This Thursday Bridget Foy’s is hosting Victory Brewing for a beer and bites night. 5 beers are being paired with 5 hors d’ouerves for $30.

• Prima Pils paired with Seared Scallop & Bacon Flatbread
• Festbier paired with Butternut Squash Risotto Cake
• Hop Devil paired with Roast Pork & Broccoli Rabe Spring Rolls
• Moonglow Weizen Bock paired with Short Rib Sliders
• Storm King Stout paired with Butterscothc Krimpet Tiramisu

On November 5th at 7 pm Jose Garces and Victory are partnering for a beer dinner at Chifa. The event costs $55 and will feature five courses paired with Victory beers including Victory’s newest seasonal, Yakima Twilight (see more on that beer after the jump).

Victory Brewmaster and Owner Bill Covaleski will be on hand to discuss the beers and pairing beer with food.

• Hiramasa with aji Amarillo leche de tigre, passion fruit and roasted corn paired with Prima Pils
• Octopus Ceviche with purple olive and avocado paired with WildDevil
• Grilled Thai Sausage with tamarind chile sauce and jasmine rice paired with Golden Monkey
• Smoked Rib Eye with revuelto de chorizo and huacatay chimichiri paired with Yakima Twilight
• Coconut Tapioca with semisweet chocolate cremeux and quinoa chicaronnes paired with Baltic Thunder

In other Victory news and notes, the dangerous Victory Storm King Stout (9.1% ABV) is on the handpump at the Standard Tap and the Moonglow Weizen Bock is out and still excellent.

After the jump, the newest seasonal from the Downingtown brewery.

Read the rest of this entry »

On Wednesday, November 11th Jose Garces is hosting a progressive dinner through his Philadelphia restaurants. Starting with the boarding of a trolley at 5pm in front of Amada guests will stop for small plates at Distrito, then to Tinto for more small plates with a cocktail from Village Whiskey, then off to Chifa and finally back to Amada for the finale.

The meal will cost $200 per person and will include beverage pairings. Space is limited and reservations are required.

Check out what will be served at each restaurant after the jump.

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The pork belly buns have been praised at Chifa since day one.  Starting in October there will be a buns and beers happy hour.  Monday through Friday, from 5 to 7pm there will be an assortment of buns paired with a microbrew and a special price.

Get one beer and a bun for $10. Two beers and two buns for $15, three beers and buns for $20 or all four beeers and buns for $25.

Offerings include:

• Pork Belly, Hoisin and Pickled Carrot with togarshi mayo on a steamed white bun and paired with Flying Fish Oktoberfish.
• Grilled Chicken, Panc Emulsion and Bacon with frisee on pan de bono and paired with Philadelphia Brewing Co.’s Kenzinger Lager.
• Braised Duck and Cilantro with spicy guava on brioche bun, paired with Elysian Brewing’s Imortal IPA.
• Shimp and Chile May with avocado on steamed white bun, paired with Allagash White.

Chifa [Official Site]

Chifa kicks off their Thursday lounge nights tonight with a jazz trio and late night hapy hour. Kitchen stays open till midnight.

The fun kicks off at 10pm.

The Lounge at Chifa [Facebook]

Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema was recently in town heaping praise on Chifa, Fork and Paesano’s.

About Paesano’s, he also delivers a little news. Owner Peter McAndrews is going to be relinquishing his upstairs office space and turning it into a second floor dining area for a dozen or so diners.

Postcard from Tom [Washington Post via The Illadelph]

Craig LaBan dines at Chifa and finds Jose Garces’ gastro-genius on display.

Overall, I find the rambling bilevel space full of odd nooks, and the ambitiously wide-ranging menu a notch less compelling than Garces’ other more-well-defined tapas emporiums. Even if it is inspired by an actual tradition (known as “chifa”) that developed organically over more than a century by Chinese laborers in Peru, one gets the sense that is merely a pretext for this chef and his talented crew to show us their creative chops – and it can feel disjointed and vaguely indulgent.

And yet, if there’s a chef in town I’m happy to indulge, it is Garces. And there are simply so many stunning flavors here, starting with the addictive yucca-flour cheese buns (pan de bono) in the complimentary bread basket, it’s nearly impossible not to leave impressed.

3 Bells – Excellent

Chifa, a Chino-Latino blend [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Chifa [Official Site]

Sunday, Craig LaBan reviews Chifa. How many bells with Jose Garces’ Peruvian and Cantonese restaurant receive?

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We love ourselves some Sriracha sauce and we were excited to see The New York Times compiling a list of Sriracha enriched dishes from coast to coast.

Just imagine our disappointment though when we realized the listed Pennsylvania entry of Philly Cheesesteak dumplings with Sriracha ketchup is from Fireside, a restaurant at 52nd and Madison in New York City!

Now luckily, this won’t be published until next Wednesday, so there’s time to fix this outrage. What’s your favorite Sriracha enhanced food in Philadelphia? MenuPages gets us off to a good start with mentions of the tofu hoagie from Fu-Wah, Chifa’s Sriracha butter and even the Beauty Shop Cafe’s Sriracha latte but we want you to weigh in. Drop your fave in the comments.

The United States of Sriracha [Diner's Journal, New York Times]

The New York Times packs a lot of action in its 36 Hours in Philadelphia and they sure don’t skimp on the culinary.

Among the spots mentioned:

• No lemon meringue pie - Silk City.
• Odd Couple – Chinese-Peruvian fusion at Chifa.
• Bowling and Munching – North Bowl.
• Slice of Local Color – The Italian Market and Lorenzo’s Pizza (9th and Christian version) in particular.
• What, No Chicken Soup? – Modern Israeli at Zahav.
• Take a Trip – Upstairs at Time for absinthe.
• No Snooze Button – Waiting for a table at Sabrina’s Cafe.

36 Hours in Philadelphia [New York Times]

Two.One.Five Magazine interviews James Beard award winning chef Jose Garces and finds out he likes us, he really, really likes us!

It feels great to head home for Mercat (Garces’ Chicago restaurant), but Philadelphia is home to me; I started my family here, I started my business here and the city has taken me to places in my career that I never could have predicted growing up, cooking alongside my grandmother in our family kitchen. Every city has its own personality, and I’ve been very lucky to find one that suits me as well as Philadelphia does.

Speak Easy – Interview with Jose Garces [two.one.five magazine]