Wheat Berry Salad with Dates and Red Onions

Check it, I'm calling the wheat berry the next big grain. Your mom's hip to quinoa, and the stock boy at the grocery store can finally pronounce quinoa. It's time for something new. Quinoa, I'm not done with you (you pack so much protein and cook up in a jiff), but I need another grain to keep me occupied.

Wheat berries are the entire wheat kernel (except for the hull), comprising the bran, germ, and endosperm, so pack a bit of nutrition and fiber, but what I love about wheat berries is how nutty and chewy these little nugs are. Your mouth gets a workout with wheat berries!
I haven't been able to stop thinking about the chewy, hearty wheat berries in the salad I had a few months ago in D.C.. Unfortunately, unless you're eating at some crunchy, healthy salad bar, you probably aren't going to run into wheat berries out on the town, so have to take craving matters into your own hands.

Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House

Chinatown's Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House gets lots of praise for, of course, their hand drawn noodles freshly made to order in house (sit in the back by the kitchen to watch the noodles being pounded out). But my question always with traditional Asian restaurants, and especially those like Nan Zhou that feature soup, is, "Is anything vegetarian?"
I'm happy to report that there are two vegetarian dishes at Nan Zhou, the small and always bustling (meaning get in and get out, 'cause others are waiting) Chinatown restaurant. Two dishes may not seem like a lot, but most of the menu is just meaty variations of noodle soup. Oh, and for the adventurous non-vegetarians there are spicy pigs ears, marinated intestines, and marinated beef tendons in the appetizer section to keep you busy.

Fruitcake Cookies

Did you forget to make a fruitcake back in the middle of November when you're supposed to in order for the cake to have time to properly soak up spirits and mature into the moist, delicious treat that fruitcake can be? I did, as I do every year.

But there is still time to make fruitcake cookies!

I stumbled upon the amazing idea of making fruitcake cookies over at the King Arthur Flour blog, Baking Banter. If you enjoy baking and have never seen this blog, you really need to check it out. I've actually banned Baking Banter from my RSS feed, because everything they bake makes me drool. Instead, I've stuck the blog over in my bookmarks where I only check it every month or two, you know, so I don't get so inspired to bake everything they post.To make fruitcake cookies you're just using the same batter as fruitcake, but, instead of baking it in a loaf or bundt pan, you're baking the batter in cookie form. So, if you already have a tried-and-true fruitcake recipe you love, just use that recipe.

Marabella Meatball Co.

Meatball mania hits Philadelphia!

OK, maybe not mania, but there does seem to be a soft rumble in the city for the little round balls of Italian comfort food. Meatballs are making an appearance on menus around town, and Marabella Meatball Co., a quick eats restaurant specializing in meatballs, just opened up in Center City.

Marabella features beef, pork, chicken, and vegetarian meatballs that you can order in a hoagie roll, as sliders, smashed on a round roll, with pasta, or just by themselves in a bowl. Customize your order with a choice of sauce (tomato, marinara, mushroom, or Alfredo), cheese (aged Provolone, Fontina, Piave Vecchio, or Gorgonzola), and toppings (broccoli rabe, spinach, olive tapenade, sun-dried tomato, proscioutto, mortadella, Ricotta, or pesto).

If you don't feel like customizing your meal, choose one of the eight sandwich creations on the menu that Marabella has already dreamed up. A couple of salads are also on the menu.I was curious as to what Marabella's veggie meatballs would be like, suspecting they would be dense and falafel-like, but came away very pleased to see a loose ball of roughly chopped garbanzo beans and broccoli. Yes, broccoli! I just love vegetable sneak attacks.

Chickie's & Pete's Crabfries

Even though I've been a transplant to the Delaware Valley for almost a decade (where does the time go?), I'm not familiar with the local sports bar Chickie's and Pete's with their stand alone restaurants and sports stadium concession stands. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I experienced Chickie's and Pete's signature crabfries.

I had heard about them, oh sure! Any time someone goes to a sporting event, they talk about how excited they are to order crabfries. Those must be some freakin' special fries, and surely they are smothered in delicious crab meat seeing as how they get so much hype and we're practically next door to the Chesapeake Bay.

Nope. Not a sweet piece of crab meat to be found.

Chickie's and Pete's crabfries are simply crinkle-cut fries liberally sprinkled with salt and spicy crab seasoning (think Old Bay) served with a side of thin, bland, white cheese sauce. Total upgrade from regular sports concession fries, for sure, but I don't get the love. Probably because I was not raised on crabfries, nor do I have fond sporting event associations with these salty, spicy potato sticks.

Will I order Chickie's and Pete's crabfries at another sporting event? Eh, maybe.

Kennett

It doesn't matter how lauded a chef is, or how loud the hype is surrounding the opening of a new restaurant, the way I decide if I'm going to check out a new restaurant is to look at the menu — and it better be available online!

So often it's the case that restaurants have one vegetarian appetizer and one vegetarian entree on their small and concentrated menus. Upon seeing that my dining choices are not a choice at all, I click the menu closed, and never think of the restaurant again.

Kennett, the new restaurant and bar that opened this past Saturday on 2nd St. in the previous home of Lyons Den in the Queen Village neighborhood, had me excitedly waiting for their opening because of their menu alone. The fact that the beautifully dark and casual upscale Kennett is a hop, skip, and jump from my home is also a perk.

Sure Kennett's vegetarian entree offerings of a veggie burger, risotto, and wood fired pizzas (pizzas aren't available just yet, but should be up and running in about two weeks) are pretty standard, but at least there are a few choices.

What really got me excited were their small plates.

With the exception of Brussels sprout and sunchoke with bacon, all of the small plates are vegetarian. The addition of pork to vegetables is a too-easy, flavor cop-out for uncreative chefs, in my opinion, and I hope Kennett continues showcasing vegetables' glory without the help of meat.

Kennett's small plates also show a bit of creativity, too. Roasted chickpeas in a yogurt sauce, braised butter beans on toast, red wine braised lentil salad, and roasted parsnips are a welcome sight to these arugula salad and french fry tired eyes.We were so happy to see a salad of kale chiffonade with candy-striped chioggia beets, roasted squash, and feta dressed in vinaigrette that we ordered two for the table. A perfect winter salad.

Gnocchi

During my (slow) exploration of Italian restaurants in Philly, I decided to drop into Gnocchi, a familiar but long-since visited byob just off South Street. I thought I remembered hearing something about an old chef returning to Gnocchi, but, at this moment, can not dig up that rumor. Perhaps I am confused.

Warm and chatty Italian servers at Gnocchi greet newcomers with open arms, while giving hugs and kisses to regulars ducking into the charming, dimly lit and narrow eatery accented by walls painted with Italian images. Gnocchi may not be a new, up-and-comer in the dining scene with innovative food, but it is clear that Gnocchi is a loved comfort spot in the Queen Village neighborhood.
A basket of complimentary Italian bread starts the evening.
A salad of baby greens and goat cheese is unexciting, but will fulfill your healthy green requirement and keep you busy until pasta, the main attraction of the evening, hits the table.Slightly more interesting is the watermelon and mozzarella salad drizzled with sweet balsamic vinegar, a salad special of the day enjoyed back when watermelon was in season.I am terrified of ordering gnocchi at restaurants, for fear of receiving little leaden, tough potato balls. Since the restaurant's moniker is Gnocchi, I figured it was safe to order the gnocchi. And it is. Three different kinds of gnocchi are on the menu — gnocchi in aurora sauce, gnocchi in three cheese alfredo sauce, and spinach gnocchi in Parmesan alfredo sauce — along with a gnocchi special of the day.

The gnocchi in creamy three cheese Alfredo sauce studded with shiitake mushrooms, radicchio, and roasted peppers is inherently heavy, but if you eat a normal portion (less than what's on the plate), you can leave Gnocchi without the remorse of an overfull belly.
Besides gnocchi, other classic Italian pasta and meat dishes are on the menu. The boy opted for a hefty portion of the seafood-heavy linguine fra diavolo with shrimp and crab in a spicy tomato sauce.

If you're in the neighborhood and want a warm and inviting, traditional Philly Italian byob experience, Gnocchi fits the bill.

Gnocchi
613 E. Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-592-8300