Brick & Brew

26 W State Street
Media, PA 19063
(484) 443-8441
Website

Alas, my beloved Plumstead Inn is no more, and with the closing of a legend, there is always a bitter taste in my mouth. That bitterness was exacerbated by the fact that the first couple of times I tried to scout the replacement, there were people spilling into the street waiting in line. Although I had to admit, they did an amazing job with the renovation.

The first thing I had to order were the wings. You think you can come in and beat out the king of Media wings (although the Plummy REALLY started phoning in the food for the last couple of months)? Well let's see. The wings are kind of spendy (around $10 an order) for eight. They come in a brown butter hot sauce. Did I mention they were confit-ed (braised) in duck fat and then deep fried?

The sauce is electric orange, and I loved it. One bite, and I was swooning. The meat was so well rendered that it easily pulled away from the bone, leaving little fat, just unctuous fowl. The skin was crispier than it looks, and the sauce was just divine. Rich, spicy and deep, the brown butter had the staying power on the wings, and the hot sauce brought just the perfect amount of heat.

Chives added some herbaceous zing, while the house-made blue cheese was among my favorites I remember – it had that slightly sweet tinge that comes with quality blue cheeses. Was not expecting this level of when I got to my old haunt. I was a victim of deliciousness. Look at the way the meat pulled away from the bone.

I also had to try the brick oven pizza, so I went with a Picante. Coppa, soppressata, basil, San Marzano Tomato Sauce, Fior Di Latte, and Calabrian chiles on a thin crust flatbread type of pie.

The Fior Di Latte made fantastic pizza cheese. It browned nicely and had a stretchy, creamy bite with more flavor than traditional mozzarella. The coppa and soppressata (two of my favorites of the Italian cured meats) added salt and fat, and the hidden chilies gave occasional bites of spice.

If anything I would say the toppings were a bit sparse, but the dough could not support too many ingredients so it was understandable. I love the way the meat curls at the edges after a trip to the oven. Crispy and greasy, I was a big fan.

And although it continues to pain me that the Plumstead is gone, I can say I am pleasantly surprised by Brick & Brew and it's likely I'll be back to sit outside and enjoy the leisure that surrounds Media, PA.

Hooters

1122 Baltimore Pike
Glen Mills, PA 19342
(610) 459-9494
Website

Thanks to the generosity of Realtor extraordinaire Jeanne Whipple [insert shameless plug for her amazing abilities to find and sell Philadelphia real estate here], I was given the opportunity to eat more wings than I should have ever wanted. Jeanne won an auction that included a 100 wing VIP party at Hooters in DelCo, and for some reason she was not especially interested. Luckily my gluttony knows no bounds, so it was quickly snatched up and an impromptu wing night commenced.

While I waited for the other members of my wing committe to arrive, I sat at the bar and had a very large, very cheap domestic draft poured by the lovely young lady seen here.

When the team arrived, we decided it wasn't enough to have more wings than a group of five (including two young ladies that were not known for their fat kid prowess), so we got some fried appetizers. We are gross. Curly fries were first up, with molten cheese dip, and salty seasoning. These were damn good. Like a well cooked version of Arby's famous fries.

The fried pickle chips were really, really good. Among some of the better versions I have tried. Crinkle cut pickles sliced relatively thin, were breaded and fried crispy. Not much to complain about here.

Next thing you know, the wings started coming out. Now unbeknownst to the eaters, a group member had previously "dated" a server at this very location. This was years in the past, but it led to a couple of insider tips (including the fried pickles recommendation). However this gentleman forgot to mention that the wings could (and should) be ordered "naked" or without breading. We therefore started with 40 breaded wings, which severely reduced our capacity for later consumption. Below are the hot and honey Thai (front and rear respectively).

The breading was not bad, and I am not usually a breaded wing fan (fried chicken is not the same as wings). They were actually kind of crunchy still, but man did that breading fill you up.

The hot were fine, but the honey Thai were definitely the winner of the two. Spicy, sweet, it was vaguely reminiscent of Korean wings.

No blue cheese was needed, but that didn't stop us.

After a couple of pitchers, we worked up the nerve to order five more flavors. Spicy garlic, Daytona (sweet/spicy/smokey), chipotle honey, BBQ, and lemon pepper. Notice, these were ordered naked, and crispy, and they were a VAST improvement. The way wings should be. I can't tell you much more than these wings were pretty damn good. Daytona style was a sleeper. Some of these packed serious heat. Some not so much. I was in a delirious state of chicken skin and salt, so they kind of blended.

To their credit, they were all cooked extremely well - at our request of 'extra crispy' – and packed a necessary crunch.

Overall, I would not be against coming back for a wing night. At all. The beer is pretty cheap, the food was very well done for what it is supposed to be, and the company was perfect. Not a bad night at all. Now the next morning was a different story. Meat sweats all the way.