when he says that this Sunday he ”resets the landscape of Philly’s restaurant elite.”
What We Know:
After Sunday there will be five Four-Bell restaurants.
There are currently four restaurants with the Superior Four-Bell rating. They are:
- Fountain
- Lacroix
- Le Bec-Fin
- Vetri
LaBan visited 13 restaurants to assess their potential to be crowned with four bells.
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Related: Featured, Food Nerd News, Craig LaBan, Four Bells
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Posted by Tara Nurin on February 3rd, 2012

Make no mistake about it: unless you live in one of the two cities represented in this weekend’s Super Bowl, Sunday’s big game is not really about football. Rather, for most, it represents an excuse to get together with friends, ooh-and-ah over the host’s new 500-inch flat-screen, and drink beer. Lots and lots of beer.
And this would be a delightful scenario but for one fact: too many craft beer drinkers still risk being alienated by the proliferation of watery domestic brews at the parties they attend–or even host. To rectify this abomination, a craft beer fan should turn a Super Bowl party into an opportunity to force, er, encourage his or her friends to come over to the crafty side. How? Turn drinking into a game.
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Related: Drink, Events, Beer, Craft Beer, Drinking Games, Super Bowl
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Posted by Jason Sheehan on February 3rd, 2012

Two things I learned during the past week:
1) Philadelphians love poetry
2) Philadelphians have some kind of weird, sexual attachment to the food at both Barbuzzo and Village Whiskey.
In case you missed it, we’ve been having a contest all week to give away a spot as a guest judge at Philly Cooks, coming up on February 22nd. All you had to do? Write a haiku restaurant review of your favorite (or most loathed) restaurant in town. And the response was impressive. We received almost 200 entries–some of them awful (or just plain weird), most of them good, and a few that were excellent.
So you wanna know who won?
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Related: Events, Featured, News, Philly Cooks, Philly Cooks Haiku Contest Winner
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Posted by Jason Sheehan on February 3rd, 2012

It’s the beginning of a new month, and what does that mean? A new Cook schedule is being released. On Monday, February 6, the new class list will go live on the Cook website but, as always, we are here with an early look so you can plan your assault before the rest of the city knows what’s happening.
For starters, Foobooz is organizing another Neighborhood Pop-Up. Our East Passyunk version went swimmingly last month. For February, we organized a Fishtown pop-up (scheduled for the 15th) with Loco Pez, Paesano’s, the Pickled Heron and Whipped Bake Shop all coming together for one night of magic (and booze). That one sold out in less than an hour. For March, we decided that what would be awesome would be to bring some of the city’s best food trucks indoors for one night only–sticking their chefs behind Cook’s stoves to do their best work in a kitchen with no wheels–as a celebration of the power and diversity of our “Wheeled Neighborhood.” That one is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, so if you’re down with the truck food (and like the thought of eating from a bunch of them all in one night, without waiting or worrying about getting snowed on), be ready to register fast come Monday. If the past is any indicator, this one will probably sell out fast, too.
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Related: Drink, Events, Food, Food Nerd News, News, Cook, Cook March Scedule, Fishtown, Foobooz Neighborhood Pop Up, Food Trucks, Philadelphia Cooking Classes
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Posted by Foobooz on February 3rd, 2012

Friday
It’s First Friday and we have two art-related picks for you. Local artist Mike Geno who specializes in food related artwork is having a cheese centered exhibition opening tonight at Wedge + Fig from 5 to 8 p.m. On South Street Hawk Krall will be having an opening reception for his hot dog prints at Hot Diggity on South Street.The reception runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and original paintings and prints will be for sale.
Saturday
As we pointed out earlier today, Teresa’s Next Door has a monstrously good beer list.
Philly Roller Girls and the Abbaye host their second annual vegan chicken wing eating contest. The meatless gluttony gets going at 4 p.m.
Sunday
Amis kicks Super Bowl Sunday off with industry brunch. Here are some other things happening for the Super Bowl.
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Related: Events
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Posted by Fidel Gastro on February 3rd, 2012

As everyone knows, the hierarchy of Hollywood Guest Star Casting goes George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Pee-Wee Herman. I mean, that just makes sense, right? And since Top Chef is a reality TV program (which means someone like Clooney doesn’t have to answer their calls) and the producers already cashed in their Charlize chip a couple weeks ago, it makes total sense that this week’s descent into madness featured none other than Paul Reubens in his high-waters-and-bow-tie Pee-Wee Herman drag.
Because that just makes sense, right?
Right?
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Related: Events, Food, News, Charlize Theron, George Clooney, Last Chance Kitchen, Miley Cyrus, Paul Reubens, Pee Wee Herman, Public Masturbation, Top Chef
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Posted by Foobooz on February 3rd, 2012

Brian Nagele, owner of philly2night.com and Kings Oak on the Piazza has taken over the Arrow Swim Club and has announced the private club will now be known as the North Shore Beach Club.
The 21-and-over swim club has slashed last year’s membership fee in half. The club which will be open from May 1st through October 31st will cost $500 this season.
Applications are now being accepted.
North Shore Beach Club [Official Site]
Related: News, Opening Soon, North Shore Beach Club, Northern-Liberties
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