Romantic View of Philadelphia

After a short train ride from New York to Philadelphia, I went out to another Italian restaurant on Main Street in Manayunk- Bella Trattoria. We got a bottle of white wine, and both had linguini in a blush sauce. It was fairly similar to the dinner in New York. The sauce was excellent, but the pasta was a tad overcooked. Again, the star of the dinner was dessert. We shared a pineapple cake with coconut icing. The cake was perfectly moist and the icing had a layer of vanilla custard under it which made it extra rich. We inhaled it.
Since my boyfriend is in Philadelphia and I am still at school near Harrisburg, we celebrated Valentine's Day over this past weekend. We spent the day all over Philadelphia, from Reading Terminal Market to Rittenhouse Square. There are so many small shops that I plan on visiting again that were adorable. After a chilly day around town, Grant took me to Bistro St. Tropez, right next to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Located in the Marketplace Design Center, the fourth floor looked over a gorgeous view of the museum at night.
The food was everything I expected and more. We got salmon tartar as an appetizer. The salmon was sliced larger than other tartars that I've had, which I liked, because it held its own among the capers, mango, and ginger that was mixed with it. We got the hanger steak special with green beans and sauteed mushrooms and scalloped potatoes. The steak was perfectly cooked (I ordered mine medium rare), the green beans and mushrooms were phenomenal. The mushrooms had a delicious smoky flavor that paired perfectly with the sweet balsamic drizzle over them. I was impressed by the scalloped potatoes, since they were perfectly stacked and maintained their shape (mine always fall apart after they're served from the baking dish).
I would go back to Bistro St. Tropez in a heartbeat. The food, view, service was all perfect, and the setting was very romantic for any celebration, especially when you are surprised with flowers at the restaurant by your Valentine.

New York

So I am realizing that the intentions of going out to dinner every weekend on a college students budget is a little difficult. So these posts may be less frequent than I would have liked. Regardless, I had a busy week that was full of new adventures.
A few of my classmates and I went to New York for the College Art Association conference in New York City. Seeing so many professionals in a field I want to work in was inspiring and motivating. I definitely came back with a drive to work even harder in school. We had a lot of downtime in between the panel discussions, so I got to see a fair bit of the city. Dinner on Thursday night was delicious for two reasons- the food was genuinely wonderful, but we also had been walking around in the cold and wind and were desperate just to sit down and eat. We found a little Italian restaurant on 44th street called Gallo Nero. For being so small, this quaint little eatery has a lot of rustic charm, with wonderful, homemade food to go with it.
I had a glass of Rose with my dinner, which was a special of home-made tagliatelle pasta with shrimp in a vodka sauce. The pasta was incredible- perfectly al dente. The sauce and shrimp were well-seasoned.
The desert was my favorite part of the whole meal. A pear tart with coconut ice cream. The pastry dough was light and fluffy, and the custard and pears were just sweet enough. I was pleasantly surprised with how delicious the coconut ice cream was with the pear. It was clearly real coconut, no artificial flavoring. The whole dinner was delicious, and paired with the small space and rustic ambience, I felt like I was in a little cafe in Italy.

Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant

This past weekend, my boyfriend (who lives in Manayunk) and I went down to Main Street to see a little more of the area, and to hopefully get a good lunch. We ended up going to the Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant. It's in an old textile mill, with exposed brick and stone walls. I ordered a glass of their Schuylkill Punch, a raspberry lager. I am a big fan of beer with distinct flavor additions, and this one did not disappoint. It was light tasting, with lingering flavors of tart raspberry. Grant ordered the Bohemian Blonde, which is essentially the same beer as mine, but without raspberries.
We shared a bowl of their own chili con carne, which was great on a cold day. It was pretty spicy (very spicy for me, I can't handle a lot of heat), but the melted cheddar cheese on top helped to temper the heat.
For lunch, I ordered their personal Manayunk Margarita pizza. The crust was deliciously crisp and the cheese perfectly browned on top. The big slices of tomato on top of the pizza were remarkably good for winter tomatoes. My favorite part of the pizza was the thin layer of ricotta they spread underneath the mozzarella.
Grant got their brisket sandwich, which he inhaled. The beef brisket was melt-in-your mouth tender, and the mushroom au jus on the side was a great dipping sauce.
Their lunch menu was had a good selection, but I am very anxious to go back and try their dinner menu. Their filet mignon with tamarind pomegranate steak sauce or their farmhouse pasta with mushrooms, asiago, and shallots. It seems like a good place to sample seasonal beers like their Charlie Brown- a pumpkin brown ale.

Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant
4120 Main Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
215.482.8220

Starting Point

This Christmas, my boyfriend got me the newest iPod touch. I had been living in a technological stone-age with my iPod video that was fading fast. I have not been able to put my newest gift down. I was most impressed by the quality of the camera. It takes great pictures! Not to mention the Apps that give you so many ways to improve your photographing abilities.
I am going to use my new iPod's camera to photograph the food for this blog, and hopefully the delicious food I taste around Philadelphia will translate through the images. Enjoy!