Garlic Fest - Nelson County Virginia

Annually at Rebec Vineyards about 10 miles from where I grew up in COUNTRY ass Virginny. There is the Garlic Festival. Now, yes, there are the Garlic King and the Garlic Queen wearing their smelly crowns..but the main reason anyone comes to this particular event is for the drinking of local Virginia winery offerings. Virginia is not known for its wine per se. But if you are in the liking for the sweeter side of things, then you are in luck. Most of this stuff tastes a little like Franzia, a little like Kool Aid, but goes down easier than water. The other offerings are LOADS of food vendors, Thai, Ribs, Shwarma, Falafal, etc etc. So here are some of the pics from a nice day in the south drinking and eating.

Django

Django is a sweet little BYOB named after the gypsy jazz guitarist. It's tucked away just off the crazyness of South St. They serve you fresh hot bread from flower pots that come with this nifty "butter deodorant" to apply your butter. The food is never a let down from appetizer to dessert with a seasonal changing menu. (I'm so used to this new seasonal menu situation that I'm now wary of places with non-seasonal menus, like " where did my mango come from?")

Brielle had skate wing and I had scallops in pumpkin curry. Delicious. Sorry the appetizer and dessert dissappeared before the camera was whipped out.


Django
526 S 4th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 922-7151

Rx

I admit I never travel to the West Philly. Even though there are delicious eats there?? So on my date nite, I traveled to meet Brielle at Rx in her neigborhood. Rx is awesome because its in an old pharmacy and is small and cozy with awesome knick knacks. The food is seasonal and yummy. We had chorizo stuffed pork chop on bleu cheese risotto and a pork empanada. But dessert was the kicker, espresso chocolate bread pudding with creme fraiche and creme brulee with pomegranite syrup. There were also too many to choose from, because we would've taken them all.









Rx
4443 Spruce St, Philadelphia

A Plate for Two...Birds?

This is a picture of an appetizer plate for two from a cafe/restaurant called Morph in Tokyo. These little things were so cute and yummy... we cleared the plate in 15 sec.

I miss big juicy burgers.

leftovers

so I made a serious dinner at home for the first time in a while (usually it's rice & beans with a pork chop, cooked in beer and slathered with hot sauce) but was too busy eating to take pictures.

so today after staring at food pictures on flickr all day I rustled up the leftovers and cracked open a can of miller lite... and I swear to god everything always tastes better the next day.

• sirloin burger on ciabatta with american cheese
• habanero rice with red pepper coulis
• fennel, watermelon and heirloom tomato salad

ulterior epicure

Lately i've been going wild over flickr, staying up until the wee hours navigating through pictures of old signs, coney island, vietnamese movie posters, and most importantly here, food.

Tuna Tartar with Quail Egg at Joel Robuchon


Pickled Beef Tongue at WD-50


LC's Bar-B-Q's Burnt Ends



Flickr has become my first choice if I'm looking for photos of food or even recipe ideas and inspiration. Which is how I came across ulterior epicure's page. He (?) "ventures and eats anonomously", posting photos and reviews - usually from the chef's tasting menu - of every restaurant you wish you've eaten at. Everywhere from Babbo and Per Se to Jean Georges in Shanghai.

It also made me smile to see the Shake Shack and LC's Bar-B-Q among all of the michelin star winners. The photos are gorgeous and honestly a better representation of many of these restaurants than you would find elsewhere on the web. I can't imagine how he shoots these thorough documentaries of a meal while remaining anonymous.

It also blows my mind that the plates in all of these restaurants are absolutely perfect. Even the best restaurants get busy sometimes, and not every plate of food looks like it does in the magazines. Somehow our anonymous eater gets perfectly executed food everywhere he goes, or else has some serious editing skills.

Click here to go to ulterior epicure's flickr page.