Rick Nichols checks out the cheap and fancy grilled cheeses at Chick’s Cafe & Wine Bar.

Our favorite of the ones we tried was a diced dried fig, dulce gorgonzola and caramelized onion (with a dash of balsamic) job that toggled nicely tangy and sweet.

Tuesday Blues Plate [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Chick’s Cafe & Wine Bar [Official Site]

 

The 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition is tomorrow and naturally we and bars are celebrating.

 

If you’re out early hit up the Memphis Taproom from 3 to 4pm when they’ll pouring all beer on draft for just a buck.

Chick’s Cafe will be featuring several old school specialty cocktails priced at $7.50 that are made using all American spirits - the Ward Eight (bourbon), Sazerac (rye), Scofflaw (blended American whiskey) and the Jack Rose (applejack).

The Institute gets in on the repeal day specials with 3.50 Tullemore Dew, $3.50 flavored Bacardi $1.50 PBR  all day.  From 9pm until 11pm there will be $2.00 Philly Brewing and Yards drafts. And they go all 1933 crazy at 19:33 (that’s 7:33pm), they’ll be offering all their draft beer for 10 cent beers for 19 minutes and 33 seconds. Never tried a Backwoods Bastard, it’s a worthwhile gamble for a dime.

On Saturday from 7 to 10pm APO Bar and Lounge (formerly Apothecary) and Philadelphia Distilling will be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Repeal with big of Punch and some early jazz. APO will be offering bottles of punch (which serve 4-5), featuring Bluecoat American Dry Gin and Penn 1681 Organic Rye Vodka, for $19.33. They’ll also have select cocktails available for $6. [Facebook Invite]

Resist Prohibition is the tag line for Victory Brewing, so do your part and lift a pint of cask-conditioned Hop Devil at the London Grill.

And where could be more appropriate to go than to the recently opened Prohibition Taproom.

Chick’s Cafe & Wine Bar is promoting their Tuesday night grilled cheeses but these are a long way from government cheese on Wonder bread. These $5 paninis are a tad more upscale.

• Smoked Mozzarela, oven roasted tomato, basil
• Truffled wild mushroom and Taleggio
• Fig, Gorgonzola and caramelized onions
• Serrano and Mahon with Dijon
• Chicken, brie and pear with Membrillo

Add soup, salad or fries for just $3 more.

Chick’s Cafe and Wine Bar [Official Site]

Philadelphia Weekly’s Field Guide lists six Philadelphia wine bars worth visiting.

Wine of the Times [Philadelphia Weekly]

Caution: do not look at Philadining’s photos of Chick’s mini beignets with Nutella and raspberry dipping sauces on an empty stomach. [Philadining]

Uncle Jimmy weighs the “Yays” and “Neys” of dinner at Kanella. [Uncle Jimmy Eats]

Dish & Bitch is pretty cool. They have a brunch club and invite a guest along each Sunday whom they interview. Most recently they were at the Royal Tavern. [Dish & Bitch]

PhilaFoodie tips us off that Wine Spectator’s Sam Gugino is in love with Daniel Stern’s (Gayle and Rae) apple pie. [PhilaFoodie]

Collin Flatt dines on the “All Pork Menu” at Cochon with mixed results. [Phoodie.info]

Blogalicious is partial to the flagship in the Primo Hoagies chain and rarely varies from ordering the Chicken Suprimo on a seeded Sarcone’s roll. [Blogalicious]

Mac & Cheese gets some Egyptian and Mediterranean bites at Mazag Cafe in South Philly. [Mac & Cheese]

Our beer runs are much shorter (from wherever we are to the Foodery or Food & Friends) than the one Bryan Kolesar and Chris Leonard are preparing for this Saturday. They’re doing 13.1 miles from the General Lafayette to the new Tiedhouse. [Brew Lounge]

Foodzings has only a mediocre time at Mantra. [Foodzings]

Congrats to Tria Cafe which is named the number four wine bar in all the land by Bon Appetit this month. [Bon Appetit]

Chick’s Cafe & Wine Bar got some good news from the State as Chick’s liquor license has finally been extended to the outside tables.

Drew Lazor has some more details on Kung Fu Necktie, the former Penalty Box at Front and Thompson that by all accounts has been totally overhauled. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

We loved Blue In Green when it was on 3rd Street. Liked it when it was on Sansom and admitedly haven’t made it to the most recent location at 12th and Chestnut. And we’ll have to hurry as the corner spot is closing in a couple weeks to become Hot Dog Corner. [Phoodie.info]

Mac & Cheese has been taking Indian cooking classes at Palace at the Ben for the last month and reports on all that she’s learned. [Mac & Cheese]

David McDuff does a thorough write-up of a recent Sly Fox beer dinner at Chick’s Cafe. [McDuff's Wine Trail]

Foodzings visits the Edwards Freeman Nut Company in Conshohocken and feels just like a kid in a candy shop because that’s what it is. [Foodzings]

Foodaphilia reviews Azul Cantina and finds the Mexican spot to be a nice place to have some margaritas and order some appetizers. [Foodaphilia]

This Tuesday, June 24th Chicks Cafe and Wine Bar will be hosting a beer dinner with Sly Fox’s Brian O’Reilly. The twist is not only will you get to enjoy beer with each course but you will also get to compare the Sly Fox beer to an old world classic of the same style that inspired Sly Fox’s interpretation. There will be samples of Belgian Saison, Bavarian Weisse, Northern German Pilsner, Irish Dry Stout, and Belgian Abbey Quadrupel styles.

There will also be a cooking demonstration by Next Food Network contestant Adam Gertler and a musical finale performed by local singer-songwriter Iota.

Dinner is $65 per person and reservations are required.

Menu after the jump.

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A few months ago I was asked if I would like to judge the Mojito Olympics at the Rum Bar. I of course jumped at the chance and it didn’t dawn on me that it could be anything but a great time until Rum Bar owner Adam Kanter handed me a sizeable stack of judging forms. There were five contestants representing Chick’s Cafe, G Lounge, Pinocchio’s in Media, Rum Bar and Valanni. With three events that meant sampling 15 mojitos. My lunch of a soft pretzel seemed woefully inadequate at this point.

Continued after the jump.

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Adam Erace dines and drinks at the formerly dark and smoky Chick’s Cafe & Wine Bar where he finds the “Italian-inflected small plates” most successful.

Chick’s Café & Wine Bar [Philadelphia Weekly]
Chick’s Cafe & Wine Bar [Official Site]