Brewster River

(Smuggler's Notch Resort)
4087 Vt Route 108 S.
Jeffersonville, VT 05464
(802) 644-6366
Website

A long weekend in Vermont led to some delicious food and far too many hoppy beers. Brewster River is located by Smuggler's Notch, and is a great bar to grab some food after a day on the slopes. Unfortunately I don't  have any pictures of what is most certainly the best thing on the menu, the teriyaki duck wings. I forgot I was writing about the damn place and failed to gather photo evidence of EITHER order of the drummettes. They were fried perfectly and were so good, I ordered a second round upon completion of the first. I'll also admit that there were a few drinks involved before arriving, so that didn't help my photo taking skills...

They had a "Pittsburgh sandwich" which was based on the famous and over-rated Primanti Brothers "sandwich". As underwhelmed as I am with putting french fries and vinegar slaw on your thick bread and claiming it as your regional identity, I was willing to give it a go, as I had been drinking and it sounded filling.

Brewster executed a great version, but as the Achilles' heel lies in the sandwich itself, it was just kind of okay. The fries were crispy and salty, the pastrami was tender and the slaw was well seasoned. But the sandwich was just a bit dry and flavorless. Too much bread and potato is usually the culprit. Again, I am not criticizing the bar, but rather the city. And the hockey team.

The Godzilla burger was over the top. Pastrami, pulled pork, Beef Brisket, pork roll, smoked bacon, fried egg, hash brown, pepper jack and cheddar. The meat sweats were soon to follow. My biggest complaint, was that the fried egg was fried hard. The whole point is a runny yolk.

I guess the burger was good? You can see the egg yolk, a solid yellow. Otherwise a glutton's dream. And a big fat high five for including pork roll. That is a rarity outside of our area, and a solid breakfast meat underdog.

After gorging on the pub food, we proceeded downstairs where they have an executive-size pool table. It was a lot of fun. Great place to warm up after a cold day on the mountain.

Fortis Craft Spirits at White Dog Cafe

Fortis Craft Spirits 2300 Trumbauersville Rd Quakertown, PA 18951 (215) 268-6071 Website

White Dog Cafe 3420 Sansom Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 386-9224 Website

I was recently invited to try out a new local "craft" distillery that had a unique niche – they are shooting to be the well-liquor of choice in Philly. Never one to turn down free drinks (just ask about anyone), I figured it was worth a try. To double down, I asked the rep to meet me at the White Dog Cafe in University City, as I have been meaning to try the food Chef Josh Varquez is putting out (I had heard rumors of house cured jowl pastrami). I was surprised with how nice the building was, and the food was no slouch either.

Rum, Gin, and Vodka, are the standards at Fortis, and I had to sample them all. The have some flavored varieties as well, but I'm more of a cut and dry guy with my hard alcohols. Check out the basement dining area at White Dog in the background. Amazing.

They use Fortis in a variety of mixed drinks, such as the Snoopaloop for fall.

The rail is populated with a variety of Fortis products. Fortis is headquartered in Quakertown and is slowly spreading their product throughout the eastern, central and western parts of PA. Founded by a couple of Carnegie Melon grads, they have a good business plan and they know what they're doing.

You can see their interactive map here, and they expect to have 1L bottles in most PA wine & spirits shops before the end of the year. I mean, it's affordable with a great looking label, so I recommend trying this as your at-home well-drink (if you have a bar, I'm currently working on getting one in my basement...). In the meantime, they're having a Philadelphia launch/cancer research benefit in Northern Liberties this Friday night; get info here. Now on to the White Dog experience.

On the left is a Marmadaiq, with "Green Apple & Kiffir Lime Infused Fortis Rum, Lime, Cranberry Bitters, and Sugared Cranberries." Although I am a whiskey and beer type of guy, this was a refreshing drink. The Fortis tasted just as smooth as I would expect of any other mid-range rum.

The other drink was a Cowan's Hero, "Fortis Gin, Art in the Age Sage, Pear, Honey, Lime, Sage, Soda". This was a real winner. The sage flavor mixed well with the neutral gin, and the pear and honey added some fruity sweetness.

I then had the pleasure of trying some of Chef Varquez's favorites, starting with the short rib sliders. I am not usually a slider fan, but these things fixed all of the issues inherent in small sandwiches.

Look at the texture of this beef. The spicy cheddar was local and delicious, and the fried quail egg put this over the top. I was not left with any "bread only" bites, and could have eaten another six of these things.

At this point I transitioned to the cask Hop Devil, and Chef Josh transitioned to pastrami. From left – house cured beef pastrami, cold smoked salmon, and guanciale. Mixed in for toppings were some beet pickled quail eggs, pickled red onions, cornichons, whole grain mustard, and a caraway aioli.

My god, look at this pork cheek. Fatty, decadent, and speckled with dry rub, this literally melted in your mouth. This is not for those counting calories, and it was worth every fatty bite.

The salmon was fresh, with the texture of velvet, and the light smoke made for a great match with the caraway sauce.

Finally, the beef pastrami. This stuff was highly addictive. It was tough to beat the pork jowl, but this was a close match. Again, the tender fat kept this from being dry, and the attention to preparation was apparent.

One of my favorite parts was the ability to mix and match flavors and meat textures, with crisp pickles, tart onions, and flavorful spreads. I am hooked on the meats, and I am not ashamed to admit it.

Well done, White Dog Cafe. I'll be back soon.

The Avenue Delicatessen

27 N. Lansdowne Ave.
Lansdowne, PA 19050
(610) 622-DELI (3354)
Website

Lansdowne is a town that has started attracting Philly people due to the bang for your buck on property, accessibility to the city via public transit, and the wave of new restaurants opening up. Also known as "West West Philly", there has certainly been a resurgence in the area. The Avenue Deli is part of that wave, and I had to make a voyage there to try the esteemed corned beef.

The inside pairs retro diner with modern coffee shop.

They have a packaged to-go cooler with house made pickles, and various salads and baked goods.

See house pickles below.

The specialty here is Italian Jewish fusion, which apparently takes two of America's favorite comfort foods, and covers them with corned beef (no complaints here). Below are the Reuben fries, hand cut potatoes covered in corned beef, kraut, Swiss, and Thousand Island dressing. The idea is great, sort of a Jewish poutine, and was well composed but unfortunately for me the fries were mostly limp.

The flavors were all spot on and the portion was very generous, with sharp Swiss and creamy Thousand Island smothering the corned beef that had settled in below.

The Reuben also featured the house cured corned beef, and the usual suspects of a Reuben. I may have overdone it by getting both Reuben fries AND sandwich, but I have never been a fan of temperance in any form.

The Reuben sandwich was very good. The corned beef was delicious (though I could have used a bit more), and the bread was perfectly toasted. Although not a towering meat vessel, it still had enough calories to leave me more than satisfied. Also, I had eaten a large amount of the fries, so I was pretty well topped off.

The edges of the sandwich tended to be mostly meat free, which was a shame, as the corned beef melted its savory saltiness throughout the middle. Now, I know this is common practice in the sandwich industry: piling the middle high and displaying the thick stack, while skimping around the edges – but I'd like to think that when I'm spending $14 in the 'burbs I'm getting my money's worth.

The Jewish wedding soup, a riff on Matzo ball soup and Italian wedding soup was a huge disappointment. The broth and everything with it was bland. It was like drinking warm water with a large wet carb-ball floating in it. There was no schmaltz that I could detect, and it was as though they had lost the salt. I didn't eat much more than a couple bites.

The potato latkes were a winner, however, and the perfectly crisped shell housed smooth shredded tubers. They were well seasoned and great dipped into the abundance of sauce that came on the "Amazing Egg Sandwich," below.

The egg sandwich featured fried eggs, broccoli rabe, pork sausage, pickled fresno chili cream cheese, and mozzarella on a seeded Italian loaf. The cream cheese/sauce was heavy on this one, which made it hard to eat. Overall it was pretty good, but as you will see below, the sauce kind of took over. It also lubed the inside ingredients up so they slid right out the back/side with each bite, a personal pet peeve.

The pictures below have not been altered in any way, this is how the sandwich came out.

I had some issues with a couple of the things here, including overdressed sandwiches (unusual complaint for me), only serving the outdoor tables with to-go packaging, though we were obviously eating there, terrible soup, and limp fries, but I did love the corned beef, and the DIY homemade attitude. I wouldn't rush back, but I would certainly eat there again if I were in the area and for some reason the Chipotle in Havertown was closed. Just kidding! (not really.)