UFM Food Tour: Philly Chinatown...

UFM Food Tour: Philly Chinatown Feb 7th, 2014

Start of an UrbanFoodMaven Philly Chinatown Food Tour...  

First up Rangoon Burmese...

My go to's for Burmese food include...

👉Tea Leaf Salad

👉Thousand Layer Bread with Potato Curry

👉Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup aka Khao Swè very similar to Filipino Pancit called Palabok or Malabon...

All Good!

Next stop on UFM Philly Chinatown is David's Mai Lai Wah...

My go to spot for 

👉Steamed Dumplings with the best Ginger Sauce 

👉Salt&Pepper Anything... in this case Shrimps...

We usually go for the Salt & Pepper Squid...

(photo from another visit)...

👉🍷 and a little Plum Wine action... 

Third & Final Stop of UFM Philly Chinatown Food Tour... 

Sang Kee Peking Duck House...
Our Family's favorite place for Peking Duck..
Been comin here for years!

#rangoonburmesephilly #foodtour 

#davidmailaiwahphilly #chinatown #phillyfood #ufmrec #ufmfoodtour #foodporn #raptorsdelight #urbanfoodmaven 

Farewell Philly at Vintage Wine Bar...

Had my Farewell Philly at my fave wine bar, Vintage..
Where the Wine was Flowing with my fave bartenders, Veasna & Cory..

Started with Escargot which is off menu here but got an inside scoop thanks to Professor Byron Mayes aka Private Wineaux... Byron, I hope to see you in SF some day!

Love this 2012 Dinastia Vivanco Viura Malvasia Tempranillo Blanco... 

Grilled Flank Steak with Potato Puree, Fried Brussels Sprouts, Bordelaise... 

Pan Seared Salmon, Beluga Lentils, Swiss Chard, Bacon & Lemon Vinaigrette... 

Finished with their wonderful Cheeseboard...

And a 2012 Valle Reale Cerasuolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Rosé..

All Delicious... All Good.

A Proper Farewell at My Fave Wine Bar in Philly...

Have always loved their food!
A Special Thanks To All Who Came out to Wish Me Well!
Angela, Jennifer, Meredith, Byron, Jasmine & Roberto, Colin...
Hope to Eat & Drink with You in the Bay Area!

#vintagewinebarphilly #winelifestyle #foodporn #raptorsdelight #phillyfood #urbanfoodmaven

Atlantic City Extravaganza for Jennifer's Birthday...

Went to Atlantic City for our friend, Jennifer's birthday... We stayed at Revel and had a two day and night eating & drinking extravaganza...

Our first night we ate at Jose Garces' restaurant, Amada...

It was an amazing meal in a beautiful space in spite of the not so great service...

You can read about our meal in full detail by clicking on the Amada photo below...

Our second day...

We woke up a little worse for wear (read: hangover) and headed to Distrito for lunch... It is yet another Jose Garces joint. In spite of many attempts I have not yet made it to the one in Philly so was glad to at least try it here in AC... 

Distrito AC is colorfully designed in typical Mexican fashion but in this case it comes in the form of an indoor food truck with picnic tables. The food truck essentially was the kitchen which was the center or heart of this little spot in the casino...

With the help of our most awesome server, Jordan, who we all thought was on point as a server, we got right down to business with a lil hair o the dog and ordered a fish bowl prickly pear margarita to share amongst the group of us four gals.. 

We then ordered a bunch of stuff...

Tacos, Tortas aka Mexican Sandwiches and some sides...

We started with the Guacamole and then ordered Carne Asada & Carnitas Tacos with sides of Arroz con Frijoles Negros and Mexican-style Corn with Queso Fresco, Chipotle Mayo and Micro Cilantro... 

We also had the Huevos Torta with Over Easy Egg Sandwich, Bacon, Avocado, Refried Beans & Crema..
All Good! 

________________________________________________

Our Meal that night was the Birthday Girl's choice...

Marc Forgione's American CUT Steakhouse.

It was quite decadent & extravagant...

Click on photo below for the full detail...

Had one last bite before we left the next day...
Mussel Bar by Rober Wiedmaier..
Had the Cave Aged Gruyere Mussels with Fingerling Potatoes, Pancetta, Gremolata Garlic Leek Broth with a side of Frites..
Also tried the Wild Mushrooms with Applewood Smoked Bacon Truffle Cream and the Honey BBQ Glazed Wings...

After all was said and done, it was a spectacular albeit gluttonous weekend!

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

UFM Meatless Fridays Part 3...

Had a Green Smoothie for Brunch...
Spinach, Pear, Carrot, Chia, Spirulina, Chlorella, Cayenne, Turmeric, Ginger, Raw Organic Honey... 
#healthylifestyle#greensmoothie #greenshakes #simplegreensmoothies#raptorsdelight #urbanfoodmaven

Had sushi for dinner at Morimoto in Philly...

I know, I know... I fell a tiny smidge with the Foie Gras...

I have no excuse, the temptation was too great because..
well.. because it's Foie Gras and secondly, because after I move back to SF I will not be able to get this delicacy...

Other than that, I was good, I promise!

You will be able to click on the Morimoto photo above for the full details of our Meal...

It was amazing as always!

Marc Forgione American Cut Atlantic City...

So the Birthday Girl chose American CUT by Chef Marc Forgione for her actual birthday dinner...

If you could not tell by the name alone, it is a steakhouse at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City.

We had a fantastic time and a pretty extravagant meal!

Details below...

OG 1924 HOTEL CAESAR SALAD
Parmigiano Reggiano, Soft Egg, Pullman Crouton
Now this was prepared tableside and the gentleman preparing relayed the charming anecdote on how the salad got it's name, which I thought was a nice touch...
(click here for the Caesar Salad story)
From a restaurant consulting perspective, I wonder if the story idea originally came from the tableside prep guy or was he trained do so by Chef Forgione?

STEAK KNIFE WEDGE SALAD

Schaller & Weber Bacon, Maytag Blue Cheese

We had a round of Cocktails and Martinis to start but had this wonderful bottle of 2010 Roth Estates Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with our Meal...

HANGER STEAK...

10 oz

Birthday Girl loves Hanger Steak which is what led her to choose this spot in the first place..

THE ATLANTIC CITY CUT...

20 oz Bone-In Ribeye, 

Boardwalk Seasoning, Smoke

We ordered all of the Sauces & Butters for the Steaks which composed of: 

Chimichurri

Bearnaise

Au Pierre Poivre

Red Wine

Our Potato Side was the Twice Baked with Cheddar Jack and Truffle...

Carrot Glazed Carrot with Mint... Huh?

We also got the Wood-Fired Cream Spinach with Sunchokes but I slept on the photo op...

Sorry Kids! It was good though...

So there was a slight mix up with our steaks due to some miscommunication, not by our server by the way, who happened to be very good and handled the error quite well...

He in turn gave us all of the following desserts to help make up for it...

CANDY BAR CAKE

Flourless Chocolate Cake, Peanut Caramel, Chocolate Mousse, 

Roasted Peanut Ice Cream

We paired Dessert Wines of course - a Port for the Chocolate and a Sauterne & Moscato d'Asti for the rest of it...

Overall,  it was a Very Decadent Meal!

We laughed about it afterwards, saying how we were four women at dinner eating a meal that was worthy of a bunch of dudes... 

Very proud to have friends who share in my Epicurean & Raptor proclivities...

Happy Birthday to My Girl Jenn!

Amada Atlantic City...

Ah Amada... Or shall I say Chef Garces.. Amada never fails to disappoint!  

And it did not in Atlantic City.. Well.. at least the Food did not... The service on the other hand was a bit lacking.. But have found that that tends to be the case in AC. 

We had heard that the AC location was much better than the one in Philly. We found that while it was certainly a more beautifully-designed sprawling space with ocean views, the food is still deliciously the same.. So take it for what it's worth...

Here is what we had below...

Gambas al Ajillo...

GAMBAS AL AJILLO
Garlic Shrimp...

Spanish Flatbread...

COSTILLAS DE TERNERA

Beef Short Ribs, 

Horseradish, 

Parmesan, Bacon

ALBÓNDIGAS

Lamb Meatballs, 

Shaved Manchego

PULPO A LA GALLEGA

Spanish Octupus,

Confit Potato...

I will ALWAYS order the Pulpo here as it my favorite preparation of it to date...

Definitely UFM Highly Recommend... #ufmrec

CHORIZO

Paprika Garlic Sausage...

GARBANZOS CON ESPINACAS

Crispy Chickpeas & Spinach...

Went great with the Chorizo... Highly recommend them together! 

All in all, a great meal in a gorgeously designed restaurant with so-so service...

I love Chef Garces Food!

UFM Meatless Fridays Part 2...

Just a quickie...

Avocado Toast with Arugula...

Made Green Curry Shrimp with Baby Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage & Mushroom...