PHILLY
EVENTS
For Foodies Only
The latest in local cookbooks, guides and gadgets
Morton’s Steak Bible: Recipes & Lore from the Legendary Steakhouse ($30; Clarkson Potter)
At $30, Morton’s the cookbook is a bargain compared to the price of the meats at Morton’s, the steakhouse. But the cookbook is unlikely to make you the restaurant’s match. Even the author, Morton’s co-founder Klaus Fritsch, concedes you don’t need a recipe for great steak; you need a great butcher. (From porterhouse to filet mignon, the Morton’s recipe is vegetable oil and salt.) Morton’s lovers who turn to the name-brand-dropping Steak Bible will also find straightforward sauces and sides—and the secret to that Key lime pie. The restaurant uses RealLime juice and Keebler Ready Crust.
Taste of Philly Food Tour, Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Arch streets. 10 a.m. Wednesday and Saturday. Departing from information desk. $8.95-$14.95.
Led by food writer Carolyn Wyman, this takes-about-an-hour tour careens through almost 200 years of Philly food history, pausing on all the classics—sticky buns, hoagies, pretzels, Peanut Chews, cheesesteaks and the terminal itself. But there’s something missing from this quick-walking, prop-heavy (Wyman’s canvas bag is home to everything from a tricornered hat to a Reading Railroad Monopoly card to Wilbur Buds) exploration. There’s no sense of the present-day market, a vibrant, ever-evolving hodgepodge of cultures, flavors and food philosophies that attracts not just tourists, but also the city’s top chefs.
Winelovers.net
This thorough website (also accessible at BYOPhilly.com) is a why-didn’t-I-think-of-this tool for Philly oenophiles. Be glad someone else thought of it: An exhausting amount of work went into computing the objective “wine-friendly” ratings for 650 Philadelphia-area restaurants (based on BYOB policy, corkage fee, wine list quality, and web availability of the wine list). The result is a Zagat-style guide—from BYOBs to 1,000-bottle cellars—for those who place as much emphasis on a restaurant’s approach to wine as on its food.
At $30, Morton’s the cookbook is a bargain compared to the price of the meats at Morton’s, the steakhouse. But the cookbook is unlikely to make you the restaurant’s match. Even the author, Morton’s co-founder Klaus Fritsch, concedes you don’t need a recipe for great steak; you need a great butcher. (From porterhouse to filet mignon, the Morton’s recipe is vegetable oil and salt.) Morton’s lovers who turn to the name-brand-dropping Steak Bible will also find straightforward sauces and sides—and the secret to that Key lime pie. The restaurant uses RealLime juice and Keebler Ready Crust.
Taste of Philly Food Tour, Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Arch streets. 10 a.m. Wednesday and Saturday. Departing from information desk. $8.95-$14.95.
Led by food writer Carolyn Wyman, this takes-about-an-hour tour careens through almost 200 years of Philly food history, pausing on all the classics—sticky buns, hoagies, pretzels, Peanut Chews, cheesesteaks and the terminal itself. But there’s something missing from this quick-walking, prop-heavy (Wyman’s canvas bag is home to everything from a tricornered hat to a Reading Railroad Monopoly card to Wilbur Buds) exploration. There’s no sense of the present-day market, a vibrant, ever-evolving hodgepodge of cultures, flavors and food philosophies that attracts not just tourists, but also the city’s top chefs.
Winelovers.net
This thorough website (also accessible at BYOPhilly.com) is a why-didn’t-I-think-of-this tool for Philly oenophiles. Be glad someone else thought of it: An exhausting amount of work went into computing the objective “wine-friendly” ratings for 650 Philadelphia-area restaurants (based on BYOB policy, corkage fee, wine list quality, and web availability of the wine list). The result is a Zagat-style guide—from BYOBs to 1,000-bottle cellars—for those who place as much emphasis on a restaurant’s approach to wine as on its food.
Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, August 2006
