after dinner sneeze

I had a sad-looking burger from Good Stuff Eatery (Asian-inspired – I think there were some Vietnamese influences given the pickled carrots) – it was uninspiring, thus I was not surprised when they closed soon thereafter.

I managed to find this little treasure on FineWineGoodSpirits.com and had it sent (for free) to a local PLCB branch. It was quite good. If you’re looking for a not-so-boring-yet-not-in-your-face-Merlot with some bottle age on it, Matthiasson ’07 can do no wrong – I’d say it’s worth about 40 of the $50 they charge (probably would have been a little more exciting of a bottle a year or two back).

Who could do wrong, however, was Serpico. No – it wasn’t the food’s fault, rather, it was the service’s fault! We brought the aforementioned ’07 Matthiasson there, thinking that they were still corkage-free. The server gladly brought over glasses and poured our wine with nary a mention that they WERE charging corkage. We weren’t  told a thing until after I noticed the charge on our bill!  When I brought it up to our server, she realized that she neglected to tell us anything and went to “ask the GM about it”.  He came over, apologized that they had done away with the corkage policy some 6 months prior, and said that he COULD NOT forgive the charge just this once (even though it was his own server’s fault for not telling us about the charge!).  We have been to several restaurants with the intention of paying corkage, and they always always ALWAYS remind us at the beginning of the meal, “just so you know, there will be a corkage charge” – which we gladly accept.  But if you do not tell the diner that they are on the hook for the cost, serve them the wine, admit that you forgot to tell us about the cost, you should not charge the diner.  I’m sorry you made a mistake (#SorryNotSorry).  In any case, the food was fine at Serpico, but now there are two strikes against it – #1: no more BYO, #2: intolerable service practice.  adsz will go there no more.

We did a DiBruno After Hours Party (if you don’t know what it is, google it now), and it was FLAWLESS. Gawd. We ate so much cheese – and it wasn’t just stuff we already knew we liked (or stuff we had before) – there was new stuff!  Like this blue which is my new favorite; I’m not a fan of blues, so when I had this one which had only mild funk, but a salty minerality that was so addictive, I knew I had to buy some.

And then they paired this other blue with this chocolate bar and my face melted. I’m currently faceless. Thanks DiBruno.

We made a trip to NYC just to bid it farewell until our return to the East coast.  Brunch started off at The Smith, which had dishes as scrumptious as this – that’s a serious mashup of Florentine + Benedict + Waffle …

… and the day continued on to dinner at Freeman’s, which is one of my favorite NYC restos – it’s just too darn cute!

and the food is nothing to sneeze at either.  I have to say that it was pretty good – I think that it didn’t really hit any notes that we couldn’t find in Philly, and it was, of course, at NYC prices, but for the super-cute ambience, it was totally worth it.

g and I visited Frog and Peach, one of a and v’s favorite restos near Rutgers on our return from another NY trip. It was kind of surreal to finally be sitting in the place – the food was good (their take on a carbonara), but surely would have been made better had a and v been there.

The gang gave Bistrot La Minette another chance, and while they had me at escargot, I’m just not sure everything was drool-worthy.  Nothing made our eyes roll into the back of our heads, followed by urging others to try such-and-such dish.  Where’s the magic?

I’ll tell you where the magic is – it’s at Mercato.  It’s always at Mercato.  Frickin’ Mercato.  We show up with a bottle of Ayoub, order us up the pasta specials, and they just wreck it.  Every.  Time.  You know – I can’t even remember what we ordered, but I do vividly remember thinking, “you know, after being in Philly for 10 years, I will now put down Mercato over Melograno for BYO Italian”.  *Begin Slow Clap Here*.

Some people are crazy for FedNuts sandwiches.  I’m not sure why.  I mean, sure, it’s tasty, but it’s chicken, pickles, and some cheese.  It was reminiscent of the KFC Chicken Little sandwich, which, while being delicious circa 1980’s-90’s, really shouldn’t draw the attention that FedNuts gets for these.  Oh well.

Remember Freeman’s?  Well, one day, I snuck back to NYC and had brunch there.  And as the scent of the carrot cake pancakes you see above triggered a tidal wave of drool from my mouth, I realized that while dinner there is good, the brunch is to die for (or to kill for).  Imagine carrot cake.  But make it about 436% better.  And make it for breakfast.  Of every food in this post, this is the one dish where only expletives can fully capture how good they were.  Those f*****g pancakes were so f*****g good.  End rant.

And finally, there was a trip to Lo Spiedo that impressed drb quite a bit.  While he was disappointed in the charge for whisky, he was more than happy with the food (including a not-pictured avocado bruschetta).  The roasted fish was indeed delightful – very simple and so good.