Archive for January, 2007

Considering a romantic Valentine’s night out with that special someone? Well it’s not too early to start thinking about where to go. OpenTable has an early look at some places offering special menus.

OpenTable Valentine’s Day [Official Site]

In Pursuit of Ale, the super cool women only beer club of Philadelphia has their bi-monthly meeting tonight at Pub on Passyunk East (1501 E Passyunk Avenue) at 7:30 PM.

Tickets remain for Philly Cooks! 2007. Sample dishes from 50 restaurants as chefs compete for prizes. Festivities kick off at 6:30 PM and proceeds benefit MANNA.

And thirdly the “Yellow Bar” on Grays Ferry Avenue that had a contest to come up with a name, well that name will be decided by luck of the draw tonight at the Sidecar tonight at 9:30. The finalists are Asylum, Yellow Bar, Periscope, and Dexter’s. We here at Foobooz are kind of partial to Asylum, if only because it reminds us of the place of the same name that we used to go to when it was too late to get into Revival.

“Wine Down” in Westmont, New Jersey as Cork now offers half priced bottles of wine every Monday.

Choose from some of Cork’s most popular wines from Napa, Australia or South Africa and enjoy their entrees or small plates. Menu highlights include their Gorgonzola and Pear flat bread, Yellowfin Tuna seared rare and served with broccoli rabe, or Braised Lamb Shank.

Cork [Official Site]

Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar has long been a dive bar but for less time it has been a hipster paradise.

Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar, the quintessential old South Philly taproom, has become hipster-driven, at least on Thursdays. That’s when jam-session cats – mostly graduates from the University of the Arts and Temple University, with a median age of 23 – play elegant improvisational jazz and soft standards.

Led by drummer Pete Gaudioso and pianist Anam Owili-Eger in Ray’s second room, 11 horn players (trumpet, trombone, sax), four bassists, three guitarists, and one harmonica player sign up and sit in. That’s a jazz soup.

Ray’s opens at 7 AM and their web site promises smoking will return when they get their permit. Show up on your birthday and receive a drink for free.

Ray’s The Happy Birthday Bar [Official Site]

Divan Turkish Kitchen might be a few blocks south of Center City but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to get in on the Restaurant Week fun. Divan will be offering a $25 Prix Fixe During Philadelphia Restaurant Week. From January 28 to February 2, enjoy three courses at Divan for $25, less than Restaurant Week’s $30 price tag, dinner includes an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

Divan has also received its liquor license this month and will feature Turkish wines. In a twist, Divan will continue to allow diners to bring their own if they want.

Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]

Although most have seen the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s Chairman’s Selection program as a huge success, the program is not without its critics.

The Chairman’s Selection wines that critics contend are, in Stapleton’s words, “not portrayed correctly” are a handful of blends produced for sale only in Pennsylvania.

That’s the rub: Those wines did not exist before being made for Pennsylvania, so how, critics ask, can the PLCB fairly indicate a savings? And aren’t consumers being misled into believing the wine is the same quality as one close to the comparison price?

State’s wine deals: Beyond compare? [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Thinking meat? How about bringing a meat loving friend and chowing down at Fogo de Chão. If the price tag scares you a bit for a Tuesday night out. Then head to the original Nick’s Roast Beef at 20th and Jackson and don’t forget to order the gravy fries. Crispy fries heaped with gravy and more meat! A decadent treat.

Adam Erace who writes food reviews for the Courier-Post and Philly Style has started his own food blog, Blogalicious. And with a tag line like philadelphia – cheesesteaks + restaurants ÷ jelly krimpets = blogalicious. tastes good. it seems likely we’ll be linking to this site quite a bit.

Blogalicious

Wayne’s Mayuree Cafe closed Monday to make room for an expansion of the Great American Pub. Mayuree is looking to relocate to Devon by April. [Main Line Restaurant Guide]

Delilah Winder of Delilah’s at the Terminal faced off with Bobby Flay in a macaroni and cheese face-off. Bad news for the home town as Bobby Flay’s mac and cheese was judged best. [Inqlings, Philadelphia Inquirer]

West Chester sees its Turks Head Inn has closed making way for a Barnaby’s sports bar. [Main Line Restaurant Guide]

Messy and Picky head out to Mixto looking for a good brunch without the long lines.

Although the service was kind of slow, overall, our meal was a pleasant experience. It was our first brunch outing in a while (we like to sleep late, and Picky makes killer omelettes on the weekends) and we were both very happy to find a good, decently priced and convenient location for brunch. Mixto also seems like a good place for a group brunch outing, as we were pretty much surrounded by larger parties sipping Bloody Marys (Bloody Marys are gross). We’re both glad we found Mixto for those rare occasions when we go out to brunch — we won’t need to wait an hour at a time for those Philly brunch favorite spots anymore!

Messy ***1/2
Picky ***
The final word: A very good, no-wait brunch, with some Cuban flair.

Mixto [Messy and Picky]
Mixto [Official Site]