Don’t read CE Phood’s roundup of dinner at Apamate on an empty stomach. Candied sausage, oxtail, cheese and pepper on a plantain, Iberico ham thinly shaved & sweetened figs. It goes on and on. Luckily we’ve got Spanish wine in the rack. [CE Phood]

Phoodie gives out its 2008 awards in categories like person and restaurant of the year as well as the biggest disappointment. [Phoodie.info]

If Kitchenplay and a commenter are to be believed, you should “never judge a ghetto ass thai place’s food by the writing on the wall.” According to them, Plan-Eat-Thai at 1516 Tasker is serving up promising sounding Thai food behind a bullet proof window. [kitchenplay]

It’s good to hear good things about the latest items coming out of the kitchen at South Philadelphia Taproom. [CE Phood]

Veggicurious gives Local 44 the vegetarian once over. Mushroom ‘Po Boy, a dish even a carnivore get behind. [Veggicurious]

Vegging out at a Butcher & Singer seems a little crazy to us but hey, that’s Living On the Vedge. [Living On the Vedge]

Philadelphia Weekly’s Dan Packel tells the story of our most local of oysters, the Cape May Salt and some of the spots you can find it:

• Ansill Food + Wine
• Bar Ferdinand
• Butcher & Singer
• Pub & Kitchen

Heroes on the Half Shell [Philadelphia Weekly]

Rick Nichols scolds Stephen Starr’s retro-chophouse Butcher and Singer over its Caesar Salad.

The cart was wheeled out, wooden bowl poised. A little cheese was grated on the eager greens. A few croutons were administered. And - our faces fell in incredulous unison - a creamer-sized pitcher of Caesar dressing was poured over the thing. Poured over the thing.

“Skillfully prepared tableside”? Hardly. Which must have been a typical reaction. The menu now says “Caesar salad, plated tableside.” (To which I say, “What’s the point?”)

Pale Caesar: A salad wilts [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Butcher & Singer [Official Site]

We received the latest menus from Butcher & Singer and eagerly compared them to the originals to see just what changed. What we found is some of the steaks have dropped a few bucks, most notably the Dry Aged Porterhouse where they’ve shaved $10 off the $56 original price.

The lunch menu dropped some steaks and added mid-teen priced hot pastrami and roasted chicken sandwiches. Also the steak portions have gotten more lunch friendly as they’ve also shaved $10 off the New York strip and $13 off of the filet mignon.

Dinner Menu | Lunch Menu
Butcher & Singer [Official Site]

Phoodie.info takes an early look at Stephen Starr’s Butcher & Singer and doesn’t come away all that impressed. [Phoodie.info]

Living on the Vedge recommends the Ace of Spades, tempeh on rye with “caramelized onions, sprouts, and all” at Lucky 13 Pub. [Living on the Vedge]

Taylor had never been to Capogiro until last Friday, because she feared getting hooked. She was back on Sunday. [Mac & Cheese]

I am Beer Wise like most of us has a favorite bar, his is Capone’s in Norristown. [I am Beer Wise]

Wilmington’s Independence Mall has a new Malaysian restaurant, Rasa Sayang and Mac & Cheese checks it out. [Mac & Cheese]

The Inquirer has some more tidbits on Starr’s Butcher & Singer and how exactly it’ll be different from Barclay Prime. [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Mediterranean delights come to south 10th Street as Mazag Cafe is pumping out stuffed grape leaves, couscous, Turkish coffee and more. [Meal Ticket]

File this under things that we find exceptionally cool but we don’t really think anyone else will care about. Victory Prima Pils is available in the mini-bars at the Ritz Carlton. [Seen Through a Glass]

Giorgio’s on Pine is opening Monday. Who’s Giorgio? Well he’s Giorgio Giuliani, a veteran of Monte Carlo Living Room and Primavera. [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Lew Bryson visits Yards Brewery to get the lowdown on Yards big plans. [Seen Through a Glass]

Teri’s Restaurant gives South Philadelphia another breakfast and option, this one featuring BBQ Brunch. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

Stephen Starr’s Butcher & Singer opens today in the former Striped Bass with an old school leather infused vibe.

Check out Chef Shane Cash’s menu of classics after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Meal Ticket has the lowdown on Butcher and Singer, Stephen Starr’s new chop house in the old Striped Bass.

Butcher and Singer is aiming to open October 27th, the first online reservations are available November 3rd.

CHOP TILL YOU DROP: An inside look at Butcher & Singer [Meal Ticket]
Butcher and Singer [Official Site]

The first chunk of officially sanctioned info about Stephen Starr’s new old-school steakhouse Butcher and Singer in the former Striped Bass location has arrived at Foobooz World Headquarters, via the Cashmaniacs.

Other than some generic menu info with a few tantalizing mentions - lobster Newburg and steak Diane - it contains little in the way of specifics, like the projected exact opening date (we get ‘late October’ UPDATE: it’s tentatively scheduled for October 27th) or who the chef might be (although we hear that Jim LoCascio, the original chef of Barclay Prime and now a corporate chef within SRO, is supervising the as-yet-unnamed chef of Butcher, which bodes well for the steak situation). It also has a phone number: 215-732-4444, but no website yet. Now that’s retro!

We present it in its fluffy entirety to you, after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

There was lots of juicy details spilled in Craig LaBan’s chat with Stephen Starr.

Here are just some of the highlights:

• Starr Restaurant Organization employs 1,600 people making it one of the top 100 employers in the reason.
• Ed Rendell came to Starr about taking over Striped Bass.
• Butcher and Singer will be a steakhouse featuring chops with mass appeal.
• Broad Street Diner is under agreement for sale and several concepts are under consideration.
• A serious complaint can get your entire meal comped at a Starr restaurant.
• Sounds like Starr will be opening an Indian restaurant in town next year. He says he has “a tremendous chef and some really exciting ideas on design.”
• In addition to the hint he drops about the Indian restaurant he also laments the lack of a gastropub in Center City. Stephen must have a limited idea of what Center City is and a gastropub for that matter. But more importantly, we wonder if this means his gastropub idea is going to be coming back.
• Starr says he’ll probably never do a suburban restaurant although a Jones in King of Prussia makes some sense to him.
• Molecular gastronomy doesn’t excite Starr, he finds it “to be a bit souless and self indulgent.”
• Starr really regrets Washington Square’s demise. He was designing four restaurants at the same time then.
• Starr says he’s “been looking to do a small BYO.” We highly doubt that.
• He still wants to do a hotel in Philadelphia.
• The Aimee Alexy mentioned is really Aimee Olexy of Talula’s Table fame.

Chat with Craig LaBan and Stephen Starr [Philly.com]