The Closure of a Neighborhood Corner Bar

Tangier today

It’s been a little more than a week since Tangier, a Graduate Hospital neighborhood bar, closed after 32 years in operation.  Owner Jack Roe decided to finally sell the building and bar after receiving an offer he could not turn down.  

Though I lived but four doors down from the bar, I was by no means a regular at Tangier.  Friday happy hour or Saturday nights would usually take me to other neighborhood establishments.  Many of my visits consisted of just picking up take out food or filling up growlers.  Still, it was always a nice comfort having it there.  It wasn’t just any neighborhood bar; it was MY corner bar.  The bartender and chef knew me by name and were always friendly.

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FEASTIVAL Is the Best Annual Food Event in Philly

Four Chefs

While there are many great food events and outings in town each year, the annual Audi FEASTIVAL unquestionably stands out as one of the top highlights.  Since 2010, Philadelphia’s top chefs have been coming together to produce a culinary feast to benefit the FringeArts, which presents cutting-edge, high-quality artists creating art “without any curatorial barriers.”

This year’s FEASTIVAL is scheduled for Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 7 p.m. at Penn’s Landing, 1 North Delaware Avenue on the waterfront.  Over 75 restaurants and bars are participating.  About 1,000 people are expected to attend, and they will be treated to both the food and the artistic performances under the tents.

This past Monday, at COOK, FEASTIVAL held an early preview of the offerings from some of Philly’s best chefs: Peter Woolsey of Bistrot La Minette, Chris Paulikas of CoZara, Jason Cichonski of Ela and The Gaslight, and Nicholas Elmi of Laurel. Continue reading →

A Night at Laurel, the Hottest Restaurant in Philly

LaurelSo what exactly is a dinner like at Laurel the hottest and toughest table in town.  Is it really worth the ten week (as of April 24, a midweek July 9th, 9:00 p.m. reservation was the earliest I could locate) waiting period?  To find out, I fortunately made a reservation when the waiting period was only seven weeks (for a midweek 8:15 p.m. dinner) and had dinner this past Tuesday night.  It was quite the experience.

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