Distrito - Modern Mexican

On a whim I decided to join a group of new and old friends for dinner at Distrito last friday night. We had reservations at 8:45PM for a group 8. It was the best decision I made all week. I had been wanting to try Distrito for a while now having followed Jose Garces career since he started with the Starr group years ago at Alma De Cuba but just never made my way out to 40th and Chestnut Street until now.

I started out my night at the bar with Miss HAtT while we waited for the rest of the party to join us. She decided to try some strange drink that involved beer, salt, hot sauce, and chili powder called a Michelada. I couldn't quite get up the courage to try it and chose the much friendlier looking Paloma which was a grapefruit soda and a large shot of tequila. I think I won this round. My drink was tasty and I could mix as much or as little of the tequila with my mexican soda as I pleased.

We were seated promptly once everyone arrived and then had to decide on what to get. As it was more of a tapas styled menu there was much debate at the table as to how to order. Should we go family style and share the dishes or were there dietary restrictions that would make more sense for individual diners to order for themselves? We soon discovered that we all were quite adventurous eaters and had no major restrictions and decided to go with the tasting menu for the table. Again, winners all around!

The kitchen sent out what felt like a never ending slew of dishes. The tasting menu included chips and guacamole, shrimp ceviche, nachos, los hongos hauraches, ceasar salad, rabbit mole, tacos and carne asada platter. I loved the tacos and the rabbit mole. Also the carne asada platter was very tasty too. I would like to go into more detail but I think I suffered from food coma at some point and now have a hazy memory of the night. I just remember that the food was good and there was more than enough for the table and that the conversation was excellent. Lots of talking and tons of laughing with a good helping of poking fun at each other. Everyone at the table agreed that they enjoyed the food and I know that some of the diners there were not big fans of mexican food. I personnally would have liked a little more heat in my dishes but I'm a chili head at heart. I have posted pics of some of the dishes. Not every dish was able to be photographed as I got distracted by actually eating dinner and enjoying myself. I promise that my next post will be more appropriate for foodies.

http://www.distritorestaurant.com/

Savor - Charity Event

A co-worker of mine randomly sent me an invitation to this charity event that was being held at the old John Wanamaker building at 13th and Chestnut in the Crystal Tea Room. It was called Savor! and was sponsored by Mainline magazine so I assumed that it would be somewhat fancy and upscale and I was right.

I invited my three trusty girlfriends, Miss HAtT (who you already know), Magz, and Miss A to accompany me in what I had hoped would be a bonanza of free food and drinkie drink. The event started at 6PM and we all promptly arrived on time (which rarely ever happens with this group) but somehow we managed it on this particular night. Let me just say that I'm so glad we had the foresight to be on time. The event was absolutely fabulous. Better than most ticketed "tasting" events that I have attended. But it was pretty packed by 8PM. Food was easier for the getting in the early hours.

I had pan fried dumplings from Yang Ming, yummy seared tuna from an upscale Italian restaurant that I cannot remember the name, beautiful mini cupcakes, savory seafood gumbo from Les Bon Temps and creamy corn seafood chowder from another restaurant. The list could go on and on. The sponsors of the event had a wonderful turn out.

Most of all, I loved the fact that Barefoot Vineyards had a booth and was serving not only their regular table wine that can be purchased at the state store but also their champagne. I had no idea that Barefoot even offered bubbly. But the representative told me that it had been around for a while but just not available in Pennsylvania. Damn PA and their archaic liquor laws. No worries...the Barefoot bubbly is now available in the state stores and should retail for around $10. Now I think that is a bargain for some yummy bubbly. A fun night of free food and drink all in the name of charity.

Sunday School, TRIA

With the 50 degree weather feeling unbelievably good after the last few days of frigid winter coldness. Miss HAtT and I found ourselves walking the streets of Rittenhouse hoping to cash in on all the CRAZY sales everyone on the news keeps talking about. Instead of making out like bandits on cheap but fashionable clothes, we only managed to tucker ourselves out and fortunately remembered that it was Sunday. Now, I have to admit, up until I realized the goodness of Sunday School at TRIA, I used to think that there was just something about Sundays that made one feel like killing oneself. However, now that you can get booze and cheese at half off, Sunday has now become less of a depressing day for me.

Miss HAtT was feeling more than a bit peckish and ordered herself the grilled asparagus salad and I decided, "what the hey" and got the acorn squash goat cheese plate. It was roasted acorn squash that tasted more like pumpkin topped with a mild goat cheese that was sprinkled with walnuts. I don't have a picture of the squash as that was super yummy and we devoured it before I remembered to have it photographed. The asparagus salad came later so we weren't as famished and I managed to get a shot before we also inhaled it. The salad although tasty was a bit over dressed. I'm a bit of purist with my veggies and hate it when salads are dripping in dressing.

The next time you're out and about in Center City you should check out TRIA if you like trying new wines, beers and cheeses but don't like to pay full price. It's a great way to broaden your booze and cheese repetoire. They even post their Sunday School offerings on their website. There currently are two TRIA's. One at 18th and Samson and one located at 12th and Spruce.

Dimsum outside of C-town? Wakano

I've been meaning to try Dimsum at Wakano's located on the corner of 11th and Washington for a few weeks now. Last weekend, I just happened to be in the neighborhood with my frequent dining partner who I will refer to as Miss Hungry All the Time (Miss HAtT) and we decided to drop in. It was already close to 2PM which is a little late for dimsum when we walked into the dining room.

The room was large and surprisingly bright with minimal red and gold traditional chinese decorations which is often found in dimsum halls. We were quickly seated and the steam carts started coming our way. As it was late for dimsum, the place was only about half filled but didn't really feel empty. We quickly picked out our favorite items such as the phoenix claws (aka braised chicken feet), bean curd rolls, shumai, shrimp rolls and har gow (shrimp dumplings). My father always says that you can tell the merit of a dimsum chef by the quality of their har gow. In this particualr case, I don't think it was a great indicator. The har gow was a little pass it's prime having been sitting in the steam cart just a little too long. However it wasn't bad just nothing to write home about. The shumai were still tasty with just the right balance of pork, shrimp and mushroom giving the little steamed dumpling great taste without the fatty gristle that often plagues shumai. The shrimp rolls were mighty tasty with the rice paper expertly made so that it wasn't too thick and the shrimp was fresh.

The braised chicken feet had great texture but not enough flavor. The sauce lacked a bit of salt and heat. However, again not terrible. Miss HatT and I managed to finish everything off and took home some tasty goodies for my parents. I would recommend this joint for people looking for authentic dimsum food without the authentic dimsum hustle and bustle and aggravation of c-town on a sunday morning. Parking was free and there was no wait and no need to shoulder my way through a crowd which is always a plus for me.