Tag: review

Zahav: A Golden Gem in Philadelphia

I swear to you I have not be compensated in the least for this review.

About three years ago, The Hubs and I were watching Travel Channel’s The Layover with Anthony Bourdain and he stopped at a small modern Israeli restaurant called Zahav. The Hubs and I LOVE trying new “exotic” cuisines, and they showed an amazingly succulent looking grilled duck hearts, something that until that moment I’d never known I wanted to try. We looked up the restaurant and decided that this would be the place we’d try for our next anniversary dinner.

The first half of the video above describes the restaurant’s style and goal as an “event” for diners. We were not disappointed. I think people got tired of me gushing over how wonderful the place was. They made our 5th anniversary truly special. Last year we went someplace local, and it was fine, but not mind-blowingly anything. So The Hubs and I decided that this year we’d go back to Zahav. Once again, we were not disappointed.

I booked the table on OpenTable, and I mentioned that it was our 7th anniversary and that we had spent our 5th there and had such a wonderful time that we were coming back. When the hostess called to confirm our reservation, she sounded thrilled that we were spending yet another anniversary dinner with them. “We love that!” she said. That was just the beginning.

Our reservations were at 5:30 (because we are a pair of 80 year olds, haha) and we arrived about 20 minutes early, having found really good on-street parking, a rarity in Philadelphia! I wore a little black dress and black pumps, but that kind of clothing isn’t a requirement AT ALL in the totally un-pretentious Zahav. People were dining in various states of dress, from sneakers and khakis to dresses and suit jackets. I apologized for our earliness, but was assured it was no trouble at all, and we were seated immediately.

IMG_20151004_171413726We were immediately greeted with sparkling wine and wished a Happy Anniversary by our server! (I honestly don’t remember if this was done on our last visit, but it was so nice!) We were asked if we had dined there before (we had) and if we had any questions about the menu (we didn’t). We told our server we both would be doing the tasting menu, and she immediately brought out the variety of salatim (salads) and the hummus and laffa bread. If you haven’t had the opportunity to try fresh, out of the oven laffa bread, you should. It’s like the pillowiest fresh pita you’ve ever eaten! We also ordered drinks. I got the Desert Rose, which was gin, hibiscus, grapefruit and cucumber, and the Hubs got a sparkling pear and apple cider.

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Beets in tehina, pickled carrots, green beans in tomato sauce, pickled napa cabbage, pickled vegetables, Bulgarian pepper salad. (In the background, The Hubs’ pear apple cider.)
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The last salad was eggplant, similar to babaghanoush.
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Desert Rose Cocktail.
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Hummus with Laffa bread.

While we enjoyed the salatim we ordered our mezze plates. Mezze is like the Mediterranean version of tapas, small plates. I, of course, once again ordered the duck hearts, telling our server I had eaten them there before and that I was super excited to try them again. She was really happy to hear that. All the staff at this restaurant seem ridiculously excited about the food here, and like they actually enjoy their jobs. They strive to make your meal an experience here, which is why we love it so much. I felt like royalty the entire time we were there. (Even when I headed for the ladies’ room. Waitstaff would glide out of the way and gesture politely towards the restrooms with a smile each time.)

Walnut kale tabbouleh with pomegranate, apple and midnight moon cheese.
Grilled duck hearts over celery root puree.
Crispy fried grape leaves with beef and harissa.
Fried cauliflower with labneh (similar to tzatziki but with mint).

Our mezze arrived quickly. The pacing here is perfect: you never have to wait long for your next course but there’s never the feeling that you’re being rushed. With our mezze came a complimentary amuse bouche of deep fried salt cod (SALT COD – THE MAGIC WORDS) with labneh. The manager brought it himself, and inquired as to how we were enjoying our meal. I gushed once again over the duck hearts, and he asked me if I worked in the food industry! I assured him I just really love food, and he nodded knowingly and said that most people who ordered hearts either worked in food or were just really adventurous.

Fried salt cod with labneh.
Fried salt cod with labneh.

Of course, I was pleasantly full by the time we finished our mezze. But that wasn’t the end of our meal! For our Al Ha’esh (which means “grilled over coals”) The Hubs ordered the beef and lamb kofte, and I ordered the duck kebab, because, DUCK. The duck was ground, mixed with Sri Lankan spice (there was a hint of allspice in there), served over celery root puree and plum matbucha and sprinkled with chopped pistachios. Amazeballs. YUM YUM YUM.

Duck kebab.
Lamb & beef kofte.

By this point was was STUFFED, believe me, but dessert was still coming. I had inquired earlier as to whether or not there was an orange blossom dessert on the menu, and there was: pistachio tart. I love pistachios! The Hubs was interested in coffee, but instead ordered the coffee mousse.

It was getting dark, which caused my pictures to suffer. Pistachio tart!
Coffee mousse!

As seems the norm here, they treated us to a third dessert: orchid root powder dusted semi-freddo. Holy crap. It didn’t taste floral at all, but the texture of the creamy, airy semi-freddo coated in the dark powder was so interesting!

IMG_20151004_183205207So, all in all, our second dinner at Zahav was just as amazing (if not MORE amazing) than the first. We’ve even decided to make this place a yearly event. The food in always spectacular, the ambiance relaxed and unpretentious (sort of Israeli marketplace with modern music – we heard The Beastie Boys while we ate). But the service is what makes this place a shining star. I hope to enjoy many meals to come at this wonderful haven of gastronomy.

(Oh, and the entire meal plus tips? Less than $150 for the two of us, so you get VALUE, too!)

I seriously cannot recommend this place enough, and if you’re in Philadelphia, try not to leave the city without snagging reservations at this spot!

Favorites Friday: Jenny Lawson, AKA The Bloggess

I’m going to be totally honest here: I had a rough winter. You see, I reached my goal weight last August, and suddenly I didn’t have my “Fat Barrier” holding back all the internal issues I’d had inside me for years. I had the worst case of anxiety and depression I’d ever had. I had days at work where I would all of a sudden start sobbing and need to get OUT of there. Luckily I have a very understanding boss and coworkers, and I could escape when I needed.

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What it felt like inside me.

Things were so bad, laughing and smiling seemed alien to me. Being alone at home in the mornings was torture.  It was cold, and snowy, and dark, both outside and inside me. Years ago (I’m talking before I graduated high school), my first “boyfriend” broke up with me, and for weeks the only thing that kept me from lying in bed crying all day was watching funny movies or tv shows. This time? Most of that didn’t work. There were, however, two things that made me laugh in this very dark time: binge-watching Parks and Recreation (hilarious without all the meanness of other comedies PLUS CHRIS PRATT) and reading Jenny Lawson’s book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.

If that face doesn't make you smile, you're dead inside.
If that face doesn’t make you smile, you’re dead inside.

You might know Jenny as her online persona, The Bloggess. I’d occasionally read her blog before but stumbled upon her book one dark Wednesday where I basically had a panic attack and left work early. The Hubs was home and whisked me off to Barnes & Noble where we I had and iced chai and browsed the anxiety books. I grabbed a book there (which I never actually read) and then headed over to the comedy section where I found this:

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That night, lying in bed, I sniggled for the first time in more than a month. (Okay, so Dictionary.com tells me that “sniggled” means to fish for eels. Who knew? I’m using it as a portmanteau of “snort” and “giggled”. There were no eels in my bedroom. At least not that I know of.) I sniggled so loudly The Hubs came and checked on me.

Although if I ever do fish for eels I'm totally holding it like a rifle like this badass. SOURCE: http://www.gofishing.co.uk/
Although if I ever do fish for eels I’m totally holding it like a rifle like this badass. SOURCE: http://www.gofishing.co.uk/

This book is crazy, irreverent, hilarious and incredibly uplifting. Jenny Lawson is this flawed everywoman antihero. She has a way of explaining the absurdities of life in an incredibly charming, accessible way. I think anyone who has, at one time or another, ever felt like they don’t want to get out of bed in the morning can relate to her offbeat humor. The only caveat would be that there is some foul language so if that isn’t your thing, avoid this book.

Spring and summer were much easier on me, but when I would have a day where I just didn’t feel right I’d pop over to TheBloggess.com and Jenny’s humor would cheer me up. It’s amazing to me how a random person on the internet can have an impact on so many people. She really is an inspiration to so many. So imagine how excited I was when I saw she was putting out another book! I immediately went to Amazon.com and pre-ordered Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things. She even made a book trailer.

On her website, Jenny writes this about Furiously Happy:

FURIOUSLY HAPPY SHIPS IN SEPTEMBER BUT YOU SHOULD GO AHEAD AND PRE-ORDER IT NOW SO IT COMES AS A SURPRISE GIFT TO YOURSELF.

I placed the order in July and I basically forgot about it until it arrived, so THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED and it was FABULOUS! Here I am, mimicking Rory the Raccoon:

ERMAGERD, RERKERN!
ERMAGERD, RERKERN!

I’m about 1/3 of the way through this book, and I was sniggling reading THE VERY FIRST PAGE. I’ve already recommended it to three people, and now I’m recommending it to you.

So thank you, Jenny Lawson. Thank you for being one of the few people who could make me laugh when laughter seemed like it would never come again (it always does). You don’t even know I exist, but you have impacted me for the better in so many ways. Laughter truly is the best medicine. Stay Furiously Happy!

RECIPE: “Cinnamon Roll” Pancakes w/ Strawberries

IMG_20150914_172813638_HDRI wish I could tell you I was back to running 5K and that the kinesio tape has fixed my foot problem, but I can’t. I’ve run twice since trying it, both times pain free, and I worked my way up to a mile, which is good. The bad news is that I hurt my back doing kettlebell windmills on Monday, so I’m off exercise until my silly back behaves! It stinks. So, instead of a foot update, you get a recipe! The ladies in walking group heard I would be making almond flour pancakes this week, and insisted I share the recipe, so here it is.

I found this recipe for almond flour pancakes online. I had purchased almond flour for a previous recipe and really wasn’t that sure what to do with it. I spent days researching recipes on Pinterest (almost all of which are desserts) and decided that breakfast for dinner would be the solution! I had all the ingredients already, but I didn’t want just every day pancakes and syrup. The cinnamon in the recipe inspired me to try a cinnamon roll flavor, so I picked up a package of cream cheese (full fat) at the store. And of course, one needs fruit with pancakes, so, strawberries!

The pancake recipe wasn’t exactly what I expected. Mine looked nothing like the original recipe’s photos. I changed nothing but ramping up the cinnamon, which of course would change the color, but my pancakes were SUPER THICK compared to the original recipe’s. The cinnamon wouldn’t have caused this, as cinnamon is hydrophobic, and thus wouldn’t have absorbed extra water. In the future I’ll TRIPLE the water. They did taste very good, but they were dense and somewhat mealy. Perhaps I could trade out two whole eggs for four egg whites, whip them, then fold them in to make them lighter and fluffier. (The original poster did recommend using club soda to fluff it up a bit.)

I warmed the cream cheese in the microwave for a minute so it would whip up a bit, and blended in a bit of sweetener and some vanilla. Lastly I sliced up some strawberries to throw on top.

IMG_20150914_171119903Results: I was disappointed in the texture and quantity of pancakes. This recipe made only seven thick, dense pancakes. I really think adding more water/using club soda/whipping egg whites would help. The serving size felt really small. I mean, who wants to eat only two pancakes? (They were pretty filling though, despite seeming like a small amount of food.)

IMG_20150914_172819709_HDRThe cinnamon also wasn’t terribly pronounced, despite me using a whole tablespoon. Maybe cinnamon oil next time? I did like that neither the pancakes nor the whipped cream cheese topping were terribly sweet. The sweetness of the strawberries made it plenty sweet. Will I try this recipe again? Maybe. I very rarely make recipes again unless it’s amazingly delicious. So, who knows. To make you feel amazing despite this mediocre response, here is a photo of Bingley, glowing in the sun:

IMG_20150914_083212855Will you try almond flour pancakes? Let me know in the comments!