Weekend in Philadelphia 2011

December 9-11, 2011

We had planned to pay a visit to Philly to visit two of Andrew's friends for a weekend. Andrew, Mike Brocker, and myself headed to Grand Central to take a train to Princeton, NJ to meet Dave who was working out of the area that week and we proceeded to drive the remainder of the way to Philly in Dave's (crappy) rental car. By the time we arrived, it was about midnight and we were greeted by Sarah and Chris who had a lovely apartment just outside of Philly. Although it was late, everyone stayed up to chat and catch up.

On Saturday morning, we headed out for brunch at the White Dog Cafe where we enjoyed a delicious (and heavy) meal. Andrew and I shared a mushroom soup (amazing!), crab cake sandwich, and pulled pork sandwich. We were absolutely stuffed. The decor to the cafe was cute and inspired by all sorts of dogs (you know I love dogs!). Chris said the place had themed private rooms but we only sat in the general area that day. After a big lunch, we headed over to the King of Prussia Mall (largest shopping mall on the East Coast). I had hoped to do some holiday shopping but no luck. We started walking into all the super high end stores just to check them out, clearly we were just hanging out/window shopping :)

For dinner, we headed downtown Philly to enjoy dinner at Amada, by Iron Chef Jose Garces for some outstanding tapas. We were actually all really hungry by the time we were seated and opted for the chef's tasting menu which consisted of 10+ dishes. Amada is now my new favorite tapas restaurant (was previously Alta in NYC).

 Amada Entrance

1st Dish - Cured Meat - I think it's Chorizo?

2nd Dish - Bacon Wrapped Medjool Dates, Almonds & Cabrales. My favorite dish of the evening!

 3rd Dish - Serrano Ham & Fig Salad, Cabrales and Spiced Almonds - Best salad ever!

4th Dish - Grilled Sausage. These were the favorite of many at our table.

5th Dish - Artichoke & Wild Mushroom, Black Truffles & Manchego Flatbread

6th Dish - Crab-Stuffed Peppers

7th Dish - Lamb Meatballs & Shaved Manchego

8th Dish - Grilled Scallops

9th Dish - Royal Trumpet Mushrooms & Sauce Bordelaise

10th Dish - Grilled Lamb Chops

11th Dish - Parmesan Artichokes

12th Dish - Steak (not sure if it's on the menu?) I think it might have been the Wagyu Sirloin, Prune-Bacon Stew & Sheep's Cheese Espuma

Dessert - a gingery caramel toffee custard

 Dessert #2 - Chocolate heaven. 

Great people + Great food = Perfect night

Chris and Mike

The Boys. This is a great picture!

Needless to say, we were all about to explode after all this food but everyone agreed that it was a really great meal and I kindly let Chris know how I "pulled the strings" to land the reservation (by calling the restaurant haha too funny). After dinner, we headed back to the apartment and just chilled. By chilling, I mean a wrestling contest and farting war.

Mike won.... Clearly.

Mike checking to see if anyone noticed his mean fart. I did! Haha

We went to grab breakfast at a small hole in the wall diner and headed back home to NYC. It was such a great weekend - we had an awesome time. Thanks for Sarah and Chris for hosting! <3