Several months ago, I embarked on a journey into sound.  In an attempt to clear the clutter from my life I came across a treasure trove of old Philadelphia punk rock cassettes. So I armed myself with the technology I needed to bring these things back to life, namely an old cassette deck, an RCA to 1/8″ adapter and Apple’s GarageBand software.  I have to say, while time consuming, this process has been incredibly fulfilling.  I can once again enjoy the sounds of Space Christ, Chinny Chin Chin, Old Feziwig, and even a few rare gems from Ubisunt.  Yes, the quality is terrible when compared to other items in my iTunes library, but the tape hiss and imperfections are part of the music at this point and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m also converting some old VHS tapes to digital video just to complete the cycle.  Look out Saturday Night’s Main Event 11/28/87, you’re next!

After a fabulous day out and about, we ended up on South Street near the Magic Gardens. Walked around a bit and at 5pm, since we hadn’t eaten anything since morning, decided to grab some dinner. We had spent the earlier part of the day celebrating, so a nice dinner rather than Jim’s Steaks seemed appropriate. Right across the street was Supper. We had heard good things in the past, and checked the menu posted outside. There was a rabbit dish listed, so I was sold.

They just opened at 5pm, and we were welcomed to have the restaurant to ourselves at 4:58pm. Perfect. Upon receiving out menus, I noticed the lack of a rabbit dish. So sad. But I do love restaurants that change their menus often. And I will definitely love Supper as long as the pretzels don’t go away.

carrot orange soup

So let’s start from the beginning. Housemade Soft Pretzels with green chile-and-beer fondue to start. They were incredible pretzel bites, sea salt, and the fondue was amaaaaaaaazing. It would have been great to have 6 pretzel bites instead of 4. That would have been the perfect pretzel/cheese ratio. But, as soon as I was considering using my finger to finish the fondue, fresh from the oven bread arrived. Not just white bread. This bread had entire cloves of roasted garlic floating about in it. So delightful. Tiny cloves, so they weren’t too overwhelming. Next, Pete had the Carrot and Orange Soup with coconut marshmallow and mint. Presentation was everything. A large bowl arrived with two tangerine slices and some mint on the bottom, and on the side, a coconut marshmallow spread across and toasted. The carrot soup was then poured around the tangerine slices. Oh! It was so good! And with that coconut marshmallow…..mmmmmm.

brisket

Ok! Time for dinner! I was concerned about the mushrooms in the Red Wine Braised Brisket with mushrooms, onions and kasha. After a quick check with the chef, the waiter was happy to tell me they could do green beans instead of mushrooms. What?! I LOVE green beans! YAY! Pete ordered the Supper Burger w/ bacon, gruyere, sweet onions, tomato and duck fat fingerlings. He initially questioned me on the duck fat fingerlings, but after a quick explanation had no issues. Some more fresh baked bread arrived. This time a honey wheat as well. Delightful. And then the moment we had been waiting for. Supper! The food arrived and was just amazing looking. Mine was off the Plates menu, which was described as slightly larger than an appetizer. Pete’s was a Large Plate, which should have been a classic entree size. This was about right since I cleared my plate, and Pete was full before he finished. I definitely think most restaurants give too much food, so I thought their menu was set up perfectly.

supper burger

After one bite of his burger, I was told I had to try it as it would fall apart the further he got. I was barely able to get one bite without it collapsing, but it was worth the messy hands. We concluded it was a burger that needed a fork and a knife. I do not like cheeseburgers, but this was soooooo good. Worth taking a bite of a cheeseburger for sure. The brisket was a thicker slice than I have ever seen, and only one small strip of fat. Possibly the most meat ever served to me when I ordered brisket. Red wine glaze, pearl onions, kasha, craisins, and capers….I had a hard time not wanting a little bit of everything in each bite. Ahhh…. It was all delicious.

banana bread pudding with nutella

Relax a little, enjoy the company, then it is time for dessert. We were given our options, and rather than our typical discussion of what to share, I ordered one for each of us immediately. A flourless chocolate cake with cocoa crumble & housemade dulce de leche ice cream for me, and for Pete, the Banana Bread Pudding with nutella and housemade vanilla ice cream. The flourless chocolate cake can really only be described as chocolate butter. It melted in my mouth. For the bread pudding, the nutella provided the perfect amount of chocolate to an awesome dessert.

flourless chocolate cake

Really, I can’t find anything wrong with our visit. I enjoyed every bite that I took, and cannot wait to go back. It doesn’t hurt that, while I was concerned with the $10-$11 price tag of glasses of wine, my glass was larger and fuller than possibly 2-3 glasses at an average restaurant. And it lasted me until moments before dessert was served. Which is exactly when I like to finish my glass of wine with dinner!

Maybe one month we will try out the Sunday Supper. But for now I am content knowing that it is restaurants like this that scare me away from the idea of living “too far” from the city, and that we will without a doubt go back.

Anyone growing up in the Delaware Valley during the last 25 years or so, and who watched Channel 6 ABC, is feeling the same distraction I am right now: the sadness at the passing of veteran sportscaster Gary Papa.

I could say more here, but I’ve already said it in my regular blog. Read it, please. Mr. Papa would have wanted it that way.

Sunday: Sunscreen. Just how exactly does this stuff work? Apparently by absorbing high energy UV photons and releasing the energy difference as heat or visible fluorescence. All that really matters is that it kept me safe through nine innings of baseball.

Monday: Pets. Do pets get homesick? I’m not sure, but I know they get car sick.

Tuesday: Mets fans. This may actually be a comment on the lack of Baltimore Orioles fans. Despite $8 tickets, a beautiful stadium and a killer block party, more Mets fans were in attendance that local supporters.

Wednesday: New iPhone software. This was almost disappointingly simple. Glad to see Apple worked out the kinks and staggered the release of the software and the new iPhone after the disaster of the last upgrade.

Thursday: SEPTA. When it’s raining and there’s an afternoon baseball game and it’s rush hour, it would be reasonable to have enough cars on the tracks to handle it.

Friday: USPS. So is the US Post Office really that bad? I’m considering spending $12 extra dollars on an order of comic books next week to not have the USPS ship my books.

I realize this post is decidedly negative, and involves a lot of baseball.  To compensate: Go Phils!

Kevin and I got into a heated discussion about the nature of MLB All-Star voting last week after learning that Phillies left fielder Raul Ibanez was currently 6th in voting among National League  outfielders.  We agree that this is a travesty as Ibanez has incredible numbers in several statistical categories, but the nature of the voting system just seems to lend itself entirely to this kind of injustice.

Ibanez’s ranking may have to do with his transition from the American to National Leagues, but this hardly seems to hurt big name players who seem to get a free trip to the All-Star game every year, even when they aren’t actively playing (I’m looking squarely at you Manny Ramirez).

It generally seems like current season numbers are largely ignored. Part of this is due to the fact that voters at the ballpark have no practical access to stats while voting. It’s interesting to note that neither Jimmy Rollins or Ryan Howard went in their MVP years as starters.  Also, the Phillies were on the road until this past weekend, so it should be interesting to see if any of the rankings change once the team returns home and local fans can vote at the park.

Voting ends Thursday July 2nd, 2009.