Vetri Birthday Dinner

My birthday is tomorrow, so my Mom and sister took me out to dinner tonight at Vetri located on Spruce between 13th and Broad. I had been hearing a lot of buzz since I started trying to get into good food recently (thanks mostly to Evan) so I made sure to make a reservation about a month in advance. "In GQ this month (the one with Jennifer Aniston on the cover), food writer and Philly native Alan Richman not only calls Italian the New French, but says Vetri is the best Italian restaurant in America." (citation)

The one dish I had heard a ton about was the spinach gnocchi with shaved ricotta and brown butter (pictured above), so I ordered a half portion as my appetizer. I can see why so many people were talking about it because it was heavenly. Very rich and warm. For my entree, I ordered the chestnut fettuccine with wild boar ragu which was very good as well. I had never eaten boar before so I was a little unsure, but there was nothing too strange in either the texture or taste.

The service was great and I even saw Marc Vetri walking around talking to customers. Can't wait to go back again sometime but I'll need to time to save some money haha.


Listening to:
Deerhunter - Weird Era Cont.
Fever Ray - Fever Ray

New York's Alright If You Like Meat and Whiskey

So my roommates Todd and Tony, our friend Lou, and I traveled up to NYC this past Sunday to visit our friend Nick who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn. My mom also rents an apartment in Midtown Manhattan so we had a couple places to stay without having to shell out $$$$$$$$$ for a hotel room.

When we got there, the Eagles v. Giants game had already started so, en route to Brooklyn from my Mom's, we stopped in an Irish Pub called the Hairy Monk to catch the last quarter of the game. The bar had a pretty standard atmosphere with the typical American macrobrews on tap but, to my surprise, they also had the Goose Island IPA which I hadnt had before so I was pretty stoked.

After the Eagles won, we marched what must've been like 5mi to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn to eat at this BBQ joint Nick recommended. What we arrived at was NOTHING like what I expected. The name of the place was Fette Sau (which I believe translates to Fat Pig) and good lord was it awesome. Everything from the decor, to the meat, to the bbq sauce, to the carver's beard was great. Todd and I shared a pound and a half of meat: half pound boneless pork rib, half pound brisket, and half pound of pulled pork. The meat was tender and flavorful, but my favorite part was actually the BBQ sauce they provided on the table. They had a very interesting list of beers on tap as well, including, if I remember correctly, three different beers brewed for them specifically by High&Mighty, Blue Point, annnnnnd _________. Oh yeah, and they had the largest selection of whiskey I've ever seen. Meat, Beer, Whiskey: What else could you want?

After Fette Sau, we played fooseball and pool at this bar called Matchless. We weren't there very long but highlights included everyone realizing Nick is way better at fooseball than anyone else and the dog in there that looked exactly like my dog, Dylan (it was scary).

We ended the night at this awesome dive-ish bar called The Levee. First off, they served endless free cheeseballs to us. Great first impression. Then I realized the bar was run by pretty much all older hardcore dudes wearing Cro-Mags and Eyehategod shirts so I checked out the jukebox and played some Bad Brains, Black Flag, and Torche. THEN, I realized they had some pretty awesome bottled beers including a couple I hadn't had yet, including the Abbaye De Rocs Tripel. I ended up getting pretty drunk and talking to some Brazzilian guy on the subway ride back to my mom's place and offered him the tootsie-roll pop straight out of my mouth.

I don't feel like writing about the rest of the trip, so go over to Todd's blog to read about what else we did.

Canadian Beer

No, this is not about Labbat Blue or Molson. On our last night in Montreal this past weekend, me, Brian, and Mishik spent about 2 hours at the Dieu Du Ciel Brewpub and drank a few beers.

We first ordered Rigor Mortis, classified by the brewery as their Belgian Quad. Wow, was it good. Pretty sure it was around 9.5%abv, which was pretty well hidden. Pretty typical of a standard Belgian quad. We really enjoyed it, although I don't think it touches the Bernardus ABT 12 or Rochefort 10.

Next, I drank Peche Mortel, which is probably my favorite stout in the world. It's brewed with coffee and the flavor is pretty strong. You can really smell the roasted coffee and a hint of chocolate. I had only had it out of a bottle before, but on tap holy jesus it was decadent. There's nothing else to really say about it. It may have been the best beer I've had on tap ever. It was a lot less bitter than out of the bottle, and obviously a lot fresher.

Mishik drank the Solstice D'Hiver which is their barleywine. Barleywine's don't really do it for me, but for what it is, I'd say it's pretty awesome.

I wasn't sure what to order next so I tasted their beer that they brew to taste like absinthe. I thought it was terrible haha but I respect the attempt.

Finally, we each drank a beer called La Clef de Champs. I looked it up on BeerAdvocate and it was listed as a Scottish Gruit but it was incredibly fruity. Not in a lambic way or anything, but I could taste something like Guava or Passion Fruit. I could be totally wrong, as my palette is not as defined as others, but regardless it was delicious and incredibly drinkable.

The bar itself was pretty great. Service was friendly, DJ was superb, and the clientele brought the atmosphere to a very upbeat and happy level. Hopefully I'll have a chance to go back, and possibly tour the actual brewery.

Music

This record is in my top 3 of the year for 2008
It's really nothing special or groundbreaking or anything, but its straight up good Scottish indie-rock( I guess?)
Download it, let me know what you think.

Glasvegas - Glasvegas (2008)

Worlds Collide

I was in a pretty terrible automobile accident the other day. Jan 1st to be exact and I found everyone trying their best to settle my conscience, trying to grant me some sort of salvation. I ran a red light and smashed another car, with my two best friends in the car with me. Luckily no one was hurt but I still feel incredibly terrible about the whole thing.

It's a fierce heavy feeling when you realize you are actually handling lives, and I still don't think I'm ready to accept that. With that said, I'll probably have a hard time starting to drive again.

After we organized the situation, it took the Philadelphia Police TWO HOURS (2 hours) to arrive at the scene of the accident. We (Brian, Mishik, and I) gave our statements and gathered our things and made way to another car so that we could press on to Montreal. Brian said, before we left, that life was full of setbacks and that the point of them was so we can persevere in lieu of them.