restaurant Archives - Reverberations

Iron Chef Morimoto’s Momosan Elevates Ramen

Perhaps the most prominent chef of Japanese cuisine in America, Iron Chef Morimoto is challenging himself in a new way. He has an impressive list of fine dining restaurants around the world. You can taste his Japanese fusion food in Philadelphia (where he opened his first restaurant in 2001) to Las Vegas. And while ramen, a Japanese staple, has been on his menus since the beginning, it’s never been the focus, that is, until now.

Last year, in Midtown Manhattan, Morimoto opened Momosan Ramen & Sake, his first restaurant dedicated to ramen. But at Momosan, Iron Chef Morimoto elevates ramen to a whole new level.

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Downtown Lancaster City: Beyond PA Dutch Country

Travel, Food

For many, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, brings to mind farms on a gently rolling landscape, Amish driving along in horse and buggies, and small villages with entertaining names like Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse. Think Harrison Ford in Witness. The Amish communities have made Pennsylvania Dutch Country and Lancaster County nearly synonymous.

But in the heart of the county is Lancaster City, a young, hip urban center that has experienced a rebirth and gentrification in recent years. Today, Lancaster City is offering a thoroughly modern lifestyle with a melding of sites of historical importance with trendy restaurants and shops. I recently made a visit to Lancaster to get to know this up and coming city a little better.

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The Malvern Buttery

Food, Travel

The Malvern Buttery is turning cafe and bakery dining on its head. The suburban Philly cafe doesn’t just do high quality artisan baked goods, feel good foods that are sourced locally and expertly brewed teas. (And I’ve heard the coffee’s pretty good, too.) It is how the Malvern cafe executes their business that is a fun twist.

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The Little Lion Brings Breakfast Weekdays to Old City

Food, Reviews, Travel

Breakfast, so they say, is the most important meal of the day. This is especially true when you’re going to spend the day exploring Philadelphia‘s historic sites or, say, visiting the new Museum of the American Revolution. Really, it’s important even if you simply want to have a relaxing morning. And starting this week, Philly’s Old City neighborhood has a new option for a morning meal at The Little Lion.

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Lunch at Philadelphia’s City Tavern

Food, Reviews, Travel

For a long time, I was reluctant to try Philadelphia’s City Tavern. I passed by it countless times as a teenager and during my college years. It was merely a landmark on my route to South Street or when I’d go to rock shows at the nearby Khyber Pass club (RIP). I thought of City Tavern as just another tourist trap. And while that is true to a certain extent, City Tavern has a lot more to offer than most give it credit for.

My husband and I somewhat spontaneously made reservations for lunch a few days before our visit to celebrate our anniversary. It seemed like a fun place to try.

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3 Great Eats in Downtown Washington, DC

Food, Travel

Like any major city, Washington, DC is full of great food options. From high-end to trendy. From French brasserie Le Diplomate (Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr’s DC version of Philly’s Parc, which is Philly’s version of NYC’s Balthazar) to the always happening Momofuku. But if you’re in downtown and have limited time, who wants to spend the day driving (or being Uber-ed) all over the city?

So instead, during my recent day trip to Washington, DC, I stayed in the downtown area. If you venture just a few blocks north of the National Mall, there are plenty of great food options in Washington. Although there are plenty of food trucks down near the attractions, it’s great to sit down and enjoy the city more like a local than as a tourist. Here’s three great eats in downtown Washington, DC that kept my belly full AND happy.
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Where to Stay & Eat in Pittsburgh in 36 Hours

Food, Travel

It is amazing how much you can do in 36 hours when you try. My 4th of July weekend trip to Pittsburgh was packed. Last week, I covered everything I got to see and do — from the Warhol Museum to a ride on the Monongahela Incline. This time I wanted to share where I stayed — Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh — and some of the restaurants I visited. Because when you are traveling, having a nice hotel and decent food are pretty important!
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San Francisco in 48 Hours

Travel

What a whirlwind weekend. We recently spent approximately 48 hours in San Francisco in order to attend the wedding of a friend of mine. Our flight took off bright and early at 6 am on Friday and we touched down back home late Sunday afternoon. I say that in the past tense despite the fact that I’m drafting this post high above the clouds. (Too bad United’s domestic flights don’t offer the free flight tracker like they do on international flights; love that feature!) This was the first time both my husband and I have been to San Francisco, or even California, so I wanted to share some of experiences.
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Frankford Hall: Philadelphia’s Biergarten

Food, Travel

It really wasn’t that long ago that Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood wasn’t all that special. There were a couple of music venues and bars but there wasn’t much else. Those times have certainly changed. While the neighborhood isn’t quite bustling, it’s still pretty darn full of restaurants, bars, and shops as well as plenty of residences. It shouldn’t be surprising that things are looking up in the neighborhood given they’ve now, since 2011, got a restaurant from longtime Philly (and now NYC and Miami, among other cities) restauranteur Stephen Starr. Called Frankford Hall, the restaurant and biergarten fills a void in the city’s relative lack of German food. Admittedly, there are a couple others — namely Brauhaus Schmitz. After our recent trip to the Barnes Foundation, we made the trip over to Fishtown for a late lunch at Frankford Hall.
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A Visit to Morimoto

Food

The local news started predicting a “dusting” of snow for Saturday towards the end of the past week. Leave it to my husband and I to have an anniversary in January. Mother Nature didn’t disappoint and the promised one to three inches of snow materialized. Luckily for us the weather wasn’t all too bad given the possibilities and we were able to make it for our reservations at Iron Chef Morimoto’s restaurant in Philadelphia.
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Prost! Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh

Food, Travel

You read the title correctly. Munich’s famous Hofbräuhaus has a location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Don’t ask me why, I couldn’t tell you. But they do: Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh. When I had the opportunity, I opted not to visit the original location in Munich for fear of it being a tourist trap. But, well, desperate times call for desperate measures. In other words: I’m, unfortunately, not planning to be in Munich anytime soon so I might as well take what I can get. So take, I did.
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