Tattooed Moose

137 Morrison Drive
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 277-2990
Website

The Moose came highly recommended from a number of people as a dive-y beer bar with great duck. That was good enough for me and so after I got my rental car, checked in to my super saweet AirBnB cottage, I wasted no time and was on my way.

A variety of taxidermy animals surround the inside, which was quite cool. However, I didn't see any tats on the moose, but honestly, I didn't really look too hard.

The duck club was a "must try" per the instructions I'd received so my choice was already made before I'd sat down. From the menu: A triple decker filled with duck confit, applewood smoked bacon, & hickory smoked cheddar topped with garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato, & red onion on sweet Hawaiian bread.

There was certainly a LOT going on with this sandwich. The duck confit was delicious, rich and rendered to water fowl perfection. However there was just too much other shit in the sandwich to truly appreciate the duck as served. You can see the bread and ingredient ratio is a bit overwhelming below. Now, I understand that duck is not the kind of protein you heap on, but I just felt like this could have been better served not as a club. It was still a great sandwich full of fresh, quality ingredients, but it was just not a perfect cohesive package.

The house pickled sweet and spicy green tomatoes were amazing, and the garlic dills were another favorite. Also, those fries.

The duck fat fries with duck gravy were amazing. Shatteringly crisp, with a salt punch, the gravy was not even necessary. When I saw the size of the order, I said aloud "wow, I will never finish those". I am betting you can guess how this ended. Clean plate club indeed.

And although I did like that side of duck gravy, it was too roux-y and was missing that deep, dark, rich and fatty meat flavor that I expect out of poutine-impersonators – but as it goes, I ate it anyway.

Definitely a great stop in Charleston for some great beer and good food. A cool bar all around.

Treylor Park

115 E Bay Street
Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 495-5557
Website

I took a long weekend trip to Charleston and Savannah recently, and you will see some food from those trips coming up, because boy, did I EAT. Treylor Park was a hip bar that had a good beer selection, great prices, and some amazing waffle fries.

Even in February, you could sit outside (man I love The South), and they had a back alley entrance to an outdoor bar that was separate from their general dining area.

With a Fernet bike hanging, I knew what my after dinner drink of choice would be.

The Treylor Park Nachos Grande consisted of waffle fries, pickles, fried chicken, bacon, cheddar, chive ranch dressing and a balsamic gastrique. My god. These were some of the best nachos/smothered fries I have ever had. The ingredient list reads like my death row menu. And the fries were perfectly crispy, and made for perfect scooping vessels.

Bits of fried chicken, surrounded by ranch and bits of pickle? Heaven.

I was surprised with how well the balsamic went with the plate. It makes sense to have the vinegar cut the fat a bit, and I would not change a thing. It was indulgent perfection on a plate. The bartender said if he was only getting one thing, it had to be the Nachos (I was on my way to dinner). He was right. And then he bought me a shot of Fernet.

Next time I visit Savannah, I'll be hitting Treylor Park again for sure, maybe between lunch and dinner so I can take my time and really get deep into the other menu options. To be continued...

The Philly Showcase of Wine and Cheese Ticket Giveaway Contest! WINNER- Carmen Howard! Please email for tickets.

WINNER - Carmen Howard! Please email for tickets.

The Philly Showcase of Wine and Cheese has asked us to spread the word, and are offering a free pair of tickets to two lucky readers who will have the opportunity to attend this amazing event, a $100 value. Not only will you get to gorge on hundreds of cheeses and wines, there is live music, gourmet food tastings, and a silent auction. Even better, the proceeds go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia. Win win! If you don't get lucky enough to win, I highly encourage you to grab some tickets and take a date. Or just go by yourself and wear sweat pants. Either way, you will have a blast, and experience vino-lacto overload. I'll also be there, so who knows, you might get to meet Philly Phoodie, in the flesh!

Contest details:

Who - one winner will get two tickets to The Philly Showcase of Wine and Cheese (April 8, 2016 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center)

When - the contest will run from the time of posting (today 2/22) through Friday, February 26 at 12PM Noon ET

How - leave a comment on this post letting us know your favorite wine and/or cheese memory (eg- a time you had some amazing cheese at a dairy, that time you drank high end wine out of a Spaniards navel, etc)

How to Win - all valid comments (no spam) will be given a number and the winner chosen at random

Don't forget - if you comment anonymously, email me your contact info so I can get in touch if you are the lucky winner

Good luck!

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Hunt's Annex Lounge

1311 MacDade Boulevard
Woodlyn, PA 19094
(610) 833-2344
Facebook

If there is one thing we know the 'burbs consistently does WAY better than the city, it's wings. No contest. I got the word that Hunt's had some of DelCo's finest, and stopped in to verify. One thing to note – you can smoke in here, which usually would be an issue for me, but they did a really good job of keeping the place aired out and I barely noticed it.

Like many great Delaware County bars, this place is basically a giant wrap around bar. I love this design, because it assures maximum bar seat real estate and exponentially increases the people-watching capabilities.

Although these are certainly not cheap wings (priced at nearly $1 a pop), they offer so many sauce choices it was hard to criticize. Also, who wants in on a group buy for a thousand? Any takers?

The spicy honey were first up, as they were highly recommended by both the bartender and a regular I was sitting next to. I ordered them extra crispy, as usual.

These were well rendered wings, nicely crisped, and the sauce was spicy but not too hot. I couldn't taste too much of the honey, but that wasn't a big deal. They are also quite large, which I imagine is at least part of the reason for the price tag.

Next in line were the dry rub. I am a big fan of dry rub wings, as they tend to retain their crunch a lot longer than their sauce soaked brethren. Probably because they are not drenched in liquid? I don't know, I was not a science major. These wings were salty, hot, and slightly sweet due to some brown sugar in the rub. I believe there was also some mustard powder in the mix.

Again, they were well fried, and the skin stayed crispy. Good stuff.

As I am watching my waistline these days, I decided to offset the wings by ordering some curly fries with cheddar sauce and a bud light. Good fries, nothing fancy, from a bag. The cheese was perfectly artificial and delicious. As expected.

Hunt's would probably be a great spot for wing night, but at regular prices, they are a bit on the steep side. I would certainly come back if I were in the area, but I would not rush to return.

Carribean Corner

4948 Main Street
Downers Grove, IL 60515
(630) 541-8641
Website

I was visiting family in the Chicago area and stumbled upon the Caribbean Corner. Touting the "best Cuban in town" (Downers Grove), I figured it was worth a try. Though I was somewhat concerned about the robustness of the Cuban scene in a town with a 5.2% Latino population.

I started with some chicken empanadas. These were well fried, and had quite a bit of shredded chicken inside. The carrots and corn inside looked like they came from a frozen bag, but overall they were quite serviceable.

The sandwiches, while lacking in visual appeal, all had hefty flavor profiles. Cuban pictured below.

The pork was tender, the bread well griddled, and the general consistency was where it should be.

The shredded beef sandwich was similar to a torta or a bocadilla. The beef was tender and had a nice smack of meat to it. Sloppy, but quite good.

I like my bread to hold up a bit better than what you see here, but overall the flavors were pretty fantastic.

The shredded chicken was just like the shredded beef. But with chicken. Again, pretty sloppy, but tasted just fine. A good offering for the Chicago burbs, but I would not be breaking out the linen suit and a bottle of rum while rushing to eat here.

The Classic Diner (West Chester)

16 E Gay Street
West Chester, PA 19380
(484) 947-0809
Website

Of all of the greasy meals and foods I love, I just don't have all that much love for traditional diners. Mostly, it's because they have shitty coffee. When you couple a basic breakfast platter/sandwich with Folgers, I think to myself, I should've just gone to WAWA. In the same vein, I pretty much hate brunch. It's not the brunch food that I despise, but rather the people who love brunch and the whole circus surrounding it. Also - why is it socially acceptable to drink eight mimosas, or three Bloody Marys AT BRUNCH, but when I order a shot and a beer at breakfast I get the sideways eye? Well, now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about The Classic Diner.

I had eaten bacon from the original Classic Diner in Malvern, but had not actually been there. The bacon is incredible. One day I was cruising around the burbs, butcher shopping, and looking for somewhere to grab food before heading to a party in Pennsport.

Now my love for all things Jewish American knows no bounds. But the Lox and bagel or whitefish and bagel combo takes the throne at breakfast time. Or really anytime. They had one on the menu, and I figured that would be a great starter. It was not cheap at $15, but it was also not small. And Oy Vey, that Lox was worth every penny. Served with a boiled egg topped with Salmon caviar (nice touch), a side salad, capers, caper berries, cukes, red onion, and tomato slices, this was a hell of a platter.

The bagel was nice and chewy, and the tomatoes were in good shape for being so far past season. The crispy cucumber, briny capers, and spicy red onion made every bite the "choose your own adventure" of eating.

These damn boiled eggs were incredibly good. Smooth, silky, with a "pop" of salty liquid in the caviar, I was left thinking about how I was suckered with hard-boiled, deviled eggs for all these years instead of soft boiling the things.

The "classic" eggs Benedict was just that. Fried Canadian bacon (hell yes), a nicely rich yet acidic Hollandaise, perfectly poached eggs, and a toasted buttery muffin. The potatoes were a thing of beauty. Crispy and salty outside, fluffy and hot inside, they were home-fry perfection. Not to mention, the playful olive placement let you make jokes ranging from anatomy to that emoji with the eyes looking to the side...

Look at the rich yolk, and the crispy edges of the ham. Delicious. You would be hard pressed to find a better rendition, and even I can't hate on the brunch here. Also - it is BYOB, so plan accordingly with a bottle of Yukon Jack and a 40 of Bud Ice if you want to keep it classy.

Ravanesi Pizzeria Napoletana

790 Baltimore Pike
Glen Mills, PA 19342
(484) 840-8912
Website

The pizza scene in the Philadelphia area is a hotly debated, often contentious topic. To make the vast Philadelphia-proper scene even more confusin, let's add the great pizza of the 'burbs to the mix. Philly may have the best pizza in the country, with Pizzeria Beddia, but South Jersey, MontCo, and DelCo hold it down as well. Ravanesi is modeled after the Neapolitan pizza of Napoli, and Dave Ravanesi's obsession is apparent in the product.

Located in a small strip mall in Glen Mills for two years now, you would not notice this place as you drove by at night, until you see the line of people out the door. They have seven pizzas on the menu. That is it. BYOB, no reservations, and no take-out on the weekends. When you are this good, you make the rules.

Dave is a great guy, hand making every pie, start to finish. He puts a level of attention into them that I have only seen by my buddy Joe Beddia. Indeed, I said it, the pizza here reminded quite a bit of Joey's pies.

See for yourself below.

Dave uses a no-yeast, 38 hour dough that lends itself to the blistering perfection and ease of manipulation. He never has more than 3 pies in his custom wood-fired oven (all hardwoods, of course, with an oak preference) and he keeps them moving so there's little loss of heat and they cook consistently in a matter of minutes.

By the time I got mine, I was drooling. Not that this was an aberration from my general state of consciousness, but this time it was food related. On top is the Sopressata Piccante, topped with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, spicy sopressata,  Parmigiano Reggiano, chili flakes, garlic, & extra-virgin olive oil. On the bottom, a traditional Margherita, boasting San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, fresh basil, extra-virgin olive oil & sea salt.

Look at the color on that crust. The fluffy, crunchy dough is unbelievable, with a perfectly browned hue. The sauce had the zip of the San Marzano tomatoes, and was perfect in its simplicity. The mozzarella is made in-house, and was rich and creamy with a velvety texture. Finished with basil leaves, this pie is simple perfection. Easily one of the best Margheritas I have ever tasted.

My favorite, unsurprisingly, had the extra addition of salty meat. Spicy soppressata with chili flakes made this pizza shine. Again, the crust was perfectly baked, the toppings beyond reproach, and the execution phenomenal.

Look at the spicy little grease pools on this. Pure deliciousness.

Check the bottom of the crust. You can't beat the combo of slight char, and perfect browning.

This place blew away my expectations, and I encourage you to check it out as well. The only thing I can say is, if you go early to avoid a wait, be prepared for a lot of kids. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's something to be ready for. Also, don't forget the wine.