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Drake, performing at Tritone this Thursday

Jazz and more. Where I’ll be and where you should be.

TUESDAY 8/25/09
Lucky Thompson & the Budesa Brothers’ Blue Tuesday Open Mic & Jam Session
Elena’s Soul Showcase Lounge, 4912 Baltimore Ave.
Veteran drummer Lucky Thompson has played with greats like Nina Simone and Patti LaBelle during his long career and led jam sessions all over the city (including at Natalie’s Lounge, where he was the music director for more than 10 years). Lucky and brothers Rich Budesa on keys and Rob Budesa on guitar are doing their part to keep Philly’s great organ trio tradition alive. If you haven’t heard them play at Elena’s, a neighborhood bar with a friendly staff and a welcoming vibe, then you’re missing out on an essential part of Philly’s jazz scene.
9 p.m., FREE

WEDNESDAY 8/26/09
Tom Spiker’s Mobile Pleasure Lounge
Kung Fu Necktie, 1248 N. Front St.
Guitarist Tom Spiker’s Mobile Pleasure Lounge is a shifting cast of some of Philadelphia’s best improvisational musicians creating spontaneous soundtracks to bizarre B-movie footage. Tonight’s group will feature members of the Fractals. Perhaps Kevin Hanson and Erik Johnson?
9:30 p.m., $7

THURSDAY 8/27/09
Drake, Ladyfingers, Jake LaBotz
Tritone, 1508 South St.
Cello, trumpet, upright bass, drums, and two MCs… Drake’s sound is original and engaging, and they play at Tritone the 4th Thursday of every month. Also on the bill this month are rockabilly/punk Adam Weiner (aka Ladyfingers) and bluesy guitarist/singer/songwriter/actor Jake LaBotz.
8:30 p.m., $5

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Pig Iron Theatre Company has been at the forefront of the Philadelphia theater scene since its inception in 1995, utilizing clowning and a brave physical vocabulary to tell stories both humorous and poignant. Regular contributors to the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, the company returns to the festival this fall with the premiere of Welcome to Yuba City.

Described by director Quinn Bauriedel as a “clown ballet in the desert,” the piece is inspired by the mythic scenery of the American southwest and the diverse array of personalities attracted to the region. Seven performers, including recent Obie-award winner James Sugg, create over 40 different characters: cowboys, aliens, and the eccentric kitchen staff of the Yuba City Diner are but a few.

Welcome to Yuba City runs for 14 performances at The Hub, a multi-use space that includes the Festival box office and Festival Bar. Expect something mysterious, fantastic and original. In other words, expect another excellent show from the Pig Iron Theatre Company.

Welcome to Yuba City
September 2nd – September 19th
www.livearts-fringe.org/details.cfm?id=6849

The Hub
626 N 5th Street, Philadelphia, PA

All photos courtesy of the Ritz Carlton and 10 Arts

10 Arts at the Ritz Carlton is getting in on the Restaurant Week state of mind a little early.

They are currently running a special summer prix fixe menu that is three courses for $35. It includes an appetizer, entree and a dessert. You can add a two-glass wine pairing for $15 more. It’s available Tuesday through Saturday, through September. (For an idea of the menu, we posted the 10 Arts Restaurant Week menu after the jump, which would presumably be similar to the prix-fixe summer menu.)

10 Arts Chef de Cuisine Jennifer Carroll (above, bottom right, with Executive Chef Eric Ripert) is a star right now — she’s currently competing in the Top Chef reality television show on Bravo. You can see her when it airs on Wednesday nights. (But don’t fear, she’s now back helming the kitchen at 10 Arts; the show was actually filmed previously.)

Suggestion: make an evening of it one Wednesday. Enjoy a prix-fixe dinner prepared by Carroll and her team and then cheer her on as she competes on national TV later that night.

10 Arts [Gophila.com]

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The N Crowd, Performing Tonight. Photography by Ryan Galatti

Friday

WXPN Presents: Hoots & Hellmouth
Head into Kennett Square for this awesome concert. Tickets are only $12, and still available.

The N Crowd’s Real Housewives of Philadelphia
Before reality television hits Rittenhouse Square with something similar to this, check out the N Crowd’s hilarious improv comedy. Tickets are only $10.

Saturday

Brotherly Glove
Philly sports related comedy kicks off at Doc Watson’s this Saturday.

Street Movies @ Mifflin Square
New movie series at Mifflin Square, starting this weekend. Screening lots of national films you won’t really see anywhere else.

Sunday

Annual Caribbean Festival @ Penn’s Landing
The sights and sounds of the Caribbean converge on Penn’s Landing

Totally Terrific Treehouses: Back to School Party
Celebrate the fact that you’re sending your kids back to school, and have your freedom once again, at the Tyler Arboretum in Media. A family friendly day for the kids, complete with snacks, drinks, and crafts.

Rock Show for the Cure @ Finnegan’s Wake
Proceeds from this concert go towards the American Cancer Society’s Real For Life. Live music, open bar, buffet?! All of these are included in your ticket price, a mere $20. Sold.

Overbrook Herb Farm and Pennypack Farm Tour
During the course of this tour, you’ll sample herbs, dishes from local food vendors (including Capogiro), and learn about how these farms cultivate their produce. Tickets are $25.

Varga’s Signature Salad, Photography Courtesy of Varga Bar

If you haven’t already heard, there’s a new Gastro pub in the ‘hood. It’s called Varga and it has everything you’d want – a comfortable atmosphere with an old style look; an affordable lunch and dinner menu, and signature drinks and desserts.

I was lucky enough to go for lunch last week. I say lucky because their lunch menu includes breakfast items! That is a dream for anyone who loves breakfast food any time of the day (ahem, me). I’m always so bummed when I go somewhere for “brunch” and they’ve quit serving eggs by 11am. I’m not always up that early on a Saturday! Luckily, Varga’s lunch menu starts at 11:30am, so no problems there.

The breakfast-for-lunch items include a couple omelets, as well as French toast and other delicious confections. I ordered the Three Cheese Farmer’s omelet abound with cheese (obviously), chorizo, powerful wild mushrooms and asparagus. It was served with oven roasted potatoes, which were quite good. I also doused my entire plate in Varga’s homemade ketchup. It is tangy with just a hint of a smoky BBQ taste – I couldn’t get enough.

Other new additions to Varga’s lunch menu include a Veggie burger, Grilled white peach & crab salad (which my friend Kate ordered), Duck confit wings and more. The salad was super fresh and well-presented. The peaches were grilled and gave the dish a very unique taste. Kate made sure to get all parts of the salad in one bite every time.

Finally, dessert is a must at Varga. I mean that. Varga makes a grandiose Root Beer float made with Victory Root Beer (who knew?!) that they keep on tap! They also have a very unique Breakfast Cereal Ice Cream Trio. They take vanilla bean ice cream, and in a Cold Stone creamery kind of way, mix in their pick of cereal. I had the Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch, Honeycomb and Cocoa Puff trio. It was too good to be true. Remember, I’m a sucker for breakfast food.

Don’t forget to try some of Varga’s signature drinks, including the restaurant’s very own hard lemonade. I sipped the Miss July – vodka, fresh strawberries and lemonade. It might have been afternoon, but it’s never too early for a cocktail. Or too late for breakfast.

Varga Bar
941 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
www.vargabar.com

Photography by KB Consultants and Karina Kacala

If you haven’t tried Root, the new root beer flavor liquor produced by our city’s own Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction… well, you’re missing out. My friend (and Uwishunu blogger) Karina experienced it first hand, and loved it. And now, you can too, accompanied by a five course meal paired with signature cocktails at Alfa.

On August 25th, at 8PM, Alfa will be featuring several of the cocktails that were entered in the recent Silk City Root competition, including the winning one from Katie Loeb. The deal? Five mini courses for $35, prepared by Executive Chef Sean Ford. Each course incorporates Root in some way. Here’s what is on the menu.

• First Course – Sweet Corn and Lobster Summer Soup – Wynnorr Farm Sweet Corn, Vanilla/Root infusion garnished with Lobster Salad and ROOT Syrup. Served chilled.

• Second Course – Seared Scallop with ROOT & Black Truffle Foam and Wild Mushrooms

• Third Course – ROOT Brined Pork Loin – stuffed with Apples and Raisins and served with a Rosemary Celeriac Puree and Root Demi Glace.

• Fourth Course – Grilled Venison – Huckleberry Reduction, ROOT infused Potato Hash

• Dessert – ROOT Float Roundabout – ROOT Ice Cream with Vanilla Creme Soda

The winning cocktails being served up with each course come from Lauren Phillips (Alfa), Christian Gaal (Noble American Cookery), Kate Loeb (Oyster House), and Colin Shearn (Franklin Mortgage & Co.), sporting wild names like the Bomba Shack, Dr. Maloney’s Restorative Elixir, and more.

Alfa will also be featuring a late night happy hour on the 25th, with $5 Root cocktails from 10PM til Midnight. Be sure to RSVP, space is limited.

Alfa Restaurant & Bar
1709 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 751-0201
www.alfa-bar.com

Final drawing for Where the Wild Things Are. Pen and ink, watercolor. © Maurice Sendak, 1963, All rights reserved

On October 16, Warner Bros. Pictures is releasing the live-action film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s acclaimed children’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are.

To coincide with the movie’s release, The Rosenbach Museum & Library has announced an impressive line-up of special programming that will show off their exhaustive collection of works by the author, Maurice Sendak.

To the point where any fan of the original book or the new movie will pretty much have to make a pilgrimage to the Museum, located on the 2000 block of Delancey Street in Center City.

A little background: The Rosenbach is the sole repository of the original artwork of Maurice Sendak, the famed author and illustrator, and a foremost authority on all things Sendak. Author of Where the Wild Things Are and 108 other books, Maurice Sendak, now 81 years old, chose the Rosenbach to be the permanent home of his work in the early 1970s thanks to shared literary and collecting interests.

The Rosenbach’s Sendak collection is the largest collection of “Sendakiana” in the world, with over 10,000 preliminary sketches, final drawings, manuscripts, books, and ephemera as well as exclusive recent interview footage in which Sendak discusses his life, childhood, work, and inspirations.

The Rosenbach will be taking advantage of its extensive collection to produce an array of special programming to mark the blockbuster film’s release. Highlights of which are below.

• Wild Things Days
September – October, 2009

• Exhibition: A Sendakian Sampler
Through September 13, 2009

• Exhibition: Too Many Thoughts to Chew: A Sendak Stew
September 16, 2009 – January 17, 2010

• Exhibition: And it’s still hot: Where the Wild Things Are
September 30 – October 25, 2009

• Hands-On Tour: ‘Flaming maniacs:’ Sendak and His Literary Inspirations
Wednesday, September 9 at 3:00pm

• Hands-On Tour: Wild Things
Wednesday, September 23; Wednesday, October 14; Sunday, October 18; Friday, October 23 (All tours will be held at 3 pm)

• Gallery Talk: Maurice, Max and the Wild Things
Thursday, October 15 at 6pm

• Wild Things Family Day
Saturday, October 17 between 12 – 4pm

Full details of the programming are after the jump.

And stay tuned for more updates about the film as well as spotlights on some of the Rosenbach’s programming in the weeks to come.

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Food, music and more at Penn's Landing; Photos by R. Kennedy

The Caribbean Festival returns to Penn’s Landing, celebrating the culture of 14 islands through cuisine, music and fashion as part of the PECO Multicultural Series.

The sounds of the Caribbean will be in effect with live reggae, hip-hop, gospel and soca/calypso performers taking the stage throughout the afternoon along with poetry readings, island skits and creative dances.

Of course, it’s not a true festival without great food, and the Caribbean Festival does not disappoint. Vendors will be serving a variety of island cuisine, from jerk chicken to codfish cakes to roti, and everything in between.

Don’t leave the festival without stopping by the marketplace to browse displays of authentic Caribbean fashions, crafts, souvenirs and more. And if you have little ones with you, take a trip to the Children’s Corner where kids can explore African-Caribbean culture through games and other activities.

23rd Annual Caribbean Festival
Where: The Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing
When: Sunday, August 23rd, 2 to 8 pm
Cost: FREE!

Caribbean Festival 2009 [gophila.com]

All photos courtesy of Amada unless otherwise noted.

Amada is where it all began for Chef and Restaurateur Jose Garces.

Amada was Garces’ first restaurant — he opened it in 2005 and it attracted immediate crowds, national buzz and universal praise.

In the four years since opening Amada, Chef Garces has changed the face of Philadelphia’s dining scene and gained national recognition for his inspiring ability to elevate regional specialties to true delicacies.

Garces, who won the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic” award in 2009, now has four Latin-infused restaurants in Philadelphia — Amada, Tinto, Distrito and Chifa — with two more restaurants in the works. But Amada is still his baby.

For the month of August, Amada will serve a special version of their famed $55 Chef’s Tasting Menu, “La Mesa de Jose,” which will introduce eight of Chef Garces’ and Chef de Cuisine MacGregor Mann’s newest menu items, including both traditional and innovative takes on Andalusian classics.

For an additional $25, Amada’s acclaimed mixologists will pair their newest cocktails with Chef Garces’ James Beard Award-winning fare. (The new menu items and cocktails will also be available a la carte.)

“One of my favorite things about Amada is the continuous evolution of the menu,” says Garces. “When Chef Mann and I designed these new dishes, we were guided by the traditions of Spain and influenced by everything from local, seasonal ingredients to the creativity and knowledge of our staff. Our bar team has created some truly one-of-a-kind cocktails that pair brilliantly with these fresh flavors.”

Flamenco photo by B. Krist

The new menu items include: Merguez Conil y Hongos, rabbit sausage with sheep cheese cavatelli and chanterelles; Judias con Higos, haricots verts with La Peral blue cheese, mission figs and Marcona almonds; Atun Ruso, marinated yellowfin tuna with potato salad and black olive puree; Oysters with strawberry escabeche and cava granita; Tomates Frescos y Ajo, a Spanish flatbread topped with heirloom tomato, mezze sorrel and Mahon cheese; Atun a la Plancha, seared sushi-grade yellowfin tuna; and Chipirones a la Romana, fried baby squid with saffron aioli.

Click through for more info on the special August menu and a few more photos after the jump. (more…)

left, writing postcards (by G. Widman); right, Reading Terminal Market (by M. McClellan)

Most Philadelphians who live or work within in the vicinity of 12th and Market know that Reading Terminal Market is just about the best place in town to get lunch (where else offers so many meal options for just $7?). Tomorrow, there’s an additional reason to make Reading Terminal your midday destination.

From 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, the GPTMC “With Love” team will be hanging out in the Market’s Center Court with stacks of crisp, pre-stamped postcards. Stop by, write a card (or two!) and send them out to your friends and family (email’s got nothing on a note written by hand). Invite them to visit (promise them a pastrami sandwich at Hershel’s East Side Deli, it works every time). We’re working on getting 5,000 of these postcards sent out, so help us out and tell someone you care for about the city we love.

With Love Postcard Signing @ Reading Terminal Market
Friday, August 21st, 11AM – 2:30PM

Reading Terminal Market
12th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 922-2317

http://readingterminalmarket.org/