What We're Reading: The Big Machine

This post from Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic is only tangentially related to food (specifically food systems and obesity), but like most of his writing, it's well worth reading.

Catching up

Autumnal hiatus turned into winter break. It's snowed a bunch of times since we posted anything here.

We've been thinking that the tag line above --on the brewing, drinking and culture of beer-- is too limiting for the things we want to talk about. Not just beer, but food, wine, pop culture, music and so on. So we're working on some changes that will hopefully open things up a bit creatively, and get us posting more than once a quarter. More to come on that soon. We've also added comment moderation because we've been getting some spam.

That said, we've been brewing some pretty great beer recently. We brewed a Belgian dubbel in October that was ready for Christmas, but tasted pretty rough -- lots of alcohol heat without much body. It's smoothed out nicely in the last few weeks as the malt has come forward. It should taste even better in another month or two.

Our last beer was a rye IPA, pictured above. We clogged up our plate chiller on brew day and I was afraid the resulting emergency measures would compromise the beer. But it turned out great, with a huge nose from being dry-hopped with several ounces of Amarillo.

My one problem with both of these beers is lack of body, which I think is due to not hitting the right mash temperatures. I'd been using a cheap remote thermometer, and it's probably just not accurate enough for brewing. So that should be an easy fix.

We'll be drinking the dubbel and rye on Sunday, as we get together with friends to play music in the afternoon before cooking up some great food and retiring to watch the Superbowl. This has become a bit of a tradition the last few years and we'll document the proceedings here.

Here's to a new year of brewing, drinking and eating well.

Sláinte!

The Atlantic visits Vetri

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, who writes the "Everybody's a Critic" column for the Atlantic Food Channel but is better known as the Special Advisor for Health Policy to the White House Office of Management and Budget, visits Vetri. Aside from some quibbles with bland gelato, he raves about the service and Vetri's signature sweet onion crepe:

The second proper dish was a crepe over-stuffed with golden sweet onions caramelized for 10 hours. The circular slice of the crepe resting in a white truffle foundue was nothing short of phenomenal. The caramelized onion was brown and mushy, like mole, and had this wonderful sweetness. The white truffle sauce added complexity without being overpowering. This caramelized onion crepe may well be one of the top 10 dishes I have ever tasted.

A Restaurant Lives Up to Its Hype [The Atlantic Food Channel]

Comfort food

Sunday dinner. Sometimes, a simple roast chicken is all you need.

Today I got a shipment of pork belly from Flying Pigs Farm (a gift from my in-laws -- how cool is that?), which will become pancetta over the next few weeks. I might have to set some aside for braising... I can't wait to try this pork.

A look at Village Whiskey

Mal and I, along with our friend Lou, checked out Village Whiskey on Friday. It was opening day and we arrived around 2 for a late lunch (Lou and I were on a joint birthday barhopping excursion, but that's a story for a different post).

There just happened to be three open seats at the bar, so we sat down, ordered a round of beers and took in the scene.

The space is gorgeous, with a long slate bar and tile on the floors and some walls. The dark wood backbar frames row upon row of whiskey bottles - most of which I'd never heard of. Black leather booths surround circular marble-topped tables beneath large windows painted with the restaurant's logo. The whole room is bathed in light. Past the bar toward the kitchen and bathroom are two marble drink rails, one wider for seated eating and the other narrow.

The draft beer list is short but strong, with a half-dozen selections of American craft brews. I chose the Sixpoint Righteous Rye, Mal ordered the Lagunitas Pils and Lou had the Founders Dirty Bastard. I'm a sucker for a good rye beer and the Sixpoint was righteous indeed (in fact, I think our next brew session will be a rye pale ale); it was malty with a dry, almost astringent quality from the rye. No whiskey or cocktails for us; Mal was on lunch break from work and Lou and I needed to pace ourselves for a long afternoon.

Beers in hand, we moved onto food. Mal and I split the famously expensive ($24) Whiskey King: 10 ounces of farm-raised Angus beef on a milk stout potato roll with applewood smoked bacon, blue cheese, bourbon glazed cipollini onions, and a healthy slice of seared foie gras. Lou ordered the black bean veggie burger, which came on a sesame roll topped with guacamole and pickled cabbage. We also ordered the duck fat fries with Sly Fox cheddar sauce and the soft pretzels.

Soft pretzels (there are 5 to an order but I was slow on the draw with my camera)

The pretzels came out first - piping hot, studded with salt and resting in a bowl of the best mustard ever. $3 buys five of these little fluffy sticks. I could've eaten these all day.

Duck fat fries with Sly Fox cheddar cheese sauce

The skin-on fries arrived in a paper cone with the cheese sauce on the side. They were much bigger than I expected -- not too many places serve steak fries in Philadelphia, and these were even larger than your typical steak fry. Flecked with herbs and salt, they were perfectly cooked and incredibly tasty -- and despite being cooked in duck fat, not at all greasy or heavy. The Garces restaurants probably go through a lot of ducks, and I'm glad their rendered fat is being put to good use. The cheese sauce was great -- it would be amazing on a cheesesteak.

But on to the main course. This was what we came for: the most decadent burger in the city (with a price to match). Did it live up to the hype?

I am the Whiskey King, and I can do anything...

I think the answer is a qualified "yes." $24 for a burger in Philadelphia seems absurd on its face. But the Whiskey King's ingredients are all top-notch, especially the beef, and foie gras isn't cheap. It's also huge - 10 ounces plus all those toppings makes for a big burger. If you split it with a friend, the price and the sandwich are much more manageable. For me, half a Whiskey King is just the right size. My biggest gripe is that none of the burgers come with fries; you have to buy them separately ($5 and up).

Mal and I agreed that the burger was delicious. It was perfectly cooked to order, incredibly juicy and intensely beefy. With so many high-grade toppings it was inevitable that a few would get lost in the shuffle, and I thought the onions and bacon were overshadowed by the cheese and foie gras. Speaking of which, the slice of foie was larger than I expected but didn't overwhelm the beef.

Veggie burger

I didn't try Lou's veggie burger, but as the picture shows, it sure is pretty. Lou said it was tasty, too.

The staff were smooth, polished and attentive, as one would expect for a José Garces establishment. Our bartender said there were the usual opening day glitches, but aside from a malfunctioning beer engine, none were apparent to us.

I won't be making a habit of ordering the Whiskey King, but I do look forward to trying a few more items on the menu (Kentucky fried quail and housemade pickled vegetables in particular) and a few of cocktails next time.

Whoa!!

In a post this afternoon, Shola Olunloyo announced plans for a new incarnation of Studiokitchen: 30 seats, dinner only, 5 nights a week. Talula's Table and Momofuku Ko are his points of comparison.

No doubt, foodies in Philly and beyond are already salivating...

Sunday dinner

Sly Fox Royal Weisse; salt grilled shrimp; kale sautéed with onions, white beans and balsamic vinegar; pan-seared striped bass. (Not shown: potato & sweet potato salad.)