Philly, here we come!
On this 4th of July, America’s Independence Day, it feels appropriate to share my recap of the Philadelphia Kosher BBQ “Hava Nagrilla” festival from just nearly 2 weeks ago, where your fav team, “5 Dudes & A Vegetarian” competed! So here you go, ‘Murica – Happy Birthday!
But really, what isn’t more American than BBQ? 🙂
Let’s take this back to Friday, June 21st. Peikes, Ellie and I boarded a very early flight from Midway. Got the rental car, ran a few errands (thank you Dollar Tree for selling KOSHER hot dog buns), picked up Debbie, and headed to the neighborhood of Bala Cynwyd, where we stayed for Shabbat.
Welcome to Philadelphia. The city of brotherly love, cheesesteaks (if they’re kosher, even better), the Fresh Prince, and Rocky Balboa.
The Italian Stallion
Our lovely hosts (thank you Charlotte & Mordy) had everything prepped for our stay, so we had a few hours to kill. What’s one of my bucket list places to visit in Philly? Sadly, no, we didn’t have time to go see the Liberty Bell, or Congressional Hall, or any Art Museums (next trip though…). No, this time, it was the Rocky Statue (cue the theme music), albeit the line to take photos in front was crazy-long.
But then it was time for the “Rocky steps” right beside the statue. Peikes and Ellie raced, while I decided to run up behind them, all while capturing this on video. But, didn’t quote go as planned. When you’re “vertically challenged” and you decide to try and run those steps 2 at a time, it’s not the best idea. It started out great, all hyped up, but I just ended up tripping over myself (sigh…). Oh well, it was funny (if you want to see that video, check us out at @meatyourvegetables on Instagram and click the Philly BBQ highlights)!
Fast forward to a lovely Shabbat, PERFECT weather and before we knew it, time to head over to the venue to start our smokers!
Teams, start your smokers!
The event was held in the parking lot of Temple Beth Hillel – Beth El. The space was great (and it’s always good to have the synagogue available all night. I mean, who really wants to use porta-potties). There were 20 teams at the festival – one of the largest! Some are good friends of ours who we have competed with a lot over the last few years. It’s always good competition when you’re competing against the best of the best, right?
And now for the fun part. Fast forward a few hours. The brisket and ribs are trimmed. The chicken thighs prepped. Turkey wings? Well that threw us for a loop at the get-go, but we ended up using the drumette, so either way, we got those prepared too! Proteins are rubbed, and the meat injected.
Time for a quick commercial break…
In the meantime, a few mishaps along the way. A team just a few yards away from us had some stuff stolen (iPads, wallets) – the jury is still out on if they got anything back. Debbie unfortunately had a quick bout of sickness (sorry, Debs), so I stepped in to help finish the chicken prep. I must say, it’s not the sexiest job for a vegetarian. I mean, cutting through bone, cleaning the skin, it’s pretty gross, BUT our chicken thighs turn out so darn cute when they’re all rolled up and ready go to bathe in margarine (I know, I know), chicken stock and BBQ seasoning.
The last thing on the list to complete? Chili. There were 25 people chosen to sample each team’s chili. Most of the teams were not thrilled with this, since it wasn’t part of the KCBS judging, we didn’t put in as much time and love as the 4 proteins that were being judged and truthfully, it wasn’t our shining moment. Our chili was a tomato-based chili with salsa, leftover burnt ends, and garlic sausages that came all the way from Romanian Kosher Sausage in Chicago. Nonetheless, we didn’t win that category. Oh well.
Time to announce the winners!
After all was said and done, we were VERY happy with how we placed – especially in the company of 20 teams! Our team, 5 Dudes & A Vegetarian placed 3rd in Turkey, 3rd in Chicken, and 7th place overall (and a $100 cash prize)! We didn’t do as well in the Ribs and Brisket categories, but we have some ideas how to improve for the next BBQ competition (which is uh, next weekend)!
Needless to say, we are definitely proud of our performance at the first BBQ competition of 2019. 1 down, 2 more to go! See you in Cincinnati July 14th, and Dallas, October 27th!
And no… we cannot promise we’ll have any leftovers to bring home. 🙂
Straight from the airport we grabbed lunch at 
opinion, large menus are a sign of an unfocused restaurant and the details end up getting lost in the shuffle. The food was decent but a bit forgettable, the service was efficient but waiter seemed like he needed to switch to decaf. We sat inside and to be honest we would have been better outside despite a little bit of heat as the decor was a bit boring and the walls were dingy. Also, we received more than one item on chipped plates, which is a pet peeve of mine.
For dinner the first night, we headed to Harbour Bistro the sister restaurant to Harbour Grill, in Surfside. The best way I can describe this place is a super high end deli. Don’t think chicken soup and mile high sandwiches, rather think hand crafted sausages and artisan cured meats. The restaurant is a little on the small side and feels a bit cramped, and did have a small issue with a leaky refrigerator, but once I pointed it out the waitress it was quickly cleaned up. Generally the service was excellent and the food was excellent.
were excellent. You could tell it was homemade and not your average mass produced hot dog. Honestly it ate like a small meal itself.
I followed that up with the Charcuterie Platter ($34) which a spectacular display of cured meat products. I could not even begin to remember all the varieties presented, but know that it changes daily based on availability. The assortment ranged from super rich to downright funky, but I enjoyed it. I would recommend splitting this dish with at least one other person as it is a lot of food and can be a little overwhelming.
eye dry aged for 6 weeks and pan seared. It is served with sauteed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. She seemed to enjoy it and the bite I had was tasty.
sert we shared what they called an Opera ($15). It seamed to be some sort of hybrid of a napoleon and tiramisu. It was fairly enjoyable and well presented.
For brunch the second day we went to Grand Cafe in Hollywood. Of the three restaurants we caught lunch at, all Israeli style dairy cafes, this was the best. This time we sat 
outside and enjoyed the 80 degree weather, although the ambiance suffers slightly due to the fact it is a strip mall and occasionally you catch a whiff of cigarettes from the smoking section. Even though they were fairly busy for a late morning in the middle of the week, the service 
was very attentive, although we were cared for by multiple servers which was a bit confusing. We started with a warmed chocolate croissant ($4) and a potato boreka ($2) which were generally good. My wife had a the croissant special ($10.45), which is a croissant omelet sandwich with cheese and tomato. She thought is was excellent even though she does not usually like tomatoes. I had the Belgium waffles ($12) and a cafe mocha ($4.45), both were good but nothing to write home about. Overall a good meal.
First thing I want to say is while they Backyard BBQ is open late like many restaurants in South Florida, get there early because the good stuff sells out fast. We got there around 8 PM and all forms of beef ribs were done for the day. The menu was printed on a simple piece of paper in a plastic sheet protector, which I will chalk up to the fact that they recently reopened with a new menu. They have a couple of televisions which I find distracting, but according to Mendel the restaurant gets a sizable crowd for football games. The service was excellent, the waiter was very attentive. The best way I could describe the decor was elegantly rustic, which I enjoyed.
hich was somewhat 
unimpressive. Similar to when we we went to Mozart Cafe we started with cauliflower tempura ($9), described as battered deep-fried cauliflower served with chili sauce. The dish was very similar to Mozart’s. Yumberry’s cauliflower also seemed to be breaded and not battered and the sweet chili sauced seemed like the same bottled sauce as Mozart.
Later that day we grabbed a quick early early dinner at Foozo. The food did take a bit of time but was generally pretty good. The pizza topping options were creative and the sauce and crust overall pretty good, although it could have been just a tad thicker as it got a bit soggy. The fries were a bit of let down though, as they seemed to be a mass produced frozen product.
We stopped at Serendipity in Wynwood for some ice cream before leaving but they were closed to do a pop-up event offsite. So we walked up the street and grabbed some pastries from the popular Zak the Baker. One of these days I will get to his new restaurant, as we had been to their old location a few years ago, and their stuff is the real deal, laden with rich butter and flaky puff pastry.
Last Sunday Rachel, Elliott (Rachel’s husband), and I went to the 
Finally we ran in to a few food celebrities including 
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