Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

While waiting for my plane at Philadelphia airport, I tried Cibo. It's in terminal B and has an extensive wine bar as well as an Italian menu. A pilot told me that the food was very good. I enjoy sit-down meals at airports to break up the hectic pace of air travel. I like having a well-balanced meal when I travel. I also like eating with real utensils, not just my hands. I had a salad and the chicken parmesan. Chicken parm is classic Italian-American comfort food, which is particularly welcome on a trip. I'm not going to pretend that the food was world class. But it was competent, which in an airport is a major victory. The sauce, pasta, and chicken all did their job.

Jason and I visited Bubble House on the U Penn campus. We didn't have the bubble tea, though. If you haven't heard of this concoction, it's a fad drink that came out of Taiwan. It's tea, alright, with milk and sugar, but it also has big gelatin beads. You're supposed to suck the beads along with your tea using a big, fat straw. It was fun once. I did try their dessert, which was quite good. The pastry was very crispy, which made a nice complement. We also had a good sencha tea from their diverse selection.

I've always been impressed by food cart culture in Philadelphia. I think they have the best and most diverse range of food carts of anywhere that I've visited. The food cart scene is best on the U Penn campus, particularly around the medical school. I was always impressed by the carts that offer bowls of fresh fruit, but you can get all sorts of international foods in a very small radius. My colleague Rajeev Alur took me to his favorite, Magic Carpet Foods. I had the Dervish Delight, which ncluded falafel, hummus, taboulli, tossed salad, and pita. The proprietress was extremely nice and explained my choices. She recommended sesame seeds, which were wonderful. The falafel, hummus, and taboulli were all of excellent quality. The range of textures and tastes in this style of food is a constant source of enjoyment. Rajeev is a regular at Magic Carpet and if I lived there, I would be too.

Naked Chocolate is on the U Penn campus. The decor is quite elegant. They have chocolate in all varieties: small chocolates, drinking chocolates, and cakes. I had breakfast there: Sacher torte, chocolates, and coffee. The chocolates were great. I tried one of their spicy chocolates, which was very subtle and interesting. The Sacher torte was very good, but let me brag a little. I visited the Hotel Sacher in Vienna a few years ago as part of my extensive study of Viennese pastries (hellish work but somebody has to do it). Nothing can beat their Sacher torte. Among other things, they serve it mit schlag (with whipped cream), something that Naked didn't do. But I certainly enjoyed their version quite a bit. It wasn't really a well-rounded breakfast. They have some muffins and other things but not omelettes, meat, etc. But what the hey, who can complain about chocolate in the morning?

There are advantages for us geeks to hang out with fuzzy studies types. Claudia wrote her master's thesis on food culture in South Philadelphia, which is an Italian neighborhood. After our cheesesteaks, she took us to what she considers to be the best Italian bakery in town, Varallo Brothers. We couldn't resist and tried a variety of desserts. I started with a cannoli. It was a variety I hadn't seen before, with an egg cream filling. This gave a more subtle flavor than the traditional straight ricotta. I also tried one of the filled pastries, which had a superb crust.

On my recent trip to Philadelphia, my first stop was Pat's King of Steaks. Pat's invented the cheesesteak and they are masters of the form. When I got there at 2:30 in the afternoon, 50 people were in line ahead of me. As you can see, Pat had his rules for ordering long before the Food Nazi's rules. "Wid" means with onions. You have your choice of cheeses, including Cheez Whiz. Expect to eat outside, no matter what the weather. If you're lucky, you'll get a table underneath the awning. I ordered a provolone cheesesteak wid. A well-executed cheesesteak is a thing of beauty, and this one was a wonderful relief from the trip. I prefer provolone because of its more subtle flavor. Jason had a pizza steak which looked very hearty. Claudia had a hot dog and cheese fries, which she let us sample. The cheese fries use Cheez Whiz. The fries are not bad, but not really in the same league as the cheesesteak.

My colleagues Oleg Sokolsky and Insup Lee took me to a stunning restaurant located on the U Penn campus. Pod is one of the creations of Philadelphia restaurant mogul Steven Stark. It specialty is sushi and the decor is Jetsons modern. I apologize for the horrible quality of this photo (no flash on an iPhone) but this is our sushi assortment. As you can hopefully tell, it is served on a multi-tiered carrier from a tea service, which was a very elegant touch. The sushi was of very high quality. My first piece, salmon, set the mood for the evening with its buttery softness. The sushi went quickly. We also had several other items. The roast pork was competent but not exciting. The mushroom fried rice was very light and refreshing. The desert, Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate, was an excellent trio of chocolate items. Such a rich dessert coupled with excellent Asian food is a rare treat.