Foobooz - Your guide to food and drink in Philadelphia
  • Neighborhoods

     
  • Features

  •  
  • Tip Jar

    Have a food or drink tip? tips@foobooz.com (AIM:foobooz)

  • Opening Soon

  • Upcoming Events

  • Categories

  • Archives

  • Masthead

  • Fun Things To Do in Philly

  • Subscribe

Author Archive

WantWantWant: PYT Drops A Loaded Potato Skins Burger

PYTpotatoburger

“Two potato skins loaded with gooey cheddar, crisp bacon, chives & sour cream are your ‘bun’…with a juicy, fully loaded beef patty sitting pretty in between. Game changer.”

~@PYTPhilly

Related: News, , , ,
1 Comment | Related Posts »

Hell’s Kitchen Is Casting In Philly Next Week

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 17th, 2013

hellskitchencasting

“Do you think you have what it takes to work side-by-side with world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay? If so, we want you!”

That’s the headline on the casting announcement for the newest round of human sacrifices contestants for FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen. The team is coming to town on June 24 for an open audition at the Westin–which means that any ambulatory mental patient who can grip a knife in his palsied claw can just walk on in and demand his (or her) 15 minutes of fame. Yes, I suppose it helps if you have some professional cooking experience, but as anyone who has watched any of the past seasons knows, an absolute lack of any culinary knowledge whatsoever is not necessarily a deal breaker. Like, for example, if you’re overweight, untalented, a little dim, possessed of an explosive temper and weep openly at the merest hint of a British accent, you are a reality TV jackpot and the producers will find space for you in the kitchen.

God bless America.

Hell’s Kitchen casting [The Conlin Company]

Related: News, , , ,
1 Comment | Related Posts »

The (Second) End Of An Era: Le Bec Fin Closes Forever Tonight

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 15th, 2013

LeBecFin11_LoRes Photo by Mike Persico

“To my taste, Le Bec Fin represents one of the chief glories of French cooking not only in Philadelphia but in all of America as well. The food is served in a setting of unpretentious elegance, a feast for the eyes and the mind. Massive chandeliers with gleaming leaded-glass ornaments reflect in mirrored glass panels. The walls are covered with Scalamandre damask. The china is of an 18th-century Limoges pattern called Singapour, the silver is by Cristoffle and the chairs are chestnut. The staff is deft, courteous and well informed.”

~Craig Claiborne, 1985

Critics Choices, Personal Favorites [NY Times]

 

 

Related: News, ,
1 Comment | Related Posts »

Greatest Hits And What You Missed: Lobster, Bacon, Popsicles, Ice Cream, Noodles, Vegetables and…Golf?

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 14th, 2013

meritage-lobster

The sun is shining, the rain is gone, and even though Beer Week is over, there are so many things happening in the Philly food scene that no one out there who cares about food should even blink any more for fear of missing something important. But have no fear, at Foobooz World HQ, we’re watching everything for you. And here’s what you might’ve missed this week.

Square Peg Closes Wait, you mean Square Peg was still open?

Osteria Names Its First Ever Chef De Cuisine Congrats to Brad Daniels

The Foobooz US Open Eating Guide Otherwise known as “Where To Go During Your US Open Rain Delays”

Philly Named The #1 City In America For Bacon Lovers Yeah, screw you Cleveland!

Lobster Tasting Menu at Meritage Tonight is the last night so get there now

Is Vedge Opening In L.A.? It sure looks that way

Lil Pop Shop Opens On 4th Street Perfect timing

Brown Betty Gets An Ice Cream Bike It should be on the streets tonight so, again, perfect timing

A $3.5 Million Dollar Restaurant Project For Magnolia, New Jersey? But it comes with an underground pierogi laboratory!

New DiBruno Bros. Store Opening at 9th and Chestnut You may begin celebrating now

What To Eat At Cheu Noodle Bar An annotated menu

Related: Deals, Drink, Food, Guides, News
No Comments | Related Posts »

Distrito Celebrates 5 Years With New Menu Items (And A Tasting Menu)

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 14th, 2013

distritologo

Been looking for an excuse to get back to Distrito? We’re here to help.

Reason number one, you could just go back to wish the place a happy 5th birthday–which is something best done by toasting it with shots of crazy-expensive small-batch tequila or mezcal. We suggest the Del Maguey, but we’re very particular about our cactus juice.

Second, you should go to check out the revamped menu that Jose Garces and his chef de cuisine Susan Vanvreerde have put together to mark the passing of such a momentous anniversary. There are 20 new plates on the board–everything from chicharones and JG steak tacos to Salpicon de Langosta, made with chilled Maine lobster with purple potatoes, a chipotle-lime aioli and sesame brittle.

More reasons, right this way…

Related: Food, News, , , ,
No Comments | Related Posts »

Ela Goes Late With A New Bar Menu And More

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 14th, 2013

Ela - Photo by Jason Varney

It’s summer hours at Ela with a new happy hour schedule, a new menu, new drinks and a new beer list. The big draw? Jason Cichonski‘s modern American outpost will be serving its new late night bar menu until midnight on weekdays and 1am on the weekends, with a Thursday and Friday late-night happy hour that will also run from 10pm until midnight.

So what will the kitchen be serving up after the sun goes down? How ’bout plates of tater tots loaded down with short rib and chorizo? Or jerk chicken sandwiches and steamed buns with duck and pickled fennel?

You can check out the full late night menu (which went into effect just a couple of days ago) after the jump. And we’ve also got a list of some of the bar’s new cocktails which, in keeping with the house style of unique and challenging concoctions, is truly something to behold.

Read the rest of this entry »

Related: Drink, Food, News, , , ,
No Comments | Related Posts »

Brown Betty Gets An Ice Cream Bike

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 12th, 2013

DSC02106

And today, it stopped by Foobooz World HQ so we could get a look and sample some of the ice cream sandwiches that they’re going to be selling.

As you can see, it’s a pretty cool little contraption, and the plan is to have it out on the streets on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, then doing events (like Taste of Philadelphia, coming up over 4th of July weekend) on the off days. What’s more, they’re hoping to have it rolling at night, too–parking out by the city’s finest bars and offering ice cream to whose resistance has been lowered by a few shots of cotton-candy-flavored vodka.

Read the rest of this entry »

Related: Food, News, Opening Soon, , , ,
3 Comments | Related Posts »

An L.A. Update from Rich Landau of Vedge

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 12th, 2013

VEDGE Rich Kate

Yesterday, I got Rich Landau from Vedge on the phone as he was driving over to check out a potential home for his new Los Angeles expansion.

Last night, we traded a couple messages about where things stood after the all-important site visit.

“It’s a big, beautiful raw space,” Landau explained. But also one that “needs…well…everything.” Still, it has great potential, and Landau seemed as though he was ready to move forward. So I asked him: Does this mean Vedge L.A. is a go?

“I wouldn’t say that yet,” he said. “Next up: lawyers. This is where it gets fun. And expensive.”

For a good look at the background on Vedge’s L.A. adventures, check out Zagat’s piece on how this all came to be.

Vedge [Twitter]

Related: News, , , ,
No Comments | Related Posts »

Is Vedge Expanding To L.A.?

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 11th, 2013

vedge-carousel

It’s certainly beginning to look that way. Owners Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby are in Los Angeles right now to check out a space with their investors, and I got Landau on the phone while they were driving over.

The most important news, I guess, is that nothing bad is going to happen to our own Vedge here. It’s going to be business as usual. As a matter of fact, according to Landau, the L.A. project is being pitched as a “carbon-copy” of the Philly original. Same concept, same design scheme, same influences.

Landau told me that he and Jacoby looked at several spaces around Philly before shifting their gaze to the opposite coast. “We even had a couple projects on the board,” he said. “We would’ve done our Osteria, you know? Like a little sister [to Vedge]. That’s what people do, right?” And, he told me, they might still do exactly that. Just not right now.

Read the rest of this entry »

Related: News, , , , ,
4 Comments | Related Posts »

New Summer Happy Hour At Square 1682

Posted by Jason Sheehan on June 11th, 2013

Square1682Line

A new season means a new happy hour program at Square 1682. The highlight? Chef de cuisine Caitlin Mateo has apparently been reading my dream journal because she’s slapping down some scratch tater tots with bourbon barbecue and spicy cheddar sauce, housemade beef jerky, fried green tomatoes and more. And the bar is offering $7 mint juleps and seasonal Collins cocktails, along with $3 beers and $5 Booty-Call-Its.

No, it’s not what you think. It’s a three-ingredient shot poured into a boot-shaped shot glass. The game here is, a buck from every shot goes into a jar. First person to name all three ingredients in the shot gets the cash. Nice, right? Since bartender Chauncey Scates is, well, a bartender, I’m going to take a blind guess that the drink includes at least one of the following: Aperol, Fernet Branca, custom bitters made by someone with a mustache, some kind of weird juice (like mango or teddy bear blood), Pop Rocks, Barenjager and an Italian vermouth that no one has ever heard of before (but is actually bottled in, like, Cleveland or Albuquerque).

So… Am I close?

The Happy Hour deals are in effect Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 4pm-7pm. Wednesdays are for Center City Sips.

Square 1682 [Official]

Related: Drink, Food, News, , ,
No Comments | Related Posts »