The Sizzle by Tizzle

Philly vs Jacksonville

Prince Harry vs The Bloke

Loser goes home.

Cherio! My bloody Americans it’s time to cross the poooonnnd to watch a match of American football. Or if you are like me turn on the telly early with some of the following recipes and drinks, sit back and see who can come out with the result.

I am Philly through and through so beware this blog may be a little biased. Philly is a gritty historical city with my favorite food scene for the buck in the country. The scene was built in spite of government incompetence allowing for young chef’s to open BYOB’s and new restaurants with cheap rent. If you are a little too hungover to cook on Sunday I would suggest ordering a Sicilian style pizza from Sarcones or a sandwich from Paesano’s.

Jacksonville, I have never been to, I know most Philadelphians that went to the Super Bowl there thought it was a dump. But I have heard since that time it has started to make a comeback and is an underrated place to visit or live with some restaurants like Black Sheep (Philly has a great Pub with this name as well), Orsay and Town Hall that rival the best in Miami. Plus when a city is only 20 minutes from the ocean it can not be that bad in my eyes.

London is an amazing city with a multi-cultural food scene. It’s an expensive town, but worth the visit, plus with Brexit the exchange rate is better right now. Unfortunately my only visit was a layover back from Italy where I spent most of my time in a cab exploring the sites, Chinatown which was basically the only place I could go to eat past 10 lugging 2 huge bags around and sleeping on the ground at Heathrow.

Anyway onto the recipes. I will not be giving you a fusion recipe this go around, but a London breakfast recipe for you people with no dog in the fight.

Breakfast Philly Style

This is my go to order whenever I go to a diner in Philadelphia. It is just simple, tasty authentic Philadelphian. Two eggs any style I go with the sunny-side up with rye bread and sides of scrapple and fried potatoes.  Most of this is familiar to everybody but scrapple is a Philadelphia food, coming from the Pennsylvania Dutch/German immigrants who settled in the Chester County region in the 17th and 18th century with a food called panhas. To explain this food I simply refer to my father’s description to me growing up “They make sausage, everything that falls off the machine during that they make hot dogs, then everything left from that gives you scrapple.” Also commonly referred to “everything but the oink.” And it’s delicious, do not read the ingredients just fry and enjoy!

• Two eggs sunny side up or scrambled
• rye bread toasted with butter
• scrapple (Habbersett is most common) sliced about a 1/3 inch thick and fried in a pan
• fried potatoes with peppers and onions, slice potatoes peppers and onions small, saute these in a pan until soft with oil

Eat this with a Bloody Mary or Screwdriver made with Stateside vodka or some Kenzingers or Ploughman ciders and enjoy your Sunday and if the Eagles win continue it with an all out Sunday Funday!

Jacksonville Breakfast

While there are many Souther Style breakfast meals I enjoy, my favorite is Chicken and Waffles. This salty and sweet meal will have your taste buds dancing early in the morning. Fried Chicken which dates back to the French food fricassee but mastered in kitchens run by Africa-American slaves during the early 1800’s and became nationally famous thanks to Colonel Sanders trademarked KFC recipe. While waffles were originally created in the 13th century when bakery’s were trying to get in the business of creating wafers for the church’s eucharist, they easily switched this recipe to a sweet street food for the common man.

Fried Chicken

• Cut a whole chicken into 2 breasts, 2 things, 2 legs and 2 wings
• Preheat a large pot of vegetable oil
• In a large bowl combine 3 cups flour, 2.5 tbs salt, 2 tbs black pepper, 1/2 tbs onion powder, 1 tbs garlic powder, 1 tbs cayenne pepper
• pour 1 cup buttermilk into another bowl
• Dredge each piece of chicken from largest to small in the buttermilk, then thoroughly coat the chicken in the flour mixture then into the fryer
• After the final wing is in the oil set a timer for 15 minutes and all the chicken should be done after those 15 minutes.

Waffle

• Preheat waffle iron
• In a large bowl  whisk together 1/2 cup flour, 1 tbs baking powder, 3 tbs sugar, 1/2 tspn sugar
• beat two egg whites in a different bowl
• In another bowl beat two egg yolks 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 cups milk. 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Mix together yolk mixture with dry mixture, then add egg whites, pour onto waffle iron and cook.
• Serve with fried chicken and maple syrup

Grab a Bold City brewery beer or a mimosa and enjoy your breakfast.

Full English Breakfast

The full english breakfast goes back to the 13th century when English households wanted to fill their visitors with a hearty breakfast.

For a traditional English breakfast fry some:

• bacon
• eggs
• tomatoes
• mushrooms
• sausages aka bangers
• black pudding aka blood sausage
• baked beans
• some toast with butter

Finish this down with a Hot toddy made from english breakfast tea, whiskey and honey and enjoy!

Gametime

I see Prince Harry aka Carson Wentz getting better every game and Bloke “I mean Blake” Bortles getting worse. Expect a dominant performance from the Super Bowl champions as they go onto win 28 – 10 and Jacksonville goes home looking for a miracle to make the playoffs. #EATDRINKSPORTS #LifeofTizzle #SizzlebyTizzle

Nothing

Boston VS LA

East VS West

Blue Collar VS Hollywood Glam

Fenway Frank VS Dodger Dog

This post will solve none of those battles, but will fill you with gluttoness enjoyment while watching America’s favorite pastime

Boston Menu                       LA Menu             Fusion Menu

New England Clam Chowda                French Dip Bao Buns            Chorizo and Clams

Lobster Roll                                           Korean Short Rib Tacos        Lobster Kimchi Fried Rice

Boston and LA are two cities that have had the pleasure of being taken by Tizzle. Both cities I thoroughly enjoyed eating, drinking and rampaging through. Two totally different awesome American enclaves. And that’s what will make this series great to watch even though I have no dog in the fight.

I hate Boston fans because they are arrogant and to be honest because I used to root for the Red Sox to break the streak and now they had to overdo it and won’t stop winning. I hate LA fans because, well its LA they leave early or don’t come at all. Luckily as a Philadelphian I have two great recent triumphs over these cities that I can comfort myself with while enjoying the games, 41-33 and Matt Stairs destroying Jonathon Broxton foreverrrrrrrrr.

On to the point, how to eat like a Bostonian, an Angeleno and a hybrid of the two I will call Banglian. These are both cities with great food cultures. Throughout my writings I will try not to write about sterotypical food ideas and focus on unique tastes and cultures.  For example, I could write this whole blog on burgers between these two cities, In and Out animal Style and Father’s Office or Craigie on Main and Alden & Harlow? But I won’t.

Sizzle by Tizzle menus are designed based off the food you should grab to brag on Instagram about where you’ve been.  Most of the time based off real menu items and once in a while an intracity fusion that I concoct myself. I will also design a fusion menu for the man with no dog in the fight and in this case that city’s residents will be referred to as Banglians.

Boston Menu

When I asked my friend Andy from New England for advice on this topic he responded in the Kennedyesq tone I have come so used to hearing from  New Englanders, I describe it as faux elitists acting like faux working class, he responded “Hmmm, in classic LA vs Boston where it’s Hollywood vs working mans town, nothing epitomizes that more than the New England bean “suppah.” Not fancy, but cost-effective and full of sustenance and almost more importantly a communal affair.” Well you can make beans if you like, but I’m going to go with the classics, I know it may sound lame but Clam Chowda and a Lobster Roll sounds perfect to me. When I’m in New England I can’t help myself I have to try every clam chowda and lobster roll I see on a menu, same as crab cakes in Baltimore.

New England Clam Chowda

Boston not only dominated New York in the divisional series but they dominate them when it comes to clam chowder as well. Chowda has been around since we were still paying taxes to the throne, it’s an American classic. The warm briny thick chowder is perfect for a brisk Autmn night.

• 8 thick cut bacon strips or salt pork till crisp remove from pan
• 2 ribs celery 1 onion 3 garlic cloves saute in bacon fat
• stir in 3 tablespoons flour
• add two cups chicken stock, 2 10 ounce cans of clam juice (reserve clams, if using fresh clams buy topneck and clam juice), 1 cup heavy cream and 3 Idaho potatoes and 4 sprigs thyme
• Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low and stir until potatoes are tender
• Add clams salt and pepper and cook about another two minutes.

Lobster Roll

Nothing says New England like a food cart selling lobster. One of the most prestigious foods in the world and in New England they are just selling it on the side of the road like its corn on the cob! I wish my corn on the cob tasted as delicious as these succulent morsels of delight. Originated in the 1920’s in Connecticut but really did not hit its stride to the 1970’s, these treats are a must have while in New England. Also, it’s served on a hot dog bun so what is better to eat if you want to over-indulge while watching a baseball game.

• Boil 3 lobsters
• Remove meat, chop and chill
• Whisk 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 4 tablespoons melted butter, the juice of a lemon and chilled lobster
• grill or toast hot dog buns (center top sliced if possible)
• Plate and drizzle butter

Wash this down with a Harpoon (I would drink the Flannel Friday) or a Nargannsett and be a Bostonian for a night or at least eat and drink like one.

Los Angeles Menu

While sticking to one genre of food for Boston was easy, the city of Angels is a whole nother story. What makes the food scene in LA great is the variety and the fusion of tastes. Los Angeles is a literal melting pot of flavor. Old classics and new immigrants come together to make for one of the better food scenes I experienced, from Korean to Chinese to Mexican you can find enough great restaurants in LA to think you are actually living in that country. As an ode to this fusion I created the first dish by myself a French Dip Buns and for the entree I stole from the master of fusion Roy Choi, Short rib tacos.

French Dip Bao Buns with Blue Cheese

The French Dip was invented in LA over 100 years ago at Phillip the Original. Lore has it that it was invented so you could use day old bread.  I have seen Bao buns used in fusion such as Pastrami and Swiss but never french dip so I thought why not use the opportunity to blend an old LA classic with the ancient Chinese masterpiece that was created around the 3rd century by Chinese military strategist Zhuge Liang.

French Dip

• Saute 2 onions in butter and transfer to a slow cooker
• Salt and Pepper 3 to 4 pound rump roast cut in half and place over onions
• Combine 1 cup soy sauce 5 cups water and an envelope of onion soup mix and pour over roast and slow cook until tender

Bao Buns (Or go to your local Asian Grocery store and save some time)

• Mix  together 4 1/4 cups flour 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and 1/2tsp salt
• Dissolve 1 tsp fast action dried yeast and a pinch of sugar in 1tbsp warm water
• Add it to dough with 1/4 cup milk, 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 tbsp rice vinegar and 1 cup water and mix
• knead until smooth then place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 2 hours
• flatten dough, sprinkle 1 tsp baking powder and knead for 5 mins
• Roll out dough to look like a long sausage, cut into pieces a little more than an inch
• roll out each piece into an oval 3-4mm thick
• rub surface of each oval with a little oil, oil a chopstick, place oiled chopstick in middle of each oval and fold the dough over the chopstick and then pull chopstick out
• Put each on baking parchment cover with lightly oiled cling film and let sit until double in size (about an hour and a half)
• Steam each bun over medium high heat for 8 mins

After this crumble some blue cheese over top and enjoy!

Short Rib Tacos

Roy Choi grew up in a Korean household in Southern California and is known for as Anthony Bourdain said “elevating the food-truck concept from roach coach to highly sought after, ultra hot yet democratic rolling restaurant.” Growing up eating authentic Korean in the home but other varieties of food in restaurants he was able to use this experience and create a Korean-Mexican fusion that has blown away the millions of taste buds that have tried his food. This is his recipe for Short Rib Tacos

• 3 1/2 Korean Cut short ribs
• Make marinade and sauce using 1 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup mirin, 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 2 tsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp garlic, 2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cumin
• Pour half over short ribs and marinate overnight
• Pour other half in small saucepan with 1 tbsp, more if you like hot, siracha and heat over medium high heat, once boiling lower heat and simmer until it thickens, remove from heat aside to cool
• Chop 1 1/2 cups cabbage, 1/2 cup red cabbage, 1/2 carrot (grated), 1/2 cup cilantro, 3 scallions mix with 1 lime juiced, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp olive oil and refrigerate
• Grill short ribs 3 minutes each side on high

Assemble Tacos, and drink them down with a Modelo Especiale or a Hite or if you want to live in LA Luxury make yourself some Dirty Martini’s and pretend to be Frank Sinatra for a night.

Banglios Menu

I don’t exactly know what this mythical city would be like, but it would most likely be a little like the food on this menu loud, in your face and full of flavor. For the app, I went with Chorizo and Clams a Spanish classic with a Mexican twist and for the entree I could not resist the Lobster Kimchi fried rice.

Chorizo and Clams

You can find this dish on almost any Spanish restaurant menu, but to Californize it a little I decided to use Mexican chorizo instead of Spanish chorizo. You also throw some tequila in it and let me tell you one thing I advocate is drinking while cooking!

• In a pot break up and brown a 1/2 pound mexico chorizo and set aside
• Add 2 tbsp unsalted butter and onions over medium high heat saute until soft add garlic for a minute
• Add 1 cup tequila 3/4 cup clam juice and boil, add 2 lbs littleneck clams reduce heat to medium and cover for 10 minutes until clams are wide open
• Return chorizo to pot and stir
• Serve with crusty bread

Lobster Kimchi Fried Rice

This will be truly a flavorful meal and if you want to splurge on a meal for a lobster tail I would suggest this one be it.

• Cook 2 cups jasmine rice set aside
• Saute 4 slices bacon in a wok for 3 minutes
• Add 1 cup kimchi for another 3 minutes
• Boil a pot of water add  2 lobster tails lower heat to a simmer and cook 1 minute for each ounce
• Add rice to kimchi and bacon and stir fry 2 minutes until rice is coated evenly
• If you like spicy add chopped up dried chili peppers

Top kimchi fried rice with lobster tails and Volia!

If you are a wine fan I would suggest to drink this tasty meal down with a Sauvigion Blanc or a Merlot, they both go great with spicy food.

Gametime!

Red Sox in 6 is my prediction. This is a matchup of the most clutch team in baseball against the least clutch team in baseball. The manalytics are all on the Red Sox side and I do not see how the Dodgers can overcome that fact. Enjoy the food, drinks and games and let me know if you have any suggestions for future posts or games of the week. Sharing these posts are encouraged! Eat, Drink and Watch Sports! #LifeofTizzle #SizzlebyTizzle

The feast of the seven fishes is an Catholic Italian-American tradition that goes back generations. Although as a Catholic Italian-American growing up my family never partook  in this tradition, but I knew of many families that did. This may have been because growing up we spent Christmas Eve on my Dad’s side of the family and celebrated Wigilia (I will have to do a Wigilia post in the future), which let me tell you fitting 60 polish people in a row house in Chester is a hell of loud and crazy time and Christmas Day with my Mom’s side, the Italian side. For a deep dive into the seven fishes celebration in Philly you will find a great piece by Danya Henninger of Billy Penn here.

This year I decided to check out the feast of seven fishes for the first time, I could only go on the 23rd though since I had family parties on Christmas Eve, so I headed down to my favorite Roman style restaurant Amis.  I ended up getting a seat at the Chef’s table which is always my favorite spot in the restaurant, you get to witness how much it actually takes to pull off an event like this, it reminds me of a better Chip Kelly offense when it worked as controlled chaos or of my Polish Christmas Eve’s were my Grandmom and all of her sisters would be yelling at each other in the kitchen. 

  

I ordered the seven fishes meal with the wine pairing. By the way, this meal is best attended with family and friends, it was a fun time for me by myself chatting with the staff but I’m weird so if you want to do it right make sure your bring company.

  
The chef started the night with a complimentary shrimp cocktail, fresh and juicy as you would expect. 

  
Then out came the first course starting with the baked baccala bruschetta, the baccala’s  texture was spot on, firm but flaky and to my surprise it was a savory dish, so salty, juicy, heartwarming it reminded me of a lighter version of a mash pie. 

  
Up next came the stuffed clams with lemon or what I called them the classy clams casino. This dish worked together perfectly as you got hit with smoky flavor off the bat then salty and finally a nice spritz of lemon to finish each clam. It was definitely the best clams casino I ever had. 

  
At this point I realized I would need two glasses of wine for each of the three courses so I informed my waiter of my wish and he was great about it. After getting another glass, I started to eat the smoked eel salad with pomelo and buffalo mozzarella. This was a terrific salad, the grapefruit like taste of the pomelo matched exquisitely with the fresh juicy mozzarella, my only wish was that more of the smoked eel was on the plate to compliment the flavors even more. 

  
The final dish of this course was the sautéed “Calamar” in some caramelized onions and greens dressed in a fresh olive oil.

  
It was time for the second courses, as the chef put the spaghetti and mussels in front of me he said “I’ll be impressed if you finish that” to that I chuckled and said don’t worry I ate 40 courses a couple weeks ago and to that he was just flabbergasted. This was a fabulous dish, it reminded me of my childhood except much better pasta and fresher mussels. The meaty mussels tasted like they were right from the sea and brought great flavor to the sauce that gave my tastebuds a very enjoyable experience.

  
 Up next came the seafood timbano with spicy tuna and swordfish. This decadent pasta had the perfect crunchy texture to go with the sweet and spicy flavors of the swordfish and tuna.

  
The third course consisted of a monkfish Marsala with escarole, beans and polenta. The monkfish which tastes almost exactly like lobster was cooked flawlessly and the rich, earthy taste of the Marsala sauce gave the dish tremendous flavor.  

  
I wanted to save room for dessert so I only had a few bites of the spicy, garlicky escarole and beans and the polenta that tasted exactly like grits flavored with corn bread but they were both delicious.

  
  
I ordered an espresso to go with the desserts. Out they came and of course there was one more than expected. I decided to take the cookies home with me and started with Amaretto semifreddo with hot chocolate, this godsend in a small glass was out of my mind good. The sweet almond flavor of the amaretto semifreddo went together like a horse and carriage with the hot chocolate, with out a doubt one of my favorite desserts of 2015. The other dessert was not far behind, it consisted of a rice pudding, Italian style maraschino cherries, no not the candied ones you get at DQ and pistachios. By this point I was so full. I decided  I had to finish the night. I picked up the glass of pear infused brandy that sat in front of me and took a few nips that were perfect for settling my stomach.

  
This was a great time, if you are looking for a Catholic Italian-American experience with great food before Christmas next year I would absolutely suggest you hit this up. This was a 4 Tizzle experience.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!!

Happy New Year!

I have never ran a marathon and I never plan on running a marathon, I just don’t get how running is fun. To tell you the truth I look at people that run marathons the same way they look at me, crazy. But after La Panarda, I do understand the strategy that has to be used to finish a marathon. 40 courses, almost half served family style and 9 variety of wines that conservatively I will say I had about 2 glasses of each. This marathon is unlike any other though, if you can imagine with me for a second running 16 miles on a flat surface and then the rest of the way dealing with an uphill climb to finish, that is how the pasta and meat courses at the end of this awesome extravaganza feel. So I don’t bore you I will describe only the dishes that were can’t miss in my opinion and that is still too many and the others were right behind.

It was a beautiful fall day for a festival, the room was full of around 30 other guests, some that have been there before, some, like myself, who would be experiencing this unique feast for the first time. La Panarda is an Abruzzo tradition originally held in honor of St. Anthony whom legend has it was prayed to by a woman whose child was held in a mouth of a wolf and  of course the wolf dropped the child and the woman cooked a feast for this miracle. I must say thank you St. Anthony because I am now a beneficiary of that miracle.The owners kicked things off with a sheep bell from Abruzzo and a shout out to the beautiful Abruzzo region. You can tell this was going to be a good day just from the passion shown by the owners and the Chef .

Just like any other marathon we had to get hydrated before we started so the staff came around and served us some glasses of Cococciola Spumante Brut as an aperitif, this citrus flavored sparkling wine was very pleasant on the palate and a great way to start the day. After a few of those the apertivos started coming out, the apertivo was one of the best courses of the meal which only made it harder to pace yourself. The Jewish artichoke came out first and exploded with flavor as soon as you bit into the perfectly fried crust. These were better than any I had in my recent visit to Rome.

Up next came the fritters filled with egg, pecorino and baccala, the combination of these flavors was perfect, the salty taste of the baccala was the first flavor to hit your mouth, then the freshness of the egg and finally the buttery taste of the pecorino. I ate about 6 of these fritters but could have done 20 if I did not remind myself of the 38 courses to follow. Then came one of my favorite dishes of the day, fried olives stuffed with Italian pulled pork. I could eat these decadent treats all day, the burst of sour vinegary tang from the olive that rolled right into the delicious salty flavors of the pork was almost heaven. It reminded me of the Pringles commercial one you pop, you can’t stop. After I ate a good number of these I had to reiterate to myself “marathon not a sprint.” But whoa were those good.

Next came what the Italians call the first opening service, as all Italians know, the stuff you eat before doesn’t really count;). This service was all seafood dishes. It was paired with a fresh unique wine named Cococciola Costa del mulino. Out of the kitchen came the bay scallops on top of a cauliflower purée with black truffle on top. This was the ultimate sea and earth dish, with the sweet, fresh flavor of the bay scallop transitioning directly into the earthiness of the black truffle, it was quite the technique.

Then came the conserva di neonate di sardelle with crostini, this was fermented eels in a chili sauce and it was out of this world, I could defintely use that recipe. The salty delicious pungent flavor of the the eels along with the spiciness of the sauce made the dish addictive and had me wishing for more crostini, but it was most likely better for me that there was none, I even contemplated eating it with a spoon but I don’t think my tablemates would have looked at me the same after that :).

The last of my favorites from this course was the mussels, clams, scampi and piennolo tomatoes. While the clams and mussels were delicious, the freshness of the scampi was decadent, after I got done scooping each bit out it had me wanting just another one or two or three. With 12 courses done it was time to move on to the 2nd serving.

This was when I decided to start smoking the pack of cigarettes I bought especially for this day. I feel like any 10 hour long Italian feast needs to be accompanied by cigarette breaks. I went out onto the beautiful patio of Le Virtu on this gorgeous fall day, many of the other attendees decided to follow and take their first rest of the day and enjoy a nice conversation with people they would be meeting for the first time. When I went back in they were serving us the Pecorino Costa del Mulino, aka the orange wine, and no it does not have a splash of Fanta in it, it is a white wine made like a red which leaves an orange tint to this delicious glass. As the lamb sausage with polenta and calabrese chili was served to me, my mouth smiled wide, as one of my favorite combinations is sweet, earthy and spicy and that is exactly what this dish brought to my taste buds.

Then came the Farrotto n’ndocca n’ndocca, translated on the menu as Farro and pork risotto, but as soon as I took a bite into this delicious earthy plate, I knew this was not the normal parts of the pig, this was the tripe, tongue, snout, etc. aka the nasty bits, when I told the gentleman sitting across from me I could tell by his facial expression that if I told him before he tried it he would have never tried it but since he did not know he had already ate it and liked it.

As the wines continued to come each one was refilled they were all paired perfectly but around this point is when I don’t really remember the specifics of the wine anymore, all I know is that they were all delicious and paired extraordinarily well. Up next came the light courses of salad and cheeses to get us to the half way point highlighted by the kale salad with apples, walnuts and a pecorino dressing.

Half way through, time for one of many more cigarettes as I tried to keep my mind off the amount of food and wine I had already consumed. Time for the house cured salumi, no doubt what was my favorite here the crostini with nduja, a spicy spreadable pork sausage, that has the perfect mix of tang and spice, o’ so good.

After a quick break I could see the wall in front of me, Iad to climb it and keep on going it came in the form of 7 types of pasta, this was no longer amateur hour. The first leg was the Timballo, a baked pasta dish made for 30, that when whole looks almost like a miniature super dome that tastes like a bake ziti belly bomb (in a good way).

Out of the kitchen came the tuminia busiate, pesto alla trapanese (corkscrew pasta with pesto), this pesto has almonds in it which really lends the dish a great touch of nutty flavoring.

Next came my favorite pasta of the night the cecamariti com ragu all’amatriciana (ragu made with guanciale (cured pigs cheek)) the saltiness and juiciness of this ragu made for a wonderful dish that unfortnately I could only have so much of knowing the meats were up next. So many gut punches but I kept on going.

You know its been a long day when you get the meat sweats before the meat portion of the meal is served, but that  was the predicament I found myself in. But it was such a tasty predicament to be in.

Again outside for another cigarette and some more conversations to open up a large enough pocket to finish the meal. As I go back in, I eat the palate cleansing sorbet before the meat courses start rolling in. The meats were all out of this world the porchetta was perfectly cooked with a nice crispy outside and juicy inside with the perfect amount of seasonings. The rabbit, porchetta style was simply special.

The sliced steak, I went for the inside pieces where it was cooked medium rare to my overwhelming enjoyment and finally the last meat before dessert the divine rack of lamb.

What a day, what an experience. After I fought through the meats with enjoyment I ordered a limoncello and espresso to help me finish the cheeses and Italian cookies for dessert. I had done it and would gladly do it again.

After the meal many people had left, I saw the owners, the Chef and a few more people sitting in the corner, I went over to them and expressed my gratitude and told them how great the food, the atmosphere and how wonderful the all around event they were able to put on was. They then offered me a digestive named genziana, as they poured me a glass, one individual says “not the whole glass”, as I later find out it is 140 proof, but that is fine with me. It looks almost like ecto cooler, as I take some nips to end the night of this pesto flavored grappa like drink I realize why this works so good after a meal, it just burns through the food. I finish and it is time for me to leave, I say my thank youse again and end up getting a ride home from a couple of people who came down from New York for La Panarda.

This is an event unlike any other, it is undoubtedly a 10 +1 sizzle experience, that I would recommend to anyone I know.

Until next time,

Eat, Drink and be Merry!!!

Scratch Biscuits is not the place you go to impress a date about the great brunch options in Philadelphia. I am not writing this to diminish the restaurant because the food is really good, I just want to inform you that the service and interior is basically like a Chipolte, so if you are looking for a quick bite to eat on a weekday or even a weekend looking to get over a hangover and complete the schedule you have planned for the rest of the day this is a good place to go.

I ordered a large coffee, which they get from Rival Brothers and I got the build your own biscuit option which I built with eggs, homemade scrapple, garlicky kale and pimento cheese. I also wanted to get the decimated yam fries that are smothered in pimento cheese, crispy bacon and chow chow but unfortunately their fryer was down. The coffee was good but limited in choices and you have to serve it yourself.  The biscuit was delicious, flaky and buttery tasting, unfortunately it is almost impossible to eat it like a sandwich because of the flakiness of the biscuit, so I ended up just mashing all the ingredients together. The Homemade scrapple was surprisingly really good, tasted exactly like Philly scrapple which I was not expecting from a place that reminded me of the South. The garlicky kale was tasty as well while the pimento cheese was delicious but I just wish it was a little warmer and spicier. While the ingrients were all really tasty it was unfortunate you really could not eat it as a sandwich. 
Scratch Biscuits was a 2 Tizzle experience, I would go back for a quick bite to eat or for a hangover cure but I would not put it on my regular stops list. 

  
Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!!

It was opening night for Whetstone and I had excited myself into a frenzy about going to try  the new spot opened by Jermy Nolen, the chef of Brauhaus Schmit. So  I justified to myself not cooking the chicken breast in my fridge and instead ventured down to 5th and Bainbridge. The interior design of the building is very classy, it reminded me of a Tavern where you would have seen Nucky Thompson indulging. I sat at the bar and ordered up a Radeberger Pilsner which is a refreshing beer for a hot summer day,  it has an ice cold water taste at first with a slight bitter aftertaste. These are the type of beers you can drink all day.

  
After a few Radebergers, I decided to ask the bartender for a half-dozen oysters, the  Cape May Salts were the Oyster for the night.  These plump salty oysters tasted so fresh that I might have well just been eating them out of the Delaware Bay. But then again I am a little biased because Pale Ales and Oysters is one of my favorite summer treats.

  
After the oysters and Radebergers, I ordered a glass of the Petit Chablis, this is a very dry wine with citrus flavors. I also ordered a plate of the Burratina. Burratina is a smaller version of Burrata and has a very milky, stringy inside once you cut through the soft skin of the cheese. The Burratina came with yellow heirloom tomatoes, black olives, caperberries, basil on top of garlic toast. This dish is a must have, as soon as I cut into the Burratina the juices of the inside started to ooze out and I could not wait to taste it. The rich cheese with fresh basil goes along perfectly with the sweet heirloom tomatoes and the sourness of the caperberries. My favorite part of this dish was the rich cheese with the sour aftertaste of the caperberries. The flavors really go well together and leaves you wishing for more, even though the dish is very filling.

  
Up next I decided to switch over to the house red, which was a Shiraz from California, which had a nice dry peppery flavor to it. Whetstone also has a great special on the menu for people like me who like to try as many dishes as possible, with any entree you can add a half soup or salad for just $4. I ordered the pan seared Icelandic Cod that came with littlneck clams, fingerling potatoes and braised celery in a little clam broth. I also added a half of the Philadelphia Pepper Pot soup. Because it was opening night I will give Whetstone a pass that both the soup and the entree came out at the same time, but I hope that is not their intention and in the future they will split them up.

The soup will be a go to for me, especially come Fall and Winter time, it’s recipe includes braised brisket, tripe, mustard greens, potatoes, red peppers all spice and paprika broth. This recipe soup which is rumored to have sustained General Washington’s troops in Valley Forge over the cold winter during the Revolutionary War is absolutely delicious. The tender brisket and chewy tripe allows for a great contrast in texture while the sweetness and spiciness of the of red peppers all spice combined with the paprika broth really does the soup a great service. The soup embodies a huge flavor and packs a punch and is a must try, especially during the cold hibernating months.

  
After slurping up the last bits of the Pepperpot soup, I dove right into the Cod. This dish was a little much for me, it was good but there were some parts that I do not think meshed. The clams that came on top and the saltiness of the clam broth were a little too much for my liking, even though they tasted good  their strong flavors overpowered the flavor of the cod which was what I really wanted to stand out. The Icelandic Cod along with the flavor of the braised celery went great together and was delicious and what is I wanted to taste more of in this dish.

  
After finishing my meal I ordered a nip to end the night. I went with the white on rye, which consisted of rye whiskey, white vermouth, kümmel caraway liqueur and hop bitters. This was solid but I most likely should have not ordered it because I am not a huge vermouth fan and it had a little too much vermouth in it for my liking.

All together this was a great meal and experience, even though some of the patrons sitting at the bar were a little rude, nothing Whetstone can do about that though. In the end this was a 3.5 Tizzle experience and I only see it getting better from here.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!!!

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I decided I had to get out of the house so I called up an uberx and ventured down into Fishtown. I decided to go to Kraftwork for brunch. I am a big fan of the inside layout at Kraftworks, brick walls, exposed metal work, it all brings me back to a better time, a less hectic era, one I wish the world would go back to sometimes. To start the day off I got a Vietnamese Iced coffee with Vodka and I tried out the local brew R5 Lager from Doylestown Brewing Company, both of these hit the spot. The R5 is an easy lager, even if you usually are not a lager fan you will most likely like this because it tastes a little lighter.

  

  
For brunch I ordered the breakfast cubano which consisted of ham, Gruyere, pork belly, pickles and spicy mustard topped with a sunny side up egg. The cubano was an open face sandwich on top of wheat toast. The salty ham and juicy pork belly matched with the creamy, earthy Gruyere was delicious, especially when you got a taste of the sourness from the pickles in a bite. I am always a fan of adding an egg on everything so that part worked as well. Unfortunately though the sandwich did not meet its full potential because of the under toasted wheat bread it was served on. The sandwich would have been one of the better brunch sandwiches I had in a while had the bread matched the rest of the sandwich. Any type of toasted hard bread would have work, I would have loved a regular cubano roll or even something like a hard sourdough for texture purposes. It was still good, just a disappointment because it easily could have been so much better. This dish came alongside a potato hash that was really good. The potatoes were salty and crunchy and came with sweet carmelized onions and chopped red peppers. After a few more beers, I decided to meet up with a friend before dinner for a few beers.

  
Later that night a group of us went to dinner at Stella. The atmosphere at Stella is always fun, so it is always a great place to have dinner with a large group. I ordered a bottle of Pinot noir that served as a great pallet cleanser for the night. For an appetizer we ordered the sheep’s milk ricotta with rosemary and flatbread. The sheep’s milk ricotta was a great way to start dinner, rich, yet light with a creamy texture. For dinner we ordered 6 pizzas, a margherita, piccante, nduja, brussel sprouts, pistachio and a tartufo.  All of these pizzas came on a magnificently cooked wood-oven grilled crust. The crust here is some of the best in the city. My three favorites were the margherita, piccante and tartufo. The others were also delicious, so it really depends on what you are in the mood for that night. The margherita came with San Marzano tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella, margherita pizza is so simple yet so hard to perfect and this was great. The sweet tomatoes were complimented nicely by the fresh basil and creamy mozzarella. Up next came the piccante, which came with crunchy spicy capicola, crushed red pepper, aged provolone and tomato. The spicy capicola became even spicer with the addition of the crushed red, while the strong taste of the provolone and sweet tomatoes balanced out this pizzas tremendous flavor. The final piece I tried for the night was the tartufo, that came with black truffle, egg and fontina cheese. The nuttiness of the black truffle with the runny egg yolk made this pizza very rich, but I was in the mood for rich so I did not mind one bit, I remember my eyes almost going into the back of my head with excitement when I ate this dish, it was beautiful.

  
  
  
After dinner, I went to Cappeli Brothers Cigar Bar for a cigar and some nips of whiskey to end the night.

The overall day was a 4 Tizzle experience. Kraftworks was a 3.5 Tizzle experience and Stella was a 4.5 Tizzle experience.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!!!

It was Thursday and my friend and I were supposed to play racquetball and then head to our cigar bar, Cappelli Bros Cigar Company. Of course, plans are made to be broken though and since the gym was painting the racquetball courts we decided to head to dinner instead. We chose Jamonera, I love tapas and I love red wine so places like Jamonera are always held to a higher standard for me. As soon as we got there I ordered the Syrah-Garnatxa and stayed with that for the night, as I am a big fan of wine with spicy notes, especially for salty food.

  
To start we ordered a small plate and an option from the cured meats and cheeses. The  Fava Croquetas that were topped with lump crabmeat, whipped goat cheese and Meyer lemon was our small plates choice. The Fava Croquetas have a very similar taste to a falafel, while the addition of the other elements to the dish led to a creamy, lemony crab taste that made me think this dish would be served well in sushi restaurants as a Spanish crab roll. The fresh crab and lemon made you craving for more of those ingredients and kind of overtook the Croquetas  as the centerpiece, but it was still delicious. Up next came the Chef’s Board which came with two meats and two cheeses, we didn’t supplement the board with the jamon iberico de bellota, but I have regretted it since and I suggest you do if you go. The chorizo and blue cheeses were the standouts on this dish, with the blue having a nice bite to it and the chorizo have a great salty start with a spicy kick that left you wanting more.

 
   
For our second course we ordered one dish off of the salads and vegetable and toasts and cocoas menu each. For the vegetables we ordered the Charred Shishito Peppers with fingerling confit, cucumbers, roasted peppers, creamy lemon dressing, whipped basil miticreama and hazelnuts. The Shishito peppers had a beautiful char to them which really allowed the dished to flourish with the texture of the whipped basil miticreama, citrus flavor of the dressing and nuttiness of the hazelnuts. The Wedding of the Anchoas was my favorite dish of the night, and yes this marriage was made in heaven and meant to last. The marinated Spanish boquerones and cantabrian anchovies came on top of toast with roasted red peppers, onion seed shoots and a tomato-almond pesto. The dish started out with a mild anchovy taste from the boquerones followed by a really sweet flavor from the roasted red peppers and tomato-almond pesto and finished with an explosive wonderful salty, fishy anchovy  zest that paired wonderfully with a slight sip of the red I was drinking.

 
   

For the final course, I odered the grilled skirt steak and my friend ordered the mussels and chorizo. These were both solid dishes the skirt steak was cooked great and had a nice salty taste but the potatoes were a little undercooked for my liking while the mussels were fresh and had the nice kick from the chorizo. But if I had to do it all over again I most likely would have tried to get my friend to split one of their Paella’s with me, I love Paella, especially done right with the crunchy rice at the bottom.

 
   

After dinner we headed over to Capelli Brothers Cigar Company for some whiskey and cigars. We pretty much split a bottle of Bullit Bourbon between each other. We had a night in Philadelphia that I can only imagine is the closest you will come to a replica in this area as a night you would have in Spain. We hung out, we drank and we made new friends, it was a great way to spend a weekday night.

This was a 3.5 Tizzle experience but I think if I went back to Jamonera and ordered the Paella it definitely could have been a 4 or 4.5.

Jamonera – Must try the Wedding of the Anchoas

Capelli Brothers Cigar Company – Mohawk

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!!!

Wow, that is the best description I can give about American Sardine Bar. My friends and I decided to go here on a Saturday night and it is a great place to go with a large group of friends. The draft list is top notch and the food is a fusion of all types of ingredients that would cause the biggest stoner you know to be amazed by the creativity that concots these decadent dishes, the menu changes constantly so you almost always have something new to try out if you are an adventurous eater. Hanging out at the Sardine bar, reminds me of hanging out at a small town corner bar, the laid back casual atmosphere encourages you to stay the entire night while drinking, eating and having a good time with friends.

  
I started with Kenzinger and ordered a bunch of food for everybody to try out (must admit I ended up eating a lot of it myself though.) First up was the beer mussels, these mussels were some of the largest mussels I have ever seen. Each mussel was perfectly cooked and the plump, juiciness of the mussels tasted so very fresh. They were served in a delicious spicy, sweet tomato garlic based broth that made me want to lick the bowl clean after finishing. These mussels were up there with some of the best mussels I have had in Philadelphia. Out next came the Sardines, one fried, one sautéed, should have just went with two sautéed, as the fried was ok, but the sautéed was spot on in flavor. The feta, olives and lemon flavor complimented the salty fresh sardine well. The plate delivers a delicious light Mediterranean style flavor that you are looking for from a dish like this. We also ordered the fried pork ribs which were solid, a little tough but still a nice pork taste. 

  
I know, I know what you are thinking, these dishes don’t seem to be that creative, well after a couple more beers that is when we knew it was time to pick up our game. We ordered the Monkfish Liver with Spicy Kimichi, Smoked Turkey Gravy fries and some sweet Bologna sliders. The monkfish liver, aka the foie gras of the sea, was absolutely amazing, the liver so creamy and rich, yet somehow light and fresh at the same time, while the spicy kimchi added a super spicy, sour ingredient to the overall experience of the plate. This dish is something you would expect out of a Korean restaurant. Up next came the sweet Bologna slider on a potato roll, topped with some type of slaw, that kind of tasted like sauerkraut to me and spicy mustard. I haven’t had Bologna since I was about 10 years old and used to throw out my lunch everyday unless I was starving because I disliked Bologna so much and I thought I would never have it again. But yet again this slider isn’t my moms cold bologna sandwiches on white bread. This slider has everything, salty sweet Bologna, spiciness from the mustard and sourness from the slaw, it comes together to turn a looked down upon ingredient like Bologna into a truly tasty sandwich. And then came the smoked turkey gravy fries. Have you ever had thanksgiving leftovers smothered in gravy? If so, have you ever had them piled high on a mountain of delicious salty french fries? If not, I suggest you try these fries out, the smoked turkey, peas and gravy go absolutely spectatcular together to create a dish that knocks you right off your feet and leaves you wanting to find football on the TV.

  
  
After those innovative, scrumptious dishes I did not think the final part of the meal could be better, but yet again I was proven wrong, as I ordered the Short Rib Bahn mi. The salty short rib was thinly sliced and was a perfect meat to use as a riff on the Philly cheesesteak, that along with the sour cucumber kimchi and creamy chicken liver mayo on top of a beautiful crusty roll made this dish one of my top 5 sandwiches in Philly. All these flavors come together to make a rich creamy filling that is softened just enough by the roll so that the sandwich taste is not too overwhelmingly rich.

  
American Sardine Bar is a 5 Tizzle Experience, sit inside or outside and enjoy the food, drink and casual ambience. The best part about American Sardine Bar is that you can get some of the best diner, sandwich and high end ingrients and dishes all in one place.

  
  
Must try – monkfish liver with spicy kimchi, smoked turkey gravy fries and short rib Bahn mi sandwich.

American Sardine Bar is located at 1800 Federal Street.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!!!!!

5 o’clock came and work was finally over, it was a beautiful day out, 86 degrees, low humidity, hardly any clouds in the sky and I could not wait to get changed and go out on the town. If Philly had weather like this year round it would be San Diego, unfortunately we have about 3 days of that perfect weather called spring.

I headed over to Time Restaurant, Whiskey Bar and Taproom and ordered the He said, She said, which is made of Gin, St. Germaine, thyme simple syrup and peychauds bitters, the thyme was a great touch and gave the drink an elegant flavor. Gin is always a favorite of mine to start the night out on a spring or summer evening, it’s so light and refreshing. After I finished my first drink my friend met me at the bar and we ordered up two vodka martini’s with olives. As we drank these martini’s at the bar, with windows open behind us we listened to the music from the band playing in the corner, it really set the mood and made me realize, yes summer is here and it is time to have fun. After a couple more martinis we decided to order some food. We ordered the grilled octopus with white beans, nicoise olives, and fennel citrus salad, this dish was surprisingly amazing. Grilled octopus in my opinion is one of the hardest dishes to cook correctly and it was cooked spectacularly, beautifully charred on the outside with a nice smoky flavor but yet not too chewy on the inside. The nutty tasting nicoise olives, the mild licorice flavor and crunchy texture of the fennel and the booming tartness of the citrus meshed tremendously well with the grilled octopus and provided us with a great dish to start the evening. Up next came the Artisnal cheese dish, this plate of stankiness was nothing to sniff at, it was diverse in flavors and it really came together well to make for an excellent dish. The final two dishes we had for the night I was little disappointed in though, although I cannot blame them for the bone marrow because they had to accommodate for my friends nut allergy, I would rather have had them just give me the bone marrow plain than overpower the taste of such a delicacy with the citrus salsa they ended up placing atop of the dish. The shrimp ceviche was also a disappointment as it too was overpowered with citrus flavor so much so that you could hardly taste the shrimp at all.

                    

                    

After dinner my friend wanted to check out a special event at Franky Bradley’s called Franky’s Foxes. Franky’s Foxes is a partnership between Franky Bradley’s and the temerarious Foxes, which includes some of the most talented drag queens in the city of Philadelphia. After grabbing some Lagunitas Pils from the bar I sat down in my seat when of course the first act was late to the stage and the host of the show had to stall, so who does she pick to help her stall, you got it, moi. As I walked up to the stage, I knew I was out of my element and she could obviously tell I was in over my head, first thing she says you know I called you up here for a reason right, at this point I think, I awkwardly giggled and she says are you straight?  And I said yes as everybody laughed, I realized that this was the first moment in a long time that the cat got my tongue and she sent me back to my seat. I tried my best, but I don’t think you will see me in any shows anytime soon. The show went on and it was extremely entertaining. As the show was winding down I ordered an old fashion to nip on and end the night.

Sunday was perfect, it was another low humidity, sunny and blue sky day. I decided to make my first trip to Spruce Street Harbor Park with a friend and it was marvelous out. We grabbed a few beers, sat on the deck and had a great conversation with a couple sitting next to us, whose grandkids were driving from Wisconsin to visit them the next day. Spruce Street Harbor Park is a great time for all ages and allows you to relax and drink beers if you can find an open seat. It really is one of the best attractions on the Delaware River.

After a few beers we headed over to Gaslight, we ordered some more drinks, the west coast oysters and the chicharrones. The Gaslight has a fabulous atmosphere with windows that open wide and a bright white paint job plus it is in a great location, unfortunately the times I have been here before I have always wanted to like it but I have never been that impressed with the food. Since the last time I came though they had changed chefs and even though we only had some snacks I could tell by the freshness and preparation that this place may finally be on the way to meeting its expectations. The west coast oysters were delicious, so fresh, briny and creamy, it tasted like I was eating them directly out of the Pacific (except that they were clean). The chicharrones texture was exactly how I like it, crunchy, while the flavor was salty and with the addition of the lime and hot sauce made for a citrusy tang that was truly exquisite for a snack. Although I would have liked a little more heat from the hot sauce.

                        

Next up came Zento, we ordered some lychee martinis and a plate of the sashimi. The martinis were deliciously sweet as we sat outside and people watched. The sashimi was as expected, excellent and fresh. I am not one who eats my sashimi with too much soy sauce nor wasabi, so I really need the fish to taste fresh and this did.

After a long day of drinking in the sun, I decided to head home and take a nap and a shower and told my friend we would meet up again at Rouge later in the night for dinner. It was beautiful night, not too warm, clear skies people walking all around Rittenhouse square park, which was the biggest surprise to me because Philadelphia is usually desolate on Memorial Day weekend but since it has started to improve as a destination city this trend has reversed. After the long day in the sun with beer and liquor it was time for relaxation and I switched over to red wine. My friend and I ordered the tuna tartare to split.  This is the way you make a tartare, it was fresh and spicy, yet those flavors were not so overwhelming that it took away from the flavor of the tuna, they did what they were supposed to do, compliment the taste of the raw tuna and boy was it delicious.  After a few more reds, we ordered dinner I ordered the Rouge burger and my friend ordered the steak salad. The Rouge burger is on my top 3 list of burgers I have ever had, not to mention the frites that come with it are a great side to pick on throughout the meal. The nutty Gruyere, fresh tomato, juicy garlicky 12 oz of beef on top of a tasty challah roll, just thinking of it now makes my mouth water, it really is a must have in Philly, especially on a beautiful night overlooking such a gem of a park. My friend ordered the hangar steak salad, rare, and this was not a disappointment either. There was more steak than salad on this dish made up of mixed greens, grape tomatoes, roasted peppers, red onions and topped with a large scoop of Roquefort cheese and a balsamic glazed shallot dressing. The buttery texture and slightly salty, pungent, almost addictive aftertaste of the Roquefort married extremely well with the irony flavor of the rare steak and sweetness of the balsamic. After dinner we met some friends at Twenty Manning, which is another hot spot to check out on a beautiful night for dinner and drinks, for some nips to end the night.

                                        

Memorial Day weekend was a 4 Tizzle experience. It was beautiful out and all of the spots I went to were relaxing and fun times.

Time – 3.5 Tizzles – Great band and you have to try the Grilled Octopus salad

Franky Bradley’s – n/a – Must see event and all I have heard is good things about their food so I have to check this out for dinner one night

Spruce Street Harbor Park – 4 Tizzles – Great atmosphere, wish they had more places to eat and buy beer

The Gaslight – n/a – must try the west coast oysters, have to give this place one more chance to win me over

Zento – n/a – sashimi and lychee martini were both must gets

Rouge – 5 Tizzles – Beautiful view, Burger and steak salad were both top notch

Twenty Manning – n/a – Happening atmosphere

Remember to enjoy the time you have on this earth.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!!!!