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We couldn't name all of Marcie's accolades all in one place if we tried. She's a tour de force amping up Philadelphia's dining scene cred and we can't wait to see what's next from her. (Photo courtesy Marcie Turney)

In honor of this fall’s Center City District Restaurant Week, which kicked off last week and lasts through Friday, September 23, we’re running a short series of Q&As with some top Center City chefs whose restaurants are participating in the biannual promotion.

First up was Daniel Stern, Chef of R2L. Next, Anne Coll, Executive Chef at Meritage Restaurant & Wine Bar.

Now, we got the inside scoop from the venerable Chef Marcie Turney, helming the kitchens of Bindi, Lolita and Barbuzzo, and cleaning up foodie awards left and right. She was most recently featured in Food & Wine. She and partner Valerie Safran are co-empresses of 13th Street, recently crowned Best Restaurant Row by Philadelphia Magazine.

We got to chat with Marcie about repurposing ingredients in each of her three restaurants, her take on the awesome growth of Philly’s restaurant scene and more. Check it out:

Uwishunu: An exciting new aspect of this fall’s Restaurant Week, in partnership with Philly Homegrown, is the inclusion of a fresh, local dish on each participating restaurant’s menu. What’s your favorite local ingredient to use or local dish to make?

Chef Turney: My favorite local ingredient to use in the kitchen are tomatoes. We have so many varieties of local tomatoes on all three of our Restaurant Week menus: Barbuzzo has sungolds with the pan seared gnocchi; Bindi has a mix of heirloom tomatoes in the tomato-ginger chutney with the parsi chicken liver mousse; and Lolita has crazy amounts from fresh salsas to the house smoked tomato “crying salsa” on the murrays chicken breast a la parilla.

Uwishunu: We can’t wait to try them all. Speaking of multiple awesome restaurants, Philly’s dining scene is thriving more than ever before. What do you think makes it great?

Chef Turney: 15 years ago Philadelphia’s restaurant scene was just cheesesteaks shops (don’t get me wrong, I love a good cheesesteak!) and high-end dining, but now you’re seeing chefs make their mark in a variety of ways with some great gastro-pubs, BYOBs and farm-to-table restaurants. It’s an exciting time for Philadelphia’s culinary scene.

Uwishunu: To that end, when you’re off the clock during Restaurant Week or otherwise, what is one of your favorite places to go for a bite?

Chef Turney: Val and I love to go to Varga Bar or Pub & Kitchen.

Uwishunu: What Philly spots do you take out-of-towners to, food-related or otherwise?

Chef Turney: My favorite place to take out–of-towners would be Reading Terminal Market. There’s something for everyone, from the Fair Food stand to the Amish pastries, meat/seafood counters or the roasted pork noodle soup from Sang Kee. I’ve gone there for over 10 years and I still see the same friendly faces behind the counters.

Bonus: don’t forget you can still enter to win one of two $100 restaurant gift cards, one to The Dandelion and Fork. You have until tomorrow at noon!

Center City District Restaurant Week
When: September 12-16 and September 18-23
Where: Center City District
Cost: $35 for dinner, $20 for lunch
More info: www.centercityphila.org/restaurantweek

Not only were both Barbuzzo and Bindi featured in the September restaurant issue of Bon Appetit, but Chef Marcie Turney, the Wonder Woman behind the two restaurants’ kitchens, was also featured in the September issue of Food & Wine.

Bon Appetit included recipes from the two restaurants with gorgeous photographs of the dishes to match: Barbuzzo’s citrus-marinated olives and Budino dessert (the restaurant’s #1 selling item) as well as Bindi’s gluten-free lentil cakes and yogurt raita.

In Food & Wine, nine original Marcie recipes are laid out in all their glory, from Indian barbecue chicken to bruschetta with mozzarella and smashed fresh favas, and everything in between, proving her impressive culinary acumen.

Accolades very well-deserved, all around.

Marcie Turney: New Ideas for Chicken, Pasta and Bread [Food & Wine]

Bon Appetit Magazine [Official Site] — September issue not yet posted

Left to right: Chefs Marcie Turney of Barbuzzo, Jennifer Carroll of 10 Arts and Erin O'Shea of Percy Street Barbecue.
(Photos courtesy Barbuzzo, 10 Arts and Percy Street)

In honor of Women’s History Month, and inspired by Where Magazine’s recent “Girl Power!” piece, we’ve rounded up some of the cream of the female cooking crop in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia has an amazing roster of female chefs and they’re doing their part to make sure even more women get into the game.

Below, there are some super familiar faces, and some less so. Let us know if there are any we forgot!

• Jennifer Carroll, 10 Arts at the Ritz-Carlton: The Top Chef and Top Chef All-Stars alum is a hometown gal; she grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and attended the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in University City. Jen worked as sous chef at Eric Ripert’s prestigious Le Bernardin in New York, after which Ripert recruited her to lead 10 Arts’ kitchen. Check out our exclusive interview with Jen back in ’09 here.

• Marcie Turney, Lolita, Bindi, Barbuzzo: Turney and partner Valerie Safran are an unstoppable entrepreneurial duo: they’re responsible in large part for a complete overhaul of Midtown Village’s 13th Street, opening seven businesses all to critical acclaim. You can’t go wrong with either Lolita’s modern Mexican, Bindi’s farm-fresh Indian or Barbuzzo’s inventive Mediterranean. Also check out the pair’s special We Heart Philly gift series.

• Erin O’Shea, Percy Street Barbecue: We don’t need Bon Appetit Magazine to tell us that Erin O’Shea is one of the country’s best, and only, female barbecue pit mistresses. Formerly of West Philadelphia’s cozy BYOB Marigold Kitchen, O’Shea serves up some of the city’s best Southern food. Watch her demonstrate how she makes her Root Beer Chili here. Or just make a reservation and drool over her food in person.

• Susanna Foo, Susanna Foo Gourmet Kitchen: For more than 25 years Susanna Foo has changed the paradigm of Chinese food, melding traditional Chinese dishes with classical French techniques. Susanna and her restaurant have earned national acclaim (two James Beard Awards, Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs award). But it comes down to this: one taste of her handcrafted dumplings will slay you.

Lots more, below.

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Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran’s Bindi brings back Thali Tuesdays starting today, February 8.

A thali is a round tray made up of a selection of different Indian dishes. The Thali Tuesday special, on hiatus since last November, features a choice of three main dishes (meat, fish or vegetarian) accompanied by seven sides, all for $20.

The latest menu includes Malabar spiced skirt steak, tapioca crusted Arctic char and Sindhi eggplant as the three mains. The sides include salt roasted beet Chaat, Punjabi style cabbage, Calcutta chick pea curry, Basmati lime rice, coconut chutney, cranberry chutney and date-pecan-goat cheese Paratha flatbread.

In other exciting Bindi news, the restaurant now accepts reservations every day, including Friday and Saturday evenings. Call (215) 922-6061.

Bindi
105 S. 13th Street
www.bindibyob.com

Wine and charcuterie at Midtown Village newcomer Barbuzzo. (Photo courtesy Barbuzzo)

This “Beaujolais Day,” Thursday, November 18th — the annual official release day of Beaujolais Nouveau, a red wine produced in the Beaujolais region of France — Midtown Village is offering more than a dozen ways to celebrate. Starting at 5 p.m., the wine will be flowing and the Francophilia fervent.

Bars and Restaurants

Vintage Wine Bar: Complimentary Gougeres (French cheese puff) all night, and Beaujolais soap samples from Duross & Langel. Also special $8 glasses of Beaujolais Nouveau.
Barbuzzo: Five course, $45 per person Beaujolais Nouveau wine/food tasting menu.
Zavino Wine Bar Pizzeria: $15 Beaujolais-braised short rib pizza and $8 Beaujolais cocktails.
McGillins Old Ale House: Half priced McGillins famous French Onion soup and $5 glasses of Beaujolais Nouveau.
Time Restaurant: Discounted Beaujolais and cheese pairings.
BAR: Beaujolais Jell-O shots.
El Vez: $4 Beaujolais Sangria.
Bindi: $20 Beaujolais-inspired thali.
Lolita: $20 “Beaujolais Thanksgiving!” dinner.

Retailers

Duross & Langel: Complimentary wine tasting plus onsite demonstration of the creation of Beaujolais soaps and lip balms in the soap masters kitchen.
Verde: Beaujolais chocolate samples plus wine tasting.
Absolute Abstract Art: Complimentary Beaujolais and 25% discount on all French artwork.
Open House: Wine tasting and tabletop sale on serving pieces from France.
Paper on Pine: Complimentary wine and special discounts.
Scarlet Fiorella: Complimentary wine and sale on French furniture and pillows.

Midtown Village
13th and Sansom Streets
www.midtownvillage.org

Barbuzzo will be the first non-BYOB restaurant from Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran. (Photos courtesy Barbuzzo)

Later this month, Chef Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran, the pioneering entrepreneurs whose five restaurants and boutiques on 13th Street have helped transform the neighborhood over the past decade, will debut their sixth venture, Barbuzzo, a Mediterranean kitchen and bar, also to be located on South 13th Street.

With a wood-burning oven for pizzas and roasting, and decorative elements such as italian marble and reclaimed woods, Barbuzzo will evoke the atmosphere of a Mediterranean farmhouse.

Barbuzzo’s menu will feature rustic, hand crafted regional fare such as Wood Oven Roasted Sardines, with piquillo pepper and preserved lemon; Burrata Mozzarella with chicory, spiced walnuts, honey and fried rosemary; Squid ink Fideo with clams, cumin and chickpeas; Minted Pea Tagliatelle with braised pork, fave beans and pig cracklings; and Pizza Uovo with spring onion, guanciale, fave leaves and farm egg. AND housemade Pork Rinds.

Menu items will range in price from $3 to $20.

Menu items will range from $3 to $20. (Photos courtesy of Barbuzzo)

Executive Chef Turney’s globe trotting culinary style modernizes and elevates traditional ethnic fare: Mexican at Lolita, Indian at Bindi, and now Mediterranean at Barbuzzo. She focuses on full-flavored dishes that allow the often-unusual ingredients of foreign culinary styles to shine.

Barbuzzo will also feature signature cocktails influenced by flavors of the Mediterranean and a frequently changing wine list focusing on boutique wine form small European producers to best complement Turney’s cuisine.

30 wines will be available by the bottle, as well as six reds and six whites offered by the glass or quartino.

As for the restaurant’s design, Barbuzzo’s distinctive look and feel will include reclaimed wood table tops that date back 350 years, flooring salvaged from the pilings of a Maryland harbor dock, and gray Italian marble counter tops.

Barbuzzo will feature a wood-burning oven for pizzas and roasting. (Photos courtesy Barbuzzo)

Seating will be a mixture of distressed church pews and French bistro chairs in gunmetal gray. The kitchen is centered around the steel-clad, wood burning oven used to bake Neapolitan pizzas and to roast meats, fish and vegetables.

The restaurant’s 68 seats include a 12-seat bar, a 14-seat kitchen counter and seasonal open-air cafe seating.

Barbuzzo will serve 12 pm to 12 am daily.

Barbuzzo [Official Site]

Lamb @ Meritage, Photo courtesy the restaurant

My grandmother told me the story of her crazy next-door neighbor, Bolz, who once brought a baby lamb to his farm. The aptly named Lamakins acted more like a dog than a farm animal, escorting the kids to school, playing fetch in the yard and pleading for attention with his big brown eyes. Noting his absence during a neighborhood gathering, my g-mom asked Bolz where Lamakins was, to which he simply replied, In the freezer.

Turns out, Bolz was simply a man ahead of his time.

You’ve probably seen one of the recent food trend articles spotlighting the sudden emergence of lamb as the it menu item these days. Far from its status as a Greek eatery-only meat, Mary’s little friend is everywhere, and we’re loving the delectable craze. Here are some of our Philly lamb picks you should add to your must-eat list:

* Paesano’s Gustaio sandwich, piled with roasted lamb sausage, sun-dried cherry mustard, gorgonzola and fennel, gives you yet another reason to make a trip to the Italian Market this weekend. As if you need one.

* Marc Vetri gets in on the lamb love with his small plates of roasted lamb and potatoes at Amis and lamb shank ravioli at Osteria.

* Don’t let the name embarrass you, say it loud and say it proud when you order the “blithering idiot braised lamb shank,” complete with turnip puree and Brussels sprout escabeche, at terra.

* Ask the knowledgeable staff at Meritage to recommend the perfect wine to pair with your grilled New Zealand lamb chops with a fricasse of fava beans, artichokes and asparagus.

* Bring your own accompaniment when you dine on Bindi’s lamb rogan josh, comprising grilled chops and braised neck.

* For local Chinese comfort food, head to Kong for crispy Mongolian lamb dumplings with pine nuts and pickled eggplant.

* Decisions decisions. After you pick your bottle from the wine room at Garces Trading Company, choose the pappardelle with lamb ragu or the Colorado lamb chops.

More delicious picks after the jump!

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Last week, Bindi launched their new ‘Thali Tuesdays’ special. For $20, you can enjoy a large sampling of delicious Indian dishes at the BYOB.

Guests have their choice of meat, fish, or vegetarian options. I’ve pasted the menu after the jump. Have a look!

Bindi
105 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 922-6061
www.bindibyob.com

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Flower Show Chocolate by Marcie Blaine

Marcie Blaine Turney, the chef/owner of Lolita and Bindi, is offering up a new line of her artisanal chocolates, with six flavors inspired by the Philadelphia Flower Show. The new flavors include:

Elderflower Mint
Lavender Vanilla
Hibiscus Lime
Chamomile Lemon
Rosewater Strawberry
Wildflower Honey Caramel

The chocolates come in 4, 6, 15, and 24 piece assortments, and are available at Verde.

Not in Philadelphia and want to order a box? Marcie Blaine ships her artisan chocolates all over. For shipping rates and prices, call the number below.

Verde + Marcie Blaine Artisanal Chocolates
108 S. 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 546-8700
www.marcieblaine.com