City of Brotherly Love…of Food – Day 1

I know I haven’t updated in a while, but it’s because I have been traveling. On Valentine’s Day, I made my way down to the Keswick Theater just outside of Philadelphia to see Anthony Bourdain. The evening was wonderful as no culinary entertainer or television program escaped his commentary. After mentioning numerous anecdotal musings from his newest book, Medium Raw, he opened the floor to questions. Many of them circled around his travels and restaurant recommendations. To these he referred them to his travel log in the Travel Channel website. My question was essentially “How do I get your job?” Bourdain responded that he took advantage of the lucky break that his original book, Kitchen Confidential gave him. As far as the work ethic involved, he cited his days as a dishwasher that gave him his sense of accomplishment.

Tuesday was checking into the hotel, acquainting myself with the Philadelphia office, and exploring the city stomach first. Having had a small breakfast and craving the ethnic foods that are difficult to find in Scranton, I made my way to Sambosa, an Indian restaurant with an $8.99 lunch buffet. As expected, there were a variety of curries to go with freshly made naan and rice along with a salad bar complete with the myriad of sauces and chutneys. There was also a vegetarian vegetable soup that maintained its “meaty-ness” by the curry in the broth. The dhal (lentil soup) was made with yellow lentils and had poppy seeds in it. The soup was pureed such that you could still detect the texture of the lentils. The palak paneer (spinach and cheese) was smooth and creamy without being bitter. Tandoori chicken was bright red and spicy, while the gajar halwa (grated carrots and butter) was dessert-like in its natural sweetness, complete wish pistachios and ghee (clarified butter). Of course there was still mango pudding that went well with the kheer (sweetened, milky rice) and the gulab jamun (milkdough balls and syrup) was, as always, sugary sweet with the syrup being runny enough to add on top of the other two desserts.

My stomach full, I wandered the city, saw the liberty bell, a variety of museums, and after hours and miles, built up my appetite to visit Amada, one of Iron Chef Jose Garces’ restaurants. The place was fairly full at 6:00 on a Tuesday night. The only way I was able to get a seat was because I sat in front of the kitchen (where I would have wanted anyway) and I was a party of one. Instead of bread and butter, you receive crispy garlic chips to dip into a tuna and caper aoli.

Being a Spanish tapas restaurant, the waiter suggested about three dishes. My selections focused on the traditional tapas, especially things I know I couldn’t/wouldn’t make at home. First came oysters. They were served on spoons with a strawberry escabeche and cava granita. The strawberry was a great counterpoint to the salty Atlantic oysters, while the cava granita added that fresh, icy texture. I tried to sample each part, but really, you just need to down the whole spoon.

Next, I selected the grilled Spanish octopus. Served sizzling on a wooden plate, it almost tasted like bacon and was red with the smoked paprika. It was crispy and crunchy without being burnt or rubbery.

Last, I had the clams and chorizo. The chorizo was solidly packed and spiced the oceanic broth that was served boiling. The clams were clean and not gritty at all, but the true selling point was the broth, and I asked for a spoon rather than the toasted and buttered bread slices that came with it. Full, I asked for the bill which came with a large, almond cookie in the shape of an arch.

 

Day one of three complete, and I already had some great meals. I am feelin’ the love