Last Sunday was unexpectedly nice out, so Holly and I went for a walk along the Schuylkill River Trail. The trail is one of our favorite places to walk. It begins near where we live and we sometimes walk a small section of it on the way to work.
We anticipated taking a short walk but since it was so nice out, we wound up walking for nearly three hours.
We walked along the trail and then crossed part of the Spring Garden Bridge to get some nice pictures of the Philadelphia skyline.
Philadelphia Skyline
We usually walk on the east side of the trail. We knew there is a trail on the west side of the river but only realized how to cross over to it on the past walk. Taking the other side of the trail gave us a new perspective on some of our favorite views:
After walking so much, we were starving and headed to one of our local places, Grace Tavern. We have been to Grace several times to sit at the bar. They have a nice beer selection with a mix of local, other domestic and international beers. Previously, we’ve only snacked on their fries and their super delicious blackened green beans. We had heard good things about their burgers and have been wanting to try them. Coming home after a three hour walk seemed like the perfect time.
I got the South Street Burger which comes with sautéed onions, bleu cheese and a house made mayo. Holly got the Kelly Burger with bacon, cheddar and the mayo. And, of course, we couldn’t resist the beans.
South Street Burger
Kelly Burger
Blackened Green Beans
Grace Tavern has worked its way into our rotation thanks to its great beer selection and delicious pub fare. It was an excellent destination for after our long walk and a nice relaxing atmosphere for winding down the weekend.
When I lived in Philadelphia before, Ray’s Café and Tea House was a reliable go-to spot for food, tea and coffee. The food was always consistently good and simply prepared and the coffee and tea selections were always something special.
Ray’s Cafe & Tea House
Before moving to Philly, Holly and I were visiting my family here and Ray’s was high on my list of places to take her. As things worked out, we were only able to stop by for coffee, which, of course, was delicious, but it wasn’t the full experience.
For one reason or another, in the year-plus we’ve been living in Philly, we hadn’t gotten to Ray’s. That all changed during our winter break when we had the time to go to Chinatown to have lunch there. It probably had been about five years since I a meal there and I was curious to find out if it is still the awesome Taiwanese restaurant it had always been.
I’m happy to report that our recent visit lived up to my fond memories.
For lunch, we ordered two of my favorite dishes: the leeks boxes as an appetizer and the sesame shrimp with broccoli for an entrée. The leek boxes are similar to pan-fried dumplings and are stuffed with egg, glass noodles, and, of course, leeks.
Leek Boxes
Sesame Shrimp
We also tried Ray’s take on one of Holly’s favorite dishes (from when she lived in Taiwan) and shared a bowl of beef noodle soup. Holly really enjoyed the taste of the broth, the tenderness of the beef, and the nicely chewy noodles.
Beef Noodle Soup
As I remembered, everything was fresh and nicely prepared. Most of the dishes at Ray’s are pretty simple and I mean that as a compliment. Nothing if overly fancy and the care of the preparation shines.
We finished our meal with a couple of siphon coffees (Ray’s web site has a good explanation of the process). Holly had a Japanese Charcoal Roasted coffee and I had the Hawaiian Royal Kona. An argument could be made that this is the best brew in the city, although we’re lucky to have so many great local options. The coffee always comes in a unique mug and is accompanied by a small cookie.
Siphon Coffee
I’m glad after several years that Ray’s is a good as I remembered it to be and won’t be waiting too long to get back.
We’re both fans of tea, but until this past year neither of us had put too much energy into the tea we drank at home. Luckily, one of the events we attended not long after moving to our neighborhood was a class on “Cooking with Tea” with Alexis Siemons of Teaspoons & Petals. Not only was the class marvelous, but it changed our approach to drinking tea and gave us some new-found enthusiasm for tea in general.
Chai spiced apple cider
Alexis gave a lot of helpful tips for brewing tea as well as using tea in cooking. One of the dishes she made in the class was a mixed green salad with matcha dressing, goat cheese, and orange. After the class we bought some matcha and not only used it for salad dressing, but also in cocktails, as well as a natural food coloring for icing Christmas cookies.
Mixed green salad with matcha dressing, goat cheese, and orange
Another tip we learned from Alexis is using tea in place of broth. In the class, she made a delicious dish of oolong couscous (cooked in tea), dried apricots (soaked in tea), butternut squash, and almonds. Since then, we’ve often used tea in soups and other recipes that call for broth, as it’s a lot easier to whip up some tea than to always keep broth around.
Oolong couscous with dried apricot, butternut squash, and almonds
The final dish of the class was Chai tea s’mores, which we haven’t attempted to make ourselves, but it was certainly delicious:
Chai tea s’mores
After the class, it didn’t take us long to visit Premium Steap and stock up on a variety of loose-leaf teas and supplies. Alexis introduced us to paper tea filters, which makes brewing loose-leaf tea so easy. I had previously used a cotton tea sock, but the paper filters are less messy and more convenient, while still allowing the leaves plenty of room to expand.
Over the past year, we’ve tried a variety of teas at Premium Steap and have definitely found a few favorites. The Moroccan Mint and Chai Rooibos are two that we go through constantly. We also quite enjoy the French Breakfast, a blend of Ceylon and vanilla that is produced by Premium Steap for Parc. In addition to those, we always have several different green and black teas around. We’re pleased to have a local tea purveyor with such an excellent selection, and we look forward to continuing to learn more about tea!
Last year, Holly and I wanted to do something special for lunch on our last day at work before the winter break. We often get to the restaurants closest to where we work, so we wanted to try someplace different and decided on JG Domestic. This time last year, we hadn’t yet been there but had heard good things and it was definitely high on our list to try, so we decided that was the place to go for our holiday lunch. It was a great decision as we loved our lunch.
Our return this year for a holiday lunch didn’t disappoint.
On our server’s recommendation, we began our meal by sharing a flatbread and we each got soup. The wood over flatbread was topped with hen of the woods, black truffle, cheddar, and egg yolk. The cauliflower and cheddar soup was made with Wisconsin smoked cheddar, and was served with house made scrapple and apple butter. Both the flatbread and soup were delicious and provided a great start to our lunch.
Wood Oven Flatbread
We followed those by sharing the fish sandwich for the day: tempura battered Mahi Mahi. For a side, we also shared parsnip agnolotti with Luna Farm kale, pear-brown butter, and a caraway crumble. The Mahi Mahi sandwich was cooked perfectly with a crispy but not greasy batter. The agnolotti was unique and absolutely wonderful.
Tempura battered Mahi Mahi sandwich
Parsnip Agnolotti
Of course, we couldn’t leave without having the beignets, which come with a vanilla Maker’s Mark butterscotch dipping sauce. Neither Holly nor I are all that into desserts, but this is definitely one of our favorites. Rounding out dessert were a couple cups of their wonderful coffee.
Bourbon Beignets
Coffee
We certainly started an awesome holiday tradition, although I’m sure we won’t be waiting another year to get back to JG Domestic!
On December 13, 2012 we attended a Slow Food Philadelphia Seminar on Coffee and After Dinner Spirits/Digestives, featuring Joe Cesa of Philly Fair Trade Roasters. This was our third Slow Food Philly seminar of 2012, and we can’t recommend these seminars highly enough. At $20 per person ($25 at the door), we think this is an amazing value for two hours packed with learning and tasting, all with an emphasis on local and sustainable food and drink.
Joe Cesa spoke passionately about fair trade coffee, which clarified what fair trade is all about and why it is important, especially in regards to the living and working conditions of the farmers. Then we watched the short documentary, After the Harvest: Fighting Hunger in the Coffeelands, in which we learned more about the lives of the coffee growers straight from the people themselves. Between hearing Joe speak and watching the film, we were all very moved about the human experience involved in the coffee industry.
While we watched the video, Joe’s assistant Bobby came around with samples of four different Philly Fair Trade coffees: Costa Rica Medium, Nicaragua Full City, Guatemala Dark, and Decaf Mexico. We were already big fans of the Costa Rica Medium, and after trying the others, it remained our favorite. We were impressed by full flavor of the Decaf Mexico, though, and would definitely recommend it to decaf drinkers. Joe also shared some tasty Market Day Canelés to enjoy with our coffees.
We had some internet problems while streaming the video, and a few times had to pause the video to let the buffering catch up. Interestingly, this technical difficulty turned into a wonderful opportunity for discussion. As this was a smaller-than-usual group, we were able to interact in a more intimate way, and everyone there was very engaged in the topic.
Now, let’s not forget the booze. Joe Brandolo of Slow Food Philadelphia brought an excellent selection of after dinner drinks for us to sample and talked about the benefits of digestives after a meal. The spirits included Jacopo Poli Mirtillo Blueberry Grappa, Argiolas Limonsardo Tremontis, Nardini Aquavite di Vinaccia Bianca Grappa, Giokarinis Samos Ouzo, St. John Commandaria, Nardini Aquavite di Vinaccia Riserva Grappa, and Centerba Toro. Tom and I both started with the Ouzo, which Joe explained was actually an apertif. It was better than any Ouzo either of us had had before and we quite enjoyed it. After the Ouzo, Tom tried the Nardini Aquavite Riserva from Veneto, and I tried the Centerba Toro from Abruzzo. Tom had never been a grappa fan, but the Nardini turned him into a convert. I truly enjoyed the Centerba (“100 herbs”), which was fantastically herbal and complex, with a pale green color. Most of what we were able to try is not easily found in Philadelphia, so we appreciated Joe sharing with us.
Since we already buy Philly Fair Trade Roasters coffee as part of our commitment to supporting locally roasted coffee, it was wonderful to meet Joe Cesa in person, and it was great to recognize Bobby the following Saturday manning the Philly Fair Trade booth at the Fitler Square farmers’ market. We love that this seminar in particular has helped us make deeper connections with our community and with the local businesses that support sustainability and slow food values.
Previously, we attended Slow Food Philadelphia seminars on The Art of Making Chocolate Bean to Bar with Philly Love Bar, which also included an excellent Scotch tasting/pairing, as well as a seminar with Philadelphia Distilling, where we learned more about some of our favorite local spirits, including Bluecoat Gin and Vieux Carré Absinthe. We truly appreciate these seminars, between the educational aspects as well as the connections we make to the people doing good things in the Philadelphia area. We’re looking forward to more seminars next year!
