Brandon and I went to Philadelphia for Valentine's Day/President's Day. It's the only time I've been there other than on the college tour blitz that my family did in 2000 (sometime like 14 colleges in 6 days--you can imagine how much stuck with me!).
We I spent a good deal of our time learning about latte art--we found several coffee shops that put that final flourish on the coffee. The baristas seemed very willing to share their tricks with us; in one place, I even got to go behind the counter and watch the process from start to finish! As a result of these lessons, I spent a good deal of time wired on caffeine!!
Brandon made a delicious meal on Saturday evening. He had researched the neighborhood where we were staying and mapped out a walking route for us to get the ingredients for the night. We got bread from a cute little bakery, special cheese and jam from a gourmet grocery store, and YUMMY gelatto from a great gelateria, which incidentally, was right down the street from a body soap and lotion, etc. shop. Doesn't sound that exciting--but it was pretty awesome--we went there multiple times to wash our hands with the lavendar sugarscrub. And talk to the owner, who was a total character.
The other highlight of the trip was our quest for a philly cheese steak. We learned that Pat's, Jim's, and Gino's competed for number one. The line at Jim's would have taken hours, so we walked on to Pat's (their sign confirmed that we had made the right choice, "Eating anywhere else would be a misteak"). Did you know that the authentic cheese steaks are made with cheese whiz? We got some cheese fries (also with cheese whiz) as well. Yummmm.
We flew in and out of Providence, so on the way back, met two friends of ours at Brown Medical School for dinner at place who supposedly had amazing truffle fries (after fries with cheese whiz, I'm not sure I had discerning taste anymore). The desserts actually stole the show--Brandon got a Tarte Noir, which was like an oreo crust with chocolate mousse, ganache, and whip cream, and I got Tarte Tartin, which was good. We kept surreptiously stealing bites of each other's until realizing that we both wanted to switch! They were both delicious!
Would love to go back to Philadelphia again! Experimented a little with latte art on my new machine--so far, nothing worth photographing and sharing.
3 comments:
If I am not misteaken, it looks like you were Philling the day with a latte Gee Whiz moments. I heartly congratulate you on a ganache darn trip.
Since my MOTHER asked, Brandon made a great risotto with roasted butternut squash and rosemary, complete with caramelized onions, which I love. Dessert was chocolate and hazelnut gelatto.
I wish I were having a ganache darn moment right now!!
La Farm now offers lattes with the tree design.
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