Sunday, January 30, 2011
Water Buffalo Cheese and Earthquake Wine (Tria's Sunday School)
Today I went to brunch at Tria, one of my favorite places to eat in the city. Not only is it conveniently located a block away from Rittenhouse Square, but it also has one of the most intriguing and affordable menus in the city. Tria is known for their beer, wine, and cheese but also boasts a menu that pairs complex combinations of textures and flavors to create original dishes, most of which are priced below $10.
On Sundays, Tria has an event that they charmingly call "Sunday School" in which they offer an unusual or rare beer, wine, and cheese at a discounted price. The idea is that they are "educating" the consumer on a taste that they might not normally try.
I decided to go for the wine and cheese, as well as a grilled artichoke, spicy tuscan pepper, white bean and bulgarian feta panino (which is served with mixed greens). The sandwich was absolutely delicious. ($8)
The cheese that they had selected for Sunday school was a water buffalo gorgonzola-style cheese from Lombardy, Italy (literally Blu Di Bufala). It was surprisingly mild, but very smooth and pleasant. It was served on a wooden dish with crostinis and local honey for drizzling. My only complaint would be that when I am eating a weird foreign blue cheese I want it to knock me off of my feet with flavor and this wasn't as overwhelming as I had hoped for (it was still darn-tootin' good though). ($4)
The wine was Chilean and apparently salvaged from the rubble of the February 2010 earthquake epicenter, earning the title "earthquake blend." French wine-maker Baptiste Cuvelier is behind this blend which has a fittingly earthy quality to the taste, especially in the finish which lingers on the tongue for some time post-sip. Apparently a portion of the wine is donated to the Canquenes community in Chile. ($6)
On Sundays, Tria has an event that they charmingly call "Sunday School" in which they offer an unusual or rare beer, wine, and cheese at a discounted price. The idea is that they are "educating" the consumer on a taste that they might not normally try.
I decided to go for the wine and cheese, as well as a grilled artichoke, spicy tuscan pepper, white bean and bulgarian feta panino (which is served with mixed greens). The sandwich was absolutely delicious. ($8)
The cheese that they had selected for Sunday school was a water buffalo gorgonzola-style cheese from Lombardy, Italy (literally Blu Di Bufala). It was surprisingly mild, but very smooth and pleasant. It was served on a wooden dish with crostinis and local honey for drizzling. My only complaint would be that when I am eating a weird foreign blue cheese I want it to knock me off of my feet with flavor and this wasn't as overwhelming as I had hoped for (it was still darn-tootin' good though). ($4)
The wine was Chilean and apparently salvaged from the rubble of the February 2010 earthquake epicenter, earning the title "earthquake blend." French wine-maker Baptiste Cuvelier is behind this blend which has a fittingly earthy quality to the taste, especially in the finish which lingers on the tongue for some time post-sip. Apparently a portion of the wine is donated to the Canquenes community in Chile. ($6)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Trolleys!
It is Sunday evening, which means that the trolleys have been re-routed; subsequently, one such vehicle turns the corner outside my window, which some how produces a noise that sounds remarkably like the smoke monster from Lost.
This got me thinking, however, about how much I like the trolleys. West Philadelphia's trolleys date back to the 1890s and were originally pulled by horses! They are electrically powered by now, but there is still something fairly quaint and comfortable about riding this form of public transit.
(This is a picture of my trolley line at 40th street station)The most important part about riding the trolley, however, is at 40th street station going east when the trolley descends underground. This subterranean journey is remarkably similar to riding an attraction at Disney World. So if you're in West Philly going east on the green lines, don't be afraid to hold your hands up and squeal with glee as the trolley carries you onto 37th street (Actually you should be afraid; someone will probably knife you. Scratch that thought entirely- this is a neighborhood in which someone was mugged with a machete a few weeks ago.)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Douchey Jersey-Inspired Benders Part 1 of 6
Friday's hot spot was the Penn museum happy hour because GAPSA and SAS answer the question: where did the beer go? This event has everything: amphoras, bus(ty) boys, stale baguettes that will chip a south african's tooth, mummies, british people, rotundas, and grilled vegetable sandwiches.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Seitan / Korean Seitan Tacos
Up until last week my experiences with Seitan had been limited. I ate it in January at Teaism in Washington, D.C. and thought it was tasty, but nothing to write home about. This all changed in recent days.
Just to clarify, seitan is a meat replacement made from gluten protein extracted from wheat. It has been used for centuries in Asia and is sometimes referred to as "mock-duck" or "wheat meat." However, both of these names disgust me, so I will continue to use "seitan."
It all started when I went to Local 44 for a beer last week. I got the Allagash tripel and it was delicious, but in the spirit of tripels it had a high alcohol content and I realized that it would be best if I ordered dinner immediately. So, I ordered the seitan reuben and IT WAS DELICIOUS.
My mind had been blown by that sandwich, and I knew that seitan needed to become a staple in my diet. Then, the next day on the local morning news show two chefs from the Horizons vegan restaurant were demonstrating how to make Vegan Korean Seitan Tacos. I knew that these tacos were part of my destiny. So after going to four grocery stores, making seitan from scratch, and toiling over the stove, this is what I came up with:
It was actually the most delicious thing that I have ever made. This is one time you will hear me say, Hail Seitan!
Just to clarify, seitan is a meat replacement made from gluten protein extracted from wheat. It has been used for centuries in Asia and is sometimes referred to as "mock-duck" or "wheat meat." However, both of these names disgust me, so I will continue to use "seitan."
It all started when I went to Local 44 for a beer last week. I got the Allagash tripel and it was delicious, but in the spirit of tripels it had a high alcohol content and I realized that it would be best if I ordered dinner immediately. So, I ordered the seitan reuben and IT WAS DELICIOUS.
My mind had been blown by that sandwich, and I knew that seitan needed to become a staple in my diet. Then, the next day on the local morning news show two chefs from the Horizons vegan restaurant were demonstrating how to make Vegan Korean Seitan Tacos. I knew that these tacos were part of my destiny. So after going to four grocery stores, making seitan from scratch, and toiling over the stove, this is what I came up with:
It was actually the most delicious thing that I have ever made. This is one time you will hear me say, Hail Seitan!
Philly!
I moved to Philadelphia on August 9th and since then basically everything I have encountered has been amazing. Therefore, I am going to start blogging again. Also, I need to get my writing chops back up since school is about to start...
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