VittlesVamp

So Nice, I Ate There Twice

Over the past several weeks, I have been spending time in Philadelphia. For the most part, food and drink have been low on the priority list when I hit the City of Brotherly Love. Juggling family chaos and work has been the priority. There has been an exception though. Well, two. The same exception made twice - at a new South Philadelphia restaurant called River Twice.

The dining room is a low-key affair with a modern design sensibility and a bit of Japanese flair. Members of the kitchen staff are on full display in an open kitchen - including James Beard-nominated Chef/Owner Randy Rucker - and all are gregarious, food-lovin', attentive gents. The food? Freakin' amazeballs!

Case in point: A humdinger of a bone-in strip steak, aged enough to give it a marvelous edge of funk and cooked to a perfect deep ruby medium-rare. It didn't need the homemade steak sauce that accompanied it, but who am I to tell anyone not to gild the lily? And, the glazed brassicas hearts alongside were unlike any other green that I've had before. I don't know what those boys put in the butter to create the "glaze," but I am thinking some form of umami black magic might be involved.

So impressed was I by that meal, that I felt inspired to return days later for brunch with Mama Vamp in tow.

Just take a look at how brunch started...

Yeah. With a Duxbury oyster the size of my head. Seriously. It was roasted and topped with uni butter and pickled mustard seeds. It totally did not suck. In fact, it was kinda genius. (Thanks for making this beauty for me, Chef de Partie James!)

And, then there was the off-menu - because I was trying keto this month and Chef Rucker took pity on me - brunch main dish that came my way...

Yup. Not the least bit special. Not the least bit OH MY FREAKIN' GOD THIS IS GOOD!

Heck, even Mama Vamp approved of River Twice and tough customers don't get much tougher than my mom.

So, in other words, if you are in Philadelphia or are in close proximity - or have an excuse to haul ass to Philadelphia - I strongly recommend you do so and pay call on River Twice before they get reviewed and you can't get in the door.

The South on a Plate

For some it is Pimento Cheese. For others it is Boiled Peanuts. And, then there are those that are partial to Fried Green Tomatoes.

All of those make for fine eats, but none of them can hold a candle to an expertly-cooked dish of Shrimp n' Grits. Mind you, we're talking "expertly-cooked," like the specimen above from Charleston's Marina Variety Store Restaurant - where Sweet Tea comes in giant plastic cups and Bloody Mary's come with a thick slab of bacon, just because.

Have yet to have great Shrimp n' Grits in New York City. And, that's a shame. Open to suggestions, if you have any that you want to send my way.

Foods of Summer

Is summer really summer if you didn't eat a Lobster Roll? I say no. This one is from Pilot, a lovely docked sailboat that serves as a restaurant and bar in Brooklyn Bridge Park. It was summer outfitted in a buttered roll.

If a bright yellow cob of sweet corn had been served alongside and ice cold slices of watermelon had been on deck for for dessert, it would have been summer trifecta bliss.

Those are my big three for summer. Toss in some gorgeous tomatoes and a nectarine or two for extra credit and I'm swooning.

What are your flavors of summer?

Fried Chicken Mania - A Trend I Can Get Behind

Fried chicken has finally done it. It's not only turned Rob Lowe and Reba McIntyre into Colonel Sanders, but it has become a go-to main dish item on fancy restaurant menus - and we are not just talking about in the South.

Case in point, consuming a platter of "everything lickin' good" fried chicken at Chef Thomas Keller's Napa restaurant Ad Hoc. Take a look at that platter of deep fried, poultry deliciousness above. Tell me you wouldn't forgo some foie gras for a serious taste of that!

The East coast is smitten as well. I was picking nubbins of crust off of the table after ravaging this beauty at Brooklyn's Freeks Mill...

Oh, then there is Korean fried chicken - a category all its own. In fact, it seems that the Korean fried chicken-chain Bonchon is nipping at KFC's heels - or, ahem, wings as it were.

Note to self: Must get to Atoboy in Manhattan before the summer is over.

Open to other fried chicken must-do suggestions too! Where do you go for your fave fried chicken fix?

Getting My Veg On

There is no question that I like meat. Meat and fish both. Cannot visualize going vegetarian, but I have been seeing more and more vegetarian options on restaurant menus - and have found myself intrigued.

Cauliflower steaks galore, people!

In truth, cauliflower has been a bit overplayed. But, there are other vegetables that are calling to me these days...Above are some gorgeous blistered green snap peas with Aleppo oil and crispy pita from Brooklyn's Celestine, and below are some of the kitchen's beautiful roasted baby carrots with crushed cashews...

Now, these are vegetarian mains I can get behind!

So, share vegetarian recipes if you've got 'em. No mock duck or mock anything though. If I want meat, I'll have it. If I do go veg, it is because I want the veggies out, loud and proud. Bring out the best in a beet or the finest in fennel, and you got me! Dare I say it? Produce pride!

Changing My Mind

In my last post I admitted that I am a planner. What I didn't mention was that I sometimes plan going out to a restaurant down to what I want to order off the menu. More often than not, that's because I'd read stories about a particular dish that got my mouth watering.

For example, it was New York Magazine that got me to visit Carroll Garden's Madcap Cafe for brunch a couple weeks back. They had waxed poetic about the spot's breakfast sandwich, describing it as "perfectly scrambled cheesy eggs and thick-cut bacon topped with a sprinkle of chives and rolled up in a slightly flaky homemade flatbread." I wanted it. I wanted it bad.

And, yet, confronted with the brunch menu, I went another way. I ordered the kitchen's take on Huevos Rancheros (pictured above), and have to say that I don't regret the choice. Moreover, I went back for dinner the next week and was dead-set on getting one of the restaurant's flatbread sandwiches for my evening repast - but then ended up opting for the Five-Spiced Duck Fried Rice. Once again, not disappointed in the least.

Will I ever get that mythical BEC at Madcap? Probably. Someday. And, if I pay heed to my last post about going "reservation-free," it'll be when I least suspect it.

Walk Right In

I'm a planner. A serious planner. I book flights months in advance. Same goes for dinner reservations, when possible. So, the evenings where spontaneity pays off are a special treat.

Case in point: This past Thursday, sashaying up to the host at Olmsted, the James Beard Award-winning hot spot in Prospect Heights, and being told we could have seats at the bar in 15 minutes. Would we care to take a seat in their drop-dead gorgeous garden and grab a cocktail while we waited? Um, YES! Thank you!

It was a marvelous meal, made all the more marvelous by it all being happenstance. (The fact that it was a perfect spring evening didn't hurt, either!)

I've had similar luck at notoriously hard-to-get-into restaurants like Oxomoco and Sofreh too.

It makes me wonder if I should abandon the notion of advance planning altogether. But, truth is, I don't think I can let go of my natural instincts to schedule in advance. Still, it might be worthwhile for me to remember the joys of winging it and leave a little more room for surprise.

Shrimp & Eggs: Odd Couple or Super Couple?

Eggs and bacon seem a natural combination. Same goes with eggs and ham. But, eggs and shrimp? Not so much. Well, maybe "shrimp and grits" with a poached egg perched on top. But just shrimp and eggs?

Apparently, though, shrimp and eggs are a thing. A really delicious thing. I first encountered their coupling in Manhattan's Chinatown at Wu's Wonton King with a Chinese take that combines soft scrambled eggs with succulent baby shrimp. Then, I ran into the twosome over brunch at Brooklyn's Spanish hot spot La Vara. Pictured above, this dish of Revuletos de Gambas con Ajetas was a showstopper. Eggs with chunks of shrimp and a shower of flowering chives.

Clearly, I need to introduce this couple to my kitchen at home. Question is whether or not I go Asian or European.

Thoughts?

My Lunch at Prado

It is the day for turkey, cranberries, and stuffing. But, I'm here to talk anything but turkey. I'm here to talk about my trip to Prado. Not "the Prado" in Madrid - Prado, a gorgeous restaurant in Lisbon's Baixa district that offered up art of another sort, the culinary sort.

It all started with an innocent order of bread...

Quite sinful to say the least. Dark, musky wheat bread from Gleba, a local bakery, served with a bowl of fresh goats butter sprinkled with smoked salt and sea lettuce, as well as a bowl of sweet, whipped Iberico pork fat, topped with toasted garlic and crushed bay leaf.

Who could imagine that this sort of decadence could be topped by a plate of humble mushrooms?

No need for a humblebrag here. Bathed in a smoked pepper sauce and graced with a handful of toasted barley, this dish was rich, bright, soft, and crunchy all at once.

So, why was I surprised that the Iberico pork tenderloin with shiitake mushrooms also had me moaning at first bite...

I used my spoon to slurp the juices that settled to the bottom of the dish. And, then another spoon arrived for dessert...

Believe it or not, this is a bowl of smoked milk ice cream. That's right. Smoked milk. It is drizzled with fig leaf oil. A few paper-thin slivers of pear adorned the bowl as well.

Tastebuds whirling. Mind blown.

I know I have said that I don't care for precious food, but this isn't precious cooking. The photos and descriptors might make you think it belongs in that category, but I say "no."

Prado is simply full-tilt. And, I will be visiting again, the next time I am in Lisbon. (There will be a next time!)

Stick Fix

Everything tastes better on a stick. At least that's what the internet would have you believe.

Well, one trip to Nargis in Park Slope and I became a believer. This skewer-centric hot spot served up meat aplenty -- a seemingly endless supply of meaty kebabs topped with slender rings of white onion. The kebab is to Uzbek cuisine what yakitori is to Japanese fare: awesome meat conveyed on a stick. But when it comes to Uzbek kebab think lamb instead of chicken. Mind you, the standard white meat chicken kebab was offered, but so was a skewer of chicken hearts, and so was minced lulya, and so was veal liver.

I could get used to men bringing me meat on sticks. It reminds me a bit of a long ago trip to a Brazilian-style rodizio. And, word from across the pond is that sticks are the new bowls.

So, expect me to head home soon, toss out my bowls and gather up some sticks for my next dinner party. Or maybe I'll just invite my guests to meet (meat) me at Nargis.