ThanksGavin 2018 :: All Things Andy Gavin

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White Elephant is Pretty White

Jan15

Location: 759 Huntingdon Pike, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006. (215) 663-1495

Date: November 26, 2019

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Fine, but “Americanized” Thai

This year for ThanksGavin 2019 we arrived a day early in Philadelphia and so went out locally with my parents and Aunt & Uncle to:

White Elephant, a nearby strip mall Thai.

They have nicely decorated the fairly boring space. No Thai (language) on the menu!

Some kind of lobster roll.

Crispy Roll. Filled with pork, bean thread, and julienne vegetables, then fried until crispy golden brown, and served with sweet and sour sauce.

Coconut Soup. Seafood combination in coconut milk , with galanga, lime juice, mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery and red bell peppers.

Mushroom Soup. Thai style fresh mushroom soup with herb and Marsala wine.

Chicken tenders and fries for the boy.

Thai Eggplant. Thai sweet eggplant sautéed until brown and stir fried with chicken, onion, carrot, broccoli, red bell pepper, basil and aromatic herbs.

Seafood Lover. Sautéed seafood medley of salmon, calamari, shrimp, scallop, and green shell mussels, with, Thai basil, onion, broccoli, carrot and red bell pepper in delicious and spicy sauce.

Sweet Surrender. Fillet of salmon crusted with pecan and baked to perfection, served with mellow apricot brandy sauce.

Chicken Panang Curry. Chicken cooked in a traditional delicious Panang curry sauce with coconut milk, broccoli, red bell pepper and green beans….Chicken/Beef.

Chu Chee Duck. Crispy roasted semi-boneless duck, served in a special red curry sauce flavored with pineapple.

Overall, this was tasty because Thai is always tasty — but it was pretty “whitebread” as you would expect from a Philly suburb strip mall. No Thai on the menu, spice and flavors toned down a bit.

For more Philly dining reviews click here.

More ThanksGavin events here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, Philadelphia, Thai cuisine, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018

Elephant Jumps

Jan18

Restaurant: Elephant Jumps

Location: 8110 Arlington Blvd, Entrance is on Gallows Rd., Falls Church, VA 22042. (703) 942-6600

Date: November 24, 2018

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Very nice modern Northern Thai

On our last night of the ThanksGavin 2018 trip, back in the Washington DC area, we decided to check out a new Thai place my parents have been frequenting.

This is a newer place and has a cute name.

And a newish large mall as its location.

The interior is small but cute.

THAI SPICY SHRIMP SOUP. Tom Yum Goong shrimp, mushroom in thai herbs spicy soup.

FRIED WATERCRESS SALAD. Yum Puk Num Todd Grob fried watercress. served with minced chicken, fresh lime juice, onion, chili sauce.

EGGPLANT BASIL. One of those traditional Thai preps, a light slightly sweet, slightly spicy basil sauce, with sliced eggplant being the “main” ingredient.

GREEN CURRY with CHICKEN. green curry paste, coconut milk, eggplant, mushroom, basil. Had a bit of heat, although nothing like Jitlada.

CRISPY COCONUT SHRIMP. Fried shrimp with lots of coconut in the batter. Like an excellent Thai version of the American appetizer classic!

Overall, Elephant Jumps was quite nice. Stylistically it’s a bit like a Northern Thai place like Renu Nakorn — including the big mall — but Elephant Jumps is a bit more modern and stylish, with a smaller menu and slightly less intense flavors. Still, you could smell the fish sauce in the air, this is real Thai, with a lot of flavor.

For more ThanksGavin dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, Elephant Jumps, Northern Thai, Thai, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018, Washington DC

Salty Saturday 2018

Jan16

Salty Saturday is the traditional family bagel and lox brunch we do on the Saturday after ThanksGavin.

For the last couple of years it’s been hosted at my cousin Matt’s house.

Prep work in the kitchen.

In his sunny dining room.

Across the way is the kids table.

And a look at the spread.

Olives.

Cucumbers and tomatoes as condiments.

Cucumbers and onions — looking pretty.

Capers and chives.

I like my cream-cheese with chives in it.

Muenster and Swiss. Always makes me think of the Muenster Rebellion but I love it still.

Two kinds of whitefish salad. Chunky smoked.

And creamy whitefish salad (lots of mayo). I actually like this one better.

Two kinds of lox, regular and pastrami lox — which I now love. Low salt too considering.

Pickled herring.

Roasted beets.

Matt made a frittata too.

And here is my plate — delicious but it did induce ridicule for including 4 full bagel halves!

To combat the salt, I also tried a strategy of pounding a cold press coffee, which seemed to work.

See here for more ThanksGavin posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Deli, Lox, Salmon, Salty Saturday, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018, thanksgiving, whitefish salad

Fatty Friday 2018

Jan14

It’s tradition at ThanksGavin (the 4 day feasting our family engages in each November) for one of my cousins to host the Friday Night dinner, which is like thanksgiving night all over again (but with different food). This year, Matt and his wife Andrea handled BOTH nights!

2015 Jacques Perritaz Cidrerie du Vulcain Apple Transparente.

Colorful peppers being prepped.

Appetizers of muhamara, tapenade, olives.

Cousin Matt ordered these incredible tomahawk steaks over the internet!

Check them out in scale.

Matt is on the left seasoning them.

And close up of before going on the grill.

Matt somehow got these tomahawk steaks perfectly cooked first try.

Because it was a steak, he made an awesome wedge to go with it — and with the romaine scare it was actually hard to find even iceberg lettuce.

The ice berg lettuce.

A fully prepped (minus tomato) wedge salad. Amazing rich blu cheese dressing.

Salmon for those who don’t eat meat.

Bread, peppers.

Greens.

Potatoes.

Cauliflower.

Amarone goes great with meat.

Here are the steaks being sliced.

And what was left about 10 minutes later.

Bone it!

For dessert, we begin with my mom’s rustic cranberry tart. Looks perfect doesn’t it?

Pumpkin — oops butternut squash — pie.

Grandma’s brownies and blondies.

Cut up.

Apple pie from the previous night.

Candies.

Ice cream for ala mode.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Steak, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018, thanksgiving, Wine

ThanksGavin 2018

Jan09

This year, after a brief California hiatus in 2016, ThanksGavin returned to Philadelphia last year — and continues in 2018 at my cousin Matt and his wife Andrea’s place.

Matt is in the back starting his kitchen prep.

But the OG crew, shown here, consisting of my mom and aunt are still on turkey duty!

From my cellar: 2006 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. BH 93. This is quite a bit riper though there is no overt exoticism present with aromas of peach, spiced pear and apricot that merge into exceptionally rich and relatively big flavors blessed with ample amounts of palate coating dry extract that completely buffer the firm spine of ripe acidity and intense finishing minerality. This is balanced and driving with a linear finish that slowly fans out as it lingers. Superb.

Crudités.

Potato chips cacio e pepe (baked with cacio cheese and pepper).

The infamous caponata.

On the stove.

Gravy simmering.

From my cellar: NV Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Grand Rosé. BH 90. Oeil de perdrix color introduces a fresh and mildly fruity nose of strawberry and raspberry scents where additional breadth is present in the form of yeast and citrus nuances. The cool and relatively crisp middle weight flavors possess good if not better depth before culminating in a relatively dry finish that is shaped by moderately firm effervescence. This is certainly very pretty but not particularly deep.

Turkey #1. BBQed in the Big Green Egg.

And Turkey #2. Done in the webber over charcoal.

From my cellar: 2003 Gros Frère et Sœur Grands-Echezeaux. BH 89-92. This too is very toasty but the spicy black fruit nose manages to transcend the wood and complements powerful, dense, borderline massive flavors of superb depth, all wrapped in dusty, firm and ripe tannins. This is a big wine and while it’s no model of elegance, one has to admire the muscle and sheer concentration. This will take its time coming around.

We have three kinds of homemade cranberry sauce!

Cranberry jelly.

Raw cranberry salsa — my least favorite but some love it.

My mom’s cranberry chutney with a bit of citrus and cayenne — probably my favorite.

Carrot salad.

Doubling down on the red are the roasted beets.

Bread and butter — Buster, the ever enthusiastic Retriever, even ate some of the excellent cranberry bread (much to everyone’s chagrin).

The “and butter” from above.

Brussels sprouts with walnuts.

Sweet potato with harissa and pistachios. Fabulous, but spicy.

Shallots.

From my cellar: 1999 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Vecchie Vigne Sorì Paitin. AG 92. The 1999 Barbaresco Sorì Paitin Vecchie Vigne is dark, powerful and opulent, with more than enough stuffing to age well for the better part of the next decade. Smoke, menthol, tar, black fruit and French oak blossom in the glass as this resonant, exuberant Barbaresco show off its unique, totally compelling personality. The French oak is present, but well balanced at the same time.
The turkey and stuffing plate!

Gravy.

And the whole spread.

My official plate for 2018!

From my cellar: 1975 Dow Porto Vintage. 93 points. Very nicely developed and it is drinking perfectly now.

Tower of sweets including Grandmom’s (recipe) brownies and blondies. Plus the every popular Jagielky candy’s.

Butternut squash pie (tastes just like pecan).

Apple tort.

My mom’s famous pecan pie, made totally from scratch.

Some various ice creams.

Overall, the best ThanksGavin food yet, even beating out the awesome 2017! It usually is, as the standards keep going up and up!

To see a list of all ThanksGavin meals over the here, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dessert, Philadelphia, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018, turkey, Wine

Georgian Bakery and Cafe

Jan07

Restaurant: Georgian Bakery and Cafe

Location: 11749 Bustleton Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19116. (215) 969-9900

Date: November 21, 2018

Cuisine: Georgian

Rating: Like bland Afghan

It’s tradition on the day before ThanksGavin, for us Gavins to go somewhere ethnic.

For the last 2-3 years we’ve been going to an Uzbek place but this year it was slightly shifted to a nearby Georgian place — oddly located next to the home depot.

Here’s the restaurant itself in what was clearly intended as a big box store space.

Inside is oddly sterile too. But we have a huge table to ourselves. There was one other large party but otherwise empty.

Some Prosecco to start.

Salad. Like a Greek salad.

Slightly different salad — with more garlic.

Eggplant paste toast — excellent.

Eggplant salad. Roasted.

Bread.

Boring “spicy” sauce. Wasn’t really spicy.

From my cellar: 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Great bottle, fully mature.

Weird sweet pomegranate juice or something. Very sweet and bland.

Fried chicken. Pressed flat.

Egg bread. Fried egg inside what is pretty much a pizza bread. Pretty good, if very mild.

Cheese bread. Sort of like a cheese pizza with no sauce. Bland but tasty.

2014 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots. 92 points. Bit of reduction. Pure, clean red fruit.

Georgian dumplings. Giant with thick skins. The meat inside was pretty good and these are clearly related to Chinese boiled dumplings. So heavy though! And badly badly need soy sauce, vinegar, and chili paste.

From my cellar: 1977 Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva. Mature, earthy, a touch sour.

Kabobs of the pork, veal, beef, and chicken variety.

Sturgeon. Ick. Reeked and tasted like seared heavy fish oil. I needed tongue therapy after this.

Peanut crunchy cake. This was dry but pretty good.

We had a fun night and service was diligent — although there was an odd very long (45 min?) gap between the dumplings and kabobs.

But the food, while well prepared, was quite bland. The Uzbek place we have gone to several times was tastier and a bit more varied — and Afghan food, which is very similar, has about 10X the flavor. Georgian seems to be like carbs, cheese, and fairly bland meat and mixed up with no seasonings.

For more Philly dining reviews click here.