With a two-hour train journey between them, Philadelphia and Washington DC – two of North America’s most interesting food scenes – are easily visited on a single trip.
For American history buffs, the draw of Philadelphia is very much evident in the long queues that start from early morning at the Liberty Bell and also at Independence Hall, birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. For the rest of us, Philadelphia is a relaxed city that’s ready just to be enjoyed, without a need for frantic sightseeing or box ticking.
After taking a 25-minute SEPTA train from the airport to the city centre, we dump our bags and head to Middle Child, an 18-seat sandwich shop that’s not far from City Hall, inspired by the delis and diners of old-school Philly.
We order a corned short rib of beef with scrambled eggs and cheese on rye and the simple rocket, scrambled eggs and aged Cooper Sharp cheese. The nine-day aged corn rib is what our photographer calls “one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had”, while the Breakfast Sandwich is perfectly salted, with fluffy, buttery eggs between thick slices of potato pullman.
Simple food, done very well; clearly these guys know their stuff, so we quiz Uni, Keith and Spencer on their favourite places in the city and leave with a list of speakeasies, pizza parlours and dive bars.
As the midday sun hits and we’re in need of cooling down, we pass the Liberty Bell and read up a little at the President’s House, before arriving at the Franklin Fountain, an ice cream shop that opened in 1911, which is all beautiful old wood panels and original tile mosaics. We opt for scoops of PA maple syrup and walnut ice cream in homemade waffle cones and they exceed all expectations.
Next, we hop on the MFL train to Girard and set about exploring Fishtown, a neighbourhood of independent restaurants, galleries, music venues and studios. We mosey into the Philadelphia Record Exchange and Jinxed, a steel-window-fronted vintage homewares store full of well-priced treasures, before heading to Suraya, an all-day market and café with evening dinner service.
Chef and owner Nick Kennedy is at the helm for the Middle Eastern-influenced fare and we try pomegranate-topped baba ganoush, charred sumac halibut and raw yellow n tuna with chive and jalapeño oil. We’re not a bit surprised that not long after, Suraya is named as one of America’s 50 best new restaurants by Bon Appetit magazine.
Also making that particular list is Hearthside across the river, which is technically New Jersey (although the ten-minute Patco train runs out to Collingwood every 12 minutes). Inside, it’s rustic, with criss-crossed ceiling joints and an open kitchen where a line of chefs work in unison. As the menu changes every week, it’s difficult to pinpoint what you can expect here, bar seasonal and fresh flavours, but on the day we visit, the star dishes are raw dish hamachi crudo in rhubarb consommé and charred broccoli salad with nectarines and walnuts.
Our last food stop is a pop-up near Edgar Allan Poe’s house called Pizza Gutt, found in Win Win Coffee Bar. Forget everything you thought you loved about pizza. Abandon your allegiance to thin crust. This is deep dish, square, spongey on the inside, swirled with oil on the underside with pulpy tomato sauce on top, crispy edges and a very thin layer of cheese.
It’s getting late, so we head back to central for a nightcap in Bob & Barbara’s Lounge, a dive bar with the world’s largest Pabst Blue Ribbon memorabilia collection. Bob Dix, historian and manager, is behind the bar and admits, “I sell nostalgia more than I sell alcohol”. It’s home to the “city wide” or the “special” as it’s called here, which is a can of PBR and a shot of Jim Beam, and the vibe is comfortingly familiar. Bob sums it up, “Outside the area is changing, but inside here, change is a lot slower”.
Somewhat fuzzy headed the next morning, we board the Amtrak train to DC from 30th Street Station, an ornate Art Deco building with a cavernous passenger concourse, and settle in for two hours in wide leather seats with air-con and Wi-Fi ($50).
Once we arrive in DC, we head straight to half-restaurant, half-butcher shop The Partisan, for an afternoon snack and a tipple. As we study the menus, a customer unprompted declares: “The food here is the bomb. I was one of their first customers when they opened – the pastrami alone is worth the trip.” High praise.
Although they started as a charcuterie stand at a food market, The Partisan now has 25 house cured meats and 15 types of hotdog sausage at any one time. We get a mixed charcuterie plate that includes smoked ham, Greek fennel-lemon salami and a shredded bourbon fig rillette, which comes with spicy mustard and Italian flatbread. Since they specialise in sour beer, with 15 on tap, it’d be rude not to sample a sip. We try a dark oak-leaved brew, a white IPA and a cherry blonde ale, while the general manager, Dan Landau-Smith, recommends a Lambrusco wine. “It has a rep as a 7-Eleven wine, but it’s nuanced and sharp, making it ideal for charcuterie.”
Later, we head to a recommendation from a pal based in DC, which ends up being the trip’s true culinary highlight. Beuchert’s Saloon is a homely and warm restaurant near Eastern Market Station, where old family photos from chef/owner Andrew Markert dot the wall, alongside his grandmother’s mandolin, while on tables are mismatched plates sourced by Andrew’s mother, a self-confessed antiques hunter.
In the kitchen, Andrew works up sharing plates, including a cray fish ravioli with Thai chillies and fresh peas in an amatriciana sauce, plus roasted sweet corn with popped sorghum that gives a popcorn texture, combined with pasta furls. To finish we have chocolate-covered buttercreams: “Mom’s recipe for the holidays. We call them ‘happy endings’ to get a chuckle out of customers,” laughs Andrew.
The next day after monument and museum visiting, we head to Brothers and Sisters, the lobby restaurant of the chic The Line hotel, from the same folks as The Ace and Thee Ned. Formerly a church, when we arrive it’s flooded with amber afternoon light, which falls on curved midnight blue sofas, parquet flooring and light grey panelling.
While bar snacks such as chicharrones and light bites are available, it has gained a reputation for its cakes, thanks to pastry chef Pichet Ong. Order his towering London Layer Cake, made with buckwheat pancakes, earl grey mousse and earl grey jelly, with a chai tea crumble on top, and see why.
We leave DC the next morning with tastes of sour beer, cured salami and salted cocktails still on our tongues, and head home, direct to Dublin, chuffed with our ingenious trip extension.
PHILADELPHIA & WASHINGTON DC ESSENTIALS
ETHIOPIAN Near Logan’s Point, head to Lalibela for lunch and order a combination special for two ($28) with a sweet honey wine. It all arrives on a pancaked platter for sharing, with sides of personal pancakes too, so tear o pieces to pick up tender mounds of yellow split peas, collard greens, key wot beef and alicha wot. Afterwards, with fingertips stained yellow, cross the road to Dolcezza for creamy lemon ricotta cardamom ice cream. (1415 14th Street NW, Washington DC, +1 202 265 5700)
DON’T MISS
Starting a trip to DC with a visit the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture may put you in a sombre mood, but it is unmissable. Inside the striking steel and glass Modernist structure, visitors face up to an uncomfortable history that begins with the African slave trade and weaves through the decades since. While there’s a peppering of uplifting displays among its five floors of history, culture and community, it’s mostly heavy going. At the end of the more than one kilometre walk around, you’ll find a reflection room but you’re still likely to blink out into the daylight, discombobulated and out of sorts.
PHOTOGRAPHY Al Higgins
PUBLISHED Aer Lingus inflight magazine CARA, Dec 2018/Jan 2019