Village Whiskey: Dear Jose

Dear Jose,

We need to talk. I never thought it would come to this, but it has. I wish I could say "it's not you it's me." But this time, it really is you.

Friday night I went to your new restaurant, Village Whiskey, and for the first time, something was missing. It just didn't feel the same. I think you've changed, or maybe we've grown apart. I know long distance is hard, but, really, I promised I'd visit.

I don't know what happened. I supported you from the beginning, I told everyone how much I love you, I congratulated you on your successes, and you gave me the best going away dinner a girl could ask for. So I just don't know how this could happen so suddenly. I feel like I don't know you anymore.

After waiting an hour and 15 minutes, a half an hour over my quoted wait time, I finally got a chance to sit down at your new "classic American bar." I was so excited to see you, I'd been eagerly awaiting this place for months.

I'd heard about this crazy "Whiskey King" burger you have: 10 oz, maple bourbon glazed cippolini, Rogue bleu cheese, applewood smoked bacon and, my favorite, foie gras. Yes, $24 for a burger is a little on the insane side, but hey, maybe so am I.



Well, this is where things get tough for me. I wanted to love this burger with all of my heart. But, alas, I could not. After three bites, the burger meat itself fell apart in my hands and the bottom bun was so incredibly soaked through with fat that it basically disintegrated. I was left with a mess of ingredients and small pieces of ground beef all over my plate. In anger I picked up my knife and fork and tried to tough it out. Beyond the fact that all of the components meld together, with the nicely seared foie especially getting lost, there just wasn't much left to love. It was a mess.

Maybe it's my own fault. Maybe I have no business ordering a $24 burger. But, I did it because I trusted you.



Unfortunately, I wasn't in love with your duck fat fries either. They were over-seasoned to the point of masking the glorious duck-fatness. And this wasn't the only problem I had with seasoning. The Kentucky Fried Quail was also over-seasoned (yes I like Old Bay, but I only like it to be the dominant flavor on Maryland crabs), and under-salted. And then, to further confuse me, your soft pretzel app, was overwhelmed by large grains of salt, and actually fell more into the "bread" category, than the "soft pretzel" category.

There were a few good points. The service, from the hostess to the two servers, was incredibly friendly and attentive. The cocktails were also very good. My "Ginger Rogers," gin, ginger, lemon, Fees rhubarb and sparking rose satisfied every girly drink desire within me. And your deviled eggs were the most perfect deviled eggs I've ever had.

But still, I left dissatisfied. Maybe we've both changed too much. But I can't just walk away from this relationship. We've been together too long. I'm willing to give you another chance; just promise me, Jose, that you'll never let me down like this again.

Love,
Femme Fermental

Village Whiskey
118 S. 20th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-665-1088

Suckling Pig at Amada

We all know that I'm a huge fan of Jose Garces. I've blogged about every restaurant he has in Philly, besides Chifa. However, I've never officially written about Amada: the one that started it all.

I've been to Amada countless times since I became a foodie during my last year of college at Penn. It was one of my first mind-blowing food experiences. With Tinto close behind, it's still my favorite Garces place. Everything is impeccable, time after time.

Every time I go to Amada, I look at the menu and see "Whole Roasted Suckling Pig - For 4 or more" $32/Person. I've always wanted to do it, but never had the motivation or foresight to pull it off. As it turns out, Suckling Pig is the perfect event for a going away dinner. My friends Scott and Vicki managed to organize the whole thing, and with the addition of Dr. Joel, the date was set.

Upon arrival, the big question was, "How much more food do we order?" The pig itself comes with four vegetarian sides. After deciding that we were very comfortable having leftovers, we ordered four additional tapas to start.

So now I'll let the pictures begin...


Bread Service: Tuna and Black Olives


Serrano Ham and Fig Salad, Cabrales & Spiced Almonds


Aragones, Garrotxa, Torta del Casar


Grilled Chorizo


Heirloom Tomato, Mezze Sorrel & Mahon Flatbread


Grilled Green Onions, Rosemary White Beans, Garbanzos con Espinacas, Herb Roasted Fingerlings


The Pig!


Table side


Left overs!


Dessert Tasting

The pig itself was so mouth-watering good. It was salty, moist and tender. I want to eat it for days and days. And thanks to the leftovers, I'm going to be able to. The side dishes were also very good. The white beans were a particular hit.

Throughout the meal we all shared a bottle of Brooklyn Local 1 and two bottles of Ommegang Bier de Mars. Both were great food beers; not too much flavor, and certainly not too little flavor.

All in all, I completely recommend the Suckling Pig dinner. It's an incredible deal, a ton of exquisite food, and a really fun dining experience. It was the perfect going away meal...

Thanks to Scott and Vicki, and Dr. Joel. I'm up for a repeat anytime!

Amada Restaurant
217-219 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-625-2450

Philly Mag's Best New Restaurant: Distrito

Yesterday I went to what is now officially Philly Magazine's Best New Restaurant 2009: Distrito. I made my first visit right after Craig LaBan's 3-Bell review last September. My 10 month lapse between visits might indicate that I was less than excited about the place. It just didn't quite live up to the hype. The food was alright, but, yes, as everyone likes to say, "It just wasn't as good as Amada."

I owed a "frequent" Tria guest a visit to their place of work, so I decided to trek over to West Philly for some "modern Mexican cuisine." Turns out, it was also University City Dining Days. The menu I had hoped for was abbreviated into a $30 prix fixe. I decided to go à la carte anyway.



After being sent out guacamole with chips, I went with gazpacho - watermelon, tomato, red chile, crab, cucumber. While the cool watermelon flavor, enhanced with just a touch of spice was fantastic, the completely pureed texture wasn't what I expected. The crab and cilantro wasn't enough to give this soup the perfect textural experience.



Next, I went with a salad: jícama, honeydew, watermelon, chile piquin, lime zest. The finely diced ingredients were perfectly chilled and crisp. Seeing as it was hot and humid yesterday, this was actually exactly what I wanted to cool down. In fact, both the soup and the salad were weather appropriate food choices.



Apparently, I ended up dining vegetarian; obviously not something I normally do. Last time I visited, the bone marrow tacos were the highlight. Unfortunately, they're not even on the menu anymore.

I realize I did some lame ordering. I didn't choose their most exciting items, and I didn't even get tacos. But, I wasn't that hungry and the weather wasn't exactly pushing me towards hot dishes.

In the end, I'd go to Distrito again. And do some better ordering.

Distrito Restaurant
3945 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3621
(215) 386-1072

From Brooklyn to Barcelona: An Evening of Tapas & Beer with Jose Garces and Garrett Oliver

Yesterday, my day was not over after the Dogfish Lunch at Teresa's. Although, it could have been. My friends and I continued on our day to a beer dinner at Amada with Jose Garces and Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery.



The format of the dinner was pretty awesome. It was 9 people each, at two tables, with one of the hosts at the head of each table. Half way through the meal, Jose and Garrett switched tables so we could talk to both of them. I've met Garrett before; about two years ago I attended a Tria Fermentation School class on beer and cheese pairings. And, we all know I'm a huge fan of Jose.

FIRST
Peruvian Ceviche: Corvina, Rocoto Emulsion, Pickled Pearl Onions
Brooklyner Schneider Hopfen Weisse

Jose's ceviches are always on point. They are perfectly balanced and acidic, and the fish is always wonderful tasting. As far as the beer goes, it was a one year old bottle of a collaboration beer between Schneider and Brooklyn. A year ago I wasn't a huge fan of the beer. However, after a year of bottle aging, the hops had mellowed nicely and it showed as a perfect food beer.



SECOND
Almejas con Jamon Iberico: Clams, Grilled Toast, Mache Salad
Brooklyn Local 1

This dish was also very nice. The sauce itself ended up being a Brooklyn Local 1, Jamon and butter sauce. I had a few sandy clams, but on the whole, the flavors were there. The Brooklyn Local 1, a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, pairs very nicely with food, generally speaking. It doesn't overpower and provides a nice cleansing, refreshing effect.



THIRD
Pato Verde: Duck Confit, Beer Rice, Fava Beans
Brooklyn Local 2

This dish was the highlight of the dinner. The duck, as you can see, was cooked to perfection. The beer rice, cooked with Brooklyn Local 2, cilantro, and probably some tomatillos, was incredible; the flavors were so developed and rich.

The beer, a just-released Belgian-inspired strong dark ale, was very tasty. I've heard some mixed reviews this week about the beer, but I personally enjoyed it. The Belgian dark candi sugar component is very prominent and it's full of dark fruit flavors. If I were to blind taste it, I would place it somewhere between a double and quad. At 9% ABV it's not quite a quad, but the flavor components are similar to a quad.



FOURTH
Butifarra: House-made Garlic Sausage, Bacon Braised Escarole, Mustard Emulsion
Brooklyn Dark Matter

Moving to a Catalonia dish, this house-made sausage, produced over at Tinto (as Jose said: the guys at Tinto do all the charcuterie), was incredible. It was so flavorful, fennel and garlic were most prominent. The mustard emulsion was a nice addition and who doesn't love bacon added to their bitter greens?

The beer itself, as Garrett said: "Doesn't exist, and you never had it." Well, I'm still going to write about it because it was pretty cool. For Brooklyn's venture into barrel aging (Black Ops), they acquired 9 Woodford Reserve barrels and ended up only needing 6 of them. So, they took Brooklyn Brown Ale and aged it for 9 months in the bourbon barrels. Brewed in July 2007, and refermented in the bottle, this beer is about 1 year 8 months old. The bourbon was very prominent, both on the nose and on the palate. It seemed a rather successful venture. This leads me to believe that a barrel aged series might be in the works.



DESSERT
Hazelnut Mocha: Semi-sweet Chocolate Creameaux, Espresso Granita, Hazelnut Nougatine, Sweet Cream Ice Cream
Brooklyn Black Ops

I'm a big sweets girl, so this dessert was awesome. The hazelnut nougatine might have been the best dessert component (my hopperdoodle aside), that I've had in a while. The espresso granita was somewhat lost in the mocha creameux, but it was still a wholly delicious dessert.

The beer, a new and hard to find release (940 cases released), is a Russian Imperial Stout aged in Woodford Reserve barrels for about 4 months. It was similar to the Dark Matter, however it was stronger in alcohol. Again, the bourbon was very prominent, and more so than in the Dark Matter. This is likely because Black Ops is much younger; it was only brewed in June.



Overall, this dinner was very, very cool. I actually was able to talk to Jose Garces! Yup, the foodie in me is giddy! Having met Garrett before, I was really excited to meet Jose. I adore his food, as you may have gathered, and he was a genuinely nice guy. Amada holds a special place in my foodie heart; it was the first chef's tasting menu I ever had. I have to especially thank Amada for hosting the dinner.

After two 5 course meals in one day, I was certainly ready for bed...and yet, ready for beer week to continue...

It's Good to be Jose Garces

With Jose Garces' latest venture, Chifa, opening on Tuesday, I thought a quick homage to one of his earlier successes might be in order.

Don't we all remember when Amada was his only restaurant? Way back before his second hit, Tinto, before his Chicago debut, Mercat a la Planxa, before the cookbook, Latin Evolution, before his third Philly success, DISTRITO, and definitely before his appearance on Iron Chef. Maybe some of you even remember him from his Stephen Starr days at Alma de Cuba.

But how our Philly star chef's career has blossomed. His restaurants have always seemed to me like Stephen Starr "concept" restaurants with really excellent food. His food informs his concept, rather than the reverse.

Tuesday night I stopped at Tinto for a quick bite. Their food was spot on, as always. I don't know how they manage to do it, but their food is spectacular. I have to give their chef de cuisine credit. As Garces continues to open new restaurants, I keep waiting for the quality of his older restaurants to decline. However, this has not been the case. As such, he must do an excellent job selecting his kitchen staff.

Having been to Tinto many times, I always try to pick new things. This evening I enjoyed the Arugula salad with Serrano ham, persimmons, goat cheese croquettes, pine nuts and a sevilla orange vinaigrette. It's amazing how he can turn a boring salad into something memorable. Presentation matters.

I also tried the Kobe Beef Montaditos with pisto bilbaina and romesco sauce. The meat was cooked perfectly, the bread toasted just right, and the sauce nicely piquant.

It seems as though Philly hasn't yet had their fill of Garces. And I certainly can't wait to get to Chifa...