2012: Meals of the Year-Part 1

Le Bec-Fin Dining Room, Closing Night, March 2012

Le Bec Fin Kitchen, Opening Night, June 2012

As we come to the end of another year, we look back at our favorite meals of 2012.  From standby classics to exciting new favorites, we were lucky enough to experience some of the city and country’s top restaurants in the past year.  Be it a hot dog stand or the whitest tablecloth in town, the lowest common denominator of a great night out is always the same.  Here are our favorite meals of 2012:

Favorite Bites 215

If only we were always guaranteed the crispy edges

It’s natural for a fully composed dish to come to mind when recalling to your favorite things to eat. On a smaller level, sometimes it’s that one addictive bite that has you coming back for more.  Like the four corner brownies in a batch or the buttery surface layer of popcorn, the following bites, bits, and morsels are our favorite things to savor in the city.

Come on, Get Happy: M Restaurant

Duck Confit, sous vide Duck Egg 

One of our favorite things in the world is Happy Hour.  Providing both a respite from the hectic weekday grind and a springboard for fun-filled week-dates, a good Happy Hour could make your week.  We recently were lucky enough to experience one of the Happy Hour gems our great city has to offer. 

Cheu Noodle Bar: Beyond the Broth

    We were lucky enough to score two seats to the latest Pop-Up installment of Cheu Noodle Bar.  While the noodles were perfectly chewy, the soundtrack eclectically diverse, and the handlebar mustaches waxed just right, the overall impression of Cheu Noodle Bar deserves attention beyond the broth as one of the most significant restaurant “openings” this year.

On to the next one…

Art Etchells? (Photo: Meme)

There is something about an old favorite. Just like a song, t-shirt, movie, or book; familiarity and comfort can contribute to a dining experience as much as surprise and discovery. We have our favorite restaurants around town that we go to for everything ( Looking at you, Meme) and it’s sometimes hard to break from tradition, so in the ever popular food blogging tradition of making arbitrary lists, here is the list of places we are determined to check out next. Sizzling Mussel withdrawal be damned.

Scoop du Jour featuring Michael Laiskonis

 The Man

Last week, we were watching SA favorite Michael Symon take on Duff Goldman on Iron Chef America when we were a little surprised by Symon’s dessert course.  The battle was “chocolate and chiles”, and Symon’s second dessert was a Chocolate Sherbet with Chocolate Sea Salt Crumble, Tempered Chocolate, and Chocolate Chile Sabayon.  This particular dish rose our eyebrows because of Symon’s plating decisions. Most often, and especially in a very public and artsy venue like ICA, chef’s will opt for the classic football/egg shaped quenelle for any ice cream presentation. Here, Symon put some crumble down in a bowl, and topped it with a big, nearly sloppy scoop of his dark chocolate sherbet.  Symon won the battle and also took the plating category by 3 points. Not the most captivating episode of Iron Chef, but it did get us thinking about Ice Cream and how we expect it to show up when we order dessert.

We reached out to some of our favorite pastry chefs on Twitter to get their opinions. To our surprise, not only did they answer, they expanded on the topic. Pastry demi-god Michael Laiskonis (!)  even joined in the conversation and we got some great insight from some of the greatest minds in pastry on this simple, yet oddly complex, conversation.

You Oughta Know: Hugue Dufour

Hugue Dufour and Sara Obraitis (Photo: Chris Abraham)

You Oughta Know is a regular feature here on SA where we introduce you to different personalities from the world of food.  Chefs, writers, farmers, ice cream men.  These are people you otherwise may not be aware of who are doing awesome things with all things edible.  We think you oughta know: Hugue Dufour

Best of “Best Bottle I Opened Tonight”

Our nightly bedtime routine isn’t all that different than most: Brush, wash, moisturize, find out the best bottle of wine served on the Upper West Side.  You know….the usual.

Welcome

We have liftoff!!! The first “official” week here at Starving Artist has begun.  We have some fun things planned for this little blog and hope you enjoy them.  We are very excited to share our experiences and join the amazing community that is the Philadelphia food scene.  So, enjoy the bit of content already here, keep you eyes and RS feeds open for new stuff, and be sure to follow us on Twitter! (@Eat215).  See you soon!

And here, in honor of our first day, Babies Eating Lemons:

Make It Nice: Peanut Soup

Make It Nice is the recipe feature here at Starving Artist.  We like to cook as much as we like restaurants; and love to share our trials in the kitchen. Our first recipe is a favorite. An easy-go to that requires little planning, but packs in the flavor. Here is Peanut Soup with Cabbage and Chicken.