Craig LaBan
Posted by Foobooz on June 10th, 2013
Each month, American Sardine Bar chef Scott Schroeder offers a guest sandwich at his Point Breeze bar. This month Craig LaBan is up and the “2 on 1″ Coney Island hot dogs that are famous in Detroit. Schroeder and LaBan are from Detroit and these regional dogs are as authentic as possible. The hot dogs feature Dearborn Sausages topped with chili, onions, mustard and Coney Sauce.
Scott Schroeder [Instagram]
American Sardine Bar [Official Site]
Related: Events, Food Nerd News, American Sardine Bar, Coney Island Dogs, Craig LaBan, Hot-Dogs, Point Breeze, Scott Schroeder
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Posted by Foobooz on June 10th, 2013
Craig LaBan uses his review of the new Honey’s Sit ‘N Eat at 21st and South as an opportunity to take down diner magnate Michael Petrogiannis (Broad Street Diner, Melrose Diner, Mayfair Diner, and the Country Club). But LaBan also has praise for what’s coming out of chef Michael Thomas’ kitchen.
Mostly, though, Thomas’ kitchen impressed me with some of its more ambitious plates as my meals progressed. The specials board is where seasonal flavors are featured, and I had my best fiddlehead ferns of the spring here, sauteed with the salty sparkle of nutritional yeast. Ramps were reminiscent of Thomas’ Bar Ferdinand days, heat-charred and bundled around a mound of romesco sauce. Chilled pea gazpacho was vibrant with green spring sweetness and mint.
I can’t remember the last time I paid just $14 for a piece of fish as plump and nicely seared as Honey’s skin-crisped trout amandine. But as the menu’s most expensive item, it’s proof of the value here that, for the quality, competes with any classic diner. The breakfast special (two eggs, potatoes, toast, and coffee) is a very old-school $3.95.
Two Bells – Very Good
Honey’s Sit ‘N Eat [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Honey’s Sit N Eat [Official Site]
Photo by Collin Keefe
Related: Food, Reviews, Craig LaBan, Diners, Graduate Hospital, Honeys-Sit-And-Eat, Michael Petrogiannis, Michael Thomas, Reviewed, South Street West, Two Bells
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Posted by Foobooz on June 6th, 2013
John Bucci Jr. is back at John’s Roast Pork. Five years ago Bucci faced leukemia and required a bone marrow transfer. Once given a 50/50 chance at survival he’s back at the grill and looking to give back.
This Saturday, June 8th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. John’s Roast Pork will be holding bone-marrow registry drive and fund-raiser auction from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registrants get $5 off a sandwich, which is donated to the cause.
Read Craig LaBan’s story in today’s Inquirer on Bucci’s recovery and for details on the Bruschetta Steak as well as Saturday’s fundraiser.
Bucci’s Back [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Best Match Foundation [Official Site]
Related: Events, Food Nerd News, Cheesesteaks, Craig LaBan, Johns-Roast-Pork, South-Philadelphia
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June 6th, 2013
“This tiny Fishtown corner takeout is as inconvenient as possible – open only Wednesday through Saturday, with a limited cash-only menu and no phone.” – But Craig LaBan couldn’t argue about the pizza, Philadelphia Inquirer
1 Comment
Posted by Foobooz on June 3rd, 2013
Craig LaBan reviews Sa-Bai-Dee, Philadelphia magazine’s pick for best Thai in the suburbs in 2012 and finds it just as enjoyable. The Upper Darby BYOB serves up Lao cuisine as well as Thai and LaBan says it is as good as any Thai restaurant in the area.
I was impressed simply with the vivid freshness of flavors and delicacy of the cooking. The satay chicken was notably tender and completely infused with its marinade of coconut milk, turmeric, and galangal. The bone-in BBQ chicken app reminded me more of a Thai-style jerk, the gingery, lemongrass-rubbed meat roasted to a juicy brown over the charcoal grill.
The pad Thai was excellent, the fettuccine-wide rice noodles wearing a perfect sweet-and-tangy brown shine (with a faint fish sauce undertow) as they tangled with tender shrimp, cilantro, and roasted peanuts.
Two Bells – Very Good
Sa-Bai-Dee [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Sa-Bai-Dee [Official Site]
Related: News, Craig LaBan, Delaware-County, Lao, Reviewed, Sai-Bai-Dee, Thai, Two Bells, Upper Darby
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Posted by Foobooz on May 30th, 2013
1,098 events, 160+unique venues,10 days. How do you deal with all these events?
At Foobooz we’re going to give you a guide to the best guides out there.
How meta, a guide to guides »
Related: Events, Guides, Beer, Bryan Kolesar, Craig LaBan, Philly Tap Finder, Philly-Beer-Week
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Posted by Sam Bloch on May 28th, 2013
Craig Laban enjoys Bufad, but he says he would have appreciated it more if there weren’t so many other great new pizza spots opening up around town.
I enjoyed many of the salads here, like the antipasto with remolata-topped roasted beets and sweet carrots paired with salsa verde. But the plain dough triangles of “pizza bianca” served alongside were so hard, we could barely bite through them. Ditto for the otherwise tasty ricotta panna cotta with tangy broccoli rabe and toasted almonds.
My biggest hesitation is that the pizzas – usually so appealing in their toppings – also often seemed to be missing the kind of subtle touch that can elevate one cool new pizzeria above the rest. Bufad’s Neapolitan crust itself is good, complex, chewy, and leopard-ed with char marks. But the classic Margherita lacks the flavor pop of a brighter sauce. Broccoli rabe, prosciutto, and mustard-spiked white beans are a smart combination. But the pureed beans were layered too thickly on the bottom. The mortadella pie would have been better with less sweetness from the rhubarb mostarda.
Two Bells – Very Good
Bufad [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Bufad [Official Site]
Related: Reviews, Bufad, Craig LaBan, Italian, Pizza, Poplar, Two Bells
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Posted by Sam Bloch on May 20th, 2013
Craig LaBan visits Fitler Dining Room, the newest restaurant from the team from Pub & Kitchen and Avalon’s Diving Horse, and comes away impressed.
There should be no complaints, though, about Marzinsky, whose Philly debut as a head chef has been one of the year’s biggest revelations. His butter-poached oysters are such an elegant modern riff on stew that they’d make his muse, M.F.K. Fisher, consider the oyster anew. Ever-so-lightly poached, they’re placed atop brioche croutons with a fine dice of potato, fennel and celery root, then lavished with a froth of rich chowder cream poured tableside. His raw Beausoleil oysters, on the other hand, are transformed with just a few jewels of smoked trout roe and ginger mignonette, each gulp a three-part fade from tang, to smoke, then brine.
A clever new technique for gnocchi results in ethereal puffs of meltaway potato dumplings. But it is the elegant contrast of textures and vivid colors – snappy toasted hazelnuts, tender earthy snails, tart pickled snips of pink ramp, and a pale green gloss of Chartreuse butter – that makes the dish so memorable.
Three Bells – Excellent
Fitler Dining Room [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Fitler Dining Room [Official Site]
Related: Reviews, American, Center-City-West, Craig LaBan, Dan Clark, Ed Hackett, Fitler Dining Room, Fitler Square, Reviewed, Rob Marzinsky, Three Bells
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Posted by Foobooz on May 13th, 2013
Craig LaBan bestows an enthusiastic two bells on David Ansill’s version of Bar Ferdinand.
The fennel-crusted tuna, essentially Spanish-inspired sashimi draped over haricot verts, caper berries, kalamata olive vinaigrette, boquerone anchovies, saffron-tomato conserva, and shaved bottarga (“a little smoked tuna dust!” says Ansill), pushed piquance to the edge of boldness without sliding over. His citrusy, sous-vide-cooked octopus was meltingly tender. A simple crab “croqueta,” almost fluffy with sweet meat beside a crunchy nest of shaved fennel and citrus, showed classic elegance.
A crock of crispy noodle fideos tossed with sherry cream and wild mushrooms brought focused, earthy vegetarian flavors. But Ansill’s talent for alt-meats is also on joyful display. Aside from the shoestring shreds of fried pig ears with purple mustard, there were juicy squares of pork belly with a bacon-sherry reduction, and pork cheeks, brined overnight, then sublimely braised in tomato brava sauce sparked with ginger.
Two Bells – Very Good
From Jamaica to Northern Liberties [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Bar Ferdinand [Official Site]
Related: Food, Reviews, Bar-Ferdinand, Craig LaBan, David Ansill, Northern-Liberties, Reviewed, Spanish, Tapas
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Posted by Foobooz on April 29th, 2013
Craig LaBan heads to Gennaro’s Tomato Pie at Jackson and Carlisle Streets in South Philadelphia in search of an old-time pizza flavor.
I lift a slice of red pie, its heat-charred crust dusting my fingertips with tawny flour, lean in to take a bite, and find the taste is just as transporting. Crackle it snaps, the bottom layer of sweet mozzarella protecting the microscopic-thin crust. The spots of crushed tomatoes spooned on top between clouds of mozzarella have almost caramelized from quick exposure to the naked heat, bright and vivid, tangy sweet. I go back for another bite, then another, savoring the chewy, rustic, well-salted crust.
Two Bells – Very Good
Gennaro’s twirls pizza-making around [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Genarro’s Tomato Pie [Official Site]
Related: News, Craig LaBan, Gennaro's Tomato Pie, Pizza, Reviewed, South-Philadelphia, Two Bells
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