Tag: Best Things We Ate

A gobbler at Dolores’ 2Street

The Gobbler has seen some bougie updates in the years since Wawa made it a thing. But the offering from Dolores’ 2Street isn’t fancy, and that’s to its credit. It’s built with solid ingredients, on a seeded Sarcone’s roll. Owners Peter Miglino and wife Victoria Rio lean hard into the leftover motif by offering a mostly cold sandwich made with cold cuts: thick slices of oven-roasted turkey and squares of orange-colored cheddar cheese. The little bit of heat (and crunch) comes from the house-made stuffing, carefully crafted by Miglino’s mother, Maria, a Philly restaurant veteran.

Adding stuffing to a hoagie shouldn’t work. But this isn’t just any stuffing. This is Maria’s family recipe, which she prepares for almost an entire day so it’s just right. This Gobbler is as inclusive as a big Italian family, marrying the cold cuts and stuffing with a nice tang from a cranberry mayo that doesn’t overpower the palate, rings of raw onion, a confetti of lettuce, small slices of tomato, and a splash of olive oil. It’s a heavyweight sandwich, clocking in at just under a half-pound; you will most definitely need a nap afterward. As Rio compiled my sandwich on a mid-November afternoon, she said I ordered the first Gobbler of the season. They got it right from the jump. Dolores’ 2Street, 1841 S. Second St., 267-519-3212, facebook.com/Dolores2Street

— Tommy Rowan

Turkey-cranberry grilled cheese special at Marathon Grill

By this time next week, most people will likely be in turkey leftover sandwich overload. But right now still I’m pre-gaming for Thanksgiving hard, and I could not resist this seasonally appropriate special at Marathon Grill. It’s essentially a grilled Swiss cheese on excellent sourdough bread, with turkey, cranberry chutney and bacon also tucked inside. That can potentially be an overwhelming mess. But I was impressed by how carefully the sandwich was built, with no particular ingredient overwhelming the others. The grilled bread’s buttery crisp and moist interior hit all the right savory and sweet notes for a preview of the feast to come. It’s served alongside a cup of tomato-basil soup for extra value (I swapped mine out for Marathon’s excellent matzo ball soup), so it’s no surprise it’s been a hit. In fact, Marathon’s regulars love it so much it’s been a “special” since they put it on the menu additions an entire year ago. Marathon Grill, 1839 Spruce St., 215-731-0800, eatmarathon.com

— Craig LaBan

Fish and chips at Pearl & Mary

To quell the anxiety of a visit to the phone store, I found myself at Pearl & Mary, Michael Schulson’s Center City raw bar. My companion dove right into the Savage Blonde and Pink Moon oysters, both from Prince Edward Island. Oysters aren’t my thing, but my soul was soothed by the aroma wafting from the broth of my shrimp dumplings — a perfect small plate on this brisk Sunday morning. But my main highlight was the traditional fish and chips, with an especially succulent piece of cod and a buttery crust with a robust tartar sauce that leaned into its zest. The french fries are thin-cut and extra salty, as they should be. Pearl & Mary, 114 S. 13th St., 215-330-6786; pearlandmary.com

— Henry Savage

Lil’ Kahuna burger from Tesiny

It’s been a year of extraordinary new burgers in Philadelphia, from the McDonald’s Money, the over-the-top double stack of luxury flourishes at Honeysuckle inspired by an Eddie Murphy stand-up routine, to the dessert cheeseburger with raw onions and blue cheese served alongside a chocolate sundae at Roxanne, to Ian Graye’s next-level vegan bean and smoked mushroom burger at Pietramala. Now seafood lovers can rejoice because the Lil’ Kahuna has made the scene at Tesiny, Lauren Biederman’s stylish new oyster bar in the Dickinson Narrows neighborhood of South Philly.

Perhaps you’ve had a tuna burger before. This is not one of those typically fishy hockey pucks. That’s because executive chef Michael Valent blends the richness of high-quality bluefin tuna belly with hand-minced Iberico pork shoulder, which lends both a fatty savor to the mix, as well as a meaty crumble that lets the patty take on the caramelized sear of a backyard burger over the restaurant’s charcoal grill. Set in a pillowy soft sweet potato bun from Mighty Bread with shredded lettuce, melted American cheese, and a special mayo blended with apricots and serrano chilies, the burger is so meaty, you’d be hard-pressed to guess that it wasn’t beef.

It is absolutely that savory, but also a touch lighter on the palate, with an almost fruity character from the tuna that swims up to make itself known, in the best way possible, on the finish of each bite. It’s a smart use of trim from two standard items on Tesiny’s menu — a bluefin crudo and a fantastic pork chop — which explains why it’s a nightly special limited to 8 to 12 burgers a night. I predict it’s going to become so popular, though, that Lil’ Kahuna fans may rally for it to become a fixture on its own. Tesiny, 719 Dickinson St., 267-467-4343, tesiny.com

— Craig LaBan

Chicken cutlet at Wine Dive

If you call your bar a “dive bar,” is it really a dive bar? Especially if the beers, wines, and cocktails are playfully irreverent and unpretentiously sophisticated? Probably not. But the new Wine Dive, in a former nail salon off 16th and Sansom in Rittenhouse, is a fun, boisterous hangout nonetheless, with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a killer menu that’s many, many levels above the dirty-water hot dog/reheated pizza level at a typical dive.

Chef Scotty Jesberger goes for hearty comfort with his shrimp Lejon, roast beef sandwich, loaded baked potato, but my go-to is an almost impossibly crispy chicken cutlet for the low, low price of $10, served with what they call antipást. It’s a punchy, old-country mix of whole cherry peppers in hot oil, sliced banana peppers, capers, fresh sliced garlic and granulated garlic, slivers of roasted red peppers, whole green olives, specks of cauliflower and artichoke heart, all bound together with olive oil and cherry pepper brine and artichoke water. Everything is designed for late-night eating; the kitchen stays open until 1 a.m.

— Michael Klein

Wine Dive, 1534 Sansom St., instagram.com/winedivephilly

Olive oil cake from chef Shadee Simmons

While fashioning a ceramic vessel at Duafe Natural Hair Salon’s “A Lump of Clay,” event on a recent Friday evening, I snacked on mini crab cakes, oxtail sliders, and a bit of beet salad courtesy of Chef Shadee Simmons, the man behind Khyber Pass Pub’s New Orleans-style menu. (You can try his food on the regular at the Old City bar.)

As I prayed the walls of what I hoped would be a sage burner didn’t collapse, dessert was served. All of a sudden, my poor clay-making skills stopped mattering. The culinary highlight of the evening was upon me: The olive oil cake reminded me of fluffy, not-too-sweet cornbread. The sweet blueberry-raspberry compote drizzle was the perfect consistency. And the cake was covered with a flurry’s worth of powdered sugar — a taste of fall and winter in one bite. Chef Shadee Simmons, Foodheadz Philly, foodheadz20@gmail.com, instagram.com/chefshadee. Dessert available on request.

— Elizabeth Wellington