Well, I’ll tell ya! Let me explain: a pop-up restaurant is when a restaurant is conceived, assembled, opened, and closed all in a very short amount of time. Basically an empty space is transformed into a restaurant like poof magic sparkles! Ever seen those cooking competition shows where they have to sit down and think of a restaurant and it is only open for that one night? That is a pop-up. And this week I got to go to one! Let me back up. The restaurateur I have mentioned before, Stephen Starr, did this experiment where he teamed up with chefs from around the city and worked with them to put together pop-up restaurants where they are the executive chefs and he is like the financier or investor. He only plans to do three this summer, one with Aimee Olexy, the chef and owner (I think) of Talula’s Table to do the first one. I didn’t go to that one. The second one was with Konstantinos Pitsillides of Kanella this was the one I got to go to. The third has not even happened yet but it will be featuring one of the cheftestants from the current season of Bravo’s Top Chef, which is kind of cool.
So Kanella. Oh Kanella. Where to start? Really with Kanella it is all about the food. Which is A.maze,ing. Kanella is a tiny little restaurant in Center City Philly, but not really in the hustle and bustle of things. It’s actually on the corner of a side street off the main drag towards the outskirts of the gayborhood. Gordon Ramsey would say that it is “simple, honest, and rustic” (compliments for him). It is an amazing restaurant. It’s Cypriot themed, but unlike a lot of other restaurants the chef/owner is actually from Cyprus. What is really cool about Cyprus is that the cuisine is a mix of Greek and Middle Eastern. So, needless to say, it is really, really good. So good, in fact, that it has been featured not only in pretty much every paper and magazine in Philly, but also on the Food Network on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Salty” for their Cyprus Breakfast, but also in other national magazines like Esquire. Did I mention they have really good food?
What was the coolest thing about the Pop-up was that it was the Kanella food but with an amazing budget. And booze! Kanalla is a BYOB and I usually go there for breakfast, so I wouldn’t do a lot of boozing anyway. The Pop-up had “specialty cocktails” like the Salty Cypriot, which was a really fancy version of gin and tonic but pimped out. Best cocktail I have ever had. For dinner I had quail. Freakin’ quail with a chickpea salad, figs, and Spanish goat cheese! Those Spanish goats know their stuff! It was out of this world good. T had a lamb kabob which with a ton of fixin’s. Beyond good. We had appetizers and desert too which were all just amazing. It was…expensive, but totally worth it! I wish that pop-up restaurants that good came around all over the world and more often so everyone would be able to have as good a time as we did!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Softball is over, but there's something better on the horizon (at least more painful anyway...)
Okay, so the softball team totally lost in the play-offs. In the first round. To a really bad team. ☹. Oh well, life goes on. So, I was thinking about it, and I really liked the whole aspect of being on a team and having that support and sense of accomplishment with people who are proud of me. It really got me thinking that maybe there is another team to join. So I started looking for an alternative and I think I found the mother load. ROLLER DERBY. Here me out. Roller Derby is not at all like what Roller Derby used to be. It is not faked at all and it is not over run with huge lesbians (not that there is anything wrong with any sized lesbians). It is a really athletic sport with really strong, athletic women. On wheels. And Philly has a really active team (The Philly Roller Girls), which happens to have bouts really close to where I work.
In case you are not sure what Roller Derby is all about, let me try to quickly explain the basics. It’s played on a flat track by two teams, each consisting of five girls to each team. There are four blockers (one of whom is a pivot who keeps the pace of the pack). The remaining player is a jammer. It is the jammer’s job to skate past and through the pack of blockers and lap them to score points. The jammer scores one point for every member of the other team she laps. The bout (the entire match) is broken up into jams, each either two minutes long or shorter depending on whether the lead jammer ends it early or not. The winning team is the one with the most points at the end of the bout. That’s pretty much it. I left out how brutal it can get, and even though there is no elbowing and you can’t trip or hit the other girls except between the shoulder and the thigh, the players get pretty beat up.
Why would I want to do such a thing? Because it looks freakin’ sweet! And is an all girl sport, which is pretty neat. Also, it is a really great work out. So, here is my plan. I am going to get skates and pads and a helmet and I am going to work on skating. I looked up a whole bunch of different skills you need to know in order to qualify to play and tryouts/workshops are held in November. I think that will give me enough time to figure out if I actually like skating and am as good as I was in junior high school (I was hell on wheels back then. I could limbo and speed skate and stuff with the best of them). Then I am going to start trying to do some of the moves I learned on line that are a little more advanced, like t stops and superman falls and stuff. Then, if I am still into it by November, I will attend the workshops and try out for the team.
I will be checking in with my progress and bruises every once in a while. I will even perhaps post a video when my friends throw footballs at me while I slalom past them.
PS if you are reading this in a reader or RSS feed, you should totally check out the site because T made a new and better than ever banner complete with a little girlfriend robot for the original robot. So cute and bad ass at the same time. He is working on more rocketships and stuff. All in good time!
In case you are not sure what Roller Derby is all about, let me try to quickly explain the basics. It’s played on a flat track by two teams, each consisting of five girls to each team. There are four blockers (one of whom is a pivot who keeps the pace of the pack). The remaining player is a jammer. It is the jammer’s job to skate past and through the pack of blockers and lap them to score points. The jammer scores one point for every member of the other team she laps. The bout (the entire match) is broken up into jams, each either two minutes long or shorter depending on whether the lead jammer ends it early or not. The winning team is the one with the most points at the end of the bout. That’s pretty much it. I left out how brutal it can get, and even though there is no elbowing and you can’t trip or hit the other girls except between the shoulder and the thigh, the players get pretty beat up.
Why would I want to do such a thing? Because it looks freakin’ sweet! And is an all girl sport, which is pretty neat. Also, it is a really great work out. So, here is my plan. I am going to get skates and pads and a helmet and I am going to work on skating. I looked up a whole bunch of different skills you need to know in order to qualify to play and tryouts/workshops are held in November. I think that will give me enough time to figure out if I actually like skating and am as good as I was in junior high school (I was hell on wheels back then. I could limbo and speed skate and stuff with the best of them). Then I am going to start trying to do some of the moves I learned on line that are a little more advanced, like t stops and superman falls and stuff. Then, if I am still into it by November, I will attend the workshops and try out for the team.
I will be checking in with my progress and bruises every once in a while. I will even perhaps post a video when my friends throw footballs at me while I slalom past them.
PS if you are reading this in a reader or RSS feed, you should totally check out the site because T made a new and better than ever banner complete with a little girlfriend robot for the original robot. So cute and bad ass at the same time. He is working on more rocketships and stuff. All in good time!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
recap! or what i did on my lack of summer vacation
Oh wow, it’s been almost a month since I last wrote. Sorry about that. It has been pretty busy around here since then. To catch you up, here is some of the stuff I have been up to:
Softball!
I am on the softball team at my work and it has been in full swing since I last wrote. The program works so that each department can have a team and they compete against all the other teams in two leagues. The American League plays on one set of days where the National League plays a different set. My team has its ups and downs, but we’re not too bad. Our record is 5 and 5, but when we win we really win and we have some really great players, sadly myself not included. I have never ever played software before, and I thought it would be a good way to meet people I work with since I am so new to the place. I play catcher, defensive pitcher, and occasionally second base, which I enjoy the most think I am best at. There are some really weird rules to the league to make it more fun and fair than competitive. Like, each team pitches to themselves so there is a higher chance of hitting and it’s hard to strike out. But, to compensate, there are only 2 pitches and you can get out on a foul and there is a member of the fielding team who plays “defensive catcher” so that the team does not lose the position. Also, since it is a coed league there has to be 3 women playing at all times. I think this makes it kind of chauvinistic and sets up the game to be in the guys favor. Plus, my team puts the girls at the lame positions like catcher, defensive pitcher and middle left/right outfield (another extra position I think which is in between center and left or right field). Plus, the first basemen will come in and play home plate because they don’t trust the girl playing catcher. Not fair, but usually it’s still fun besides. And sometimes I surprise them because I have my moments where I play rather well. I was even elected by my team to play in the all-star game where the two leagues played each other. We crushed the other league 17-4. Yay team! Play-offs start tomorrow and I will let you know how we do! PS I have a pink glove. It’s super cute!
Traveling to New Jersey
I have traveled to New Jersey twice in the last month and it has been quite an experience, not really a great one either time. I went to visit one of T’s friends in South Jersey via over an hour-long bus ride. Through Camden. On NJT (New Jersey Transit). Yeah, as you can imagine it sucked and was scary/interesting. We left at around 2:00 and the buss was like 15-20 minutes late. Then our stop was at a closed gas station parking lot that had the sad, abandoned look of Pripyat. Not a good start. Then we had to drive from there to THE SUBURBS. I live in the city and both me and T avoid all things suburban. We both strongly believe that life in the ‘burbs is worse than death and we very much like the city life. We are DINKS and the city life suits us just fine. The only time we need a car is when we have to get together with our friends in the ‘burbs. Imagine that? A lot of people find it hard to believe that we don’t have a car and get a long just fine without one, but I like it a lot, at least for now. We had a nice time with our friends, but then we had to go back to the city a like 9:45 on the bus again, which was over 30 minutes late this time. NJT passengers at night are…interesting to say the least. We did eventually make it home, but we will not be doing that again anytime soon. For the second trip to the dirty Jerz I went by myself for a July 4th/ my grandmother’s b-day party in North Jersey. I took PhillyCarShare that time and it was a little better but the 1.5 hour trip turned into a 2.5 hour trip because I got super lost. Damn you Garden State Parkway! Google Maps on my iPhone saved my life though and I made it successfully, eventually. It was a good time, but I was pissed because my fam made a big damn deal about me going but all but one of my cousins skipped and so did one of my aunts. So not fair, but that’s family for you. Well, at least mine anyway. I made it hope safe and sang to Glee Volumes 1-3 all the way home. That was the best part IMO.
Cooking and Baking!
Since making the decision to not go out to eat at all during the week I have been cooking way more. I have also taken the opportunity to try out some new menus and experiment with more healthy recipes. Or instance, I switched out pork for chicken sausage in my meat sauce and it worked pretty well. WholeFoods makes some rocking sausage that I will be trying more of in the coming weeks. Maybe I will do a sausage review or something. Who knows! I have also worked hard to remove almost all high fructose corn syrup from my diet. It’s tough, but I’m trying. More on that later as well. I also made 3 pies over the last month, one strawberry rhubarb and two cherry, all from scratch with fresh fruit and my own pie crust. I hope to share the method and recipe with you all as well.
There was a ton more stuff as well, but I am tired and my allergies are driving me nuts. So, I must be going. I promise it won’t be a month until I write again. Pinky swear.
Softball!
I am on the softball team at my work and it has been in full swing since I last wrote. The program works so that each department can have a team and they compete against all the other teams in two leagues. The American League plays on one set of days where the National League plays a different set. My team has its ups and downs, but we’re not too bad. Our record is 5 and 5, but when we win we really win and we have some really great players, sadly myself not included. I have never ever played software before, and I thought it would be a good way to meet people I work with since I am so new to the place. I play catcher, defensive pitcher, and occasionally second base, which I enjoy the most think I am best at. There are some really weird rules to the league to make it more fun and fair than competitive. Like, each team pitches to themselves so there is a higher chance of hitting and it’s hard to strike out. But, to compensate, there are only 2 pitches and you can get out on a foul and there is a member of the fielding team who plays “defensive catcher” so that the team does not lose the position. Also, since it is a coed league there has to be 3 women playing at all times. I think this makes it kind of chauvinistic and sets up the game to be in the guys favor. Plus, my team puts the girls at the lame positions like catcher, defensive pitcher and middle left/right outfield (another extra position I think which is in between center and left or right field). Plus, the first basemen will come in and play home plate because they don’t trust the girl playing catcher. Not fair, but usually it’s still fun besides. And sometimes I surprise them because I have my moments where I play rather well. I was even elected by my team to play in the all-star game where the two leagues played each other. We crushed the other league 17-4. Yay team! Play-offs start tomorrow and I will let you know how we do! PS I have a pink glove. It’s super cute!
Traveling to New Jersey
I have traveled to New Jersey twice in the last month and it has been quite an experience, not really a great one either time. I went to visit one of T’s friends in South Jersey via over an hour-long bus ride. Through Camden. On NJT (New Jersey Transit). Yeah, as you can imagine it sucked and was scary/interesting. We left at around 2:00 and the buss was like 15-20 minutes late. Then our stop was at a closed gas station parking lot that had the sad, abandoned look of Pripyat. Not a good start. Then we had to drive from there to THE SUBURBS. I live in the city and both me and T avoid all things suburban. We both strongly believe that life in the ‘burbs is worse than death and we very much like the city life. We are DINKS and the city life suits us just fine. The only time we need a car is when we have to get together with our friends in the ‘burbs. Imagine that? A lot of people find it hard to believe that we don’t have a car and get a long just fine without one, but I like it a lot, at least for now. We had a nice time with our friends, but then we had to go back to the city a like 9:45 on the bus again, which was over 30 minutes late this time. NJT passengers at night are…interesting to say the least. We did eventually make it home, but we will not be doing that again anytime soon. For the second trip to the dirty Jerz I went by myself for a July 4th/ my grandmother’s b-day party in North Jersey. I took PhillyCarShare that time and it was a little better but the 1.5 hour trip turned into a 2.5 hour trip because I got super lost. Damn you Garden State Parkway! Google Maps on my iPhone saved my life though and I made it successfully, eventually. It was a good time, but I was pissed because my fam made a big damn deal about me going but all but one of my cousins skipped and so did one of my aunts. So not fair, but that’s family for you. Well, at least mine anyway. I made it hope safe and sang to Glee Volumes 1-3 all the way home. That was the best part IMO.
Cooking and Baking!
Since making the decision to not go out to eat at all during the week I have been cooking way more. I have also taken the opportunity to try out some new menus and experiment with more healthy recipes. Or instance, I switched out pork for chicken sausage in my meat sauce and it worked pretty well. WholeFoods makes some rocking sausage that I will be trying more of in the coming weeks. Maybe I will do a sausage review or something. Who knows! I have also worked hard to remove almost all high fructose corn syrup from my diet. It’s tough, but I’m trying. More on that later as well. I also made 3 pies over the last month, one strawberry rhubarb and two cherry, all from scratch with fresh fruit and my own pie crust. I hope to share the method and recipe with you all as well.
There was a ton more stuff as well, but I am tired and my allergies are driving me nuts. So, I must be going. I promise it won’t be a month until I write again. Pinky swear.
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