Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby are boing to become the first vegan chefs to prepare a dinner at the James Beard House when they prepare their November 3rd dinner in New York. The menu looks pretty darn good and we’re certain it will come across better than Jenn Zavala’s hot tempered Chile Relleno stuffed with Seitan.

Check out the full menu at Meal Ticket.

Horizons’ James Beard House Dinner Menu [Meal Ticket]

Paul opens this evening opposite Effie’s on Pine Street. Among the menu items, crab spring rolls, wild Atlantic halibut and bouillabaisse. [The Insider]

When the Penthouse Club opens August 7th, chef Bill Elmer will be cooking up more than just steaks. [Meal Ticket]

City Tavern’s Walter Staib is at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello this week filming his new TV series, A Taste of History. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Slate is now doing lunch, brunch and happy hour. Meal Ticket has the deets. [Meal Ticket]

Horizons chef Rich Landau has been selected to cook at the James Beard House. It will be the first vegan restaurant to be so honored. [The Insider]

Coo’s Sports Bar & Lounge is the name of the bar coming to the 800 block of North Broad Street. Not much else is known but the coming soon banner sports a Coors Light logo, so probably not going to have Chimay on draft.

Jim’s Soft Pretzels, a mini-chain in town is coming to South Street. [Meal Ticket]

JD McGillicuddy’s is going into the former Freehouse location in Wayne. Expect an August 1st opening. [The Insider]

Just a degree of John Mims separation away, Carmine’s in Bryn Mawr has closed and will return as Verdad, a Spanish tapas restaurant. [The Insider]

The Saxby’s at the base of the Comcast Center has closed. For now the coffee shop is serving as a promotional display for Table 31.

Gourmet goes to the Philly well twice in their January issue. There’s a feature on Marc Vetri (currently not available online) and then there’s a cheesesteak article that goes beyond the cliches and manages to make us hungry. [Gourmet]

Memphis Taproom’s kielbasa is listed in January’s Food and Wine’s “50 Trends to Try.” [Food & Wine PDF]

PETA names Horizons one of the top eight vegetarian restaurants in America. [PETA]

Tonight there are a couple of special events for vegetarians. Horizons is hosting Pierre Robert and his Pierreno Grigio wine. Chef/Owner Rich Landau is creating a special dish for Pierre. The Pan Roasted Tofu Pierre will feature sauteed morels and fava beans in white wine, fennel leek ravioli and a potato ramp broth for $19. The rest of the a la carte menu will also be available.

And as we mentioned before, Jose Pistola’s will be hosting a vegetarian beer dinner with guest chef Eric Anderson of Essene and beers supplied by Iron Hill.

Jose Pistola’s menu after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the confessions of a meat eater and find out what beer bar is adding a wine lounge.

The true confessions of meat eater [Metro Philadelphia]

Wednesday, October 10th from 7 to 10 PM head to Headhouse Square for the first Savor the Shambles: A Taste of South Street District event. Granted it’s a long name but it’s for a good cause, the continued conservation of the Headhouse Shambles.

$10 gets you five servings from any of the participating restaurants. Additional servings are just $2 each.

Participating restaurants after the jump.

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BeXnlog, a blog we’ve recently discovered dined at Horizons recently and really enjoyed it. But even cooler, M. Night Shyamalan was there.

Yes, the restaurant looks nice. Yes, the service was good. Two bars. Feels like you’re in the Southwest or California. Bright and airy, even during rainstorm. Big tables. Etc.

Okay, now the important part: the food. Damn dudes, the food was INCREDIBLE. You could tell that with every single step of the preparation, from selection to cutting, pairing and plating, searing roasting condiments flavor layers – whatever it was – the chefs really knew what they were doing. I haven’t had food that good in a restaurant in a long time. Sure, the prices are a tad higher than the average we spend on dinner, but when you consider the quality and skill, it’s totally worth it.

N. Vegan [beXnlog] via MenuPages Blog
Horizons [Official Site]

Mark and Audrey’s first cheap date was East Passyunk. Today they head north into Bella Vista for Cheap Dates – Bella Vista.

There are drinks at James, coffee at the brand new Bean Exchange, then a vegetarian dinner at Horizons.

Cheap Dates: Episode 2…Bella Vista! [Philebrity.TV]

CBS 3 and Philadelphia Magazine run a feature they’re calling Top Restaurants for 2007 even if it is only January 5th. But none the less there are some interesting profiles on Horizons, Rae and the Water Works. Did you know there have already been 17 marriage proposals at the Water Works, all of them at table 42!

Philadelphia Magazine: Top Restaurants of 2007 [CBS3 KYW.com]

The New York Times plays Philadelphia tourist and manages not to fall for too many tourist traps as they start off with cheesesteaks at John’s Roast Pork before dining on vegan dishes at Horizons.

Day two sees the Times at DiBruno Brothers for lunch. Saturday night brings food and dance at Raw Sushi and Sake Lounge, Vintage wine bar for a drink and Capogiro for a late night dessert.

Sunday gets things going with La Colombe coffee before the Philadelphia Zoo.

Philadelphia [36 Hours, New York Times]
36 Hours In Philadelphia Video [New York Times]