Year in Review: January
All week we’ll be looking back on 2011. The biggest stories, the best dishes, our favorite quotes and notable openings and closings.
News
- Jose Garces and Michael Solomonov faced off in a hometown affair of Iron Chef America.
- Trey Popp finds out that the Saloon still has IT.
- We make a map of the best places to find red velvet cakes around town.
- A ridiculously fast bottom filling beer station debuts at the Wells Fargo Center (Is it still there?)
- Georges Perrier puts his mansion up for sale. We enjoy checking out all the photos of the interior.
- Yes, we live-blogged the opening of Le Pain Quotidien.
- Starbucks rolls out a $15,000 coffee machine.
- The Philadelphia Opera Company takes over the Reading Terminal Market in one awesome flash mob.
- With the help of all our readers, we created 2010 – The Menu. We’d be thrilled to eat this entire menu.
Dish of the Month
Uovo in brodetto – Fork & Barrel
“Felton’s uovo in brodetto, a set of sunny-sides baked in a bowl of bad-ass gravy that counts bacon, pork sausage and ancho chili among its ingredients. Pierced with points of sourdough, the delicate yolks bleed, turning the coarse, tomato-red sauce a bright orange. This might be riff on Eggs in Purgatory, but paired with one of Fork & Barrel’s Italian ales, it’s heaven.” Adam Erace, City Paper
Quote of the Month
“Expect an orgy of good eating when you dig into the tower of phallic shaped vegetables, enjoy the chili peppers that plump your lips and arouse endorphins, taste the almonds that signify female sexual pressure, and fill up on zinc, essential for producing testosterone.” – From an actual press release
Notable Openings
Cantina Feliz, Le Pain Quotidien, Manakeesh Café Bakery, Monsu
Notable Closings
401 Diner, Simon Pearce, Solaris Grille