Midtown Lunch

Next Friday, April 8th will be the Philly Showcase of Wine & Cheese  at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. This fun, upscale evening features hundreds of wines, cheeses, and specialty foods along with live entertainment and an enticing silent auction. Proceeds from the evening will benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia, an awesome nonprofit that I am sure you have heard of.  Last year over 3,000 people attended and they raised over $1.3million!

I am giving away a set of tickets. Post your favorite spot in Philly for CHEESE: restaurant or specialty shop. Mine might be Claudio’s in the Italian Market, especially when they are not too busy and can treat me to a slew of samples to help my decision.  Mancuso’s on E Passyunk is another super old school place to grab great homemade mozz and the sharpest, tongue tickling provolone.

I will pick a winner by Wednesday the 6th.

For more info on the event:

Showcase Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-philly-showcase-of-wine-cheese-tickets-20035005240

Showcase Website: http://www.bgcphila.org/news-events/philly-showcase-of-wine-cheese/

Showcase Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/452401801615430/

Vendors Include:

·         The Bacon Jams

·         Cappuccio’s Meats

·         Carlo’s Bakery

·         Conshohocken Italian Bakery

·         Herb & Lou’s Infused Cubes

·         MoJo’s Pop Co

·         Oteri’s Italian Bakery

·         Primo Water Ice

·         Procacci Brothers

·         Saint Brian’s BBQ

·         Sweet Pea Ice Cream

·         The Tubby Olive

·         Uncle Ralston’s Homestyle Cooking

Hope to see you there!

Update 4/6

I love all of your comments: Dibruno’s, Weaver’s Way, Tria, Zavino, Green Aisle, and Tallula’s are awesome are we are lucky to have such great cheese sources in Philly.

We have a winner! The random number generator has selected commenter #14:  refinnej100

Congrats! I will be reaching out to get your contact information for the tickets.

Hope the rest of ya’ll will consider buying tickets and joining me, my sister, and refinnej100 this Friday! Remember, proceeds go to a great cause and cheese is great.

Last month, Snap Custom  Pizza opened in Rittenhouse. My first thoughts were- I hate this name! It is basically the same name as another casual mini chain down the street! But then I learned that all pizzas and salads come with as many toppings as you want!!! Imagine the cheesy possibilities.

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• This Monday (3/28) at 7:30 pm at The Gershan Y: Opening Film of the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, In Search Of Israeli Cuisine.  After the talk,  Solomonov will be speaking and signing his Zahav cookbook
• City of Gold, the new film about Pulitzer Prize winning food critic Jonathan Gold opens today (3/25) at Ritz at the Bourse
• Made to order ice cream is coming to Chinatown [The Insider]

*new weekly feature for 2016: brief photo recaps + not always lunch

This week I tried out the casual Mexican spot, La Virgen de las Nieves. While I enjoyed the the tortilla making up the sope base, the carnitas topping was too fatty.

La Virgen de Las Nieves, 1839 S 8th St, 215 463-1059

Post camping trip at French Creek, we stopped at The Schnitzel House in Pottstown,  very no frills German diner. The spaetzle was too plain. The schnitzel was satisfying, though borderline burnt. The mustard stuffed housemade sausage was a winner.

The Schnitzel House, 181 W Schuylkill Rd, Pottstown,  (610) 705-8881

Closer to home and for a much later meal…

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Of all the food assets we can boast in Philly, we are truly lacking in the quality rotisserie chicken department.  To help that struggle, Sardi’s Pollo A La Brasa opened on City Ave late fall, it may be out of the way for some (it is for me), but it does sit in a convenient parking lot (thanks for driving, friends).

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• Curious about what Philly’s favorite chef eats all week? Solomonov drinks a lot of coffee and candy [Grub Street]
• Canton 11, a bubble tea, sushi, and Cantonese food court is coming to Chinatown [The Insider]
• And a block away at another forthcoming food court, signs of the first tenant; Halal Guys [Roland Bui]
• Find banh mi burgers on the menu at Pho-ladelphia [Passyunk Post]
• Check out my instagram account at 5pm today to win tickets to a screening of City of Gold on Tuesday, March 22^nd at the Ritz at the Bourse, 7:30 PM.. The film is the story of Los Angeles food critic Jonathan Gold and showcases the eclectic food scene of L.A.

*new weekly feature for 2016: brief photo recaps + not always lunch

Up by the Elkin’s Park train station sits Alexander’s Cafe, a really cute little restaurant with a mostly American food, but I stopped in because I heard about a Polish section of the menu.

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