First, a couple of my pals came to visit me in Philly. Upon their arrival we freshened up and headed to Friday Night Flights, a wine tasting that is held every Friday night at IL Bar in Ristorante Panorama at the Penn's View Hotel. For $25 IL Bar features half a glass of 8 different wines as well as appetizers and cheeses. As an added bonus, the sommelier is on hand to explain each flight. We had a great time and I will definitely be back.
After the tasting we gathered up some of my Philadelphia girlfriends and we headed to dinner at Koo Zee Doo.
After another fantastic meal, we capped the night with some drinks and a tiny bit of dancing at 700 club.
On Saturday after brunch at Farmacia and a day touring around Philly, B and I took the girls to Tinto for dinner. We had a fantastic meal as always (we were having so much fun I didn't even think to pull out my camera to document the food), and we watched an old classic - David Bowie's The Labyrinth.
Thankfully, our goodbyes were short and sweet because two weeks later I was down south for my high school reunion. First stop, lunch from Groucho's.
My favorite sandwich, the all-turkey Apollo, is nothing fancy - just turkey on a fresh-baked roll topped with melted Swiss and dipped in Groucho's 45 sauce (essentially an herb-infused spin on Russian dressing). That said, it just makes my day.
Next stop, the "kick-off" happy hour and dinner at Terra with some girls. For starters we split the artisan cheese plate and the BBQ Lamb Shoulder Stuffed Mac & Cheese Gratin.
The cheese plate was nothing out of the ordinary but the mac and cheese was to die for. Made with bbq lamb, poblano peppers, and fontina and goat cheese and topped with toasted bread crumbs it was rich, creamy, zippy, and delicious.
For dinner a couple of the girls ordered the duck confit pizza and I had the "quack madame."
The duck confit pizza, topped with caramelized onions and port-soaked cherries, was a unique but yummy spin. The "quack madame" - toasted brioche topped with duck confit, caramelized onion, and a fried quail egg served with arugula salad - was a similarly quirky-yet-tasty take on a traditional dish, here the croque madame.
After dinner we capped the night with a couple of drinks at a local bar, Jake's.
Saturday one of my pals KNE and I went to brunch at The Gourmet Shop. In addition to great food, the Gourmet Shop has a pretty extensive wine shop in the back which does tastings every weekend. Since one of our high school buddies works in the wine shop, we stopped in for a tasting after mimosas and salad plates (chicken, pasta and fruit for me, chicken pasta, and green for KNE).
After the tasting we headed home to freshen up before heading to Gervais and Vine for the main event of the reunion weekend. While attendance was a little sparse, we had some good appetizers and a great time catching up with old friends.
Capping off a great weekend with friends, my mom, sister, brother and I went for brunch at Motor Supply Bistro. I had a fantastic buttermilk biscuit topped with creamy housemade sausage gravy and scrambled eggs over grits.
As always, my trip down south flew by too quickly but as always I had a wonderful time.
So, I was checking out Koo Zee Doo because I'm going there for NYE and I google-imaged it and saw you and your friends! I was like, hey now, I know her! Not that you'll remember, but if you had anything on the NYE menu, let me know what you thought. :) I'll admit I was looking at images trying to decide if the red dress I bought will be too much... and I'm still not sure, so words of wisdom on that too would be much appreciated! Excited to see you on the 23rd!
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