Recap: A Full Plate's 5th Annual Rib Cook-Off and Vegetarian Quick-fire

You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful, sunny day for A Full Plate's 5th Annual Rib Cook-Off and Vegetarian Quickfire at Liberty Land's park in Northern Liberties.

Shannon Dougherty and Liz Petersen, owners of A Full Plate Café always make sure their cook-off competitions are vegetarian-friendly with a buffet of veggie sides and at least one vegetarian cook-off category.

This year the ladies added a vegetarian quickfire, à la Top Chef, where contestants were tasked to create a dish from a table of vegetables and kitchen staples. It was a mad dash to raid the table I hear (as a judge, I stayed away from the fest until my services were needed in order to keep the judging blind) , then back to the grills for intense cooking.

Nine teams, both professional and amateur, competed in the vegetarian quickfire. Each dish was so different from the next, and they were all delicious. There were a few standout, though, all of which came from amateur teams!
This grilled watermelon gazpacho with cilantro and jalapeno oil from amateur team Pork Sword was perfectly balanced and absolutely delicious. Not sure if I've had a better gazpacho from a restaurant!
Amateur team Kimball Street put up an excellent caramelized onion, mushroom, cheese and basil flat bread with a perfectly grilled crispy crust, and harmonious toppings.

This eggplant curry from amateur team The Girls From Ipanema was totally unexpected from a grilling competition, and, man, was it good! This dish put to shame the curry dishes I ordered last week from a restaurant I shall not name.
With more room in my stomach, I moved directly from the judges tent to the buffet of sides from A Full Plate and desserts from Flying Monkey Bakery. The women behind A Full Plate and Flying Monkey do not scrimp on free food!

I had a great time judging the event, and think it's pretty cool that A Full Plate puts on cooking competitions that everyone — meat eaters and vegetarians — can enjoy. Don't miss next year's!

Update on winners:

Veggie Quickfire
1st - North Bowl (Professional)
2nd - Darlings Diner (Professional)
1st - Kimball Street (Amateur)
2nd - The Girls From Ipanema (Amateur)

Ribs
1st - Kyber Pass Pub (Professional)
2nd - The Blind Pig (Professional)
1st - Pork Sword (Amateur)
2nd - Rack Attack (Amateur)

Anything Goes
1st - Sonata Restaurant (Professional)
2nd - Khyber Pass Pub (Professional)
1st - Pork Sword (Amateur)
2nd - Kimball Street (Amateur)

Crowd Favorite (Best Dish of the Day)
Sonata Restaurant

A Full Plate's 5th Annual Rib Cook-Off and Vegetarian Quick-fire

It's time for A Full Plate's 5th Annual Rib Cook-Off, and you all should come out. Especially vegetarians!



Professional and amateur teams will be judged on three categories — ribs, "anything goes", and vegetarian quickfire.



Vegetarian quickfire, you say? Yes! Similar to what you have seen on Top Chef and other TV food competitions, teams will be given a mystery box of vegetables from local farms, and tasked with grilling/smoking a vegetarian dish.



The $20 all-you-can-eat extravaganza includes food prepared on-site by competing teams, a buffet of vegetarian sides provided by A Full Plate, and sweets provided by Flying Monkey Bakery. Bottomless cups from Philadelphia Brewing can be purchased separately for $15.



A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Teens 4 Good, which works with youth to transform vacant lots into urban gardens/farms.



This truly is one of my favorite food events in Philly, because A Full Plate really does look out for and love vegetarians. I'll be there judging the vegetarian quickfire, so stop by and say,"Hi."



Stick around, as Northern Liberties Fall Music Fest kicks off after the cook-off is done. Gonna be a great day!



A Full Plate 5th Annual Rib Off and Vegetarian Quick-Fire

Sat., Sept. 10, 11am, rain or shine

Liberty Lands Park, 926 N. American St, Philadelphia, PA 19123

$20 all-you-can-eat

Recap: A Full Plate's 1st Annual Chili Cook-Off

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of being a judge at A Full Plate's 1st Annual Chili Cook-off at Liberty Lands Park in Northern Liberties. I've judged before for A Full Plate's Rib Cook-off (look for that event some time later this year), and it's always a good time to get outdoors and critically rate food with fellow food lovers, whether you're on a judging panel or part of the crowd casting your vote for people's favorite.

The great thing about A Full Plate's cook-offs is that they don't leave out the vegans and vegetarians. Competitors in the chili cook-off were strongly encouraged to make a vegan chili for the event (most did), and A Full Plate's buffet of sides also had vegan and vegetarian offerings.Before it was time to judge, I had the boy get me a plate of mac and cheese and a seitan-based hot dog made by Shannon Dougherty, co-owner and chef of A Full Plate. All of the chili that came my way at the judging table was good, but one stood out far above the others, at least in my eyes — the chili with black beans and tempeh topped with fried tofu and scallions. When judging, we have no idea of which team made what chili, and we aren't allowed to walk around the main event prior to judging, so after I was done with my official duties I made my way around the tables to find out who made my favorite chili.

It was Kraftwork. Good job guys!

Yet, Kraftwork's vegan chili didn't win any awards, despite my awarding them high scores. Shouldn't the vegetarian's vote count more? Just kidding. I'm all for fairly tabulated results.
Above is the first place trophy awarded to Darling's Diner for their vegan chili. Second place in the vegan chili category went to PYT.

All winners:

Red chili, professional
1st - Higher Grounds Café
2nd - PYT

Red chili, amateur
1st - Pork Barrel Politics
2nd - Bigg Rigg

White chili, professional
1st - PYT
2nd - Kraftwork

White chili, amateur
1st - Bigg Rigg
2nd - Pork Barrel Politics

Vegan chili, professional
1st - Darling's Diner
2nd - PYT

Vegan chili, amateur
1st - I Wanna Hallucinate Too
2nd - Chili That Will Get You Lei'd

People's Choice
1st - Higher Grounds Café
2nd - Darling's Diner

Reminder: Chili Cook-Off

This Saturday, June 11th at the Liberty Lands park, I'll be judging the vegan entries at A Full Plate Cafe's first ever Chili Cook-Off, and you should come out for the festivities, too!

For $10 you get to sample chili, and for $15 you get a bottomless cup of Philadelphia Brewing Co. beers. The beer cup is good for the cook-off *and* the Northern Liberties Music Fest that follows.

Professional teams include: Darling's Diner, PYT, Higher Grounds Cafe, Kraftwork, and more!

A Full Plate's 1st Annual Chili Cook-Off

After four years of hosting a rib cook-off, Shannon Dougherty and Liz Petersen of A Full Plate Café have decided to host a chili cook-off (don't worry, the rib cook-off will go down this year at a later date) Saturday, June 11 from noon to 3pm at Liberty Lands Park.

First, second, and "peoples' choice" prizes for both amateur and professional teams will be awarded in three categories of chili: red, white, and vegan.

If you think you've got a killer chili recipe and want to prove it, you'll need to pony up $25 to compete, and get an application in by Friday, June 3 at 4pm. To view the official rules and application form, visit A Full Plate's Chili Cook-off Facebook event page, or email info@afullplate.net.

Just want to eat chili? Come ready to rumble at high noon! Admission is $10 for adults and kids over 12, $6 for kids (5 and under are free), and allows all-you-can-eat samples of chili, and, of course, the always awesome A Full Plate buffet of veggie sides.

I will be one of the judges in the vegan chili category, so bring it!

La Copine

We dropped by the grand opening day of La Copine, a new food cart serving up brunch foods on the weekend in the corner patio lot of 2nd and Poplar Streets. La Copine is run by Nikki Hill (former sous chef at Barbuzzo) and Claire Wadsworth.

This corner lot and former spot of the shuttered Arbol Cafe is now home to Garden Variety, an open air market featuring food carts (weekend brunch by La Copine, dinner by a yet to be named chef, and late night snacks by Dapper Dog), a monthly supper club by La Copine, artists' flea markets, concerts, and commissioned public art projects. Sounds exciting!
La Copine was running out of Dapper Dog's cart on opening day, but they hope to shortly be in their own cart, which was parked in the back corner of the tree-shaded patio. Tables, chairs and tents were brought out to give the lot a feel of a pop-up cafe, and lend a little comfort to cart dining.
The small menu has a few of breakfasty items: breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and banana bread; and a few lunchy items: flatbread, arugula salad, and slaw. According to their menu, all produce is locally sourced and/or organic, and the cage free eggs and pork for sausage comes from Meadow Run Farm.

Iced coffee, French press coffee, iced herbal tea, hot tea, fresh orange juice and local soda are your beverage choices.The $5 Englich muffin breakfast sandwich comes with scrambled eggs, cheddar, and tomato jam, but for $7 can be upgraded with sausage or veggie sausage. I think you know which one we chose!

For $10 you can get the "special," which is a breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and iced beverage.

This is a pretty classic breakfast sandwich with just a little jazz from tomato jam. The veggie patty is made with a blend of various grains, mushrooms, and onions, and has a great, peppery sausage flavor.The $8 flatbread, which I was imagining as a grilled pizza, not 5 or 6 very thin, cracker-like chips we were served, comes with bleu cheese, figs, prosciutto, lavender honey gastrique, and mache. Obviously, we skipped the prosciutto!

The flat bread tastes great — you just can't go wrong with the combination of pungent bleu cheese, sweet figs, and tart vinegar reduction — but for $8 I expect something a bit more filling, or at least a price reduction for omitting the prosciutto.The $3 side of carrot and cabbage coleslaw is studded with golden raisins, and dressed with a curry spiced Greek yogurt. All of the ingredients combine for a very pleasant coleslaw without screaming curry, or yogurt, or sweet, or tart.

La Copine is a great addition to the growing food cart scene, and in a great outdoor location. Also in La Copine's repertoire are roving supper clubs, catering service and a prepared-foods line.

La Copine
209 Poplar St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
Saturday and Sunday brunch

Koo Zee Doo

All the good things you've heard about Koo Zee Doo, the cozy BYOB in Northern Liberties serving up rustic, family-style plates of Portuguese food is true.

And Koo Zee Doo even has three vegetarian entrees on their small menu, which is exactly three more vegetarian entrees than I encountered on my trip to Portugal a few years ago (not even exaggerating), so, as a vegetarian, if you've ever wondered what Portuguese food tastes like (I was still wondering after my time in Portugal), get yourself over to Koo Zee Doo pronto.

The interior of Koo Zee Doo is small and warm, with exposed brick, flickering candles, and diners cozying up to a bottle of wine at tables, or at a the small bar overlooking an open kitchen. Out back is a charming, small patio with vines growing up the walls and twinkle lights strung over head.
Complimentary bread and butter, along with a small dish of pickled lupini beans are brought to the table. Broa is a Portuguese peasant corn bread that tastes nothing like the Southern cornbread you're familiar with, but more like a rustic, chewy roll with barely detectable flavors of corn. You are instructed to pierce the skin of the briney beans and slip the bean out, but I found the bean's outer shell to be tender enough to eat.

Since plates are on the larger side and intended for sharing, it's recommended that each person order an appetizer and split an entree with another person.The boy ordered pan-seared shrimp with piri piri sauce, a spicy Portuguese sauce made from peppers. These shrimp were massive, yet still tender and cooked perfectly. The evenly balanced spicy and briney piri piri sauce flavored with juices from the shrimp was perfect for mopping up with the rustic rolls.

We had a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic server, so I let him choose for me what he thought was the best vegetarian appetizer and entree. He did not steer me wrong, but even from the small sampling of the menu we had that evening, I don't think he could have done any wrong no matter what he chose.The heirloom tomato salad with Mozzarella, red onions, and olives dressed in oil, vinegar, and the tomatoes own juices was simple, and highlighted the glory of Summer tomatoes.
Our server's favorite vegetarian entree, Milho Frito, a fried corn porridge, was already gone for the evening (a great reason to visit again!), so the tomato bread pudding slid from second place into first.

The flat pancake of tomato-soaked bread had a nice crispy outer shell that contrasted nicely with the moist middle, but I thought the dish was on the verge of being overly salty. The flavors of the roasted fennel and fava bean puree underneath the savory bread pudding lent intrigue to the somewhat plain tomato bread pudding.The chocolate plate comes with slices of fudge-like dark chocolate "salami" studded with crushed cookies; perfectly textured, dark chocolate mousse with an almond and dark chocolate brittle; and a sensuous, dark chocolate-covered fig stuffed with chestnut paste that is so good it should be boxed and sold at the door as diners are leaving. Varied, rich, and not too sweet, this plate is a chocolate lover's dream.Wine poached apricots, passion fruit puree, raspberry puree and Port-soaked cherries all came together in bowl of tart fruity heaven with layered and complex flavors. Fruit for dessert, really, has never tasted as good as at Koo Zee Doo.

Remember those bomb-diggity biscuits at Ugly American when they first opened? Well, Carla Conçalvez, the wife in the husband and wife team that makes up Koo Zee Doo, did those biscuits, and is now doing the breads and desserts at Koo Zee Doo. Carla was also nominated for James Beard's 2010 Outstanding Pastry Chef. David Gilberg, the husband part of the team was nominated for James Beard 2010 Rising Star Chef, and Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Something is going right over at Koo Zee Doo!

So, yes, it is true! The food at Koo Zee Doo is generous and rustic, with simple flavors from quality ingredients coming together beautifully and harmoniously. Even the desserts are phenomenal, which might be the bigger restaurant feat.

Koo Zee Doo
614 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA, 19123
215-923-8080
Thurs, Sun, Mon: 5:30-10pm
Fri-Sat: 5:30-10pm
Tues, Wed: closed
BYOB

A Full Plate's 4th Annual Rib Cook-Off

Scenes from last year's event.

Hey, veggie kids, wanna go to an outdoor rib cook-off where you can actually eat something?

Get yourself on over to A Full Plate's 4th Annual Rib Cook-Off this Saturday, September 11, at Liberty Lands Park in Northern Liberties, where professional and amateur teams grill up a vegetarian dish for competition, in addition to ribs and chicken.

A Full Plate Café will provide an all-vegetarian buffet of sides, and Flying Monkey Patisserie will provide sweet eats.

Stick around for the Northern Liberties Music Festival, which immediately follows the cook-off, and is also held in Liberty Lands Park.

I had a blast at last year's cook-off as a veggie judge and can attest to all the good food, but heed my warning: cook-offs are not events to show up to fashionably late! Hundreds of savagely hungry people line up waiting for the doors to open, and when the food is gone, it's gone.

A Full Plate's 4th Annual Rib Cook-Off
Liberty Lands Park - 3rd and Wildey streets
Saturday, September 11
Doors open at noon
$20 all-you-can-eat

Swift Half Snacks

We recently stopped by Good Dog Bar's newer and more northerly sister, Swift Half Pub, located at Northern Liberties' Piazza at Schmidts to grab drinks and ended up noshing on some $3 bar snacks, as well.

I cannot compare Swift Half to Good Dog because I've only had drinks at Good Dog (can't eat Good Dog's famed blue cheese-stuffed beef burger, anyway), but I'm wishing I had done the same at Swift Half and stuck with the drinks.Of course, I ordered the deviled eggs. A plate of four arrived with a scary pool of water around the deviled yolks, which leads to questions of how the eggs were stored and/or prepared. I should have sent the dish back instead of letting them languish on the table, but I decided to eat the egg with no water only to find a bland filling.
Next up on the bar snack menu were the Yards Porter pumpernickel bread squares topped with a hefty plop of unnoteworthy spinach dip.
The fried sweet pickle chips were the best out of three bar snacks we ordered. Ultra crispy breading and sweet (not the usual dill) pickles are perfect for soaking up alcohol. The oddly translucent pink, thick, sweet and sour dipping sauce was, well, odd. I'd rather almost any dip — ketchup, mustard, aioli — than the pink glop provided.

Swift Half does have a good beer list and a fun little cocktail menu. Pair the drinks with the outdoor seating on the piazza right next to the oft Philly-sports-playing outdoor jumbo TV, and you've got a recipe for relaxed afternoon success. Or crowded mayhem. Thanks to an overcast day with off-and-on rain drizzle to keep the outdoor crowd at bay, we found success. Success with our drinks and relaxing, that is.

Swift Half Pub
1001 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-923-4600
Open daily 11:30am-2am; food til 1am

El Camino Real

Can't decide if you want Mexican or Texas bbq? Do you like mounds of seitan? El Camino Real in Liberties Walk has you covered!

Endless chips and salsa are not complimentary at El Camino Real. They'll set you back $1 per person, which is a tad lame, but the chips do come dusted with a tasty mix of spices, if you're into that (I am). Smoked pico de gallo and salsa verde will be your chip dips.

Pitchers of margaritas are di rigueur, and our passion fruit margaritas, one of the fruit flavors of the day, did us just right. We did not measure the contents, but my gut feeling (and from experience) is that the pitchers at the popular and neighboring Cantina Dos Segundos are a tad larger, albeit $2 more expensive. El Camino Real lets you spice up your margaritas with cayenne and chili, though. But they don't do frozen margaritas, like Dos Segungo does. Ah, the margarita conundrum!
This crispy fried jalapeno popper (one of four) stuffed with cheese and topped with a sweet and tangy homemade apricot red onion marmalade, might be one of the best jalapeno poppers I've ever had. I have a thing for sweet and tangy onion marmalade, though.
That would be melted cheese in that there popper. (I keep typing "pooper.")
I blame the boy's expert enchilada-making family, but if there is an enchilada in sight, it's on his plate. Cheese, seitan, fried egg, and fried corn dough made soft with red chili sauce. What's not to like? Well, El Camino Real puts a crispy fried tortilla under all that mess adding an unexpected and desirable crunch. It's like a way, way, way better (and different) Taco Bell Double Decker.
This picture is a little deceiving, but there is a ton of locally made Ray's seitan bathed in bbq wing sauce on that plate of veggie wings. And it's not even the double order. At $7.50 for the normal order, I'd consider buying seitan from El Camino Real instead of the grocery store if I lived a bit closer. Tangy, mustardy, with a little heat, the only improvement to the wing sauce for my tastes would be to make it a tad sweeter . . . but not sickly sweet.

El Camino Real: a little bit Mexican, a little bit Texas bbq, and a whole lotta seitan.

El Camino Real
1040 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-925-1110
Lunch: Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm
Dinner: 5pm-1am, bar til 2am
Brunch: Sat & Sun, 10am-4pm

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

PYT

Has everyone been to PYT, the burger bar in the Piazza at Schmitd's, yet? It seems like it. And everyone has an opinion about PYT's West Coast-style burgers, and those opinions seem to swing far to the left and far to the right, due to what I have gathered to be an inconsistent kitchen and waitstaff. One night your burger is awesome, the next night not so much. Service is only OK when it's not busy, and, when it is busy, gets worse.

During a September Philly Burger Club "meating," I had the chance to sample the two veggie burgers on PYT's menu, which might be a little more stable from visit to visit than meat burgers. There are no degree-of-doneness or seasoning-of-meat quibbles when you go veggie!
Everyone can agree that the alcohol-spiked adult shakes are great, with flavors like Jack Rabbit Slim, a vanilla or chocolate milkshake spiked with Makers Mark; and The Jon Valdez, an espresso ice cream milkshake spiked with Kahlua and Patron. Virgins are also available.

I do like getting tipsy, and I do like milkshakes, but one adult milkshake doesn't quite get me to that happy place, and there's no way I could down more than one milkshake and still have room for food. Asking for a double shot of liquor might be the way to go.
Or you could just throw back PYT's signature shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice. It's an ingenious way to get rid of all the pickle juice at the bottom of the pickle containers (a pickle comes with every burger, so they're burning through the pickles). Sounds gross, but it works, although I don't know if I would make this my regular drink; it's more of a "why the hell not" drink.
The onion rings are covered in a thick and sweet beer batter that's crispy and not greasy. These puppies are great, but, with about five rings in a tray, are not enough to share.
Beef, chicken, and veggie burgers are on the menu, and all burgers come with lettuce, tomato, and choice of cheese and condiments. For $1 or $2 each, depending on the item, toppings like mushrooms, sauteed onions, jalapenos, bacon, avocado, or a fried egg can be added to any burger. Kettle chips are strewn across the burger and plate, and a long dill pickle accompanies.

Being the tail end of Summer and tomatoes still in season when I dined, the tomato slices were fresh and tasted like a tomato should. And, be sure to get hooked up with the oniony mayo-based special sauce if you're into special sauces.
The Shroom Burger has two beer battered and fried portabello mushrooms sandwiching shredded Cheddar cheese. The heft from the mushrooms satisfies, and the crunch from the batter pleases. The squishy Martin's Potato Roll gives no fight and lets the portabellos shine. There's a backyard comfort from the potato roll, but the battered and fried portabellos are an extra step not seen at most backyards parties.
The Calibunga Burger is a thick seared white bean, garlic, basil, and breadcrumb patty. Even with crisp edges, the mushiness of the patty was too much — like eating a mound of heavy mashed potatoes. The pungent basil taste was also unpleasant, mostly because I don't expect basil in a burger. I ended up eating the Calibunga burger without the white bean patty.

I do appreciate the veggie love of putting not one, but two kinds of veggie burgers on the menu, but the Calibunga's pasty bean patty needs to be sent back to the drawing board. Maybe some other texture should be thrown in there?

And, wouldn't you know it! My visit swung far to the left and far to the right, but more so in the direction of delicious.

PYT
In the Piazza at Schmidt's
1050 N. Hancock St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-268-7825
Mon-Fri, 5pm-2am
Sat and Sun, noon-2am
Kitchen open until 1am