Stella

We stopped in Stephen Starr's new pizzeria off South St., Stella, a while back for an early 5pm Saturday dinner, and were quite surprised to see the joint already at near capacity so early in the evening. Don't know why it was surprising, because a sit-down pizza restaurant that's simultaneously family-friendly and quasi-chic is certainly one dining option that was sorely missing in the surrounding South St., Queen Village, and Society Hill neighborhoods.

With it being a little too chilly for outdoor seating, and all of the four-top tables along the periphery occupied, we were about to be seated amongst (gasp) families with young children at one of the long communal tables in the center of the loud and boisterous restaurant for what would have surely been a miserable dining experience.

Thinking fast, I requested to be moved to the bar in front of the wood burning pizza oven and the assembly line of pizza makers churning out pizzas rhythmically. Basking in the warmth of the wood-fired oven with a mesmerizing show of pizza making to entertain, I recommend any small party to opt for the bar.

Stella's menu is short and straight forward with only antipasti, charcuterie, soups and salads, pizza, and gelato. A short list of wine and beer is available, but may be too short for a town filled with so many knowledgeable and avid drinkers.We started with the grilled radicchio salad with Gorgonzola, dried cherries, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette, an average but slightly interesting salad, especially when your fork found one of the few large globs of melted Gorgonzola.

Before I go on with my review of Stella, let me say that I am not a pizza snob or connoisseur. I have no preference for thick or thin crust, I don't look down my nose at deep dish, nor do I discount a pizza with Cheddar cheese. As long as the pizza is not burned or undercooked, and it tastes good, I don't get my panties in a wad over pizza. So, I appreciate that Stephen Starr combed NY and other cities to find the ultimate pizza and modeled his pizzeria after his discoveries, but it may all be a little lost on me.

Pizzas come in one size, about 12-inches, and are great for splitting with another person if you're not ravenous, although most tables seemed to order one per person.We went with one of the more interesting sounding pizzas, the Pistachio with red onions, pistachio, Fontina, and extra virgin olive oil. With only a smattering of crushed pistachios on the olive oil-based pizza, the extremely thin sliced onions and Fontina cheese were the real star of the pizza. Anytime I see a restaurant use extremely thin sliced raw onion, I know that they have a great understanding of the onion — raw must be sliced thinly or diced small; if using large chunks, they need to be caramelized.
The bottom and top of the crust was blistered with a few charred bubbles, but certainly not overcooked or burned. Those pizzas cook fast! We witnessed them throw away a few pizzas when the oven master took his eye off the oven for only a few seconds. Some pizza snobs do a crust test by holding up a slice, and if any more than the first inch of the tip droops, it's no good. Stella would have failed this test, but I'm not a snob. I usually fold and bite, or rip small pieces off with my hands and shove them in my mouth.Keeping it simple, dessert is your choice of a few different house-made gelato flavors. Chocolate, pistachio, olive oil, and Ricotta were up for that evening. We decided on the smooth, mild flavored Ricotta topped with a miniature anise seed biscotti, a perfect ending to the meal.

We waited about five minutes longer than we should have for our gelato, although we were unaware of this since we were having a fabulous time watching the pizzas being made, but our server volunteered to comp our dessert when he noticed we didn't have any in front of us. If only more restaurants comped for their mistakes. It leaves such a pleasant taste in the mouth.

Does Stella make the best pizza in town? I don't know, and I don't care. It's conveniently located near us, and is one of the only sit-down destination pizza restaurants near us, so I'll be back. A seat at the bar and dazzling pizza show is really what made the trip fabulous.

Stella
420 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-320-8000
Mon-Thurs, 11:30am-11pm
Fri, 11:30am-midnight
Sat, 11am-midnight
Sun, 11am-10pm

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving marks the 20th anniversary of me becoming a vegetarian, but this number is not that significant. It's neither here nor there; just a nice round number that makes me realize just how old I'm getting.

This Thanksgiving also marks the first Thanksgiving that I will be spending with family in, gosh, over more than a decade. Living more than 600 miles from my family for the past eight years is definitely one reason I haven't been home for Thanksgiving, but even when I lived six miles from my family, I didn't go home for Thanksgiving except for maybe once or twice since I was a teenager.

Before you think that my relationship with my parents is strained, it's not. My Mom took the opportunity to go on an annual skiing trip over the Thanksgiving holidays once we all got out of the house, but in the past few years realized she's gotten too old to ski without doing irreparable damage if she were in an accident, so started doing a traditional Thanksgiving again. And my Dad spent Thanksgiving with his wife's family. Such is the life of a child of divorced parents, although the few times I did have Thanksgiving with family back in my 20's it was with my Dad.

So, have I not experience Thanksgiving all those years? You bet not! I love all those Thanksgiving sides. And I have many good friends to thank for sharing Thanksgiving with me. Whether it was dinner with a group of friends that lived down the street, dinner with friends at school, dinner with friend's family, or even just an intimate dinner with a boyfriend, I've enjoyed a proper Thanksgiving all these years.

Not superficially sentimental, I always dread the ritual of going around the Thanksgiving table saying what you're thankful for. My mind races. I usually pick something easy and obvious like health, which I am thankful for, but, yeah, I didn't put any thought into my choice. This year, I also didn't put much thought into what I'm thankful for, but that's because it is plainly and painfully obvious.

I'm thankful for my friends. My friend's that are there when I need them. My friends that treat me like family. My friend's that share their meals with me.

Of course, I am greatly thankful that I have parents who are still alive (we're all getting so old) to spend Thanksgiving with. I'm very excited to see my family this year, but was getting a little sad to not spend Thanksgiving with friends.

It turns out, we did an early Thanksgiving with friends this year...for which I am thankful.

Cranberry Relish

A couple years ago, in the spirit of adventure, I tried a cooked cranberry chutney recipe that is extremely different from the fresh cranberry relish my Mom makes every year for Thanksgiving. Bad move. Thanksgiving is not a time to deviate from traditions. You can incorporate something new, but you can't take away the tried, true, and beloved.

In our family, we don't do canned cranberry sauce, nor do we do a cooked cranberry sauce, but we always make a very simple fresh cranberry relish of nothing more than cranberries, oranges, and sugar. I took the liberty to reduce the sugar and add cinnamon to my Mom's recipe, which I'm certain came from the back of a cranberry bag, but have been unable to spot such a recipe in recent years.

One reason I am so endeared to this recipe is that my Mom let me make it every year from beginning at a very young age. We'd break out the old crank meat grinder, suction it to the counter, and I'd fill the hopper with cranberries and orange hunks, and grind away. Now a days, I use a food processor to get the same results.

Cranberry Relish
makes about 2 1/2 cups

This relish is best made a day ahead, so the cranberries can macerate and the flavors marry. It can be made up to 1 week ahead and stored in the refrigerator. It also freezes well.

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 Navel orange
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Wash cranberries and drain. Discard any shriveled or bad cranberries.
In a food processor, pulse cranberries 8-10 times until finely chopped. Turn out cranberries into a large bowl.Cut orange into eighths.
In food processor, pulse orange wedges 8-10 times until orange rind is finely chopped. Turn out orange rinds, including juice, into the bowl with the cranberries.
Add sugar and cinnamon, and stir until incorporated. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tijuana Taco Shop

People in Wilmington love them some Tijuana Taco Shop, a Mexican restaurant and bar (the bar is tiny) near Wilmington's Little Italy neighborhood. I've heard Tijuana Taco Shop mentioned on multiple occasions as the best Mexican fare in Wilmington, so decided to finally check it out.
Step up the stairs past an open window with a view into the kitchen, then past the tiny bar where servers can be seen doing their homework when times are slow, and the restaurant opens up to a warm and casual dining room with bones that look like a once pizza or Italian restaurant from the 80's. Free chips and salsa are de riguer. Chips are average, but the slightly smokey salsa is nice.
Cheese enchiladas are covered in a dark brown, very chocolaty mole sauce. Mexican rice studded with peas and beans accompany, along with a side of re-fried beans.

Asked if the beans contain lard, our server said,"No." I could eat a steak and not have tummy problems, but my highly sensitive dining partner reported no problems afterward, so perhaps they're telling the truth.
The a la cart veggie burrito filled with Mexican rice, re-fried beans, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and avocado was surprisingly Plain Jane, even with all those ingredients stuffed in there. A slap of mole sauce from my partner's plate and salsa from the table livened things up.
In the veggie taco department, you can choose a mushroom, a potato, a bean, or a poblano taco with your choice or corn or flour tortillas. Above are the mushroom and the potato tacos. Savory sauteed mushrooms with raw diced onions, cilantro and cheese were my favorite. The potato taco was interesting in that the fried potatoes had the texture of a cross between mashed potatoes and grated potatoes.
Need more veggie taco options? Look under the salad section. The salty and tangy nopales salad with fresh tomatoes, onions, cheese, avocado, and cilantro comes with a stack of tortillas, and is a meal in itself.

The menu at Tijuana Taco is quite large, and even has a section dedicated to vegetarians, but look around, and I'm sure you can find something to eat elsewhere on the menu by asking for omissions and substitutions. For example, there's a Torta section with only meat options, but take the meat out and you're still left with beans, cheese, and a whole slew of veggies tucked in a roll.

And for you meat eaters, they do tacos al pastor and lengua, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don't care enough about to memorize (tried to get a take out menu, but they didn't have any, and they have a really bad website with no menu).

I can see why people love Tijuana Taco Shop. It's solid Mexican in a casual environment. The only thing that would make Tijuana Taco better would be if it were BYOB, 'cause Mexican food is so much better with an entire bottle of Tequila. Aw, well! You'll just have to purchase your liquor from the restaurant.

Tijuana Taco Shop
1815 Lancaster Ave., Wilmington, DE, 19805
302-777-3565

Pie In The Sky

It's not too late to order a pie for Thanksgiving from MANNA during their 13th anniversary Pie in the Sky fundraser. With every single pie sold, MANNA, a Philadelphia area organization that prepares and delivers meals to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, is able to deliver six prepared meals to those in need.

Last year we ordered MANNA's sweet potato pie through my partner's office, a company that also allows him to take off work and volunteer preparing meals for MANNA a few times a year.

And how is MANNA's pie? Seriously good! I can vividly remember savoring each silky bite of sweet potato pie and thinking, "This might be one of the best sweet potato pies I've ever eaten."

Order one of MANNA's five varieties of pie by November 20.
Pick up is November 24 at one of over 40 Philadelphia and surrounding area locations.

Tiffin Etc.

Everyone's beloved Indian delivery restaurant, Tiffin, finally decided it could travel the extra half block south into Pennsport (and possibly farther?) to deliver food to our house. And it's about time! With Tiffins opening up in the burbs, it seemed unusually cruel that Pennsport was left out of the delivery zone. So, we jumped on the opportunity to get delivery from Tiffin Etc., Tiffin's sister restaurant and Girard Ave. next door neighbor serving Indian pizzas and street food.

Tiffin Etc.'s menu is broken into four categories: Pizza, kati rolls, stuffed parathas, and beverages. With exception to the beverages, some of which sound quite interestingly spiced, we hit it all. A personal pizza is plenty of food for one hungry person, but a larger pizza is also available.

Above is the Tandoori Saubzi personal pizza topped with tandoori grilled seasonal vegetables — squash, zucchini, red and orange peppers, and onions in our case — roasted garlic, cilantro mint pesto, and fresh Mozzarella. Loaded with flaccid vegetables atop a sweet and not particularly interesting cilantro and mint pesto (not sure how that's possible with those two herbs), this pizza was simultaneously overwhelming and underwhelming — too many toppings, not enough flavor umph.
The Paneer Tikka and Hari Mirch personal pizza is topped with tandoori grilled cottage cheese, makhani sauce, green chilis and mint. The thin smear of sweet, Indian spiced makhani sauce (same sauce on butter chicken) could have been more generous, but the simplicity of the toppings — just cheese with a smattering of hot green chilis and mint — made this pizza more successful than the other. The simple Indian flavors with no distracting toppings melded better with the pizza crust.

The pizza crust is a neutral thickness — not ultra thin or thick — and despite our pizzas arriving cold, the crispy crust held up through the delivery.
Kati rolls are billed as traditional Indian street-style wraps with a fried egg and either meat and/or veggies rolled in a flat bread. We went with one of the two veggie Kati rolls on the menu, the Masala Aloo wrap filled with a fried egg, pan fried spiced potatoes, herbs, pickled red onions, and mint and chili chutney. Not happy with the cold, greasy, dense and chewy flat bread, I ate the spicy masala potatoes on their own. Perhaps the bread on the Kati roll doesn't travel well, and is best eaten right out of the kitchen, but I longed for either a crisp, delicate dosa wrapper, or a wrapper of soft, fluffy naan.
Parathas are pan fried whole wheat flat breads stuffed with various fillings and accompanied by raita and pickles. A lover of onions, I went with the Pyaz paratha stuffed with marinated onions and herbs. Wrapped in foil, the still warm paratha suffered from steaming during travel, which rendered the paratha a little limp. Generously packed with onions, the paratha dipped in raita was my favorite dish of the evening, perhaps because it felt familiar and like the Indian food I know and love.

Gosh, I don't even know how to conclude. My feelings are so mixed.

I'm a little upset with myself, as I willingly embrace adventurous eating, but I can't say that I was impressed with the pizzas. They satisfy neither an Indian craving nor a pizza craving. But I can't help but think that I would do a happy dance if presented a hot slice of Indian pizza from a real street cart after a long night on the town. Another Indian pizza joint is on my list, and perhaps with something to compare Tiffin Etc.'s pizza to, I can better develop my feelings about Indian pizza.

Tiffin Etc.'s food is probably better judged by a restaurant visit, but Tiffin markets themselves as more of a delivery restaurant than a sit-down restaurant, so most patrons will be eating the food at home. Tiffin Etc.'s food does not travel as well as Tiffin's rice and curries do.

Delivery took a little over an hour, which is what we expected. All of the food arrived cold, except for the paratha, which was still warm.

Prices are extremely reasonable, so it's worth ordering at least once to see how you feel about Tiffin Etc.

Tiffin Etc.
712 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19123
215-925-0770
menu

Cranberry Canning Classes

My friend Marisa not only blogs about canning over at Food in Jars, but is also an experienced canner and canning instructor. She has two hands-on canning classes coming up, both using November's favorite fruit, the cranberry. Sign up now to find out just how easy canning is, and leave with inspiration and a jar of cranberry jelly or chutney.

Cranberry Jelly
Sunday, November 15th
3 - 4: 30 p.m.
Philly Kitchen Share
$45 (price includes all supplies and one pint of cranberry jelly to take home)
Click here to register

Cranberry Chutney
Saturday, November 21st
11 - 12:30
Foster's Homewares (their new location at 33 N. 3rd Street)
$39 (price includes all supplies and one half pint of cranberry chutney to take home)
Click here to register

Raw Holiday Dinners

Just wanted to let you know that Kim Lemberg and Pat Umbel, the two fabulous ladies who slave over dehydrators and blenders so you don't have to, have raw food Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners coming up.

With two of their raw dinners in my pocket and another on the books, I can attest that everything Kim and Pat make is beyond delicious. See that unassuming brown square of raw apple crisp up there in the lower left corner? That apple crisp is the best dessert, raw or cooked, I've eaten all year long! Plus, you're going to feel really good about yourself for eating healthy amidst all the holiday gorging.

Thanksgiving Dinner
November 13 - Kinzers, PA
November 20 - Wilmington, DE
Autumn fruit soup, mock turkey loaf with cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, Waldorf salad, pumpkin pie with vanilla cream.

Christmas Dinner
December 4 - Kinzers, PA
December 18 - Wilmington, DE
Fruit-filled crepes with strawberry sauce, "meat" loaf with bbq sauce, cheesy "better than mashed potatoes", holiday green salad, pecan pie with vanilla cream.

$20 per person
Dinner starts at 6pm
Reservations required
Contact Pat Umbel to make a reservation: patumbel@yahoo.com
Kinzer's Firehall, 3521 Lincoln Hwy, Kinzers, PA 17535
Limestone Presbyterian Church, 3201 Limestone Rd., Wilmington, DE 19808

Bebe's Banana Pudding

Update: no longer open.

This is just a reminder that the banana pudding at Bebe's is yummy yums. While this take-out container of warm pudding chock full of banana slices and softened Nilla Wafers may not be food porn-tastic, it tastes authentically down home Southern. Topped with toasted meringue, the large pan of banana pudding is a bit prettier before being heaped into a take-out container. And time your visit as to how you like your pudding — go early for soft wafers with a little crunch left in the center; late in the day for soft, almost disintegrated wafers.

Bebe's Barbecue
1017 South 9th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-519-8791

Veg Night At Royal Tavern

Hey, look! It's a restaurant event that I can actually go to, and it's at Royal Tavern, one of my favorite Philly bars.

On Wednesday, November 11th Royal Tavern’s week long 7th anniversary celebration kicks off with a night for vegans and vegetarians. For one night only the blackboard specials will consist entirely of vegetarian and vegan items. There will be a specialty cocktail menu crafted from cruelty free ingredients. Festivities start at 5pm and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to PAWS.

What will I do with so many choices? Can I bring myself to order something other than the vegan sloppy Joe's?

Pho Cali

Did it not take forever for Pho Cali in Kirkwood Plaza (no relation to Pho Cali in Philly) on Kirkwood Highway to open up? I pretty much gave up on the place, and when it did open up about four months ago, they neglected to make a website (inexcusable nowadays), and neglected to answer the phone (because Google lists the number incorrectly...and that's why you should have a website) the few times I tried to call and ask the very most important question a Pho-seeking vegetarian has: Do you serve a Pho made with vegetable broth?

So, yeah, I wrote them off. That is until Spark, Wilmington's free weekly, reported back that the vegetable and tofu Pho at Pho Cali uses vegetable broth. Sign me back up!

Soup is the hardest thing for vegetarians to eat when dining out, because they're invariably made with meat stock, and only the most conscious kitchens offer up a vegetable-based soup. So, always a soup skeptic, I asked if Pho Cali's vegetable and tofu Pho was made with vegetable stock, and, sadly, it is not. It's made with chicken stock. Or, at least that's what my server told me, and what a person on the phone told me when I called back later to double check. Meat-stock-Pho is the norm at most Pho shops, but it sure would be nice if everyone offered a veggie option.Aw, well! I was already sitting at one of the bright green booths in the stark, white walled, beige tiled, strip mall restaurant with plasma TV's at either end of the room, so decided to order the one vegetarian Bun dish: a bowl or rice vermicelli topped with fried tofu and onions sauteed with lemongrass and chilis. Tucked on the side of the bowl are shredded carrots, shredded iceberg lettuce, cucumber sticks, mung beans sprouts, and chopped peanuts to be stirred about with the side dish of nuoc cham brought to the table, and any of the various condiments already sitting on the table, such as garlic chili paste, sriracha sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, and chilis in oil.

For $5.95, the huge bowl of veggie Bun is a good deal, and the sweet and spicy fried tofu is the tasty centerpiece of the dish, but only hints at the strong lemongrass flavors the menu alluded to. And, I would have loved to have seen some strongly flavored herbs like cilantro, basil, mint, or scallions either already in the bowl or brought out in a dish for me to add to the Bun.
The tops of the condiment bottles are a little crusty, and one hole on the soy sauce bottle at my table was clogged, so it'd be nice to see Pho Cali clean these up daily.

With no veggie Pho, or veggie egg rolls or spring rolls (I really wanted the spring roll-topped Bun), and only a fried rice dish and a couple noodle dishes for vegetarians, I can't see myself going out of my way to visit Pho Cali on Kirkwood, but if I were closer I certainly would stop in occasionally.

It's just nice to see Wilmington finally get a Pho restaurant! And Pho Cali offers dim sum on Saturday and Sunday.

Want to know what's on Pho Cali's menu? No problem! Just click the pic to enlarge.
Pho Cali
4373 Kirkwood Hwy Wilmington, DE 19808
302-999-8107
Open daily, 11am-10pm