Wishlist

http://www.peteverrando.com/micro

Wanna be there...

I'm really into...

31 Days of Eating: Day 6

 One of the perks of living in a city is having access to great ethnic food. Steamed buns, though a staple of Asian cuisine, have yet to really catch on here the states. Basically they are large dumplings filled with broth and filling (usually pork + veggie). They are served in the same plate they are steamed and with traditional dumpling sauce. They are very cheap and instantly habit-forming, two things for which I am a real sucker.

They are a little tricky to eat which I think makes them even better somehow, kinda like a food challenge. The dumplings are far too large to just stuff in your mouth and you can't just bite into them as they are filled with boiling hot broth. You have to bite a bit and slurp-up the juice... slowly nibbling and slurping your way through the bun. It can be messy and will test your chopstick handling skills, but it's so much fun to watch your friends struggle through them! Once you've had a few, you start to develop your own style of consumption and you are on your way to carefree bun bliss.

Dim Sum Garden, located in an unlikely neon-lit storefront near the Convention Center,  has some of the best steamed buns in Philly. It is often sited as a culinary hidden gem and is frequented by some of the best chefs in the city. It's proximity to the Chinatown bus, which offers cheap fares to nearby metropolises like New York and DC, make it a great place to catch a quick bite before heading out of the city.

TIP: No matter what you get, order the scallion pancake... it's the best I've ever had.

31 Days of Eating: Day 5

In every major city there is an argument lurking, waiting for some unsuspecting visitor to ask one innocent question and spark an age-old debate: "Who makes the best pizza in town?"

Now I'm no pizza buff, but I know what I like: Something cheap, delicious, and delivered directly to/ not too long of a walk from my doorstep. Now, believe it or not, South Philly likes to think of itself as a mecca for Italian food and I have an overflowing kitchen drawer of menus from local eateries to attest to this. Evey corner pizza place devilishly tries to tempt hungry couch-potatoes with promises of 2 large pies + 20 wings + a 2 liter for $12.99. BUT... as we all know, a bad piece of pizza can ruin an entire evening AND drunken pig-out. So before you order your next large with prosciutto and broccoli rabe (my fave), here are a few thoughts:

Marras: Once upon a time I knew a guy who really loved pizza. Like many a teenage boy before him, he would agree to eat little else. One terrible day, the boy had to relocate from NYC to Philladelphia. He complained endlessly about his new city's lack of decent slice of pizza. The only place this boy would agree to eat in his new town was a classic American-Italian restaurant called Marra's. 

Well, this boy turned-out to be a total douche-bag, however apparently he had a point about Marra's pie because many in the city say it's the best you can get. I would agree that it tastes decent, is reasonably priced, and - best of all - they have great take-out dinners for people who may not love pizza as much as you. The real downside to Marra's is their delivery time.  It is at LEAST an hour before any pizza gets out of that place any day of the week no matter what time of day. Which is really bad news when you have the munchies and just want your damn pizza already!!

Bottom Line: if you can't pick-up, don't even bother.

Slice: This new-comer to the South Philly-area has gotten a lot of praise from the city's press. It's been dubbed the 'Best of the City' by several weeklies, received praise from the almighty Philly Inquirer and even won the highly coveted "Most Original Pizza" audience award from the South Philly Review. Yes, the pizza is good... but it's really not worth the insanely expensive price. That shit may work in Rittenhouse, but in the land of 12.99 feasts, it just seems wrong to spend $3.50 on a plain slice of pizza.

Bottom Line: If you're fancy and you know it (and you have some extra cash), go to Slice.

Lorenzo's Pizza: Everyone who has ever been drunk on or near South Street has had Lorenzo's pizza (even if you don't remember). Their enormous slices and late hours attract long lines of club-hopping idiots attract hungry drunkards from all over town. I'm not too proud to admit that I've sat on a stoop and wolfed down a grease-drenched slice of pizza 1/4 the size of a large pie while watching some 1/2 naked girl chew-out her date for dancing with another girl. It's good clean old-fashioned entertainment!!

Bottom Line: Good if you're so drunk anything could satisfy your hunger, but often overrun with drunken assholes and seriously not worth the wait.

Blackbird Pizza: If you've read any of my blog, you may already know that I am not a vegetarian. Really I'm kind of the exact opposite - I don't cook a meal w/o meat and could probably be satisfied with a meal of JUST meat. So this holiday, when I had vegetarian guests, my brain nearly exploded trying to make-up a menu that would satisfy us all without being too labor-intensive or expensive.

It was ingrained in me at childhood though countless birthday parties that pizza is perfect for quickly feeding a crowd of fickle people. Not only is the clean-up easy, most people like it and it's cheap... or at least it's supposed to be. Blackbird was quick (picked-it up in 15 min.), ethically eatable (I think it was fucking VEGAN, not just vegetarian),  but at $20 for a medium pie with two toppings it was not very economical.

ALSO: You had better eat that shit RIGHT up because once that vegan cheese starts to cool, the entire pizza goes.

Bottom Line: If you're vegetarian or vegan, I hear this is the best in town... and frankly I feel sorry for you.

Domino's Pizza: If  you're not abreast of the latest in pizza home delivery technology, you may not know that Domino's has this a great interactive online feature called the Tracker. You can go onto the Domino site and actually follow your pizza order through each stage of it's magical journey through the bowels of Domino's and right to your doorstep. You can see that your pizza dough is being thrown in the air my Jimmy and then turned over to the fine hands of Faith to be assembled and put into the oven. You know the second the pizza comes out of the oven and is given to Brad for safe and fast delivery.

Having all this information at your fingertips makes it ever so easy to see exactly who had a hand in completely fucking up your pizza.

Bottom Line: Domino's is cheap and gross, but is totally cutting edge.

Francoluigi Pizzeria: The BEST. Yes BEST pizza South Philly has to offer. I have no idea what their delivery time is as they are only a few blocks away, but after making the call from my house, I arrive15 min later and my pizza is  ready for my belly. They have all your favorite toppings, a good balance of cheese and sauce, and a crust too good to leave on your plate. The price is decent, not too pricey but reasonable for the pie you get. They even sell take-out beer!

Bottom Line: One-stop instant party!