Hot Chocolate Wars: RIM Cafe's Volcano

I'm not a coffee drinker but do crave a hot cup of cocoa pretty much every day during the winter. Last year I did a series of posts on hot chocolate drinks around Philadelphia to share which cafes, shops and stands I prefer. This year I put out feelers on Twitter for new spots to try and several followers insisted I hit up RIM Cafe.

The counter at RIM Cafe

As a chocolate lover, I'm shocked that I'd never heard of RIM Cafe before. In my personal Hot Chocolate War, RIM is the clear winner when it comes to generating pure "oh my god" (as the owner says) hot chocolatey bliss. The French/Italian-influenced cafe at 9th and Federal is a total novelty but worth the trip for its famous Volcano and to meet the Godfather-esque character behind the counter.

RIM's Volcano hot chocolate drinks come in 12 flavors from traditional to White Raspberry, and "Spicy" to Mozzarella Marshmallow Brulee. I picked Salted Caramel (the most popular) and Bradd chose Nutty Peanut Butter. The kicker is that they run from $7 - $15. Yeah, that's ridiculous for hot chocolate but I still think its worth saving your pennies and going at least once.

Owner Rene Kobeitri encourages you to watch him "make it a-happen" - a phrase you'll hear 25+ times and see on t-shirts throughout the excessively ornate shop. Not sure what his secret is behind the counter, but once prepped he pours the hot chocolate into glasses in front of you (first pic below) and proceeds to shave chocolates, nuts and fruit on top, explaining each as he goes (second pic). Between our two drinks, he added shaved dark chocolate, white chocolate, peanuts, cashews, pistachio, papaya, cranberry and more. My Salted Caramel Volcano also came with drizzled caramel squeezed across the top before all the shavings (third pic).

Pre-Prohibition Cocktail Class at the Wine School of Philadelphia

The Wine School of Philadelphia sent us an alert recently for the debut of its wine-based cocktail class, held last Friday night. Always interested to learn about different cocktails, I jumped at the chance to check out.

Billed as the Pre-Prohibition Cocktail Class, it's objective was to take us "back to the golden era of the cocktail, before the Volstead Act… and long before vodka destroyed the martini."

The class instructor was Jason Wilson, who writes the spirits column for the Washington Post. His column has twice won an award for Best Newspaper Food Column from the Association of Food Journalists. He is also the author of Boozehound.

The class featured seven classic drinks of the era: the Duke of Marlborough, the Dunaway, Light Guard Punch, Manhattan Bianco, Red Hook, Nouveau Sangaree and Thieves’ Punch.

Before recapping the details of each drink, here are a few interesting tidbits from the class:

- A true martini uses gin and vermouth. A drink with vodka should never be called a martini.
- Vermouth could not be imported during Prohibition. This led to the rise of the dry martini as vermouth never really caught back on once Prohibition ended, which is one reason you see vermouth used less today.
- When making a cocktail use a higher proof version of the alcohol. Jason said above 90 proof is best.
- A good bartender ALWAYS measures his or her cocktails. Always.
- Pre-prohibition alcohols mainly consisted of gin, brandy and whiskey.
- Whiskey is white but the color changes almost immediately after it is put in a barrel to age. But, look for the hip trend of white whiskey to spread over the next few years.

Here are the drinks we sampled, my reactions and links to their complete recipes. I may try making a few at Thanksgiving.

Three last minute recipes for a sweet Thanksgiving

Even though I've been in Fall-mode for several weeks now, Thanksgiving has officially swooped in from nowhere for me this year. You too?

If you're in a pinch to come up with seasonal recipes for Thanksgiving weekend, here are a few ideas. I made all of them for a lovely little ladies' brunch in October but each is perfectly appropriate for the beginning of holiday season. And trust me - I'm no expert cook (I leave that to Bradd) so if these were easy enough for me, you can definitely make them too!

Buttermilk-Glazed, Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
I spotted this Cheeky Kitchen recipe in a Philly Mag newsletter back in September. They are a great alternative to traditional pumpkin bread or muffins and healthier than fried donuts, even with the delicious buttermilk glaze. You can get the full recipe on Cheeky Kitchen BUT I have to share a few tips and critical alterations to the recipe.

A long overdue dinner at Meritage

It's funny how really good restaurants can sit practically at your doorstep yet you take $10 cab rides to eat halfway across town instead. Meritage is the one in our Philadelphia neighborhood that we've passed 100 times but never felt compelled to go in.

On a whim one recent Friday night, we finally took the plunge. I'd been calling around to a variety of restaurants repeating, "what's the wait for two?" when finally a Meritage hostess said she had an open high top in the bar area. I responded that we would be there in just a few minutes and then arrived to a pleasant surprise that the hostess actually put a reserved sign on the table for us. Brownie points! 

The menu at Meritage is a nice mix of snacks, small plates and entrees. I think it would be fun to go back and just sit at the cozy bar with wine while picking at the snacks. This time we only got the braised kobe meatballs, which were decent, but I'd like to try the crispy calamari in Korean chili sauce; goat cheese, spinach and chicken confit strudel; or the pork and shitake dumplings next time. Each ranges from $4 - $8. 

Off the small plate menu, we shared the octopus sautéed with crispy chickpeas, tapenade, tomato confit

and preserved Meyer lemon for $12. The octopus was cooked just right though mixing each bite with a little tomato and tapenade made this the highlight for me. The chickpeas were also fun to munch on. I overheard others at the bar raving about the butternut squash and apple soup, which I assume is seasonal and sounds ideal for a cold Fall night.

Roasted Duck Breast in plum wine sauce

As entrees, Bradd got grilled hanger steak with new potato croquettes and sautéed garlic string beans. I opted for the roasted duck breast in a plum wine sauce. Both come sliced thin and easy to share. Bradd thought the steak had just the right amount of sauce to complement a quality cut of meat. My duck was not the same entree that's on Meritage's website menu right now but it was quite tasty. Even if you aren't into pink, you'll gobble up every last medium rare slice and drop of the accompanying red wine sauce. The sweet potato puree on the side was so-so. I tend to only like sweet potatoes when they are fried so just my preference. I would rather have had Bradd's yummy garlic green beans.

A visit to COOK for Massimo Bruno's Italian Supper Club

COOK has become a bit of a sensation in Philadelphia since its opening in September. We walk by on a regular basis wondering what it's really like inside, and if the price is worth the chance to have an intimate food experience with such big names as Georges Perrier, Michael Solomonov or Sal Vetri (Marc's dad).

Lucky for us, we got to check out COOK through a complimentary invite to a private event hosted by Mavea. Mavea recruited Toronto culinary guru Massimo Bruno to host one of his infamous Italian Supper Clubs in Philly, where he cooks and shares a meal with attendees. Each of his Supper Clubs focuses on one of the 20 regions in Italy. He chose his hometown of Puglia, Italy for this night.

I’ll freely admit I was skeptical about 16-seat COOK, thinking the concept is good in theory but wouldn’t live up to the price (classes range from $65 to $165/person).


However, the opportunity to ask questions and get to know the chef is enlightening. It’s not something we would attend regularly, but if you are planning a special occasion and looking for a unique experience, it is a home run. We highly encourage you to be selective about the event you choose because the host and the topic will make a huge difference. The evening with Massimo could have easily run $100/person, which we would have been ok with paying for an anniversary dinner, birthday or some other special night out.