Philadelphia, sans cheesesteak and soft pretzels

I spent the weekend in Pennsylvania, mostly in Philadelphia, visiting friends from college: Adam, Alex, and Justine.  It was a fantastic trip - there was so much to catch up on, so many memories to revive, so many serious discussions and tawdry jokes and... games of Uno.  There was also plenty of food.  The good thing about having friends who know you care about eating well is that when you go to visit them, they make a point of taking you to some good restaurants  - no cheesesteaks for me!  Though I was just there a few days, I can tell the selection of good dining options is staggering.  A brief sampling of our meals could include:

El Vez
Adam's choice for lunch my first day, this Mexican-American restaurant is known particularly for its guacamole, which came in a heavy stone molcajete, or Mexican mortar that would not photograph clearly.  I also had the mahi mahi tacos (left), crisp and fresh and served with a tart red cabbage slaw that left drips on my plate the exact color of pepto bismol - luckily, though, that was not an evil omen of things to come.  I finished everything off with a glass of sangria blanca, which, we noted, would be a fantastic flavor for mouth wash.

Caribou Cafe

Alex, knowing my affinity for all things French, selected this spot for dinner.  The menu was like a culinary who's-who (or should I say, "where's-where") of France and Benelux: choucroute garnie, Saint-Jacques basquaise, moules frites.  I went for the raie aux câpres, ragoût d’haricots tomaté (right): tender sauteed skate with capers on a bed of pleasantly acidic white beans.  We split a bottle of crisp white Mâcon chardonnay, and I finished the evening with a déca - a decaf espresso, bien sur.

Bridgid's

This hole-in-the-wall bistro/bar is hidden in a residential neighborhood near the art museum.  It boasts an extensive list of imported beers, with a focus on Belgian brews.  I was boring, though, and while I tried the beers everyone else ordered, I had a glass of New Zealand sauvignon blanc to go with my "farm house" mussels (left).  The mussels were cooked with bacon, which infused the whole dish with a rich smokiness.  For dessert, we split a slice of lemon cake, and feeling surprisingly tipsy from my glass of wine and three sips of beer, it was delicious in the way only food eaten while inebriated can be.

There was plenty to eat of which I didn't think to take a picture, too: bittersweet mint chocolate chip ice cream from the Berkey Creamery at Penn State; late night champagne and toll-house cookies; a ham and spinach omelet from the Gold Standard Cafe.  There are also a couple of items that I want to particularly highlight.  I'll start, surprisingly, with Hershey.

As I said, most of the time I was in Philly, but for a day in the middle I took a bus up to Penn State University to see Justine, who is there for the summer doing research.  Most of the year, Justine lives in Saudi Arabia, where she is a PhD candidate at KAUST, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.  Since Justine lives on the other side of the world, when she and I are on the same continent, we always make a point of seeing each other, whether that means in Lausanne, Switzerland, or State College, Pennsylvania.  We just spent one night in State College, though: the next day, we rented a car and drove to down Philly together for the rest of the weekend.  On the way, we decided to stop for lunch in Hershey, just for fun.  As we drove through the verdant rolling hills of the Pennsylvania countryside, eventually we knew we must be on the right track because the road was paved with chocolate-brown asphalt: clearly, we had found Chocolate Avenue.  Chocolate Ave leads right into the heart of Hershey, Pennsylvania, home to one of the most famous chocolate factories in the US.

Hershey boasts an amusement park, a chocolate museum, and a chocolate lab where visitors can get some hands-on experience at making their own chocolate bars.  In the Hershey Story (the main visitor's center), there's also a great cafe where we picked up a simple lunch: tomato basil soup and salad for Justine, the soup and a roasted vegetable sandwich for me.  Everything was surprisingly delicious - fresh, flavorful, perfect lunch fare.  They also offer a chocolate tasting with six drinking chocolates from different regions around the world: Mexico, Ecuador, Sao Thome, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Java.  Justine was pretty excited to try our six chocolates:

The chocolates were complex, intriguing, delicious - everything I would not have expected from Hershey, known for its industrialized, commercialized, standardized chocolate.  These, however, were distinct and each enjoyable for its own merits.  They were also quite rich, and Justine and I were glad we had split one tasting tray instead of each getting our own.  If you ever find yourself in the middle of Pennsylvania and in need of lunch and good chocolate, I highly recommend the visit.

The other spot I want to note is the tiny Bohdi cafe, tucked away in Society Hill in Philadelphia, where an extremely efficient barista was running a one-woman shop, whipping up macchiatos, grilling paninis, and making exact change at lightening speed.  Alex and I stopped in at mid-afternoon with a half an hour to kill before our showing of Midnight in Paris (by the way, it was excellent - silly, clever, set amidst all the glories of Paris, immensely enjoyable).  I, fearing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep that night if I imbibed too much caffeine, chose the jasmine tea; Alex wisely and fearlessly opted for a cappuccino and a biscotti.

I don't drink that much coffee - sometimes one strong cup is enough to make me jittery - but seeing that perfect foamed milk rosetta is enough to make me wish I was a barista.  The tea was fine, but the coffee - yum.  Worth being kept up at night for.

It was a lovely weekend, only I wish it could have gone on for about a month longer.  Thanks to Adam for playing the tour guide, Alex for playing the host and chauffeur, and Justine for skipping over the formality of coffee and directly asking me out for ice cream.  Here's to hoping we'll be seeing each other again soon, preferably with more sunsets like this one over the Schuylkill.