I’m sure it’s not the best stuff on Earth for my diet, but I really enjoy Snapple, particularly the Peach Tea. Aside from it’s general deliciousness, I also enjoy the “Real Facts” included on the caps. I don’t know why I’ve been getting so many about cats lately (three in a row!), but the trend was broken today when I learned a group of jellyfish is called a smack. I don’t know if all of these “Real Facts” are actually “True Facts,” but thankfully I was able to share this jellyfish information with a colleague who had a disappointing fact about the numbers of times a rechargeable battery can be recharged.

Choosing a place for lunch in West Philadelphia is always interesting. There are a lot of options ranging from gourmet burger joints to questionable food trucks, but I tend to stick with my usual places (much like where I park). It’s Friday, I decided to venture out and it was impossible to avoid seeing this image of Jeremy Piven selling Mexican food.

The truck is called “Coup de Taco” and my Thai chicken rice bowl was very tasty. Look for this truck on 40th Street between Walnut and Spruce or weeknights at 11:30PM on myphl17.

Took the summer off mostly. Sorry about that, MLD. I return to tell you of a culinary adventure embarked upon by yours truly and Mrs Lydonwrites, namely our anniversary dinner at the Victor Cafe in South Philly.

The Victor Cafe is situated at 1301 Dickinson St and is a converted row house (like many fine eateries) in this fair city. The food is Italian cuisine, mostly southern Italian, featuring some usual suspects in chicken, veal and fish dishes, with specials made daily by the chef. You don’t see what you like, chances are you can order up something special from the kitchen. Mrs Lydonwrites had a tortelloni in a cream sauce with asparagus and prosciutto, while I had the Linguine Calamari Faust, which was a fancy way of saying linguine fra diavolo. Why do it that way? Well…

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Mrs. LydonWrites’ birthday was today, and she chose one of our favorite spots, Beau Monde, for dinner. Their website does an admirable job of telling you about their Breton-style crepes, but for the quick and dirty initiation, there are savory crepes (made of buckwheat) and sweet crepes (made of regular wheat flour), and filled with excellent ingredients that have never failed to make our mouths water. Likewise are the sweet crepes, filled with fruit, creme Anglaise, ice cream, and other delectable spreads like Nutella. Yeah… I just called Nutella a delectable spread. Deal with it.

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500 Degrees Storefront in Philadelphia

After the clearly misguided Five Guys review (sorry LydonWrites, the public has spoken), I thought I’d offer my thoughts on one of Philly’s newer Burger Joints: the Rogue-affiliated 500 Degrees.  Since Rob Wasserman opened the restaurant in March, the food has been very hit or miss. However, as time has progressed, 500 degrees seems to have found it’s footing and is becoming a worthwhile place to in stop in for a bite.

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