Midtown Lunch

This week our most recently Profiled Luncher John heads down to the wildly popular Federal Donuts. I am JEALOUS!

The opening of Federal Donuts in October presented a fascinating question: What happens when successful and respected chefs and restaurant partners open up a restaurant featuring a limited menu of only fried chicken and donuts in a neighborhood that’s off the beaten path in Philadelphia? The answer, as the throngs of people who’ve visited in the past two months can attest, is that if your food is good, then people are willing to come to your restaurant regardless of what you serve and where it is. Such is the story with the newest and best reason to make a trip to Pennsport.

Chef Michael Solomonov and business partner Steve Cook are part of the team behind Federal Donuts, which was established on the observation that there weren’t too many local establishments in the city with good, fresh donuts or fried chicken. That somewhat unusual combination is not necessarily intended to be eaten together like chicken and waffles (though it can be). Instead, Federal Donuts specializes in serving hot, fresh donuts in the morning before stopping at around 11 a.m. to prepare the fryer to cook up the fried chicken.

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On Monday I had the  winning meatballs at Pastificio and I mentioned I also picked up dessert in that same shopping plaza. As a few of you guessed, it was from Termini Brothers. They have 4 locations in Philadelphia. This one was empty mid day, allowing me all the time I needed to pick my poison.

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When Cake and the Beanstalk opened last March, replacing the 2nd location of cupcake shop Flying Monkey, I had a good feeling about it. The neighborhood needed a place to get it’s morning started, and cupcakes are usually not what you want for that. The owner, Dan, is the sweetest guy and a serious baker.

The small coffee shop was updated with local art and funky furniture. You can sit in the sunroom that looks over the community garden. And when it is nice out you can sit outside on the tiny patio. The shop is normally filled with people working on their laptops while enjoying a coffee, but there is almost always a seat available. It didn’t take long after they opened for me to find my favorite thing on the menu.

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Right across from Los Taquitos de Puebla is  “El Pueblo,” a shop selling homemade Mexican Ice Cream (helado), juice (agua fresca), and popsicles (paletas). I had never even heard of this place before and the day’s heat gave me more of an excuse to pop in. I found out that El Pueblo is open open during the hotter months and will probably shut down for the season at the end of the September. Though the brightly colored paletas looked tempting, inside I zero-ed in on that ice cream.

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Starting at noon (and going until 5), there will be free ice cream at Reading Terminal to celebrate the birthday of the Cooking Channel.

This Saturday at the Piazza at Schmidts was the 1st Vendy Awards in Philadelphia, a “street food showcase and intense cook-off between the best sidewalks chefs in Philly.” Tickets were completely sold out and the vibe was sweaty but happy. I was privileged enough to  be one of the judges who sampled the  offerings of all 8 trucks and voted to pick the winner of the Vendy Cup.  While I admit that coverage of events after the fact can be lame and not helpful at all, the venders here all provided food you could normally expect at their trucks, so reading ahead will not only let you recap the event if you attended or let you live vicariously through the pictures if you missed out, it can also give you a preview of what you could get at any of these trucks on a given day.

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Chinatown has a ton of bakeries selling similar delicious baked good and drinks, plus a few with specialties like Yummy Yummy with their waffles and New Harmony with their “pop” smoothies. Cube Cafe has both, along with a menu of food that is… Pan-Asian inspired? Really though, the photo menu on the counter covers food from Vietnam, Malaysia, Korea, and China. Plus breakfast and dessert.

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