The World’s Largest Pickle Party Is Coming to Philly

A pickle party is coming! / Photograph provided by The Big Dill

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the Foobooz food news round-up. With Easter in the rearview, I think we can officially say Philly’s spring restaurant season is now beginning. Don’t believe me? Well, this week’s news round-up is full of patio openings, Earth Day celebrations, doughnuts, pickles, and beer gardens. So let’s get right into it, shall we?

Ain’t No Party Like A Pickle Party

The world’s largest pickle party is coming to Philly this June.

And yes, I know. June seems like a long way off right now. But apparently this shindig is such a big draw that it requires early-bird ticketing beginning two months out and seven hours at Xfinity Live just to contain all the fun.

It’s called “The Big Dill.” Because in terms of pickle-related humor (of the non-dick-joke variety) that’s about as good as it gets.

Anyway, The Big Dill will be hitting Philly on Saturday, June 15th and taking over Xfinity Live from noon to 7 p.m. There’ll be tastings, music, Mummers, mascots, a pickle-eating contest (of course), a brine-chugging contest (gross), a mechanical pickle to ride, a pickle-themed rave, custom pickle cocktails, pickleback shots, pickle margaritas, local pickle beer, pickle ice cream, pickle pizza, pickle egg rolls, plus rock climbing, axe throwing, face painting, pickle throwing, pickleball — I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

In October, The Big Dill descended on Baltimore and drew 10,000 people. They get people coming in from out-of-state for these things. From all across the world. They’ve got 800,000 fans on social media — a veritable army of pickle enthusiasts, all just waiting for the call.

So if you want to guarantee yourself a spot, maybe consider the pre-sale tickets. Early-bird goes live on April 3rd, and you can secure a spot at the front of the line by registering here. Otherwise you can take your chances when tickets are made available to the general public on April 9th.

Everybody Loves Pierogies

Pierogi Ruskie / Photograph provided by PUNCH Media

I mean, seriously. Name me one person who doesn’t. You can’t, can you? That’s because you’d have to be some kind of monster to not love a pierogi. They’re like the love child of the world’s two greatest culinary inventions: dumplings and anything made out of potatoes. The pure embodiment of comfort. Pierogies are like pillows stuffed with mashed potato, and sometimes cheese.

And at chef Michael Brenfleck’s new restaurant, Little Walter’s (which is a completely different restaurant than Randy and Amanda Rucker’s Little Water, opening soon in Rittenhouse), pierogies are the focus of the the menu.

Little Walter’s (which is named after Brenfleck’s grandfather, Walter Bubick) will feature the Pierogi Ruskie — made with Yukon Gold potatoes, farmer’s cheese, caramelized onions, house pickles and Pilsudski mustard. Not exactly a first-date food, you say? Wrong. Any relationship that matters can only be improved by a little pierogi breath on both sides of the table. That’s just wisdom.

The rest of the menu is still being assembled, but it’s looking like a lot of Polish classics are making it onto the board. We’re talking:

• Sałatka z Ogórków (pickled salad, crispy kogi and a poached egg)
• Kielbasa Zwyczajna (pork shoulder taken from vowel-averse pigs, rubbed with coriander and marjoram)
• The Aforementioned Pierogies (which is also the name of my new polka band)
• Golabki (chicken liver, farro, jus)
• Kotlet Schabowy (chicken cutlet, plum powidla, mustard broccolini, cucumber mizeria)
• Wieprzowina z Rożna (rotisserie pork shoulder, bigos and maitake mushrooms)
• House Sourdough Rye (smalec, cultured butter, beets)

On the boozy side, Little Walter’s will have a bar menu with custom cocktails named after various polish professions — everything from a Zubr-and-Zubrowska riff on the Citywide called an “Urbanista” (city planner) to a pickle juice martini called a “Pilkarz” (footballer).

Brenfleck has 15 years in the industry — most recently as exec at Spice Finch in Rittenhouse. He’ll be overseeing 46 seats and 1,200 square feet of real estate (and pierogies) at 2049 East Hagert Street in East Kensington when Little Walter’s opens this spring. Hours will be Tuesday to Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. I’ll keep an eye on the place and let you know when more details come through, but if you want to keep track yourself, check out Little Walter’s Instagram right here.

Now how ‘bout some doughnuts?

FedNuts Celebrates Obscuration of Sun By Scheduled Transit of Intervening Celestial Body

In other words, eclipse donuts!

There’s a total solar eclipse happening on April 8th. People are going bonkers for it (as, historically speaking, people have always done) and, here in Philly, there are plenty of eclipse-related happenings scheduled because we’re in the path of near-totality and it should look pretty cool for a few minutes — unless it rains.

But rain or shine, all Federal Donuts locations are now selling a solar-eclipse-themed doughnut, made in collaboration with the Franklin Institute. It’s a chocolate cake donut with orange glaze, a black chocolate ring and a dusting of “celestial” sanding sugar. And I’m really only mentioning it because the doughnut itself is pretty as hell.

Oh, and also because the Franklin Institute is throwing a citywide eclipse viewing party from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on April 8th. The FedNuts crew will be there. The first 200 people to show up will get a free eclipse doughnuts. And there’ll also be a DJ, solar-filter tents and telescopes for viewing, and of course, a beer garden. Because, is it really a science party without beer, doughnuts and a DJ?

No. It is not. See y’all there.

Now whose got room for a whole bunch of leftovers?

The Leftovers

Photograph courtesy of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop

Wanna get hungry? Check out the Instagram feed for Baby’s Kusina and Market. It’s a new Filipino spot from Raquel Dang and her husband, Tam, scheduled to open soon at 2816 West Girard in Brewerytown. There was a super-secret friends-and-family dinner recently. The videos from inside the space look amazing. And the food? Swear to god, you’ll wanna lick the screen.

Baby’s started as a pop-up and a supper club. This will be the official brick-and-mortar location. The good folks over at Philly Voice have some details from Dang, so if you’re interested, you should check it out.

I’m definitely interested, so I’ll be keeping a close watch on the feed.

Center City Pretzel Co. is back 18 months after it caught fire. The beloved bakery at 8th and Washington reopened yesterday. Yes, on April 1st. “No, this is not an April Fools Day prank,” they said in an Instagram post last Thursday. We all needed the reassurance considering the numerous delays Center City Pretzel Co. encountered while rebuilding their bakery. But they’re back at it, cranking out freshly baked pretzels for loyal customers Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop just announced a second location. The modern dumpling automat will be expanding to 3400 Lancaster Avenue in West Philly, and the official opening date is April 11th.

If I sound less than totally excited, that’s because I was SUPER psyched about the opening of the original Philly location on South Street, but the reviews of that first location have been mixed. Some people I trust have had fine meals there. Others have not — and have not been quiet about their displeasure. I haven’t managed to get there yet myself, so I’m withholding comment for the time being, but I really want to like the place. It’s such a cool idea. I appreciate the late-night hours. But these are dumplings we’re talking about. People (read: me) take dumplings seriously, and to give them less than your total respect and attention is to court disaster.

Sooner or later I’m going to make it to one location or the other, and I’d very much like to tell everyone how much I loved it.

Meanwhile, in another sure sign of spring, both Pennsylvania Horticultural Society pop-up garden bars opened to the public last Friday. There’s one in Manayunk, at 106 Jamestown Avenue, and another at 1438 South Street, just a block off Broad, and both of them are going to be open every day from now until Halloween — at least.

Both spots have cocktails, beer, wine, seltzers — the usual suspects. South Street has a long list of frozen drinks. Manayunk is selling two-for-$10 shot-sicles and Jello shots. Each garden also has a sizable (and different) menu of snacks and sandwiches, plus plants and flowers and grass and whatever — all that stuff that you can’t eat or drink. So if you’re in the neighborhood some sunny day, maybe check ‘em out. Hours, menus, event listings and all other details can be found at the PHS pop-up gardens website right here.

Suits & Sazeracs / Photograph by Chris Devern

Over at Philadelphia Distilling, they’re celebrating Earth Day for 10 straight days. From April 11th to the 21st, they’re transforming their fourth-floor tasting room into an Earth Day-themed pop-up bar featuring cocktails made with reduced-waste ingredients. The room will be full of plants (which will also be used to garnish the drinks) and an art installation made from recycled Bluecoat gin bottles (which guests are welcome to add their own bottles to). This will be a ticketed event, so you can learn more and make reservations here.

Finally, just one more event to tell you about this week: a cocktail competition for a good cause.

Suits & Sazeracs is the name of the game, and it’ll be held on Monday, April 8th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Burnham Ballroom at the Hotel Palomar on 17th Street. Sponsored by master tailors and image consultants Henry A. Davidsen and Bluebird Distilling, the contest will bring together some of the city’s best bartenders for a cocktail competition judged by both industry experts and attendees.

The drink-slingers will be competing for $1,500 in cash, but the event is happening to support The Wardrobe (formerly Career Wardrobe, who I’ve written about here before) which is a charitable organization dedicated to “eliminating clothing insecurity by outfitting people for life or work.”

Guests are encouraged to dress up for the event. There’ll be a live New Orleans jazz band, food from Square 1682, tastings of 9 different sazeracs from the bartenders, all made using Bluebird’s straight rye whiskey, a silent auction and an award handed out for best-dressed guest. Tickets for the event are $75 (with a portion of that price getting kicked over to The Wardrobe). Guests are encouraged to dress up for the event. There’ll be a live New Orleans jazz band, food from Square 1682, a silent auction and an award handed out for best dressed guest. So why not get gussied up, have a drink (or nine), and help out a good cause?

Tickets are available online right now.