In early April, Citizens Bank Park challenged local fans to pick a signature hot dog from three gourmet choices (all of which are far too good to be placed into an air powered hot dog launcher). The winner, the South Philly Dog, consists of broccoli rabe, spicy roasted peppers, sharp provolone and a grilled, juicy Nathan’s dog in an Italian roll.

Bridget Foy’s hosted its own in-house hot dog contest using the same choices and the South Philly Dog was again a clear frontrunner. Originally offered as a special during home games only, due to popular demand you can now get the South Philly dog, fries and a Kenzinger draft for $8 during all Phils games this season. All of the flavors are balanced wonderfully – the rabe is not at all bitter and the spicy roasted peppers add just enough kick. Most enjoyably, the entire thing is slightly toasted allowing the cheese to melt and cover the rest of the ingredients.

What’s also delicious are each and every one of the new burgers offerings on the menu. All of the burgers are made from a generous half-pound Angus beef patty. Traditionalists can enjoy the Standard Burger with Wisconsin cheese, shaved romaine, tomato and red onion. For veggie lovers, the house-made veg burger is a solid choice with black beans, mushrooms and spinach, topped with gruyere and pesto aioli.

We specifically sought out the Head House Market Burger, which has herb mayo, gruyere and sauteed mushrooms, indulgently topped with a fried egg. Truth be told, gruyere simply isn’t one of my favorite cheeses and I honestly do not even like mushrooms. However, this burger had flavor unlike many.

Unfortunately waiting for a repeat visit, the New Mexico Burger (roasted green chilies, pepperjack, chipotle aioli) and Turkey Burger (cranberry relish, avocado aioli, gruyere, alfalfa sprouts) each sound like winning decisions. All of the burgers can come with a side of greens and of course fries. The hand-cut fries can be paired with two of several house-made dipping sauces: house mayo, chipotle aioli, jalapeno ketchup, bourbon dijon and my personal favorite, garlic cumin ranch. One of those repeat visits might just have to happen on a Wednesday night for Bridget Foy’s Beer & A Burger $10 special, available on their 2nd floor Copper Bar from 7-10pm. Watching a Wednesday night Phillies game with friends and prefacing the burger special with a South Philly Hot Dog as an appetizer might just be the recipe for a fantastic evening.

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Bridget Foy’s
200 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 (Google Map)

For a few months now we’ve been privy to Peter McAndrews’ and Nathan Baynes’ plans to introduce an Italian Market location of their wildly successful Paesano’s Philly Style. Last week word spread that the shop was nearing an open. Hastily, lunch plans were made for that Friday. However, those plans had to regretfully be postponed. Today, after impatiently waiting for five very long days, we were able to stop into the new location on the northwest corner of 9th and Christian, on their first day open to the public.

Following in the footsteps of the first shop on Girard Ave., the owners of Modo Mio have once again impressed us with a little bit of sandwich heaven. Generously, heaven has added four new angels on its menu: The Liveracce, Bolagnese, Meatloaf Parmesan and Pesce Fritti. Aside from new sandwiches, Minestrone soup and a Chopp salad will also find their place as fixtures. With the new location comes a larger kitchen and a dining area that will allow customers to sit down, and enjoy every breathtaking bite.

Like their predecessors, these sandwiches all have an explosive multitude of flavor in each and every bite, stemming from Chef McAndrews’ slow cooked approach. The Liveracce is seared beef liver topped with sauteed onions, iceberg lettuce, roasted tomato and gorgonzola on an Italian long roll with a spread of garlic mayo. Baynes remarked that as always, the sandwiches are constantly being improved, and told us that the Liveracce will most likely be finalized with the addition of hot sauce and salami in the near future.

The Bolagnese, is something of a guilty pleasure for McAndrews, apparently, he’s eaten it forever — and we sure are glad he’s decided to release it to the public. Crispy-fried lasagna bolagnese is dotted with smoked parmesan and topped with the chef’s favorite, a fried egg. Baynes tells us that it would be delicious when paired with red wine. A subtle hint that the shop is BYO? The Meatloaf Parmesan sandwich is, you guessed it, Italian-style meatloaf with Modo Mio’s signature Sunday gravy and fresh mozzarella. Finally, there’s the Pesce Fritti a fried Tilapia fillet with lettuce, tomato, onion, caper maionese and sharp provolone.

A majority of the original menu from the first location has also been brought down into South Philly, some of the notable favorites offered include the Arista (whole roasted suckling pig, broccoli rabe, italian long hots and sharp provolone), the Diavlo (spicy chicken breast, salami, herb cheddar, roasted tomato and broccoli rabe), the Daddywad (their award-winning Italian hoagie) and of course the namesake Paesano (slow-cooked beef brisket, roasted tomato, sharp provolone, horseradish mayo, topped with a fried egg). The rumored Paesano Burger hasn’t made the menu just yet, but is sure to come sometime soon, topped with fries, pancetta, gorgonzola and an aged balsamic vinegar mayo.

With locations north and south of Center City, downtown Philly has essentially become “sandwiched” in pure bliss. The South Philly location will have its hours of operation eventually fixed from 11am to 7pm, Wednesday through Sunday. While the folks over at Paesano’s have no intention of starting a separate brunch menu, we can only imagine that this availability on the weekend might just draw some patrons away from waiting in the long lines just across the street.

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Paesano’s Philly Style
901 Christian Street – Philadelphia, PA 19147 (Google Map)

Lou Sarcone Jr., the fourth-generation baker on 9th Street in South Philadelphia, is known among his family simply as Junior.  His father, also Lou, and his son, Louis, share more than a name – they share a commitment to keeping a very old business operating the way it did a very long time ago.  That is not to say that they haven’t modernized Sarcone’s Bakery – which they have – but they have done so while maintaining their focus on delivering the exact same product, time after time after time.  Using premium Pillsbury flour; giving the dough a full 2 hours to rise; baking the bread in the old brick ovens to bring out the flavor.  “It’s just like making a gravy,” said Sarcone, “Slow cooked food tastes better.”

So the food you put on that bread better be good.

For Lou’s cousin, Anthony Bucci, food is a passion.  A former executive chef at the Wyndam Franklin Plaza hotel and a longtime veteran of the family bakery, he now runs Sarcone’s Deli.  The deli is not a typical hoagie and sandwich shop.  They serve food that you’d expect to find cooked in a restaurant or your own home, but on that crusty, chewy, flavorful bread.  It’s the preparation and ingredients that differentiates them from traditional “lettuce and tomato” hoagie shops.  House-prepared roast beef, roast pork, meatballs, chicken cutlets, and eggplant are just some of the restaurant style cooked dishes that find their home on a Sarcone’s roll.  Juicy ripe roma tomatoes and bits of prosciutto, sopressata and cappicola that don’t make it onto sandwiches become the starter for the gravy for the hot sandwiches.  If you like marinated fresh asparagus and a balsamic drizzle, you can get it on the roast beef sandwich.  If you like house-roasted peppers and roasted garlic with fresh herbs, spread it on your veggie sandwich.  And if you like DiBruno Bros cheeses, gourmet cured meats and imported parma prosciutto, why not get them on an Old Fashioned Italian sandwich?

Anthony and Lou admit, it always starts with the bread.  And at Sarcone’s Bakery, the business is all about tradition.  Listen to the previous generation, and do exactly what they do.  It’s like whisper down the lane; without all the context and subtext, something can get lost along the way.  Five generations of Sarcones have donned the baker’s whites and pledged to keep the bakery exactly the same.  As Lou’s grandfather said, “put too much food in your mouth, you can’t chew.”  It’s about staying in business.  It’s looking at 90 successful years of history and believing that the business could continue for another 90 years.  No wholesale, only retail.  They’ve seen lean times before and economic booms but the business has remained steady and focused.

A mainstay on the Italian Market if there ever was one, Sarcone’s has witnessed the sell-off of the generations-old businesses a few blocks away; but Lou Sarcone believes that history repeats itself and he welcomes a new generation of business owners coming back to the market.  Not just businesses, but Sarcone sees the influx of young professionals, students and young families into South Philadelphia as a good thing for everyone.

Sarcone’s Deli has plans to move into a newly renovated space next to its current location on 9th Street later this summer. (The current space will be put to good use but plans are still being developed.)  The bigger growth plan centers around 10-15 new franchise locations in the tri-state area over the next few years.  So how does a business so deeply ingrained in its environment extend outside of its location?  Sarcone’s has pledged to maintain tight control over the product and training new staff.  Keep it geographically limited, keep a handle on quality, and follow the Sarcone’s operator’s manual to the letter: serve up restaurant food on the very best bread.

Already one former franchisee has had the Sarcone’s brand pulled from his shop for cutting corners and cheating the customer.  But it was a valuable learning experience for Lou and Anthony, a lesson that will stay with them as they grow their vision beyond 9th Street and into the suburbs.

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Sarcone’s Deli
734 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147 (Google Map)

Philadelphia’s favorite gelateria, Capogiro, is opening two new locations at the same time – on Passyunk in South Philly and in University City at the Radian building (whose gray/black façade looks too much like the Death Star for our taste.)  We expect that the newly minted Capoyunk Scoop Shop (1625 East Passyunk) and CapoPenn (3925 Walnut) will thrive in their new neighborhoods; the Capogiro brand of fresh artisan gelato is unmatched in this city, and they are expanding their menu significantly.  We are thrilled to find a wide selection of sandwiches on the menu.  From the Vegetable Toast to the Classico Panini to the Formaggio con Jambon, Capogiro is adding a selection of flavorful Euro-sandwiches to the ever growing Philadelphia sandwich landscape.  We especially want to try out the PBJ sandwich: artisanal peanut butter and homemade jam.

Check out a sneak peek of the new Capogiro at Penn.

[Via: fwts.net]

Editor’s note: CapoPenn? Really?