PJ's & Coffee

The 2nd Annual Conshohocken Restaurant Week will be held from June 13-19, 2011!  Each participating restaurant will feature a $20.00 and/or $35.00 fixed price menu. This is a great opportunity to sample foods at the Conshohocken restaurants you’ve been dying to try.

HIGHLIGHTS

Eggplant Rollatini From Trattoria Totaro

For Trattoria Totaro, this is a fabulous opportunity to differentiate themselves from Totaro’s on Hector Street. The popular BYO offers an amazing 3 course menu for $35.

Sushi rolls at Spamps

Haven’t tried the sushi at Spamps yet? On their 3 course $35 menu you can have sushi, an appetizer and dessert! Not in the mood for sushi, try their rib-eye instead.

Chicken Parm from Spampinato’s

Spamps sister restaurant, Spampinato’s is authentic Italian cuisine prepared by owner Mike Spampinato. This is still a hidden gem in Conshohocken, often overlooked for the larger Spamps. You MUST try the braciole! It is terrific. Their menu is a bargain at 3 courses for $20!

Sesame crusted yellow fin tuna from Stonerose

I am still amazed at how many people have not tried Stonerose yet! While their most popular dish still remains the shortrib over mac and cheese, do not overlook that fabulous burger! Their new spring menu entree, the wild boar chops are included on the $35, 3 course menu and this is the perfect time to try!

Salad from blackfish

Winner of this year’s Philly Mag Best of Philly honors, Blackfish will offer a 2 course $35 menu. I highly recommend the skate. Don’t forget that they are BYO!

There are other great restaurants participating in restaurant week as well. The complete list:

Blackfish

8 East

Fayette Grill

Boathouse

Great American Pub

Guppy’s

The Gypsy Saloon

isabella

Pepperoncini

Piatto Grill

Shula’s

Spamps

Spampinato’s

Stella Blu

Stonerose

Totaro’s

Trattoria Totaro

For Menus for all of the participating restaurants, please visit

More Than The Curve

This Tuesday night head to Bridgeport for a great night with that special someone!

Couples Italian Night at

Chick’s Tavern

Tuesday, June 7, 2011 – 7pm

Menu:

Appetizers:

Spring Mix Garden Salad, White Mussels,

Broccoli Rabe with Garlic Bread and U Peel Shrimp

Entrees:

Chicken Parmigiana

Grilled Chicken & Spinach in a Rose Sauce over Pasta

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with Sautéed Vegetables

Assorted Desserts

Family Style Menu

$45 per couple

Reserve your table today!

Chick’s Tavern

231 East 4th Street

Bridgeport, PA 19405

610-279-9606

Chick’s Tavern will host a Happy Hour for a great cause tomorrow night in advance of Saturday’s Purple Stride Walk !

The proceeds from the Happy hour supports the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Come out and support a great cause!

Where: Chick’s Tavern 231 East 4th Street, Bridgeport PA

When: Friday, November 5th from 7:00pm -9:00pm

RSVP to Event

A Men’s Italian Night will be held on Tuesday, September 14th at Chick’s Tavern

The Event includes a Family Style Dinner:

Antipasta

Broccoli Rabe

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

White Mussels

Crustini

Chicken Parmesan

Meatballs

Lasagna

Sausage and Peppers

Desserts

Just $25 per person

For Reservations call: 610-279-9606

Chick’s Tavern

231 East 4th Street

Bridgeport, PA 19405

.

Bridgeport is a small down just minutes from The Mainline, Conshohocken, King of Prussia and Norristown.

If you haven’t tried this great family restaurant, this is a great opportunity for guys night out.

Spampinato’s introduces Bottomless Spaghetti and Meatball Nights!

Beginning tonight, Spampinato’s will be offering bottomless spaghetti and meatballs every Wednesday and Sunday evenings for just $15 per person! The dinner also includes a family style salad.

The best part……. KIDS EAT FREE at Spampinato’s!  A family of 4, or in my case, 5 can eat for $30!

In addition to the bottomless spaghetti nights, Spampinato’s offers $15 “Family Dinners”  every week night in order to allow active families a great meal after soccer, band, or football practice without the fuss of cooking at home!

Check out the weekly schedule at Spampinato’s!

Seafood and Beer Night – missed it last week? They are doing it again!

Wednesday August 4th and Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Each course paired with Belgian Beer

TRATTORIA TOTARO

First Course

Red or White Seafood Chowder

Full of shrimp, clams, crab and fish in a creamy broth or zesty tomato

Second Course

Soft Shell Caesar Salad: Soft shell crab sautéed in garlic, olive oil and butter, served over romaine lettuce with fresh ground black pepper and house made croutons, tossed in our cheesy Caesar dressing

Third Course

Seafood Sampler A sampling of fish cooked in parchment paper served over brown rice with grilled vegetables:

Flounder Porto – Sautéed spinach and lump crab meat baked between two flounder filets and topped with port wine reduction and cream sauce, and

Swordfish Putanesca – Sautéed capers, kalamata olives, fresh tomato, anchovy and white wine

or

Cioppino – Clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops and crab in a vegetable tomato broth

served over home made pasta

Fourth Course

Claire’s Chocolate Cake, CapoGiro Gelato or Creme Brule

$40.00 plus tax and gratuity

Call for reservations: 610-828-7050

Spampinato’s is The Italian sister restaurant to Conshohocken’s Spamps on 1st Avenue, just off of Fayette Street. The Spampinato family purchased the now defunct Viggiano’s about a year ago and not only created a more family friendly atmosphere, but dramatically improved the quality of the food.

Owner Mike Spampinato makes the delicious sauces and home made braciole fresh daily. In keeping with the family atmosphere, The Spampinato’s wanted to make their restaurant a place that families would feel at home by creating a more casual environment, thus encouraging parents with young children to dine here on a regular basis.

For the entire summer, children 10 and under eat free! In addition, there are nightly “Family Dinner” specials. The specials were created so that families could leave baseball practice, or the pool, come dressed as they are, and eat a healthy, delicious meal without spending a lot of money. A family can relax and enjoy a wonderful “home cooked” meal without the stress of making it themselves.

Each evening there is a different special entree and it is served with a family-style salad bowl for just $15 per person. Again, children 10 and under can order a child’s dinner for free! So, a family with multiple children can still eat for just $30.00! Spampinato’s also allows you to BYO even though there is a full bar available.

Sunday Night’s Special: Spaghetti and Meatballs

Here are the daily specials:

Sunday: Spaghetti and Meatballs

Monday: Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken

Tuesday: Penne and Braciole

Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan

Thursday: Clams or Mussels over Pasta (Red or White)

On the weekends, there is an upgraded Family Dinner for just $25 per person:

Friday: Lobster Ravioli

Saturday: Veal Saltimbocca

To make reservations for Spampinato’s Family Dinners,  call 610-825-3151, or just stop in for dinner and they will find a table for you!

Tonight is Spaghetti and Meatballs!

Mangia!

White Sangria

Trattoria Totaro the BYO on Spring Mill Avenue in Conshohocken, not to be confused with the restaurant on Hector Street, has started to offer FREE Sangria to dinner guests Monday through Friday beginning at 5PM.

The free beverage trend continues. What can we say? WE LIKE IT, that’s what we say! Tables will likely fill up faster than normal now, and outdoor tables are limited, but they do accept reservations at 610-828-7050, so if you are in the area you may want to grab your table quickly!

If you are not familiar with the area, this is one section of town where there is unlimited free parking as well, an extra bonus!

The Weekly Rant is back!!

We’ve been slacking lately, yeah, yeah, you’ve heard the excuses. You know the reasons, so I’ll cut to the chase…

I’m pissed enough to return to THE RANT!

Recently a large group of us went out for dinner to a local Italian restaurant. It was a very pleasant evening at a well established neighborhood restaurant. As with most Italian restaurants one of the first items to be brought to the table was a basket of bread. We had 5 children in our group and they immediately reached eagerly and enthusiastically for the basket. Dipping the bread into the olive oil provided, the enthusiasm faded quickly. The bread was completely flavorless. Stale? No. Flavorless.

The crust was not crusty, but thin, stiff, yet not crunchy. The interior lacked the texture expected of a high quality Italian roll. It may have been worse then, gasp, Amoroso! How does this happen in an ITALIAN restaurant? How, you ask? I’ll tell you how. Business is not what it used to be, so restaurants cut corners in all of the wrong places.  They purchase low price rolls to save money. What an awful way to start a meal. An Italian restaurant with bad bread is like a Chinese restaurant with bad rice. It’s the beginning of the end for a restaurant when things like this happen.

There are ways to cut costs. The quality of the food is not the place. Here’s a tip, offer high quality bread and ask if your diners would like bread before you bring it to the table. Many people don’t eat bread these days. Serve less and refill. Don’t serve crap. There are too many options for great bakeries in our area; Conshohocken Italian Bakery, Sarcone’s Bakery, Carangi Bakery, or Wild Flour to name a few.  Or, do what some Italian restaurants like D’Angelo’s do, and bake your own. If you are going to serve bread that makes people talk about you, why not just serve this, at least it’s a real talking point:

Bread Heads

So chew on that thought…..

Freshly Charred Peppers

I absolutely love roasted peppers with a great Italian dinner. There is nothing quite like them on perfect Italian bread. A few months back I promised to write about food my dad loved after he passed away and I plan on keeping that promise. Roasted peppers fall into that category.

Last month we had a big dinner to thank some of my dad’s closest friends for everything they did to help my sister and me get through the toughest weeks of our lives. We had a big Italian feast which started with antipasto. I made roasted peppers to go with The Conshohocken Italian Bakery bread our dear friends and owners of the bakery brought to compliment the meal.

If you have never made homemade roasted peppers, you may be surprised by the method and how unbelievably easy they are to make. You do need a gas stove to make them perfectly, but otherwise, it is pretty simple. I use red and yellow peppers because they make the nicest looking presentation and the colors contrast nicely.

The first thing you do is place each pepper in the center of a burner directly over the heat source. Then, turn the flame on to a medium setting.

Pepper over Flame

Let the skin cook until it roasts and blisters, then turn. It is almost impossible to overcook. The skin should actually crack.

Another Angle of Pepper Cooking

As you can see in the photo above, the center of the side that is showing is under cooked. It is important to continue to maneuver the pepper over the flames so all sides cook evenly.

Peppers Cooling

When peppers are cooked evenly on all sides, remove from heat. Cool completely. Once cool, cut peppers in half. Remove seeds and peel skins off of peppers. Rinse peppers and cut into strips. Toss peppers in extra virgin olive oil and season with fresh ground pepper and a little kosher salt.

Roasted Peppers

Serve with Crusty Italian Bread and butter and/or Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinegar