after dinner sneeze

After tasting much of Tria Fiter Square’s new medium plates menu, a and I have decided that the above is their best dish.  Yes, this puddle-of-brown was quite amazing:  black pepper tagliattelle with mushrooms.  It sounded so simple, but it was like Mercato-good, or Melograno-good, or Barbuzzo-good.  We were presently shocked by the heartiness of the sauce and to this day swear that they stuck some beef broth in there or something …  So order it, don’t look at it (it ain’t gonna win any awards for being pretty), and just eat it.

Of course, we visited Night Market on South street and dined at the best-gosh-darn food truck of the market, helmed by a childhood friend.  If you see this truck, try it out, it’s totally worth it (but be fast! he sells out!).  Maybe go there first, Weckerly’s second (trust us – best ice cream in all of night market, and located in a tiny-ass easily-overlooked cart), and then spend the rest of the time chuckling at those waiting in line for things like “pizza”.

Did you know about the Han Dynsaty in NJ?  g and I have been there several times, but without ever posting about it – we just assumed everyone knew!  Turns out, no!  So perform this weekend routine: Cross the Ben Franklin Bridge, enter Cherry Hill, drive all the way to Wineworks (stock up on wine of any price point and ask for internet pricing), and then on your way back, hit up H-mart (for kimchi and veggies), Han Dynasty, and your choice of Wegman’s or Whole Foods.  And there you go – a delightful lunch and a fridge full of groceries and wine.  Consider your weekly shopping conquered.

Denver is a weird place. I just got done visiting for the first time, and I was told “yea – the convention center has a blue bear looking in the window – you can’t miss it”.  I thought, “gee, that’s an odd descriptor – what if I miss it?”.  Yea.  Can’t miss a five-story-tall  HUGE blue bear ACTUALLY looking in the glass facade.  SO weird!

I put up this photo because this way I’ll have documentation of the hotel I stayed in for one of my nights in Denver.  While it didn’t have the biggest rooms, it had the BEST food:

… like a perfectly executed burger, from the soft bun, to the perfectly seasoned and cooked meat, to the perfect condiments and the optional lovely bitter salad …

… to an octopus salad that was 90% perfectly poached octopus (seriously – it was so much octopus that I couldn’t finish it for lunch!) …

… down to a choose-your-own cheese board with excellent selections that made it a notch below Talula’s Garden (and charcuterie that I didn’t venture – I was trying to be “healthy”) …

… and a “serious” wine list of bottles including Scholium Project, Bedrock, Kivelstadt, Matthiasson (none of which I could afford, but it was nice to know they had).  So the food and wine was so good that i actually walked back to this hotel on days I was staying in another hotel just for the food!!

and finally – I’ll end on a Philly picture.  This is a Rival Bros “breakfast”.  With our apartment just down the street, I’ve been visiting here WAY too much.  And this is why: toast.  Yes, it’s yuppie-as-hell, the idea of paying $5 for a piece of bread and some jam, and not a second goes by between swiping my credit card and waiting for the order to come up that I don’t hate myself for spending so much money on something so banal … but if you could just tastes this potato bread, in all of its golden-crusted, salt-sprinkled glory, you would immediately understand that this is no mere “toast” – this is the bread incarnate of pure bliss … sitting next to what I truly believe is Philly’s best cortado (sorry – they call it a “Deringer” – whatever).  I hate the cost, I hate the lines of yoga-pant-wearing and beard-donning locals, and I hate the limited seating … but I love the bread, the coffee, and the free wifi.  Oh … and did I mention they have Weckerly’s ice cream sandwiches?  They do …  Mind blown.  Gray matter splattered all over the wall behind me …