September 26th, 2014
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware is located only about 2 hours and 20 minutes from Philadelphia. Crawling Philly for the day is no big deal.
We arrived at Talula’s Daily in the afternoon. Come to think of it…..right before 5 p.m. Perfect timing, right? It is located at 208 West Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19166. Tel. 215-592-6555. Website? http://www.talulasdaily.com.
Talula’s Daily is part of the Starr Restaurant Group in Philly known for quality of food and unique restaurants.
Washington Square is part of the Washington Square West and Society Hill neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It is a U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Walking around these squares and neighborhoods is always a treat. Residents do enjoy the outdoors.
Talula’s Daily is not a big restaurant but when you come in you can see how cozy it is. The Farm Table or Communal Table is in the middle of the room with smaller tables around it. It is the “it” table to grab. We, actually, did but I can see that for dinner it might be a quest.
The restaurant offers a wide range of foods….from soups to nuts and anything in between with drinks to accompany your choices.
We were fixed up with a variety of cheeses. That’s all we wanted.
Great presentation. All cheeses delicious with my particular favorite….the Beemster Goat Gouda.
St. Agur, a French Blue
Vintage Gouda, a Holland, Cow’s Milk
Truffle Gouda, another Holland, Cow’s Milk
Ossau Iraty, Basque, Sheep’s Milk
Beemster Goat Gouda, Holland, Goat’s Milk
Moses Sleeper, Vermont, Cow’s Milk
Note: Please check the website. If very informative with plenty of dining events that look so much fun!! And, “Like” them on Facebook.
Have a great week-end!!
August 22nd, 2014
 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is full of ethnic restaurants. From street food to fine dining, it is a fabulous place to spend some time crawling the City of Brotherly Love.
Pho is the street food in Vietnam that was, originally, sold at dawn and dusk by roaming vendors. My son invited me to crawl Philly and our first stop was Pho 75. This soup parlor has been visited by Anthony Bourdain several times. When my son visited for the first time, he told I, definitely, needed to try it.
There are 2 Pho 75 in Philly. We went to the one located at 1122 Washington Avenue. Tel. 215-5866. Other locations are: Maryland; Langley Park, Rockville, Virginia; Arlington (my son just visited that one, as well), Falls Church, and Herndon.
Pho 75 was immaculate, the service was prompt and no sooner it had opened…..customers kept coming in.
You have to understand that pho is a soup. The soups are served with rice noddles. You can order either a small bowl or a large bowl for sharing like we did. Then you have to order cuts of beef as toppings or do like we did and order the pho straight from the menu.
We order the pho with slices of eye-round steak, well done flank, soft tendom, and beef tripe. The large bowl arrived quickly with extra bowls on the side and bean sprouts, hot pepper, slices of lemon and fresh basil leaves.
Then it was up to me to fix my bowl to my liking.
The broth was delicate, full of flavor but not overly salted, which I was surprised.
Totally recommend it. Great value…I think lunch for 2 including tea and tip was about $10.00.
Note: This soup is gluten free.
Have a great day!.
January 29th, 2014
I am looking forward to Groundhog Day just as much as to the Super Bowl. Super Bowl Sunday is not the only the only event going on. Phil will come out of his burrow and, hopefully, will not see its shadow. Could not handle 6 more weeks of winter. Lots of events happening while waiting for Phil to come out. Please visit http://www.groundhog.org.
Federal Donuts, from Philadelphia, came to my house this past week-end and they were so good. My favorite? The Cookies & Cream. Federal Donuts offer Coffee, Donuts, and Chicken…people line up for hot donuts right out of the oven…your choice if you want chicken or not. Please check them out at http://www.federaldonuts.com.
We have balmy winters in Southern Delaware. The beaches is a great place to enjoy a snow event. Fresh snow….the surroundings are quiet. This morning was such a day.
So, my “rescued” Heinz 57, Addy, decided it was time to go outside…..Oh, I don’t thik so.
This is more like it…I think so.
Waiting patiently for spring!! Talk to you later.
 
December 8th, 2013
Walking through Main Street in Manayunk in Philadelphia a window caught my attention. A consignment shop. The name of this shop was Greene Street Consignment, located at 4313 Main St., Philadelphia, PA 19127. Tel. 267-335-5478. I have found that this is not the only location….New York, New Jersey and other parts in Pennsylvania. Visit http://www.greenestreetconsignment.com.
Greene Street Consignment has a fresh take on the whole consignment shopping experience. This shop looked like a boutique, storefront included. Plenty of namebrands, but they are focused on style.
Next time I visit Manayunk I am definitely stopping by. I need to find out more about it.
Whether you are a shopper or consignor, just remember that recycling your clothes gives them another chance…don’t discard them, let someone else enjoy them a second time around.
Talk to you later.
September 21st, 2013
For 5 years I have looked for a gluten free pizza that would make my mouth water. I found it!! You know it had to be good when customers eating at The Couch Tomato in Manayunk were ordering it…they did not have a gluten allergy. In my family’s gluten free journey (celiac disease), I would say that you can pretty much substitute ingredients to make recipes just as good as any. Pizza? Well, that has been a different story.
The Couch Tomato has gluten free pizza that is truly delicious. Our choice was Bacon, Goat Cheese, Olive Oil, Caramelized Onions and Mozzarella. It looked and tasted sooo good.
The neighborhood of Manayunk has a Main Street lined with restaurants and boutiques. During any given day, customers enjoy outdoor dining in, practically, every restaurant.
The Couch Tomato is located at 102 Rector St., Manayunk, PA 19127. Tel. 215-483-2233. Website? http://www.manayunktomato.com.
The restaurant has a casual atmosphere, the staff is friendly, the food was very good, and the prices were reasonable.
Our choices, besides the pizza were:
Risotto Fritters – Vegetable and mozzarella fritters with a sweet fire roasted tomato sauce and pesto. They were crispy on the outside, the center was soft and perfectly seasoned.
Cheesesteak Bites: Sirloin, fried tortilla, caramelized onions and peppers, mozzarella and sharp provolone, and siracha ketchup. This was a big portion, perfect for table sharing…tasty.
The grilled Caesar was a salad that was thoroughly enjoyed….house croutons and topped with naturally raised chicken.
What’s Going on in Manayunk?
Kicking off Restaurant Week is the StrEAT Festival, Saturday, 9/21. Main Street will be lined up with Philly’s best food trucks from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Restaurant Week will be on going through October 5th.
Check out http://www.manayunk.com/signature-events/streat-food-festival-restaurant-week.
Saturday, September 28th is the 2nd Manayunk Tomato Trot, a 5K Trail Run, or Walk for LUNGevity. The Race will start at 4:30 p.m. First 250 registrant will receive a Free Manayunk Tomato Trot T-Shirt. The after party will be at The Couch Tomato where you can enjoy live music, free pizza, awards, and giveaways. Register at http://www.tomatotrot.com.
September 15th, 2013
The City of Philadelphia has 4 great Catholic Shrines. Philadelphia is a city where the foundations for our right to freedom and religion were laid.
The Shrines are: St. John Neumann Shrine, St. Katherine Drexel Shrine, Miracolous Medal Shrine and St. Rita of Cascia Shrine which is the one I visited.
 
People visit churches and cathedrals for their own reasons. I am Catholic.
On Friday I visited the National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia, located at 1166 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA. Tel. 215-546-8333. Website? http://www.saintritashrine.org.
 
St. Rita is one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church. She is known as the “Saint of the Impossible”. She has an amazing answer to prayer. St. Rita was born in 1381 and died in 1457.
Even though she wanted to be a nun, in obedience to her parents she married. Her husband was not very nice, to say the least. But with prayer he, in time, converted and became considerate and God-fearing. They had 2 sons.
Then, her husband was murdered.
Around the year 1411, St. Rita entered the Augustinian Convent in Cascia. In the convent, her life was of charity, and severe penances. Her prayers obtained for others remarkable cures, deliverance from the devil and other special favors from God.
“So that she might share in the pain of His Crown of Thorns, Our Lord gave St. Rita a thorn wound in her forehead. It was very painful and gave off a disagreeable odor, yet she considered it a very great grace.”
At the age of 76 she died and people flocked to the convent to pay their last respects. Many miracles took place through her intercession.
Her body was preserved perfectly incorrupt for several centuries, and at times it gave off a sweet fragrance. At the beatification ceremony, the body of the Saint raised itself up and opened its eyes.”
The life and spirit of Saint Rita of Cascia is reflected in the statuary and art throughout the Shrine, which occupies the lower level of the church.
Upstairs is the beautiful and majestic church, built in 1907. Even though the actual church was closed, they let me in and told me to take my time. Look how pretty it is.
At the altar, a prayerful atmosphere encourages private and meditative prayer, always in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. This you do not see in most Catholic churches.
Have a great day!
August 25th, 2013
 
Manayunk is a neighborhood of Philadelphia. With its small town charm, boutiques, specialty shops, and plenty of restaurants, it sorts of reminds me of a town with similar attitude in Florida…Delray Beach. Minus the palm trees, though.
Manayunk has the Towpath, which is accessible from Fairmount Park to the east and from the Schuylkill River Trail to the west. Lots of joggers, cycling, and walkers on this tranquil and beautiful path.
Overlooking Main Street, sitting above it, the town is hilly, is Pretzel Park. I could not find out why it has that named but it has been mentioned that it could be because of the pretzel shape of the sidewalks or because for many years a pretzel vendor was selling Philly pretzels.
A dog park, benches, playground and on Saturdays the Farmers’ Market makes Pretzel Park its home.
During the day the streets are quiet in Manayunk but come happy hour there is a different scene. Most restaurants have dining al fresco. On week-ends tables at sidewalks are filled with patrons ready to taste great food for every discriminating palate.
Our choice was Winnie’s, located at 4266 Main St. Tel. 215-487-2663. Website? http://www.lebusmanayunk.com. It opens for breakfast, lunch, brunch (Saturday and Sunday), and dinner.
Taking center stage at Winni’es is its bar. Then, dining on both sides of the restaurants and outdoors, as well.
Healthy comfort food..their baked goods are so delicious. Don’t push that bread basket away. Their corn bread is very good. They also sell it at the restaurant.
So, this is what we had:
Soups are made daily at Winnie’s and on that particular day their sweet potato corn chowder was full of flavor and very tasty.
An order of sweet potato fries accompanied with a dipping sauce of sour cream, horseradish, and I believe honey. It had some sweetness to it. We ordered the fries without salt. I love fries that are crispy and these ones were perfect.
The Crisp Pear Salad – Mixed greens tossed in citrus vinaigrette with bosc pears, crumbled blue cheese, roasted peppers ad spiced walnuts. This salad was topped with their Colorado Chicken, which is the best. It is grilled with ancho chili.
A Healthy Brown Rice Nut Salad had brown rice, broccoli, carrots, peppers, onions, sunflower seeds, almonds, raisins and walnuts, tossed in tahini dressing and served with feta cheese, hummus, roasted peppers, calamata olives and pita. Topped also with the Colorado Chicken, it made a heck of a lunch!!
The Veggie Burger – Whole grains, vegetable spices and herbs, grilled and topped with guacamole and salsa on a wheat bun with those delicious sweet potato fries. Very good!!
The traditional Caesar Salad was also ordered and again, the Colorado Chicken was ordered to accompanied the salad.
No dessert was necessary….I think we ate enough!!
On the run? Want something to go? In a corner of the restaurant there is take out. And, freshly baked breads.
There is a lot on the schedule for Manayunk:
The StrEAT Food Festival kicks off on September 21st from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Main Street will be lined up with some of Philadelphia’s best food trucks with specialties from ice cream to Asian delicacies. Plenty of options at affordable prices.
The restaurant week will be ongoing until October 5th. 22 restaurants are participating with special 3 course menus offered at $10, $20, and $30 price ranges.
More info? Please visit http://www.manayunk.com/signature-events/streat-food-festival-restaurant-week/fall-streat-food-festival.
Have a great day!! This pooch was enjoying one beautiful day in Manayunk!!
August 21st, 2013
We went for a little bit of a more upscale Chinese dining….it is still a very casual place…Han Dynasty is located at 3711 Market St. in Philadephia. The telephone is 215-222-3711. Website? http://www.handynasty.net.
The cuisine at Han Dynasty is known as Sichuan. “Sichuan” , previously known as Szechwan, is a province in the West of the Southern Central Region of China.
This restaurant serves food family style. It is perfect for sharing and they do open for lunch and dinner.
You can eat at the bar or sit at the tables. It does get crowded. Our server was CJ and he was great with his recommendations.
Han Dynasty packs a lot of heat in its dishes. The level of heat for each one is on the menu. But, if you want a little milder or hotter, don’t be afraid to ask because they will be more than happy to oblige.
And this is what we ordered:
The Dumplings in Chili Oil were spicy and perfect for an appetizer.
I thought this particular entree had tofu, but I am not sure if they forgot and gave me an extra order of Stir Fried Lamb in Hoisin and Oyster Sauce. It was good and I did ask for a number 5 in the heat level.
The Pork Long Hot Pepper Style were stir fried and included shredded long hot peppers. Full heat!!
CJ told us that the Salt & Pepper Shrimp were very good. We did try them and they were very light and had just the right amount of salt, pepper, and heat.
And, I loved this vegetarian dish of Bok Choy with Black Mushrooms!!
No dessert was necessary, just a long walk along the streets of University City.
Please note that if you do have a gluten diet they will be able to modify some of the dishes.
Talk to you later.
 
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