Year in Review: Top Posts of 2011

It's recap time! 2011 was a huge year for 22nd & Philly, with our readership increasing as well as our Twitter/Facebook following. Thank you to all our visitors, commenters and fellow foodie pals for keeping this blog on its toes. We cherished the opportunity to get to know you better, both in person and online. Looking forward to more foodie adventures in 2012!

Here are our top seven posts for 2011 based on pageviews:

Guapos Tacos Truck

Guapos Tacos Food Truck: Bringing Jose Garces to the People: Garces' traveling tacos exemplified the burgeoning popularity of food trucks in Philly. Chasing down Guapos Tacos in its opening nights was one of our most exciting food adventures of the year.

Review of Pamcakes, a Philly cupcakery: One mention of Pamcakes in an earlier post and the crowd went wild. When we had to the chance to give it a try, Pam's delightful desserts did not disappoint.

2011 Philly Beer Week Cheat Sheet: There are hundreds of events scheduled for Philadelphia's annual Beer Week. We wanted to help readers by picking out a handful to attend. From the Philadelphia Cheese Experiment to hot dog pairings at Doobie's, this year's Beer Week was chock full of fun. Can't wait for June 1-10, 2012 when Beer Week returns.

Manakeesh: Best Baklava in Philly? Wow. Who knew Philadelphians took their baklava so seriously? Check out the comments section for the all-out war that ensued over who serves the best baklava, the treat's cultural origins and more.

2nd Annual Best of Philly To-Do List: Philadelphia Magazine's "Best of Philly" list each August provides a great starting point for new foodie outings. So far we've checked off Monsu, Pizzeria Stella, Beck's Cajun Cafe, Blackfish and Khyber Pass Pub. Reviews to come and more to try in the next six months.

Taconelli's Signature Pizza

Ten Things You Need to Know about Tacconelli's Pizzeria: Also an instigator for quite the discussion on who serves the best pizza in town, our advice on how to approach the non-traditional ways of Tacconelli's struck a chord with many readers. We welcome all suggestions on other pizza to try, but we still love our Tacconelli's :-).

Stephen Starr Goes Gastro: Dandelion: 2011 was another big year for the venerable Stephen Starr with Frankford Hall, Il Pittore, Talula's Garden, Route 6 and of course, Dandelion. Like most Starr openings, Dandelion generated a ton of buzz and lived up to the hype, though we still favor Pub & Kitchen as our go-to gastropub.

Wishing you a happy and healthy new year!

Hot Chocolate Wars: Good Karma and Ants Pants Cafe

You win some, you lose some, right? To me, hot chocolate either falls somewhere on the scale of good-to-great, or it is just really bad. I've written about a bunch of spots that I like around Philadelphia for this "Hot Chocolate Wars" series, but here are two places you are better off drinking something else.

Ants Pants hot chocolate

I am a big fan of Australian-themed Ants Pants Cafe at 22nd & South for its bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwiches. The sweet potato fries - which come with sour cream and a sweet chili sauce for dipping - and the hand-cut potato chip fries are also awesome. But when I ordered a hot chocolate recently, I was quite disappointed. It was totally watered down and, even worse, served in a hard plastic water cup that retained absolutely zero heat. If you've had better there, let me know because hopefully my experience wasn't the norm. Otherwise, lesson learned. I'll stick to tea and OJ with my breakfast sammie.


Good Karma Cafe at 22nd & Pine is always packed with studious-looking twenty somethings and has a good reputation as an ecologically and socially responsible business. It's also dog friendly and has a handful of outside seats for nicer weather. Bradd says the coffee is fine and I have personally enjoyed the muffins. Unfortunately I've tried the hot chocolate a couple times and it just doesn't measure up. Also watered down, it's neither hot nor chocolaty. Mixing it doesn't help either. Bummer for non-coffee drinkers because the cafe is so convenient to anyone in the Fitler Square and Graduate Hospital area.

Sandwich Quest: Govinda’s Vegetarian Chicken Cheesesteak

Vegetarian food has intrigued me in recent months. The interest mainly lies in expanding my cooking abilities by learning other techniques and recipes. What better way to learn which vegetarian food I like than by sampling some on Sandwich Quest.

Counter at Govinda's

So far, the only vegetarian fare on Sandwich Quest has been the falafel from Magic Carpet. This is not a real test of vegetarian food from my perspective. Give me the “chicken” and “steak” concoctions.

In the comment section of the first post about Sandwich Quest, reader Kristen said we had to try the “chicken cheeseteak" at Govinda’s Gourmet Vegetarian at South and Broad. You got it, Kristen.

This non-vegetarian was very disappointed. The consistency was fine, the bread was great, but the sandwich lacked all flavor. My food endorphins were nowhere to be found.

Guest Post: Tips to conquer your first Turducken

Serving a Turducken at your holiday feast this year? Our ever-witty friend Tim shares his first Turducken experience in this entertaining guest post. Pick up some pointers for ensuring your own chicken/duck/turkey mashup makes it to the Christmas dinner table on time, after fun-filled day of team cooking, and in a way that would make John Madden proud.

Turducken: It's What's for Dinner 
by Timothy Rapp

To make a Turducken is to scoff at Mother Nature. It is to snicker up toward the gods and say, “One of your measly little birds cannot satisfy the feast that I require. Nay, I shall slay three winged creatures—a chicken, a duck and a turkey—and I shall eat heartily as is my wont.” Remember your priorities, of course. Thanksgiving isn’t just about pigging out. It’s also about giving thanks for your blessings and loved ones and all that good stuff.  But make sure to do that quickly so you don’t delay the lusty eating for too long.

Turducken (photo courtesy Boston.com)

Now, I’m no expert cook and I’m not going to act like one. I am but a mere man who attempted to make a Turducken and lived to tell the tale. I’ll save the techniques and pairing options for the Food Network or your favorite food blogger.

Rather, the following is an outline of the basic steps needed to create a Turducken along with some advice (read: an account of the dumb things I did you’ll want to avoid repeating) should you decide to travel down this delicious path of poultry.

Three Birds are Better than One

Your first priority is to obtain the three birds required to create your Turducken. I recommend a three-pound chicken that will be stuffed into a six-pound duck that will be stuffed into a 16-pound turkey. And all three need to be deboned.

This next part is vital: Do not assume that the deboning process is a simple one.

It isn’t.

Neighborhood thai at Sawatdee

We were sitting out on our stoops one Saturday night chatting with neighbors when Bradd suggested we try the area's new thai BYOB, Sawatdee. Our party of five rolled down to 15th and South with a handful of beers and no reservation but the staff at Sawatdee didn't think twice about shifting some tables around to accommodate us.

Sawatdee turned Pico de Gallo's old corner spot into a little neon green haven of good food for low prices. In addition to dinner, they have a three-course lunch special for $9.95 and offer take-out. I recommend a reservation for dinner because it always looks packed when we walk by. It's probably not big enough for a large group, but is a fun spot for a party of 4-6 friends.

Shrimp Pad Thai

The appetizers we started with were all very satisfying: Ka-Nom-Jeep (chicken and shrimp dumplings), Por-Piah-Sod (spring roll with crabmeat, sausage and a lot of other stuff) and Satay-Gai (grilled marinated coconut curry chicken with peanut sauce). The dumplings were my favorite of the three - nice and light, not rubbery. While chicken satay always seems a little boring to me at parties, Sawatdee's peanut sauce was such a big hit at the table, I think some spring rolls ended up dipped in it, too.

I tend not to get very adventurous with thai food, mostly because I just love shrimp pad thai. Sawatdee delivered a solid rendition of the traditional dish (listed as Pad-Thai-Gung on their menu) so I cleared my plate and left happy.

Hot Chocolate Wars: Cafe Lutecia and Milkboy Philly

My ongoing taste test of hot chocolate throughout Philadelphia brought me to two new spots recently: Cafe Lutecia and Milkboy Philly.

Milkboy and Cafe Lutecia's hot chocolates both offer pleasing flavor - not over chocolatey or too thick to drink. Neither was lukewarm (my pet peeve with cafes) but both were still not quite hot enough for me. They are a fraction of the price of novelty shop RIM Cafe, but I would just ask the waiter to make sure your drink is nice and hot. And skip the whipped cream because I'm convinced that lowers the temperature. Plus, who needs those calories?

At Milkboy, I also recommend picking at the giant bowl of mixed spiced nuts for just a few dollars while you sit at their coffee/alcohol bar. Can't comment on the rest of their food because I haven't had it yet, but I like the overall chill vibe of the cafe/bar/music joint. Here's Midtown Lunch's review of other Milkboy food menu items.

Milkboy is located at 11th and Chestnut, so it's an easy place to stop in for a drink or a bite at any time of day. It's probably one of the few spots you can get a hot chocolate while your friend or significant other gets a beer.

Hot chocolate at Milkboy

Spiced Nuts at Milkboy

Coffee and cocoa at Cafe Lutecia

Cafe Lutecia is a cute little french cafe at 23rd and Lombard. It's frequently packed inside and out during brunch/lunch. It's not open in the evenings. I always assumed the crowd was neighborhood folks, but have heard recently of people who come in regularly from the 'burbs just for the food. We enjoy their soups and quiches (three specials per day!). It's also a good place to swing in and pick up a bagel or fresh croissant on your way to work, catch up on the latest French magazine or momentarily transport yourself to Paris when regulars strike up a conversation en Francais.

If you want to get out of your neighborhood for a bit, Cafe Lutecia is worth a bike ride or long walk, both for its food/drinks and a stroll around the quaint Fitler Square.
 
Where else should I try the hot chocolate this winter? (I know, I know, Golasa is on my list...)

Sandwich Quest: Schlesinger's Delicatessen

A few weeks ago we were in need of a really quick dinner before checking out Rock of Ages at The Merriam Theater (phenomenal show, especially if you are sucker for 80s rock like myself). We stumbled upon Schlesinger's, a Jewish delicatessen at 17th and Locust. It's made a good addition to our Sandwich Quest too.

Look at that beef.

Locals might be more familiar with its old name, the Kibitz Room. We used to get menus weekly for the Kibitz Room but never made it over there for sandwiches. Schlesinger's is the same location with a different owner. If you're familiar with Hymie's on the Main Line in Merion, Schlesinger's is managed by the same owner, Louis Barson.

Our waiter Justin said the most popular sandwich is the "Mr. Schlesinger," with corned beef, coleslaw and Russian dressing on rye. I thought it was good - the corned beef was sliced thinner than at other places I've been. Justin said this is done on purpose to add more flavor and prevent it from drying out. It also was not the gigantic sandwich you see at many other Jewish delis such as the Famous 4th Street.

Hershel's corned beef at Reading Terminal Market is tastier and packs in more flavor, but their hours are limited and its often crowded, so you have a few factors to consider when deciding where to go.