Xochitl - Lentil Stew

Around the second I posted about my new favorite veggie burger in the city, the deeply spiced black bean burger at Xochitl was off the menu. And, that's the downside of seasonally changing menus. Turn around, and gone are your favorite dishes. The upshot is that a new favorite dish may take it's place and be just what you're in the mood for.

Xochitl's menu of modern and traditional Mexican food is small, but they always have at least one vegetarian entree. On the first cool evening of the season when I donned a scarf and hat, Xochitl's warm beluga lentil stew with squash, trumpet mushrooms, wilted kale, and walnuts hit the spot perfectly. Buttery on first bite, then a hint of spice. All yum, and seasonally satisfying. Get it before it's gone!

Xochitl
408 S. 2nd St, Philadelphia 19147
215-238-7280

Xochitl: Veggie Burger

This one really came out of the left field, but I've found my new favorite veggie burger!

Xochitl's La Azteca veggie burger — a torta, really — is a dreaded, mushy, black bean burger and doesn't even come on a hamburger bun, but it's flavors are so darn good, with peppery spice and a little intrigue from huitlacoche and corn in the patty, that the mush is forgiven (it helps to make a thin patty like Xochitl did, if you're going the bean route), and I was left begging for more. Chihuahua cheese, avocado, crispy onion, and chipotle mayo round out the torta. Vegetarian entree specials are mostly unheard of, so I rarely pay attention to servers as they spout off their memorized lists. Xochitl realized that the best of the summer season is not meat, but vegetables, and offered an heirloom tomato torta as one of their specials. Meaty, sweet, and so juicy, there was no way the bun was escaping the flood of tomato essence. Pure summer joy.

I'm kinda digging Xochitl's more casual menu redo and interior remodeling from the last time I reviewed Xochitl. The taco and torta-heavy menu is still quality, and not having the table linens crumbed after each course puts me much more at ease.

Xochitl
408 S. 2nd St, Philadelphia 19147
215-238-7280

Renaissance Sausage

Update: no longer in operation.
Update: Back in business with a smaller cart.

This past Sunday was opening day of Headhouse Farmers' Market, and while most of the vendors are welcome faces from last year, Resnassance Sausage, a mobile food truck vending sandwiches made with local and organic homemade sausages, is a newcomer on the scene.

In fact, Sunday at Headhouse was Renassance Sausage's first day of business. Owners Dan Semko and Bret Cavanaugh are not new to the food truck business, though; they got their start in Charleston, South Carolina, vending breakfast burritos and sandwiches from a VW bus before heading back North to grace us with their food.Country herb pork sausage, Mediterranean lamb and beef sausage, Asian chicken sausage, and vegetarian sausage are on the sandwich menu all day. If you make it there before 11am a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich, as well as a brie and fig jam melt can be yours. Sides include coleslaw, potato salad, and a wheat berry salad.Of course, I came for the vegetarian sausage, as well as a whole bunch of other people — the vegetarian sausage outsold the meat sausages during my early morning wait in line.

The veggie sausage is made with vegetables, spices, and wheat gluten, then grilled and split down the center before landing in a hoagie roll with cucumber spears and blue cheese dressing.Carrots and black beans are definitely players in Renaissance's mild and vegetal tasting sausage, but I wish they would up their flavors and spices a bit — or a whole lot. The fat, squat sausage left lots of dead bread space at either end, meaning I slid the sausage to one end and tore off a good two and a half inches of bread to dispose of.

The good news here is that this was Renaissance Sausage's first day, and sausage recipes can be changed (more spices, please), and veggie sausages can easily be shaped into a longer link to better fit a bun. Here's hoping they make those changes.

I also thought the toppings on the meat sausage sandwiches sounded more robust and flavorful, but there's an easy fix to that — just ask for those instead next time.

Thanks, Renaissance Sausage, for thoughtfully including vegetarians in your sausage fest. We really do appreciate it, as I'm sure you saw from all the veggie sausage sales made on your first day.

Renaissance Sausage
Headhouse Farmers' Market, 2nd &Lombard, every Sunday 10am-2pm
For more locations, follow on Twitter and Facebook

Headhouse Report

Despite the dreary rain and chilly day, I checked out the opening day of Headhouse Farmer's'Market this past Sunday, not just to purchase a few items, but to see if any vendors moved to the sidewalk or adopted the "room" style of setting up their stands like the pioneering Three Springs Fruit Farm did last year.

A little over a month ago, I wrote a post expressing my frustrations with the crowded and narrow market that recieved a few comments from similarly disgruntled market patrons. I was told the post was forwarded to The Food Trust, so was curious if any changes occurred -- not that I actually expect people to listen to me.

Short answer: yes and no.
The majority of the vendors still park their tables under the roof of the market. I did notice a few vendors moved their table as far back as they could, while still having their table under the roof, which is a nice effort, but only helps the congestion minimally.Dancing Hen Farm and Three Springs Fruit Farm

Three Springs Fruit Farm created a room this year, as they did last year. Dancing Hen Farm created a room, and I actually decided to purchase eggs from Dancing Hen Farm instead of the other two vendors offering eggs, just for that reason. Hurley's and Young's Garden

Hurley's, which sells potted plants, and Young's Garden, which sells potted plants and cut flowers, were set up outside of the market, as they normally are, and this is a good thing.

Perhaps the opening day was not the best day to judge whether or not vendors are moving out from underneath the Headhouse structure since is was raining. I understand not wanting to be wet and cold, but I simply can't believe any serious outdoor market vendor has not already invested in a tent for use in inclement weather.

I do like the Headhouse Market and all the vendors, and will continue to shop there, but think I'll make it my policy to purposely patronize vendors who get out from underneath the Headhouse roof, thus making my transactions more pleasant.

Headhouse Beef

As farmers' market season approaches here in Southeast Pennsylvania, I've got a longstanding gripe about one of Philadelphia's most popular markets - Headhouse Farmers' Market at Second and Lombard Streets - that I'd like to get off my chest.

For those unfamiliar with Headhouse Farmers' Market, it's housed under the historic Shambles structure, a building built for merchants to gather at and sell their wares. The Shambles is essentially a long, narrow, covered walkway.

Vendors at Headhouse Farmers' Market line their tables up inside the covered walkway along the outer edges with the front of their display facing towards the inside of the structure, making shopping only possible by walking down what is now, thanks to vendor's tables taking up room, an even narrower walkway.

It's frustrating and miserable to shop at Headhouse Farmer's Market with the throngs of distracted people with their overstuffed canvas shopping bags, toe-crunching baby strollers, and dogs underfoot, all stuffed in a narrow hallway. I've never visited a more tight, claustrophobic, ass-bumping farmer's market in my life!

Last year, I wanted to kiss the one vendor (forgot their name, but they sold lots of peaches and apples), Three Springs Fruit Farm, who moved their table out from underneath the walkway to the very spacious sidewalk just outside the Shambles' roof, and, essentially, formed a wide-open room to duck into from the narrow confines of the market. Finally, someone was thinking!

Please, please, please, Headhouse Farmers' Market manager, make the vendors get their asses out from underneath the narrow walkway.

Make "rooms" like the one vendor did, use the sidewalk, heck, why not even block traffic on the one block of Second St. between Lombard and Pine and use the street (they already block the northbound side, which only one or two lunch vendors make use of, but should block the southbound side, as well).

The Shambles is a beautiful building, but don't be confined by it.

Do this one thing for me, and I won't rant about the boutique produce prices.

Sunday Sidewalk Eats

Hit up the Art Star Craft Bazaar at Penn's Landing this Sunday, and this event was huge! I tuckered out before I hit the end, and decided to eat it up at the A Full Plate Café stand. They were serving mac and cheese, veggie/vegan burgers, and veggie/vegan tacos.

The taco’s spicy soy filling and toppings full-on reminded me of taco night from when I was a kid (yay, taco night!). Except we had ground beef, and hard taco shells. My family is not Mexican, and neither were these tacos, but it was a delightful memory. A Full Plate does comfort well, and sometimes I need to be held.

We then hit up the authentic Mexican stand, Los Taquitos de Puebla, that’s always at the Headhouse Market on Sunday with a line out the door – if they had a door.

We had the huitlacoche (that’s corn smut, and smut is a good thing) quesadilla. The tortillas are made fresh. You can watch them smash out the dough and throw the tortillas on the grill. Good stuff.

Is that a creperie stand right next door?

We got the banana, strawberry, Nutella, and whipped cream crepe. Nutella is a most fabulous invention. And the strawberries were fresh and sweet. Probably came from the market.

What a great weekend! Even with the occasional shower on Saturday.

Ambling The Shambles

Savor The Shambles was a hot mess tonight (in a good way). Loads of people waiting earlier in the evening to get to the head of the line and purchase tickets, then wait in line for grub at South Street area restaurants – all to support the Head House Conservancy.

There was plenty of food to be had from the likes of Bridget Foy's, Chick’s, Shouk, Gayle, Kildare's, Lovash, Xochitl, and Cafe Nola’s just to name a few. At $10 for five tickets (one ticket per serving, but many stops piled it on), this event was a bargain. Alcoholic beverages were included, but winos sucked that dry early in the evening.

Top Chef Catering Challenge Award (these award were presented by me in my head) goes to Bridget Foy's for presenting one quality dish well – individual, elegant cups of ancho chocolate mouse that diners could sweep in and pick up quickly, moving the line along.

Vegetarian Friend’s Award (where was the advertised Horizons?) was picked up by Shouk with an entire menu that was vegetarian – falafel; hummus; pita; some damn tasty carrot something or another; and my favorite dish of the night, sweet teriyaki-glazed cauliflower.

Fabulous food event, and I do mean it! But, of course, I have some suggestions…

Restaurants should have printed what they were serving on a sign (only a few did this). It was frustrating waiting in line for ten minutes not knowing what was being served, and then have to walk away when not interested.

The waste! Events need to hop on this greening thing – biodegradable plates, forks, cups, etc.. Plastic forks, plates, and cups were dispensed and thrown away by the thousands.

I'm sure this event took a lot of planning, and they should be happy with the turnout and success. When's the next one?

Xochitl

Forgive the blurry food pictures. Bad camera, bad.

Xochitl (so-cheet), a Mexican restaurant on Head House Square was the location of a birthday dinner last week. With all the journalistic hubbub after the opening of Xochitl, I was afraid I’d find a pretentious restaurant, but instead found a elegant, low key setting with a mahogany bar accented with iron work, Latin wooden furniture, and rustic blue and white plates. The blue and white plates were especially refreshing, as I’m tired and bored of large white platters showcasing a chef’s work. (I know that food looks better on white plates,but...)

The tequila list is extensive and includes many fine types of tequila, but I’m not a tequila connoisseur, so chose to adulterate that fine tequila by ordering a mixed drink – Profesor Jiraffales, a frozen drink made from El Jimador Reposado tequila, mango puree, ginger and lime. I love ginger, but found the ginger too overpowering, so did not finish this thick, filling drink.

Guacamole was made table side in a heavy, stone bowl and was perfect. Not a single ingredient – onion, salt, jalapeño, or cilantro – overpowered the other. The tortilla chips were real, thick, fried tortilla chips – not the complimentary chips you get at most Mexican restaurants.

A warm zucchini soup with a pretty, ricotta-stuffed zucchini flower as the centerpiece was light and refreshing, highlighting the simple flavor of the long, green summer vegetable.

The appetizer and salad I ordered arrived on the same plate, and as my main course. There are not many vegetarian options on the menu, but after ordering what vegetarian foods I could find, the friendly and astute server pointed out what items could be made vegetarian, and noted that the chef was very accommodating and could also make a vegetable plate. I thanked her, but decided to stick with what I had already ordered.

Gorditas de huitlachoche (I could have used a pronunciation in parenthesis here), round masa pockets stuffed with corn truffles scared me, since one of the first images professors show when teaching corn culture is the frightening, brain-like fungus that afflicts ears of corn – corn smut. Corn smut and huitlachoche (wee-tlah-KOH-cheh) are the same thing. Blight to farmers; delicacy in Mexico. Fear not the hitlachoche. It’s black and ugly, but still tastes like corn. The huitlachoche masa pockets were mild and corny, but could have used a larger topping of salsa and cream for a flavor kick.

Ensalada Xochitl was also a simple, but very enjoyable mixed green salad topped with the summer-like marriage of avocado, papaya, watermelon, jicama sticks and a tequila vinaigrette.

I wanted dessert, but simply was not hungry enough to indulge. The churros and hot chocolate were tempting, and came highly recommended by the server. Next time.

My dinner at Xochitl was very pleasant, with light, fresh flavors – very unlike the spicy, fat-laden dishes at casual taquerias. I don’t think you can compare the two cuisines. Don’t come to Xochitl expecting the Mexican-American cuisine you’re familiar with. Clean your mental slate, and enjoy the fresh flavors that Mexico and Xochitl has to offer.

Xochitl, 408 S. 2nd St, Philadelphia 19147, 215-238-7280
Dinner: Tue.-Sun. 5-10PM
Bar: Tue.-Sun. 5PM-2AM