George's Sandwich Shop- Philly

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Calendars of bikini clad girls is a good sign for food

As much as I am interested in eating cheesesteaks in Philly, there are so many places that demand my attention and one of them is George’s Sandwich Shop. Located in the vicinity of the tourist trap Pat’s and Geno’s George’s Sandwich Shop is in the Italian Market. It can easily be missed and brushed off but that would be a mistake on your part. There are stools outside and a small counter inside. There are hotel pans filled with questionable meats, sausages and meatballs but breathe in deep and the aromas beckon you to get a sandwich here.

The classic meatball sub is a must here and simply adorns a crusty roll with a good amount of sauce. The meatballs are tender, light and addictive and the roll is crusty and soft. The sandwich is the complete opposite of dry, flooded is a better word to describe these sandwiches in which napkins are a requirement.

For those that enjoy offal, they have what I first had and then got another to go was their tripe sandwich. The tripe is stewed for god knows how long until it is tender but still posses the unmistakable taste of tripe, giving off that barnyard taste. Get this with onions, long hot peppers for a nice kick. This sandwich does not have much in structural integrity but it makes up in awesome flavor. The sauce/broth that is cooked in is smooth and almost creamy and with the tender tripe, this sandwich goes does easy and quickly.
If you are expecting Crapplebee’s like service, where everyone is chirpy, smiling, rainbows leaking out of their pores and cute animals are making a sandwich (health code violation no doubt) there is a Hard Rock Café in the Historic District you might enjoy. Like most sandwich places/deli/selling things on a roll, they are frank and to the point. By no means are they unprofessional or not providing adequate service but do not expect to them ask about your day or your hopes and dreams. Personally, I like these kinds of places which is probably why I loves places like Shopsins and such.


George's Sandwich Shop
900 S 9th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147

Co Pane: No Knead Pizza!? (Insert Stereotypical Italian Exclaimed Remark)

NOW GOTZ THE TWITTER: http://twitter.com/#!/omnomzhero

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Eating copious amounts of spinach I did not feel a boost of strength but my teeth did feel squeaky, is that good?

Located in Chelsea in an area that has a high concentration of tapas bar is Co Pane, an artisan pizza outpost. Owned by bread whisperer Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street bakery, Co is a must go for any pizza enthusiast or anybody that does not have celiac disease (if you do have celiac disease, my condolences if you are doing it because it is cool, then you can go screw yourself). I came here in the early afternoon on a Saturday and the place had only a few customers, the first thing I noticed, besides the spacious, abundance of wood paneling and Nordic furniture catalog style décor was that the pizza oven was nowhere to be seen. Food after the jump!

The Meatballs and amazing bread

Co not only has pizzas, but they have a few starters ranging from soups, salads, crostinis and meatballs, which I decided to have a go at. The meatballs are made with veal so ethical animal eaters can skip this one, but people wanting to eat tasty food should not. The veal flavors was present and was not lost at all in the perfectly dense meatballs. The tomato sauce was thin, slightly sweet and broth-like paired well with the meatballs and complimented the intense veal flavors of the meatballs to shine. The hunk of bread served with it, after much questioning was his Pugliese loaf, prefect aeration and slight acidity, was nothing short of excellent and I found myself eating all of it and sopping up the tomato sauce with it. I went with the most popular pie, the Popeye which is a meatless pie, comprised of pecorino, gruyere and mozzarella and of course, spinach that may or may not have been acquired by a sailor.

The Popeye

Fresh spinach is generously piled onto the pie, creating a beautifully deep green iron-enriched blanket. The spinach, is just cooked till tender and had bits of slightly charred leaves, giving a smokiness to the spinach. The combination of the pecorino, gruyere and milky mozzarella made this a perfectly composed pie. The incorporation of the pecorino adds just the right amount of saltiness to the pie and accented the spinach topping. The Pie is a mix between a Roma style pies that has some Neapolitan attributes. The pie is thin and has more crisp than the doughy chewiness that is expected of a Neapolitan. The pie still had a bit of chew to it but nothing comparable to the chewiness of a Neapolitan pie yet had the leopard spotted char gave the classic smoky element taste to the pie.

Upskirt

I rarely comment on the service but the service at Co needs to be address and unfortunately as much praise I had for the food, I cannot say the same for the service. Service at Co can be summed up in one word: “Frantic”. The dining room was less than 50% full the whole time I was there and the servers, which there were only 2 with a third sauntering in a little before the end of my meal, were running around, like literally running backing and forth. One of the servers I do not think had command of the English language yet for when I asked him where the butter came from multiple times ( I was testing his knowledge, I really wanted to know because it was damn good), he just kept nodding and mechanically answering, “yes, butter”. When my pie came out, he told me it was the carbonara which it clearly was not. I later witnessed the table next to me, get a carbonara pie and when questioned if the pie was the Popeye (clearly not what the man ordered) the server just said, “Yes, Popeye”. When it came time for the check, I paid in cash, hoping it would be a quick thing, but ended up waiting for a good 15 minutes (I happened to look at my watch) to get my check and bring back change. I could have watched half an episode of Scrubs in that amount of time it took to bring back 10.50. I hope the service was just completely off that day because the food at Co is exceptional and I would like to make a return trip back and not have to deal with shoddy service.

Pizza Oven at Co. Yeah dude, I know I am a dick.

Unlike most pizza places that I have visited that the pizza oven is prominently displayed, the one at Co is tucked away in the kitchen. I found this interesting because pizza making, there is a bit of showmanship involved of having the pizzaolo out front creating edible art in front of your eyes. Here at Co, along with the minimalist-like décor there is a bit of a “no shit” vibe that it does not need to show you that yes, the pies are being freshly made and cooked in an insanely hot oven, just eat our pies and you will know and the food speaks for itself, at least this is the random theory or idea that I have come up with but in the end, who cares? Skip the surrounding tapas joints and grab a pie at Co. 

Co Pane
230 9th Ave 

New York, NY 10001

http://www.co-pane.com/ 

Motorino: Italian for scooter or something but they got pizza!

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Those that have not eaten a Neapolitan pie have been doing a disservice to themselves

I admit, I rave and coo about Neapolitan pies way too much. The obsession is only comparable to a Korean teenager discovering StarCraft (Zerg fo life!). I never really realized that I had a problem or weird obsession with it until I had an afternoon to myself and I was really craving for a nicely charred and chewy Neapolitan pie. So much so that I travelled all the way to the original Motorino location in Brooklyn and proceeded to eat a pie and meatballs on my own. And then, still feeling peckish, I went to Forcella a couple blocks away and ate another pie. The point that I realized I really like Neapolitan pies and is probably one of my favorites foods after pork is that the next day, I kind of wanted a Neapolitan style pie…something light like a Margherita. I am pretty sure that this is the reason that I am single; I mean, no one of the opposite sex should find this an attractive quality, at all. If you do however, call me.

I have sampled the pizza at the Motorino East Village location and given I had a nice afternoon; I decided to make a trek to Brooklyn, to the original location of Motorino. Motorino opening in 2008 is part of the second wave of the revamp of New York Pizza opening after Franny’s and the grails of all, Una Pizza Neapoletana (RIP). Motorino is now a member of the pantheon of pizza greats in New York in which many New Yorkers use as a catalyst of a quality Neapolitan pie. Food After the Jump!

Kin Shop: Omg, the dude from Top Chef opened another place

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Just because you are eating Asian food, does not mean you need chopsticks

“Just give me a pair of chopsticks and I will be ready to go!”

This is what a middle aged Caucasian lady (cough, yuppie, cough) uttered when I was about to leave Kin Shop. I think she even glanced over to our table as if to see if I concurred with her statement and validated that apparently, eating food from the Asiatic region requires the usage of chopsticks in order to enjoy it. It is like eating Mexican food I need a stack of tortillas in order to get the full Mexican experience. That is the end of my miniature rant; I just thought it was amusing.

For Mother’s Day, I decided to go with the family to Kin Shop, the newly opened Thai restaurant by Harold Dieterle, the winner of the first Top Chef and already successful restaurant Perilla. Thai food is often all too synonymous with Pad Thai, sour soup, watery curries both ranging from the flavorless to colon-burning spice and the enemy cuisine of anyone with a serious peanut allergy. Since I do not have a peanut allergy and I enjoy a good amount of spice, Kin Shop seemed perfect. Also they had reservations open for lunch the past weekend. 

Thai Ice Tea

The food is meant to be served family style, which is great for me because it just opens the doors to let me try everything. Also I do not know if this is a constant, but there is also a pre fixe lunch menu option in which you get a choice of an appetizer, main and dessert for 20 bucks. It is a great deal, the portions are not skimped and something to keep in mind for the future. I thankfully have been blessed with a food-loving family so we ended up get 4 appetizers and 4 entrees and got a good feel for the menu. One the table was two condiments, one was a vinegar chili sauce and the other was a chili powder mix. The vinegar chili sauce was not spicy to me at least and offered a nice zing and the chili powder was a potent mix that should be used sparingly those sensitive to heat. Or liberally for those like me that love abuse chilies. 

Condiments, Chili Vinegar and Chili spice mix

The start we went straight Chinese style and started off with soups. First up was the Steamed Pork Meatball Soup with crispy garlic, bok choy shoots and black soy sauce. Dieterle, knows his balls, sorry I had to go there. However, Dieterle at Perilla already is known for the duck meatballs there, the pork meatballs had a lot to live up too. The pork meatballs did not disappoint, the meatballs were soft, tender and had a bit of spiciness to them which was balanced out by a savory broth. The broth was soothing, and would be perfect on a cold winter day, or in my case a nice warm afternoon. Food After the Jump!

Steamed Pork Meatball Soup

The other soup that we got was Garam Masala and Tomato Soup. In it was tofu, mung beans and holy basil. I am not too familiar with holy basil and do not know how it differs in taste from Italain sweet or Thai basil but the soup again was quite successful. The soup was simply a tomato soup that was brought a whole other level. I am not like tomato soup that much because versions I have had of it are usually, too sweet or acidic and taste like watered down ketchup. However, this soup restores my faith in tomato soup and straight up “clowns” Campbells tomato soup. The garam masala plays a pivotal role in this soup, giving it an earthy, floral essence that compliments the tomato flavor that is wonderfully balanced. The tofu offers a bit of a textural contrast as well as the addition of the mung beans. Give me a grilled cheese sandwich and that would have been lunch for me. 

Garam Masala Tomato Soup

 I knew that the Fried Pork and Crispy Oyster Salad was a must order. The first two words of the name are automatic food trigger words for me. I could have eaten a Vegas buffet, belt loosed, swollen gut and I see the words “Fried Pork” I am thinking, “Yeah, I got room for a bite…or more”. The addition of the crispy oysters I was sold. The salad came out just as expected, the fried pork, with the kicker that it was pork belly as well was tender and the oysters were fried perfectly and were still, “wet” inside. The fried goodness was blanketed by celery, peanuts, red onions dressed in a chili-lime vinaigrette which added a nice balance in flavor but I could have done without it, but I guess the greens were needed to classify this as a salad. 

Fried Pork and Crispy Oyster Salad- yeah its under there...somewhere

Finally for appetizers we got the Spicy Duck Laab Salad, which had toasted rice, ground chili, chopped strings beans served in romaine heart cups. They put an emphasis that this is a spicy dish with asterisk and warning from our server and he was right. This dish is what I call Thai spicy, the kind where if you eat a lot of it, everything starts to look like a Pink Floyd video. So for a chili head like me, this was perfect. Once you get past the spiciness of the dish, the dish is very tasty and the spice combination and ground duck works nicely. A fyi, if the dish is spicy, do not drink water to cool it down, it only makes it worse, try a Thai ice tea, it is refreshing and they make a pretty good one here. The appetizers all hit their marks and a good sign of things to come. 

Duck Laab Salad- muy caliente

I did not realize this when ordering but I realized that of the four dishes ordered, three of them were noodles making it a carb heavy meal. I guess that was why I had such an awesome run time the next morning when I ran. First up was the Stir Fried Wide Wonton Noodles. It was fried with a chicken sausage, Thai broccoli rabe and in an oyster sauce. This was my least favorite dish of everything we sampled. Although the noodles were cooked well and the sausage and rabe was tasty, it did not have interplay of spices or stimulated the palate and was a monotonous. It was just okay and felt like getting the vanilla ice cream at a Baskin Robbins. 

Stir Fried Wide Wonton Noodles

However the Stir fried Rice Flakes with Rock shrimp, Cauliflower was delicious. Upon looking on the menu again it also had sawtooth herb and fried garlic, I love garlic but I have no clue what a sawtooth herb is. It just sounds utterly badass and given that I liked this dish, tasty. Rice flakes are just another type of noodle which is similar to the wide wonton noodles but softer and not as wide. The rock shrimp flavored the whole dish and impregnated the briny, seafood flavors into everything. The cauliflower was still crispy; offering a textural contrast to the dish and the fried garlic was not overpowering and was subtle in the dish working out perfectly. 

Stir fried Rice Flakes with Rock Shrimp, Cauliflower

The Egg Noodle and Maitake Mushroom Broth with duck egg, green onions and spinach was a beautifully subtle dish. The egg noodles were cooked nicely, although did not have the Asian “Q”/chewiness to it and was closer to al dente. The broth was not heavily spiced, but it was a concentrate of maitake mushroom flavor. Although the only real protein component of this dish was the poached duck egg, the broth itself provided an intense, mushroom meatiness to the whole dish. The dish was not heavily spiced but showed restraint which added its own complexity and showing less is more. 

Egg Noodle and Maitake Mushroom Broth

Massaman Braised Goat

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the Massaman Braised Goat. The dish had fried shallots, purple yams, mustard greens and toasted coconut. This dish had a lot of flavors and components going on but it eventually all came together. The purple yams by the way I suspect are just taro, but I guess purple yam sounds less scary and threatening than taro. Everything came together is a slurry and the coconut provides an underlying sweetness that integrates nicely with the goat. The goat was tender, succulent and although I am a barbarian and like gaminess, the goat did not have that at all. We got an order of roti which came out fresh and finger burning hot. The roti was flaky, supple and lightly sweetened, could have been eaten on its own but worked well as a sponge for soaking up all that gravy from the braised goat. Originally it was suppose to be an order of roti and jasmine rice, but the rice apparently did not turn out right so they comped us a extra roti which worked out fine.

Roti- Pancake sauce sponge

Finally ending the meal was a scoop of mango sorbet and a scoop of Thai-Coffee chocolate ice cream, not mixed together. The mango was clean and crisp and had chunks of mangos in it which is always a plus. The Thai-Coffee chocolate was borderline chalky tasting and the coffee flavors were very subtle. Overall, Kin Shop dished out some great dishes and they were of adequate size and were not “elf food” in anyway. Many question the authenticity of the food well mainly because Harold is white and not Thai/Asian. I am not going to beat around the bush and pretend that is not what everyone is thinking. However the thing is he is not claiming that it is authentic Thai and the argument of authenticity food is something that can be debated until Two and a Half Men is back on the air (or check the chowhound board for the thread of authentic food). The point is that the food at Kin Shop is without a question Thai. He pays great respect to Thai and Southeast Asian cuisine and produces great food and whether or not this is the food that you will be eating in a dank street in Bangkok is up to you but at Kin Shop, the flavors of Thailand are there and they are good. 

Mango Sorbet and Thai-Coffee Chocolate Ice Cream

Kin Shop

469 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10011