The annual Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival is this Saturday, May 18, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.. The festival extends from Walnut Street from Broad to 19th and on 18th Street, from Locust to Sansom. Over 40 of the areas best restaurants will be serving up their cuisine for your enjoyment at an affordable price. Some highlights of the participating restaurants include a. Kitchen, Barclay Prime, Continental Mid-town, Di Bruno Bros., El Rey, Le Bec Fin, Oyster House, Parc, Sbraga, Shake Shack, Vernick, and Village Whiskey.
If that doesn’t make you want go, maybe this will; there will be a tasting area with 20 of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s Chairman’s Selection wines with a concierge and on-site store.
Other stands will offer Peroni beer, Rex Goliath wines, Cintron, and cocktails. Also, there will be cooking demonstration at 19th and Walnut courtesy of Starr Restaurants. The great food, booze, shopping, activities and weather make the Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival a can’t miss. Full list of participating restaurants »
It’s National Grilled Cheese Day and this rainy day just screams for a grilled cheese. We’ve compiled a list of restaurants around town are doing specials as well as some of all-time favorites.
You know those cool friends you brought to the Oyster House for their Dump Dinner? Gather ‘em up again, because we’ve got something else for you.
The Italian Market’s Di Bruno Bros. does private tastings after they close up shop if you call and reserve it. The whole store, just for you and your friends.
It’s a $400 package for eight people (if you have a bigger crowd, it’s $55 for each additional person), and it’s really something special. Two mongers guide you through the night, pairing everything they have in their shop with the wine and beer you bring. They’ll start you off with an amuse bouche, and prepare plates of accoutrements ahead of time, but when all is said and done, the experience is what you make out of it. It’s your shop for two hours, so taste and learn about the different olive oils and different vinegars, and when you’re done, shop around for 10% off anything in the store, and you’ll be sent home with a gift bag full of Di Bruno merchandise.
Weekends are booked through June but they do it during the week too. So make a reservation soon, if you want to do this anytime in the near future.
DiBruno Bros. and GIANT Food Stores have partnered up to open a cheese and specialty food shop at the GIANT super market in Camp Hill, PA. The store opened with an official Parmigiano Reggiano cracking at 11 a.m. to mark the occasion.
The store will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m and serving a selection of imported foods, offering more than 125 varieties of homemade, national, and international cheeses and nearly 60 kinds of cured meats and antipasti. Customers will also find crackers, jams, jellies, oils, and sauces.
No word yet on whether this is the first of many partnerships between DiBruno Bros. and GIANT Food Stores but we’d have to assume, if smelly cheeses go over well in Camp Hill, we’ll be seeing more of these stores inside a store.
Anthony Bourdain is in town and it appears it is for his show, The Layover. Emilio Mignucci of DiBruno Bros. just tweeted to the TV star thanking him for coming in to the Italian Market cheese store.
CheeseMee33
Thx for coming in @Bourdain for #layover. It was fun having you. 7/24/12 12:30 PM
UPDATE 2: Anthony Bourdain also visited the Mütter Museum where he declared the museum dedicated to medical oddities as having “the best gift shop ever.”
Want to see Peter McAndrews (of Paesano’s, Modo Mio, Popolino and Monsu) talk dirty to a big chunk of pork? Then watch the video above.
Want to see him (or some of his minions) do it live? Then come out today at noon to the Shops At Liberty Place where we’ll be holding another Best Of Philly public tasting–this time of roast pork sandwiches. We’ll have crews coming in from the aforementioned Paesano’s, from DiBruno Bros., from McCrossen’s Tavern and Jake’s Sandwich Board. You’ll get to eat some sandwiches then vote for which one gets crowned as the Best Roast Pork Sandwich in this year’s Best Of Philly issue (coming in August).
So the details again: Free sandwiches, noon, today, Shops at Liberty Place. Got it? And don’t be late because something tells me that these suckers are going to go fast…
Zagat is reporting that DiBruno Brothers is planning on turning the upstairs cafeteria at their Chestnut Street location into a real restaurant that will be open for lunch and dinner.
Director of Culinary Operations Bill Shapiro hopes to have the new restaurant operational in June but details still have to be hashed out.
And in unbelievable news, Shapiro also mentions that former DiBruno Pronto on 9th Street could still open down the line as a trattoria.
Tonight McCrossen’s continues its wine-cheese-food series. $32 gets you four cheeses chosen by DiBruno Brothers’Rocco Rainone, four wines by sommelier Lauren Harris and four dishes from Chef Wentz.
The Ardmore location of DiBruno Bros. is expanding. DiBruno opened in April with five stalls across two aisles of the market and in the first week of December, will add a sixth. The additional space means additional products. Look for pasta, sauces, breads and deli meats to be added.
The 401 Diner in Conshohocken has added candlelight dinners and BYOB. [Full Menu]
The chef/owners of Charcoal BYOB have opened The Snack Shoppe in Yardley. The lunch option offers dishes like Sous Vide Cold Fried Chicken with house ranch and Sriracha plus sides like salt, pepper and vinegar chips. Sandwiches are $5.50 to $8.50.
So Fun! Frozen Yogurt is opening this December in Wayne. Located in the Wayne Shopping Center, next to Five Guys, the shop will offer 16 flavors of frozen yogurt daily. This is the second So Fun!, the first opened this past Spring in Easton. [So Fun! Frozen Yogurt]
Norristown’s Taqueria La Michoacana has a sibling in Phoenixville’s Hacienda La Michoacana. The new spot takes over the former 101 Bridge. [The Insider]
The Public House in Wilmington has closed. The last day was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. But in early 2012 look for another branch of the Public House at the Luxor in Las Vegas. [Delaware Online]
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