Birra

A few weeks ago we stopped into Birra, a pizza and beer restaurant right in the heart of bustling E. Passyunk Avenue. Open for only a few months now, Birra has had no problem finding it's stride.

The tight restaurant and bar was packed when we arrived, and since they don't take reservations (too casual and small for such a thing), we put our name on the list, were given a thirty minute estimate on the wait, the host took our phone number, and we scooted a block up the road for drinks at Salt and Pepper's more sedate bar. Thirty minutes later our phone rang, and a table was waiting for us when we walked in Birra.

Birra means beer in Italian, so of course Birra has a strong beer list to match it's name. I was a bit concerned that Birra did not offer wine, since it's not listed on the online menu, but fear not; they have wine!
We hit most of the vegetarian items on the menu that came recommended by our server, although there are plenty more veggie dishes to hit, even though the menu is short and sweet.

The roasted veggie salad with mixed greens, seasonal vegetables, and balsamic mustard vignette is served with a few triangles of flat bread. Winter squash is in season, but I'm not sure how seasonal the zucchini and cured tomatoes are. Those tomatoes were the best part of the already likeable and sizable salad, so I'm not really complaining. The chewy and concentrated flavors of the cured tomatoes were, again, the best part of the red sauced, roasted vegetable pizza. At twelve inches, Birra's thin crust pizzas are perfect for splitting with another person. The mac and cheese pizza at Birra is not the first time I've had such a doubly carb loaded disk. The concept of such a pizza is not as bad as it sounds, and also not as interesting as it sounds. This menu item didn't come recommended, but I had to give it a go anyway.

Black pepper is about the only stand out flavor on this pizza, and considering that Birra's pizza crust is a bit bland, you really want to order a pizza with more flavor umpf at Birra. I'm thinking the mac and cheese pizza would be better ordered as a "Birra bowl" — any pizza toppings and sauce baked in a bowl with a pizza crust laid on top like a pot pie.
The roasted veggie panini with cured tomatoes, zucchini, basil pesto, and provolone was actually my favorite of the night with big flavors, crusty bread, and small pitcher of their sweet tomato sauce for dipping.

Birra may not have my favorite pizza crust in town (everyone has an opinion about that!), but their vegetable toppings are fresh and flavorful. The atmosphere is casual and lively, making Birra a perfect spot to grab a drink or meal while taking in a game on one of their many sports-tuned televisions, or, you know, just to hang with some friends

Birra
1700 E Passyunk Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19148
267-324-3127

Santucci's Square Pizza

We ordered a mushroom and onion pizza for delivery from Santucci's Square Pizza the other week, and, yep, it really is as good as people say.

A small, local pizza chain with six location in Philly, Santucci's is known for it's square pizza with cheese on the bottom and sauce on the top. Not spending time north of the city where five of their original venues are located, I had never heard of Santucci's until they decided to open up shop near the Italian Market, and every person squealed with joy from print and social media.

A Santucci's square pizza starts with seasoned cast iron pan, which cooks up a sturdy and chewy crust. The crust is topped with mozzarella cheese, then the pizza is crowned with a deep red, thick, perfectly seasoned, herb-flecked sauce.

Santucci's makes a damn fine pizza. No, really. Every one at the table actually took a moment after eating the first slice to comment on how good it was. From crust, cheese, sauce, and toppings, there was not a thing to complain about.

As far as classic pizzas go, it's one of the best eat-in-front-of-the-tv pizzas I've had. They even managed to thoroughly cook, but not dry out the mushrooms!

Not sure I'll ever make it into their casual restaurant for a sit-down dinner, but I'm hoping for more rushed days to come around as an excuse to order another pizza from Santucci's.

They also do soups, salads, sandwiches, strombolis, pastas, flatbreads, and wings. If there are standouts on the menu other than the pizza, please let me know, and we might add it to a future delivery.

Santucci's Square Pizza
901 S. 10th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-825-5304

Federal Donuts

With Federal Donuts' Pennsport location right in my 'hood, I could have easily been first in line this Monday at 7am for their opening day, but I patiently waited until their third day of business to pay a visit.
The small corner takeout store specializing in donuts, coffee, and Korean fried chicken, opened by Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov (Zahav, Percy Street), Thomas Henneman and Bob Logue (BODHi Coffee), and Felicia D’Ambrosio, may seem like a odd food pairing catering to a niche market of food lovers, but from the turnout of people at Federal Donuts clamoring to get their hands on the long anticipated vittles, it seems the niche market of 'nuts and chix ain't so small. Federal Donuts has been selling out of doughnuts within hours of opening, and chicken, which doesn't take the stage until noon, within the hour.

Things should calm down at some point — they just opened after long anticipation and much fanfare from the media, after all — so don't get discouraged if you have not had a chance to try Federal Donuts' chicken or doughnuts.
There was only one way for me to tackle Federal Donuts, and that was to order all the doughnuts! Flavors of both the Fancies and Sugared will vary, so I didn't really try all of the doughnuts; just those offered that day.

Six Fancy doughnuts ($2 each), which are filled and glazed in advance. And...
Three Sugared doughnuts ($1.25 each), which are hot, made to order.

Of course, there's also the Korean fried chicken, which I obviously won't be posting about unless they start frying seitan (do it!). Whole ($15) and half ($8) birds are available glazed (traditional Korean style, chili-garlic, honey-ginger) or crispy and sprinkled with seasoned salts (Za'atar, buttermilk ranch, harissa).

A Federal Donuts custom blend of Stumptown Roasters PT's Coffee Roasting Co. beans is served using the single-cup Chemex method.
First things first...I was curious as to how the round cake doughnuts with a hole in the middle that are plopped out by a Donut Robot into a vat of hot oil were going to be filled, since I think of filled doughnuts as yeasted and without a hole. Were they going to fill the hole and seal in the filling somehow?

Nope. Filling is piped into the center of the cake itself, with the filling going all the way around — more or less — the tube of cake. Brilliant!

All doughnuts are made with the same cake base, which is neutral in flavor, so plays well with all the different flavored toppings and filling. I'm happy to report that the cake is light and fluffy. Still crossing my fingers that Federal Donuts will roll out some yeasted doughnuts in the future, though.
Oh, my! The Key Lime Fancy doughnut piped full of lime curd, then dipped in a sweet lime glaze and topped with graham cracker crumbs is my favorite of the bunch, and the most decadent. Put this on a plate with a fork at your next dinner party, and don't even bother whipping up a homemade dessert!
At first bite, I wasn't too keen on the Nutella-Tahina-Pomegranate Fancy doughnut filled with tahini Nutella, dipped in a pomegranate glaze and sprinkled with sesame seeds (sesame reads savory to me, and the tahini diminished the perfection that is Nutella), but this doughnut grew on me and developed into a sophisticated twist on peanut butter and jelly.
For those who like plainer flavors, the Honey-Almond Fancy with a delicate honey flavor is for you. Even though the Honey-Almond doughnut is a Fancy, this did not seem to be filled. Perhaps the filling just seeped into the cake. There has to be a chocolate covered doughnut! The Chocolate-Raspberry Fancy piped with raspberry jelly, glazed with chocolate and topped with dried raspberries is just a classic flavor combination that cannot be messed with. One of my favorites in the bunch!Another favorite is the Coconut-Pineapple Fancy. Filled with pineapple jelly and dipped in a coconut glaze with sweet coconut flakes, this doughnut is tropical with a capital "T." The coconut and pineapple flavors are so fresh and clear, it's like ambrosia (the fresh fruit salad dessert) made into doughnut form. Do not miss, if you like coconut!
The Orange Blossom-Pistachio Fancy is the only doughnut I would not order again. It's me, not you, Federal Donuts. The smell of the orange blossom glaze (isolated, it's a lovely fragrance) mixed with nuts and cake reminds me of the sometimes funky mixed smells in greenhouses. Those who don't spend lots of time around plants like I do, may find this floral-scented, curd filled doughnut just heavenly. The Vanilla-Lavender Sugar doughnut is going to be your plainest option. The lavender is so light it is barely detectable, making this, basically, a plain sugared doughnut.
I had no idea what flavor the Apollonia Sugar doughnut would be. When I asked my boyfriend what he suspected, he replied, "Prince's girlfriend in Purple Rain?" Ha.

Turns out, Apollonia is a spice blend of bitter cocoa powder and dried orange blossoms from La Boite a Epice. Here, orange blossom is not so in your face, and can be enjoyed without greenhouse flashbacks.
The Indian Cinnamon Sugar doughnut has an enchanting spice mix — is that cardamom? — that brings intrigue to a cinnamon sugar doughnut.

Fabulous job all around, Federal Doughnuts! You have done with cake doughnuts what I had hoped for from The Fractured Prune, but did not get: exciting and inventive flavors. Still gonna hold out hope for yeasted doughnuts, though.

Federal Donuts
1219 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-687-8258

Burger.org

The bright orange and green walls with mirrors and lights make me feel like I'm tripping. Ordering at the bar while staring at a poorly designed menu on the wall is awkward. The long wooden bar says alcohol, but there's none to be had. I'm just not sure what to make of Burger.org, the kosher and in-your-face eco-concious burger joint right in the heart of South St.'s drunken mile.
Here's what I do know though: Burger.org makes one of the best veggie burgers in town! Didn't see that coming did you? Neither did I. The standard burger (veggie, beef, fish, chicken or turkey patty) comes with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, housemade pickle, and special sauce. Other sauces like chipotle mayo and bbq are also available. Sauces in squeeze bottles are also scattered throughout the room on table tops, if you need more.

If you like the obvious-vegetables-in-patty burger like the one at National Mechanics, you're going to love Burger.org's housemade veggie patty full of corn, peas, carrots, and spinach. This veggie fritter is soft, yet crispy on the outside, with loads of flavor. The sesame seed bun is very soft, reminiscent of a backyard burger bun, but larger. If you don't do buns, Burger.org will gladly wrap your burger in lettuce.

And, with that soft bun (and great patty), Burger.org just bested National Mechanic's veggie burger. But, Burger.org does not serve alcohol, so depending on your mission, National Mechanics may still be number one for veggie-filled veggie burgers.For a little more dough, the El Mariachi burger adds guacamole, pico de gallo, and chipotle mayo to the mix.

The Very Veggie burger adds grilled zucchini, mushrooms and eggplant.
Sweet potato fries, spicy fries, truffle fries, and regular fries are on the menu, but our order of barely spiced spicy fries were inedible. Burger.org couldn't seem to get the oil high enough to properly fry the spuds. These greasy, limp potato sticks should have never left the kitchen.

Despite the fry mishaps and an atmosphere that perplexes, Burger.org's veggie burger is so good it now competes with Maoz's falafel, Hot Diggity's hot dogs, and Blackbird's pizza for quick and tasty South St. eats.

Burger.org
326 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-639-3425

Hot Diggity

Well, hot diggity, if there isn't a new hot dog joint in town serving piled-high, funky, fusion, fun dogs! Hot Diggity also happens to be the name of the South St. shop which opened about a month ago by Keith Garabedian (who trained at Craft under Tom Colicchio) with friends Tom Zmijewski, Sean Kendall and Matt Anderson.

As a longtime fan of hot dogs, I'm excited to see the hot dog trend growing in Philly — as long as dog slingers invite us vegetarians to the party. Hot Diggity sent out the all-inclusive invitations, and parties with all-beef, natural-casing Sabrett dogs, as well as Worthington Vegan Linkettes.

Hot Diggity's menu is simple — hot dogs, fries, dipping sauces, soda, and, coming soon, local craft beer — but they are doin' it to it!
There are ten "gourmet" dogs on the menu, each ranging from $5-$6. Above the open grill counter you'll find colorful illustrations of each hot dog on the menu by local artist and hot dog connoisseur, Hawk Krall. The Plain Old Dog with your choice of ketchup, mustard, onions, or relish is always a choice, but live a little and order a dog all done up with toppings representing old and new regional hot dog classics.

The Windy City with pickle spears, sliced tomato, mustard, electric green relish, red onion, and celery salt pays homage to Chicago's most beloved dog, while The Seattle Grunge with garlic cream cheese, red onion straws, and scallions hints at Seattle's cream cheese slathered street dogs. Ride the Hawaiian waves with The Big Kahuna, a dog topped with guava mustard, grilled red onion, pineapple salsa, and orange habanero aioli. The Saigon Fusion with house pickled cucumber, cilantro, red onion, carrots, jalapeno, Thai chilli vinaigrette and Sriracha is obviously taking cues from the Vietnamese banh mi sandwich. Toppings were super fresh and crunchy, but didn't quite meld together like a real banh mi does, probably because of Hot Diggity's more generous piling of vegetables on the soft Liscio rolls than a traditional, sparsely filled banh mi on a crispy baguette. But, hey, you're eating a hot dog, not a banh mi! Great, veggie-filled dog, nonetheless.

Note that two vegan hot dog links come to a bun, since they are shorter than beef dogs. And, while I'm not entirely happy with the Liscio rolls ( it seems that gourmet dog places are opting for larger rolls to accommodate the generous fillings) in place of a smaller, softer, true hot dog bun, I think Hot Diggity's buns would benefit from a steaming or a minute on the grill. In addition to the ten dogs on the menu, Hot Diggity will feature a hot dog-of-the-month; this month it is The Farmers' Market Dog with tomatillo pickles, corn and jalapeno salsa, fried tortilla chips, queso fresco, and a lime wedge. The combination of all these ingredients was fantastic! Again, all the veggies and ingredients were super fresh. And that's fresh, grilled corn, y'all! Hot Diggity tries to make as many of their toppings as they can in house.
If you're wondering what the holes cut into the high-top, communal dining tables at the front of the restaurant are for, they're for holding up the paper cones filled with thick, fresh cut, skin-on Belgian-style fries made to order and sprinkled with coarse salt. Pretty much perfect!

And don't miss their rotating list of house made dipping sauces, like chipotle mayo, roasted garlic rosemary aioli, spicy ginger, and curry mayo.

Every thing at Hot Diggity was fabulous — from the creative topping combinations, to the freshness of the vegetables, the perfectly cooked fries, and the flavorful dipping sauces. Hot diggity, indeed!

Hot Diggity
630 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-886-9253
Mon-Thurs: 11am-10pm
Fri-Sat: 11am-2pm
Sun: 10am-9pm

Dickinson Square Park Farmers' Market

There's a new farmers' market in town! This past Sunday, June 5, marked the first day of the Dickinson Square Park Farmers' Market, and I dropped by to check out things.

Open on Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm, June through October, on the northwest corner of Moyamensing Ave. and Morris St., the Dickinson Square Park Farmers' Market is competing directly with the larger and more popular Sunday Headhouse Farmers' Market just a mile north, but I know I will try to patronize the Dickinson Square Park Farmers' Market over Headhouse.It's well documented that I don't enjoy the cramped setup of Headhouse Market (wide sidewalks at Dickinson Square make shopping pleasurable), plus Dickinson Square Park is just an inch closer to my house.

Currently, there are three vendors at Dickinson Square Park Farmers' Market — Down Home Acres, Darmo Family Farms, and Two Gander Farm — but hopefully the number of vendors will grow over time.

We arrived at the market at 11 a.m., and the vendors had already sold out of some items because of the crowds, but the vendors promise to bring larger quantities next week. Here's what we saw:
Down Home Acres had some pretty floral arrangements, cut herbs, mulberries, and vegetable and herbs starts for sale.
Darmo Family Farms had spring's bounty of lettuces and scallions, as well as potted tomato plants for sale.
Two Gander Farms had leafy greens, mushrooms, and eggs for sale, as well as a glorious bevy of bee products — honeycomb, bee pollen, and many varieties of honey.
We left the market with a jar of fresh (not dried) bee pollen, which we were instructed to refrigerate, and, if we didn't use in two weeks, to freeze. We sat down on a park bench to taste some of the bee pollen, and, wow! I've never tasted such flavorful and fresh, honey and floral-nuanced bee pollen.Also, Sunday shopping at Dickinson Square Park Farmers' Market includes a very nice, 3-acre park with a playground, a basketball court, and plenty of shade, benches, and grass.

Be sure to sign up for the Dickinson Square Park Farmers' Market email list to keep in the know.

Izumi

Many foodies in town just gush over Izumi, the tiny BYOB sushi restaurant on Passyunk Ave. just across from the Singing Fountain. From what I hear, if you're into really fresh and interesting creatures from the sea served as sushi or sashimi, Izumi is where it's at.

But what if you're a vegetarian?

Izumi's food is perfectly fine — tasty, well executed, and beautiful — but, because of their small menu, there really isn't much that goes above and beyond most vegetarian offerings at sushi restaurants.
Vegetable tempura gets a little update with an accompanying 3-part tray of red pepper puree, smoked salt, and the traditional soy-based tempura dipping sauce.
The seaweed salad is visually stunning thanks, in most part, to the wonders of mother nature. Four different kinds of seaweed — one dark green, one bright green, one magenta, and one clear — are served in a bowl with a mellow soy broth and a lemon wedge. This was the shining spot in my meal, and certainly different and unexpected than the green, stringy, wakame seaweed salads at most Japanese restaurants.
The teriyaki-marinated mushroom and cream cheese maki roll is the most exciting of the vegetarian sushi rolls offered. The other four vegetarian rolls are pretty standard fare — cucumber, avocado, oshinko, and kampyo.

The one off-putting part of our meal was when our server refused to ask the sushi chefs if they would make any off-the-menu vegetarian sushi, whatever the chef desired. This is a request I often make at sushi restaurants (cucumber and avocado rolls get boring), and have never had a server or sushi chef refuse. It's as simple as pulling a vegetable or two from somewhere else on the menu, and any good restaurant should be able to accommodate such a request. Izumi's chefs were never given the chance because of our server.

Also on the menu and vegetarian are a tofu and seaweed miso soup, edamame, and inari.

Izumi
1601 East Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-271-1222
BYOB

Tacos mi Pueblito

Have y'all seen the silver Mexican food truck that parks near the corner of Washington Ave. and 8th St? I don't think I've heard nary a peep or mention of the nondescript, silver box truck hawking Mexican fare from the Philly foodie community. The truck's name is Tacos mi Pueblito, but is written so tiny on an advertisement poster that it's hard to find.

What caught my eye when I noticed the truck's appearance last fall is that the handwritten poster board menu plastered to the side of the truck expressly listed a handful of items as vegetarian. Failed lunch attempts last fall, then a miserable winter where no one would dare eat on the street kept me away, but I finally got on over to Tacos mi Pueblito a couple of weeks ago.On our visit the poster board menu had recently been ripped off the side of the truck unbeknownst to the owners, so when we asked what was available, they just pointed to the side of the truck. I had to tell them that their menu was missing, which is a shame because, besides wanting to post a photo of the menu, without a menu or the name of their business plastered prominently, it's hard to tell what they're selling. A week later, a new food menu had not appeared that I could snap a pic of, so I'm going on with the post. Just know that they sell standard Mexican fare — tacos, quesadillas, tortas, horchata, and Mexican sodas.
Vegetarian tacos are a corn tortilla piled high with refried beans, seasoned rice, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, queso fresco, and crema with radish slices and lime wedge on the side. One of these is pretty filling.The vegetarian torta has the exact same fillings as the vegetarian tacos, but in even larger quantities. The toasted, soft sandwich roll is monstrous. Order a torta if you are starving.

Green and red salsas are available, and the green is their mild. The green is pretty hot, so we haven't even sampled the red, yet.

Tacos mi Pueblito is good, and they're certainly generous with their ingredients, but the food is pretty standard Mexican fare. With so many other traditional Mexican restaurants in that area along Washington Ave. and the Italian Market, I'm not sure I'd seek out Tacos mi Pueblito for a dining experience, but grab-and-go, on-the-street convenience is sometimes just what you want, especially if your main mission in the area is shopping the markets.

Also, Tacos mi Pueblito advertises some of their menu items as vegetarian (when there's a menu!), so that's something, although, I never 100% trust traditional Mexican restaurants on their vegetarian claims when refried beans and seasoned rice are involved.

Tacos mi Pueblito
Washington Ave. and 8th St.

Monsú

The beauty of living in the heart of a city like Philadelphia is that you can walk to almost any destination, and I take full advantage of this by walking to almost all of the restaurants and bars I visit. Unfortunately, restaurants that fall outside of the 2.5-mile radius from my house (what I consider walkable for dining) will probably never be visited, even if they are at the top of my "to-do" list.

Modo Mio, the raved-about Italian restaurant by chef and owner Peter McAndrews is just such a restaurant that has been on my "to-do" list for years, but the Girard Ave. restaurant is a bit of a hike, and getting in a car to go out to dinner in the city is against my constitution (plus someone has to abstain from drinking if driving, and that's no fun).

That's why I was very excited when McAndrews opened Monsú, a Sicilian restaurant located in the Italian Market at the location of what was his former sandwich shop, Paesano's (Paesano's got scooted down the block to 1017 S. 9th St.).

I guess McAndrews had such great success in having a second location of Paeasano's (original is on Girard Ave.), he decided to bring Italian fine dining in the line of what he's doing at Modo Mio to South Philly.

Whatever the reasoning for opening up Monsú, I certainly appreciate not having to walk from South Philly to Girard Ave. for McAndrew's Italian cuisine.

Not much changed to the bones on the corner building at 9th and Christian, but the interior got a little spiffier with plush, burgundy banquettes lining the walls, and linen-topped tables set with large chargers. I'd like to see the chargers removed, as they barely fit on the small tables, stealing valuable table-top real estate. Incongruous with the formal table setting, there are paper napkins.

Seating is tight in the small room, so be sure to make a reservation, as McAndrews and his restaurant ventures already have a good reputation. And bring a bottle of wine and cash, because Monsú is byob and cash only.Nothing on the menu is over $20, but if you don't eat meat, your entree will be considerably less. Monsú is not a vegetarian haven, but there is at least one, if not more, vegetarian selections in each menu section.

Dinner is started with a basket of bread and a tasty, if not oily, classic Sicilian eggplant caponata. Not normally a pre-dinner bread eater, I had a slice just to try the caponata, then just ate the sweet and savory caponata straight out of the dish with a fork, oil be damned. The only vegetarian selection in the antipasti section was grilled smoked Mozzarella topped with a dressed watercress salad, plated with prickly pear puree. The crispy crust on the Mozzarella gave way to warm, melted cheese with a compelling, savory smokiness. I don't think I've had Mozzarella I liked better.
We headed to the sides section of the menu to find another vegetarian starter. Curious about sweet and sour pumpkin we placed our order, and were a bit surprised to have a cold dish of pumpkin arrive. Delicious, nontheless, the cold slices of roasted pumpkin were not overly sweet or sour, but seasoned subtly with orange zest and topped with grated cheese.For my main, I went with the creamy, ricotta-filled ravioli topped with zucchini, hazelnuts, and mint. The sauce was only the bit of oil from the sauteed zucchini and hazelnuts, so no heavy oil slick here. Simple, with each component's flavors distinct but harmonious. Fabulous.The semolina cake was described as flan in cake-form, and the description does the moist, grainy, dense cake with sweet, caramel crust justice. A good, and well executed dessert, but, for some reason, did not endear even the flan-lover at our table.The vanilla cream-stuffed profiteroles with chocolate-hazelnut icing could have been great, but the pastry was a little crispy and the icing hardened in spots, tasting a bit day-old.

Overall, a pretty good first go at Monsú, and I'll certainly be back.

Menus at Modo Mio and Monsú are different, and I probably still should check out Modo Mio one day, but, dang Monsú is much more convenient for me.

Monsú also does a daily brunch which has the obligatory French toast, but skews more Italian lunch, so could be just the thing you're looking for if, like me, you are thoroughly bored with most eggs-and-French-toast brunch menus.

Monsú
901 Christian St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-440-0495
Cash only
BYOB