Top Ten Posts of 2010

In the spirit of New Year’s Eve, 22nd & Philly is taking a look back at all our restaurant visits, food experiences and other Philly explorations during 2010.  It was a banner year, as we tried more new restaurants than ever before, while also taking on some new endeavors such as the Three Sheets tour, being foodies in Spain and the Summer of Kristy.

Most exciting, we have seen a significant increase in traffic on this blog.  This gives us much anticipation heading into 2011 and we have plans to bring you even more reviews and new features on the blog. Stay tuned.

For  now, let’s look back at 22nd & Philly’s top 10 posts from 2010 (based on page views).

#1. Best of Philly To-Do List... and Yogorino.
Philadelphia Magazine issues a Best of Philly list each year, so we picked off a handful of winners that we wanted to try first, such as Yogorino. Thanks in large part to Twitter, this post drew several hundred visits. We’re still making our way through our short list…

#2.  First Visit to PPL Park for Union Game.
We can thank the power of Google for interest in this post since several searches show it on the first page of results (e.g. “parking at union game”). We should also give ourselves some credit for a good content idea, as people often have questions about parking, atmosphere and the Union and they can find it all in this post.

#3. Q&A with a Philly Beekeeper.
One of the more fulfilling posts of the year for me, I realized many people didn’t even know urban beekeeping existed let alone how popular it is.  Thanks again to Adam Schreiber of For the Time Beeing for participating.

#4. What I Did This Summer.
A recap of Kristy’s legendary Summer of Kristy.  Who would have thought one could accomplish so much in the death march to turning 30 and learn in the process that life is not about age milestones, but the experiences, friends, family and overall good times that life brings us.  As Ferris Bueller famously said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”  That’s the Summer of Kristy in a nutshell.

#5.  Photos: A Night Out in Chinatown.
Pictures, pictures, pictures.  Readers love pictures.

#6. Your Dose of Food Links.
A surprise top ten selection.  Apparently people are interested in learning how to open a wine bottle with their shoe. Or learning how to reduce food waste, understanding the Philly blogging wars and grilling corn indoors.

#7. Review of Brauhaus Schmitz.
Another surprise since we thought this place was average, albeit with potential.  It showcases the power of Urban Spoon and Yelp as many of our visitors found this post through those sites.

#8 Hot Chocolate Wars.  .
Just posted in December, this one grabbed more than 100 viewers right away.  With more time, this would likely be a top five post.  People love their hot chocolate!

#9. Three Sheets 22nd & Philly Style.
One of our biggest Philly adventures of year.  Zane Lamprey would be proud of our Three Sheets tour.  We certainly enjoyed the good times and joy of visiting some interesting places such as the Yard’s Brewery.  It was one of the first posts where we utilized video and pictures.

#10. Barbuzzo!
Another December post cracking the top ten, which speaks to the popularity of the new restaurant.

There you have it.  The top ten posts of the year.  What were your highlights of 2010?

Photos: Killer Sunset at R2L

For the past few years, Bradd and I have held a tradition of going on what you might call a "Christmas date" just before the holidays. Amid all the parties, family obligations, shopping and inevitable craziness at work, its a nice chance to spent some QT together and explore something new in Philadelphia.

This year, we checked out the Academy of Natural Sciences and then planned to dine at Tinto. With some time to kill before the 6pm reservation, we went to see the Comcast Center's digital holiday show thing (disappointing, it was the exact same as last year, minus the 3D) and then tried R2L for happy hour.

It was conveniently also sunset when we got to R2L, and being on the 37th floor of Liberty Two the view was a-w-e-s-o-m-e. Here are some pics I took! Oh and the happy hour prices are great too - $6 special cocktails, wines and bar snacks, plus you can feel super swanky and eavesdrop on the rich people next to you at the bar. Try the Crisp Cheese Risotto, which were equally as awesome as the sunset.

Hot Chocolate Wars

I'm not the biggest fan of winter (aka being cold), but one thing I do look forward to each year is consuming an excessive amount of hot chocolate. I don't drink coffee and tea is nice at times, but a good cup of hot chocolate can warm up any frigid day.

Of course, no two kinds of hot chocolate are ever the same. And thus we have: Hot Chocolate Wars. How would you judge all the options out there? Here are my thoughts on the four brands I've had recently:

Starbucks. Sometime in 1998, Starbucks appeared on the corner of Main Street and Diamond Spring Road in Denville, NJ, and it changed my life. I wasn't into the high school party scene and the diner was starting to get old. Starbucks became my haven. It was my second date with my first boyfriend (first date was Titanic and Taco Bell. Oh yeah.), the setting for many nights of girl talk, and the perfect spot for catching up with old friends during college breaks.

Since I don't drink coffee, hot chocolate was my go-to drink during all seasons, so I developed quite an affinity for the Starbucks brand over the years. Eventually I added the caramel syrup, which was a nice touch, and then moved on to mint. But then I discovered the peppermint syrup one Christmas. Now, every year I yearn for that first cup of Starbucks Peppermint Hot Chocolate and usually hold out until my first day of Christmas shopping in the city. Even today I still think Starbucks hot chocolate is the best of the gourmet options, and surprisingly at $2.85 for a "tall" its not the most expensive. Some of the shops themselves have expanded a little too much, but at many you can still find a cozy corner to snuggle up and read a book or catch up with a friend.

Seattle's Best. A new Seattle's Best was put up across the street from my office this summer, but as a non-iced coffee drinker I haven't made it over there many times yet. Finally, just this week I stopped in to try their peppermint hot chocolate, curious how it compares to Starbucks. For a hefty $3.25 I got a medium (they don't use fancy names for sizes).

On its own, I suppose the hot chocolate is decent, but their peppermint syrup was far too sweet for my taste. It also wasn't very hot (a common problem with coffee shops) and the people at this Seattle's Best always seem a little confused. I wouldn't go back for the hot chocolate, especially at that price.

Good ol' Swiss Miss. I grew up drinking Nesquik (which I swear I used to call it Nestle's Quik, did they change the name?) - you know, the kind you make with milk? So I was never really exposed to Swiss Miss until college, or perhaps even the workplace kitchen. I vaguely remember my mother saying she despised water-based hot chocolate so it was banned from the house. One thing about Swiss Miss is that every cup is pretty much the same. I've never had a bad packet. It's a solid option for daily consumption of hot chocolate, as long as you discover your preferred ratio of water to Swiss Miss mix.

My only beef with Swiss Miss concerns the marshmallow version. It's a fun alternative in theory, but the miniscule marshmallows melt as soon as they hit the hot water so you never really get to enjoy them. Best part? At most places you find Swiss Miss (the office, hotel continental breakfast bars, etc.), it's free!

Pods. We also have one of those Keurig coffee machines at home that takes pods. I got a box of the "Chocolat Chaud" pods from Green Mountain ($30 on Amazon for 24 pods, so its works out to be cheap) and they are alright, but my advice for Keurig users is to use a regular size mug, but hit the button for extra tall mug, otherwise the result will be too thick. At least it's super hot - much hotter than any coffee shop.

I'm sure I'll try more options over this winter, but these are the four at my greatest convenience. Cheers to a long and absurdly freezing winter.

Tapac 24: Barcelona

In early October 22nd & Philly went to Spain to visit Madrid and Barcelona. This is the first of several short posts on some places we visited. First up, Tapac 24, a popular restaurant in the Passeig de Gracia section of Barcelona. This was one of the best restaurants we visited (maybe the best).

Tapac 24 is the newest project from famous chef Charles Abellan, who trained under Adria Ferran of El Bulli, the #1 restaurant in the world. Tapac 24 is part of the gastronomic food movement.

Tapac 24 is a tapas bar so you are able to try a variety of things on the menu without being stuffed from one.  In true 22nd & Philly style we tried as much as our stomachs and wallets could handle.  The waitress spoke English very well and helped us pick what to order. Never hesitate to ask for help in Spain - the people are very nice and happy to help.

We had patatas bravas (spicy fried potatoes), ham and cheese, chicken wings, and truita de tempo (omelette with potato, onion and chorizo).  All were amazing.  The highlights were the ham and cheese and the truita de tempo.  I would eat either all day.  The patatas bravas were the best we had in Spain, and we certainly ate a lot of it!

For dessert, we went with a sampling of ice creams.  We would pass on it next time and order the xocolata, or chocolate dessert, instead, which looked amazing on the plate of the guy next to us.

Perhaps the best thing about our Tapac 24 experience was that we were lucky enough to get a seat right near the cooks. It's an open restaurant, so we could watch them in the kitchen preparing the food. We believe Chef Abellan was right in front of us cooking the entire time.

It is also a small place with no reservations. It was packed on a Wednesday night, but the wait goes fast.  It may also seem like the host forgets about you (he sure as heck never took down a single name, and was waiting on tables at the same time) but don't worry, he'll make sure you get a seat as soon as one opens up. You should also know that you can smoke in the restaurant so be prepared for a smoker sitting next to you.

We highly recommend visiting Tapac 24 if visiting Barcelona.

Here are some photos (Note: don't hit the Play arrow in the middle, hit the one along the bottom of the box. That way it will play inside this post instead of send you to another webpage.)

Disappointment on Percy Street

Readers of 22nd & Philly know one of our favorite places is Zahav.  Therefore, excitement filled the air when we heard the owner Michael Solomonov opened a BBQ joint called Percy Street in November of 2009. It took us way too long to go and the anticipation was high since several friends raved about it. Unfortunately, that was the peak of our Percy Street experience.

We heard good things about the cocktails so even though I was in the mood for beer I got the FM 423 (tito's vodka, peach juice and sweet tea). For 9 bucks is was not worth the price. I would like to try the Hillbilly gatorade for kicks (high life, pickle juice and BBQ sauce). Wonder what it tastes like?

For apps, we had the mac & cheese and the jalapeño corn bread. The mac & cheese was delicious. Crusty, hot and just the right amount of cheese. One of the few things on the menu worth the price.  While, I liked the kick of the corn bread it should be provided complimentary not for $5. Online I saw smoked chicken wings on the menu, but they were not on the actual menu. Too bad since I was looking forward to trying (the dry rub wings at Devil's Alley are awesome FYI).

Up to this point, Percy Street was doing ok. Unfortunately, the main course of BBQ was up next and the disappoint commenced.  

Between the two of us, we were able to try the brisket, pulled pork and pork spare ribs. I ordered 1/4 lb of brisket and pulled pork (+ two sides for $18), while Kristy only ordered the spare ribs ($13). I felt the prices were high for the serving sizes. The biggest disappointment was the actually meat. It was dry and not enough flavor. The brisket was actually good, while the pulled pork was normal and certainly nothing to brag about. The spare ribs were simply not good for any BBQ place. Dry and not enough meat. Not good. 

Percy Street has three BBQ sauces (hot, sweet, normal) and comes on the side not on the meat.  I like hot sauce, but it was a bit much for me especially for BBQ. The heat overwhelmed the flavor and took away from the flavor of the meat. Sweet and normal were ok sauces and not of the quality of place aiming to be a top-notch BBQ place.  

The sides we had were pinto beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. I enjoyed the pinto beans, but the carrots were underwhelming. The sweet potatoes with marshmallows were interesting to see on display, but not as good to eat.

We skipped dessert so no verdict.  The layout of Percy Street is  a bit too airy for me. We were got by the door and it felt lonely. When I think of BBQ I think of atmosphere and it was lacking at Percy Street.

For a much hyped BBQ place Percy Street does not live up to the billing. Prices are high for both the quality and the serving size. Maybe we just visited on bad night. We hope so.  

The good news. Maybe the owners know they have a gem in Zahav and are still spending all their time keeping it a gem. It's a trade-off that works for me.