It's Monday, and you know what that means, another edition of the first time I ever. Today's dish…roasted Peking duck. I'm not going to lie, this is not going to be easy. I was an extremely young kid when I had Peking duck for the first time. So I'm going to remember it as much as I could. I had to be at least 6 or 7, and I was in my parent's restaurant in Blackwood, NJ. Ku Fu Kitchen I believe it was, anywhoo I remember my father coming back from Chinatown in Philadelphia, and he carried with him these two greasy brown paper bags. As a little kid looking up from the metal prep table, I saw him pulled out two giant birds, one was a brown smooth roasted chicken, and the other? The succulent, lacquered dark skin beauty, with the waft of cinnamon, soy, ginger, garlic, and so much other spices in the air. What was this magical animal that my dad was chopping up, and I'll tell you what it was, it was the magical Peking duck.
I remember how my dad set it up, plate, breast side on one side and the dark meat on the other with the drumstick sticking out. Since I was the youngest and most spoiled, my dad gave me the best part, the drumstick. I remember dunking it in the delicious sauce that it came with on the side, and I took my first bite. It was this savory bite of this delicious meat, not gamy at all, and the skin, oh my god, the skin. It was this crispy sweet taste and delicious with the savory meat and dripping with grease and salty sauce. I took that whole thing and made sure I dipped off all that sauce into my rice and gobbled that entire thing down. I was pretty happy about the experience from what I remember, because every chance I get, I order duck. Oh, and if you are going to complain to me that that is not peking duck, well fudge off. I didn't have hoison sauce and I didn't have pancakes.
Well that's how that goes, now i wish I had more Peking duck right now. Mmmm…tasty.
This is by far my favorite food on earth. If I was dying and I had to request a last meal, it would be a John's Roast Pork cheesesteak with American Cheese and fried onions. Ahhh, death wouldn't be so bad with one of these things in the wings.
However my first foray into Philly cheesesteaks wasn't JRP, I went down the path of so many other Philadelphians and tourists. My first cheesesteak was at Pat Olivieri's. Pat's King of Steaks. I remember it being the best thing I've ever had. Now mind you this wasn't my first cheesesteak ever, but my first Philly Cheesesteak ever, everything else was a Jerseyian steak, with American cheese and mushrooms. However Pat's, everything was a process, where to park, ordering it, where to eat it, what can I get, do I order drinks or fries? Everything was a process. I remember my first approach at ordering, I made sure I had the lingo down, all I ever heard was, make sure you order it correctly don't fuck up the ordering process. Just remember these two words, wiz wit, or if you don't like onions, wiz witout.
I always remember parking close to 10th and E. Passyunk, and then walking a block towards Federal to get there, not a far walk, but enough to get me to memorize those to words. I remember standing there at 1 a.m. with my brother, still in middle school and watching all the drunk people stumbling and ordering their sandwiches. My brother let me order it on my own, and I order my first wiz wit. I remember asking him where did he want to eat, we were going to sit on those red benches, but someone took our seats, so we walked backed to our car and got ourselves ready for a meal. This wasn't my brother's first, but I remember him waiting for my reaction. I took my first bite, and everything burst out of it, cheese, onions, grease, steak. It was a glorious greasy mess, a delicious greasy mess. I remember the chopped up ribeye, those oh so tender chopped onions, and that luscious tasty tasty molten lava of cheese wiz.
When you have your first Philly steak, you're going to remember it, I sure did. I've gone on to have many many many more cheesesteaks in Philly some great, some not so great, but I always remember my first, and boy was it mighty mighty tasty.
I decided it has been a little bit since I've wrote a new blog, and well since I'm writing a new blog in August I wanted to do an entirely new segment called, "First Time I Ever." This segment will consist of me explaining my experience of eating whatever it is I ever ate for the first time ever. I figure I'll do this every Monday, and for today, I'll let you know how my first time I ever ate pho went. So with that, on to the show.
Ahhh…pho, who doesn't like a big brothy delicious bowl of goodness with meats, noodles, and veggies. I guess the first time I had pho was in Philadelphia in 99. Still in high school, still young wild and free; and food to me was good, but never as important as it is to me now. Growing up in a Chinese restaurant, I was so sick and tired of eating Asian food at this point, but pho was different. It reminded me of something that I never had before, and all these flavors and spices were just amazing.
However, I ate pho like an idiot as a child. I hate herbs as a kid. I hate spices, I hate the way anything that wasn't to my liking tasted. I was such a novice eating pho. I took this vibrant delicious noodle soup dish and just demolished the likes of it. I added and not added things that needed to be added. Sriracha, hoison, bean sprouts, and jalapeño. This is all okay to add, but I ate it like an idiot and just added things without even trying the damn soup; oh, and herbs, no Thai basil for me, so stupid. Anyway lets go back to that first spoonful.
I still remember my very first spoonful. Soup, rare steak, and a little onion. That first bite was just amazing. I muddled that clear soup with hoison sauce and sriracha, but it gave me this deep and spicy spoonful. The meat was cooked and so tender and that bite just bit right back. I could taste everything, spicy, salty, rich, and just a hint of sour due to that squeeze of lime. It was this amazing amalgamation of flavor and definitely sensory overload. Now I knew why this dish was so famous and popular, across the sea. It was everything you want in a bite of food and was just amazing.
I'll always remember my first time I ever ate pho, and I may eat it a little differently now, but that first time will be forever ingrained in my memory. Just so you know, how I eat pho now goes like this. I start with tearing all of my Thai basil and place them in my soup. I skip the jalapeño and bean sprouts, and add a touch of black pepper and sriracha, just a touch. I take that first slurp from my spoon of that amazing full body soup, and a little piece of that basil, and all I can taste is this rich and pepper soup from the basil and it's so so so good.
Ah, my first memory of pho…great.
Well, until next time…watch some Doug Funnie and have a clue of my first experience for my next food. It's a sandwich.
Well look at this? Writing something fancy and new. Do I start a food blog where I share my recipes and ideas? Or do I continue writing about my nonsensical life? Lets do that instead. Since there I'm not quite sure about sharing my restaurant ideas and recipes just yet.
Okay, so these past few months have been…I don't know what's the word? Bird…no seriously, I guess hellacious would be the word to sum it up. I've been staying with Wei for the last 6 4 months. Study for my series 56 exam, which just crumbled on top of me. I know more about stocks and options and AML rules then I could ever possibly want to imagine. That's 200 hours I'm never getting back, which was all for naught. I've been looking for new recipes to cook up, new apartment in a new city to find, and all in all the excitement of not knowing what I am doing in my thirties has struck me blind and dumb. Thirty is off to a great start.
Look, I'm not even sure anymore what I'm writing in here. I was honestly thinking of making this a solid food blog, or something kooky and exciting like that. But I'm going to be one hundred percent real here. This blog was never meant to be that. This blog was here to let me get shit off my chest, talk what was on my mind, and throw ideas out there. I'm going to continue writing about food, music, work, life, and all that other hogwash I'm known to writing because honestly, I have a ton of free time at the moment, and the job hunt is going.
So, speaking of job hunts, I've been applying to everything. Between going back to a legal firm, to finance, to writing for social media sites, I'm all over this map. I think I said it before, thirty is turning into a hell of a year. Hah! The year of the unknown abyss. That's what this is turning into, oof fah.
Anyway, lets talk about this movie Chef. So Jon Favreau is a fine dining chef who is then critiqued and lambasted by one of the most famous food critics in the world. His world comes crashing down after his implosion on the critic is recorded and plastered all over the internets, and he succumbs to opening a food truck. Look, I'm not saying I'm the greatest chef on earth, hell I'm not saying I'm a chef at all. I'm a guy that loves food, knows a lot about food, and know my way around beignets to ike jime fish. The idea of opening a food truck has always been in the back of my mind. I'm been contemplating it for years. After many failed attempts to open a restaurant, maybe it is time for me to open a food truck. Maybe it's time to look into buying a 15K-20K truck, and just decking the shit out of it and driving all across this great land of ours to spread the joy I want. I only want one thing in life and that is to bring happiness to people with my food.
Well I guess I'm going to make Cuban sandwiches tomorrow. Then again I'm doing it my way with an Asian twist. Roasted an entire pork butt for last 8 hours. Soy, cinnamon, whole star anise, fish sauce, hoison, five spice, ginger, salt, pepper, and garlic. It was what I imagined, next step is making this Cubano and seeing how an Asian twist works with this sandwich against the original mojo. I will keep you guys posted.
Last night we went to an awesome Chinese restaurant called Handy-Nasty, okay it's really called Han Dynasty. It this great spicy Chinese food place, and we then went out for some drinks after. Of course this after included a trip to the Spruce Street Harbor. Wow, talk about pretty, very pretty, with beer stalls, foods, hammocks, and hanging lights, lots of lights. Of course there was a trip to the Franklin Fountain, and of course a drink at the Gaslight. Man we went to a ton of places last night, but the last and final stop was at Dos Segundos. My all time favorite bar in the city.
So some background, I've started going to Dos Segundos for almost two years now. The first time I ever went, I believe it was August 31st of 2012, and it was a half day man day. I went with Brandon and Jason. It was a magical day. Cheesesteaks, drinks, great day. Then Jaypo took me to this magical bar, and well, that's where I got the huge crush on the wonderful bartender at this bar. At this point I knew her as the girl with the yellow shirt, and she was the sweetest bartender I met in NoLibs that day.
A couple of weeks after, I went back again, and there she was again. The best part is, once she remembers you, you'll be remember forever. I guess that's the best thing about her. Since then I've always been known as the birthday boy, and whenever she's at the bar, that's where I want to sit. Oh, and why birthday boy you ask? Well, that's Dave's fault. He told her it was my birthday and I wasn't allowed to pay. As I was leaving, I told her it wasn't my birthday, we had a giggle after that. Man, she saw me drunk a lot in the beginning.
Since then Segundos became one of my favorite bars in the city to go to for the last 2 years. Well lets be honest, it's always going to be one of my favorite bars, but this bartender made this bar for me. With her friendly attitude and demeanor, to her witty comments, and to her attention to details to all of her customers. Okay, and I'll admit it again, I had a huge crush on her too, but then again who in this city didn't have a huge crush on her? I don't know, I read somewhere she was Philly's best bartender or something or another. So, she's earned it.
Now it's an odd thing when you become a regular at a bar. It either means you are extremely friendly and likable person, or you just drink way too much for any human being. Knowing myself, it may be a little from column A and a little from column B. I've had a few bars that I became regulars at. First being Clancy's Bar and Pub in Sewell, NJ, the next one being Stone Grill in Blackwood, NJ. Since then, I've bar hopped to a lot of different places. I skipped out from clubs and going to the bar just made my life so much easier.
Those two bars above I had regular bartenders/waitresses that took care of me and my friends. Clancy's I had Jill, she was amazing, and sweet as a pie. Stone Grill, I knew so many bartenders it lost all meaning. I'm actually still friends with two of them today. Hey Kamila, hey Casey, what's up? They were awesome bars, I actually kinda miss Stone Grill a lot. It was close to my house, cheap, and everyone was awesome and nice. Free drinks were always a plus too.
Dos Segundos, my most recent and latest place to be a regular for me. Their bartender made it great for me, and I came back week after week. Oh, and their pitchers of margaritas, mojitos, and food did too. For a while there I was traveling to Philly every week for their beverages and food, and as always, the girl in the yellow shirt…
Yesterday though was kind of a sad day. As I approached the bar with Jarret, Rachel, and Cara I saw the girl in the yellow shirt working the bar as always. We made our greeting, and right on cue she already knew the usual order. However, tonight was different I told her, and it was just going to be a night cap, and we were all going to just get separate items. She made our drinks, with her friendly smile, and great bartending skills. Once we got our drinks we socialized for a bit, I talked to Jarret about our future options, his future possibilities, and my future possibilities. I watched her defuse a drunk gentleman looking for, "The dustiest bottle of whiskey on her shelf," by stating, "Well we dust our bottles ever 2 weeks, and gave her signature smile. As she turned away from the gentleman and looked at me, I gave her the grin, and she knew the inside joke we were both thinking about this guy and we both giggled. That's what made her great. We finished our drinks, I paid up, and began walking away. I gave her a wave to let her knew we were leaving, and as I did so she waved me back to come back. Of course I did, and that's when she told me, "Today's my last day." As soon as the words were uttered out of her mouth, I don't know why, it felt like someone punched me in the stomach. It came as a shock, and I was seriously sad. I didn't know this girl that long, I don't know a ton about her, but her smile and sweet personality made me wish I did. All I can do was hold and shake her hand, wish her nothing but the best in the new city she was heading off too and congratulate her on her new epic journey. Still in shock, we said our goodnights, and I couldn't utter anything else. I should've asked for her number or at least a social media thing where we could stay in contact. I just couldn't believe a person that I kinda saw on a regular basis on the weekends was no longer going to be there any more.
I know she may never see this, or she even know my name, but birthday boy will always remember hers, just like everyone else that has slung me drinks in my lifetime. You will forever be ingrained in my brain and stitched in a place in my heart, not only because you gave me alcoholic beverages, but also because you were someone I wish I could have known more, someone I knew who would lead an interesting life that I'm attempting to lead. Someone who I think has no fear of change, since she can just uproot everything and move all the way across the country, someone whom I actually inspire to be like. Here's to the girl in the yellow shirt, here is to Marie Rodriguez.
I honestly wasn't going to write this blog tonight. However after constantly hearing story after story, I'm just going to throw in my two cents, and my feelings towards the death of a man we should all know. If you have no idea who I'm talking about by now, the answer is Robin Williams.
We've had a lot of celebrity deaths this year, from Phillip Seymour Hoffman to our very own Ghostbuster Harold Ramis. However, it's Robin Williams death that just felt like someone punched us in the gut. No one expected this, no one even knew. I think the worst part is that everyone thought he was okay, and nothing even close to the idea of depression was seen.
Depression is a hell of an illness. Everyone deals with it in a certain way. Some people don't deal with it at all, and they just live with it. I remember when I was going through a tough time in my life, and my way to deal it? Alcohol, and a lot of it. Not one or two or three drinks a night, more of a bottle a night. This is how I dealt with my depression, but I got out, from the love of my friends and my own realization that drinking my depression and sorrow away would solve anything. I think it's when you have that realization, that's when you can reach your first steps of getting out of depression. However it looks as though for Robin, he never was able to reach that realization, and he never got that help he may have needed.
But let's discuss Mr. Williams. His standup was hilarious, he had this energy and craziness that made him stand out, he had the stylings of Jonathan Winters, and well you either loved his standup or you didn't. I for one loved it. Like I said, he was crazy, wild, eccentric, and hilarious.
However, it was not just Mr. Williams comedic sense that was amazing, but Robin Williams was also an amazing actor. You saw Robin Williams caring and nurturing side in Dead Poet's Society and Good Will Hunting, to his crazy and fun side in Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire, to even his psychotic crazy side in One Hour Photo. The range on this man is amazing, he has it all. It's seriously a crazy how good this guy was at acting, everyone thought he was straight up comedic, however Williams have so much range, and he deserved his Academy Award.
Look, I'm not going to lie, get the message out, if you know someone that has mentioned being depressed, or just seems down in general. Give them a shoulder, get them some help, let them talk it out. It sucks, and being depressed happens, but not being able to talk about it, and not being able to discuss it sucks even worse. It's getting out there to help someone sometimes. You know, Williams spent his entire life making people happy and laughing, but in the end Robin Williams last final scene, has made us all cry just a little bit deep down inside. We'll miss you forever Robin, I hope you finally found peace at last. We're already missing you already.
I would have really loved to have posted this on Sunday, but definitely way too tired and possibly still inebriated from Saturday's amazing wedding. I'll get to that, but for now, lets talk about the amazingness that was George and Suzanne's wedding.
August 8, 2014 started off like any other morning. But this morning was going to be different, that night I was going to my friends' rehearsal dinner. Picked up my tux, saw George and Tom, and then had a lovely lunch. Thanks again George, and then finally meet up with Dave, Jay, Steffie, and Jillian. Head on over to the church on 5th and Girard and began the wedding rehearsal. Let me tell you this by the way, this church. This church was amazing. I've seen a lot of churches. I've been to Notre Dame in Paris, and well, honestly this church is impressive. http://360.io/P5AnK2 Check it out, it's really an amazing church, coming from the Buddhist by the way.
Next, we were off to dinner at the Tower, a fantastic and lovely dinner. However it was the heartfelt message that was given by Georgie's parents and George and Suzanne themselves. It was amazing, just how much love was in this thing I knew George and Suzanne's family were all extremely close, and this dinner made me feel nothing but that love in the room. It was honestly a great evening, but it definitely was not the big day. The big day was going to happen within 10-12 hours from now.
August 9, 2014 - The day started at roughly around 8:00 a.m. for me. I was extremely excited, like it was going to be my day. However, it wasn't me that I was excited for, but for the lovely couple that were going to become man and wife that day. Steffie dropped me and Dave off at George's house. From there, me and Dave had a scotch and waited for the photographer to drop on by. Helped Georgie with his tux and waited for the limo to come by as well. The photographer made us take some great pictures, and it was definitely a great time. Best part though, George not wanting to do the Dutch rudder with me. Damn it George, damn it…hahaha just kidding buddy, just kidding. After a few rounds of PS2 and a few rounds of pool, the groomsmen were on there way to the church to see George get married.
As we quietly ushered all the guest into the church, and the church quickly filled up, I could see George and Andy across the way. You can tell the nerves behind George was finally growing and getting bigger inside him. I thought the feeling was that point where you're going up on the roller coaster before the big hill down. The rise just kept coming, in a few we would all be standing by Georgie's side.
This may have been my favorite part of the day. As we all waited for Suzanne's arrival and her being walked down by her father. The look in George's eyes, the fidgetiness like it was Christmas morning for this man, was up and down all over his body. This may have been one of the most amazing thing to see, this is what love is like, this is what love is suppose to be. To be extremely excited, even after years of being together, but on this day you can weep, and get so excited that for that one moment in time, nothing else matter, nothing in the world will ever be as important as this moment in time, and for that one moment in time, I saw all of this on Georgie's face. The face of pure joy and love.
Suzanne, looked gorgeous, Georgie looked so handsome, and the entire wedding/mass was amazing. I learned a ton that day, and I watched two friends get married. After the incredible wedding, we took amazing pictures, both in the church and somewhere near Independence Hall area. Afterwards we headed towards the reception.
At the reception, it was nothing but amazingness. Cocktail hour was great, and the food was even better…however this is where everything goes a little dark for Wei. I drank way too much in an extremely short amount of time. At this point, the only thing I remember was tangoing with Marissa as our entrance theme, and more continuous drinking. Yup…amazing.
George and Suzanne, I wish you nothing but the best and an amazing future. Currently you're on your honeymoon, and I'm hoping you guys are having the time of your lives. But remember it's not all fun and games, you guys are going to be on a long and loving journey. For you both, I raise a glass and wish you all the love that you both have been giving each other for years.
