Tonight the University of Pennsylvania takes on Penn State at the Palestra in the Name Recognition Classic. An event that forces America to recognize that the two schools are not the same. Warm your innards before or after the game at Sláinte where they’ve updated their menu with some hearty tastes of the season, including chicken pot pie and baked macaroni and cheese.

Sláinte’s kitchen is available daily till 1 am.

Sláinte [Official Site]

Craig LaBan positively gushes over Distrito, Joses Garces’ fun Mexican restaurant with serious food.

Garces has always used authenticity as the springboard for his innovations. But the steady focus on tapas at his Amada and Tinto has given him the discipline and aesthetic to convey an intricate world of flavor and texture on each gorgeous small plate. Each added blade of corn shoot or roasted pumpkin seed makes a subtle flavor imprint. Every micro-garnish or temperature contrast is a deliberate balance play.

Three Bells - Excellent

Distrito [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Distrito [Official Site]

The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that Bobby Flay is considering opening a Bobby’s Burger Palace in the Radian.

The first Bobby’s Burger Palace is located on Long Island in Lake Grove and features 10 signature burgers made with certified Angus beef, ground turkey or chicken breast and served on a potato bun. Also available are grilled cheeses, milkshakes and alcoholic beverages.

Food Network’s Bobby Flay may open burger joint in Radian [Daily Pennsylvanian]
Bobby’s Burger Palace [Official Site]

The Daily Pennsylvanian’s 34th Street Magazine has been chock full of food and drink related notes and this week is no different.

• Profile and history of Smokey Joe’s
• There’s more than just Blarney’s, Smoke’s, and Copa in West Philly
• Naked Chocolate proves more enticing than even its Center City location
• Caffeination celebrates the “legal drug of choice”

3th Street Magazine [Official Site]

Mikey’s American Grill & Sports Bar is now open in University City at 3180 Chestnut Street, providing another option to watch game 5, part 2 this evening.

The former Ecco Qui space in the Left Bank Building has been transformed into a industrial feeling sports bar with eight 50″ flat screen TVs pumping out the best that DirecTV and Comcast have to offer including all the sports packages from the NHL to college basketball.

The menu will include Mikey’s burger, 8 ounces of beef, 4 ounces of corned beef topped with coleslaw, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing. More than 50 varieties of bottled beer will also be available.

Mikey’s American Grill & Sports Bar [Official Site]

Trey Popp checks out the newish Hummus on the western edge of Penn’s campus and it sounds good.

Hummus’ marinated thighs are so succulent I actually imagined sticking a straw into the pile of meat to suck up the juices. The depth of flavor is no fluke; the chicken on the spit is layered with lamb fat.

The falafel balls are crisp but not dry, beef kebabs ring with spices and onions and the pita bread is pillow soft. Moroccan cigars — deep-fried cylinders of potato or finely ground beef — were still so hot when they hit my plate that the Styrofoam vaporized, riddling the rim with penny-sized holes. That freaked me out a little, so I was extra glad for the thick smear of creamy hummus covering the middle of the plate.

Middle Eastern High [City Paper]
Hummus [Official Site]

Adam Erace finds some things to quibble about at Distrito but it still is very much a Jose Garces experience.

Distrito [Philadelphia Weekly]
Distrito [Official Site]

Ecco Qui located in The Left Bank Building has closed and will be replaced by the Yardhouse American Grill and Sports Bar. The new spot aims to be open the week of October 16th with a grand opening on October 24th.

Sports bar to replace Ecco Qui [The Triangle]

David Snyder reviews Jose Garces’ colorful Distrito.

Dual themes of playfulness and sophistication are echoed in Distrito’s menu. Garces and his chef de cuisine, Tim Spinner, who formerly helmed Garces’ Amada, turn out dishes that are festive while still retaining a sense of tradition. Dig underneath it all, though, and you’ll be wowed by layers of elegant, complex flavor. It’s this harmonious juxtaposition of fun and fancy that makes the fare so inspired.

Who is that masked man? [City Paper]

The Philadelphia Daily News visits Genuine Bread and Specialty Shoppe on Springfield Avenue in University City and has some genuine love for the home-cooked goodness.

The breads, cakes and pies all have the home-cooked touch. These are what Abel calls “American” breads. They are not quite as crusty as European style, but a far cry from the supermarket sponge. The texture is perfect for sandwiches.

I bought a loaf of the cinnamon bread ($3.50) and made grilled peach crostini that got thumbs up at a brunch the next day. The light-as-air biscuits ($1 each) didn’t make it past the second trolley stop.

Dinners are value-priced at $6.50 and come with two sides and a roll or cornbread. Meal service usually begins around 2 p.m. and goes until the food runs out.

If it’s Genuine, then it’s the real thing [Philadelphia Daily News]