Brunch Is Back
Sunday brunch returns at World Café Live, with seating beginning at noon. (Concerts start at 1 p.m. in Upstairs Live.) Tickets cost $15 and include a continental breakfast (bagels, cream cheese, fresh fruit, juice and coffee). Delicious à la carte items are also available. Click here (worldcafelive.com)
for more details.
Beer Haze
Celebrate the last Saturday in September at Philly Oktoberfest ’08 on Sept. 27 from 1-5 p.m. Sponsored by Spaten beer, the event also supports Philly Beer Week, Philadelphia’s ultimate beer happening, and will feature more than 50 great seasonal brews from the best craft brewers in Germany and America. Tickets cost $45; $75 if you want to attend the VIP tasting at noon. Designated drivers pay $15. 23rd Street Armory in Center City, 22 S. 23rd St., Philadelphia. Check it out at phillybeerfests.com.
In Other Oktoberfest News
Sept. 27 is also the third annual FallFest at Victory Brewing Company, an afternoon of food, live music, kidtivities and LOTS of beer. Free admission. 2-9 p.m. Rain or shine. 420 Acorn Lane, Downingtown; (610) 873-0881, victorybeer.com.
If you can’t make the drive to Downingtown, head over to Villanova’s Maia for an Oktoberfest celebration on Oct. 1 featuring a four-course menu and Victory beer pairings. The menu items will be available à la carte all month. Seasonal fare and beers include:
Weisen, a light, modern lager, and a choice of house-smoked salmon with German pickles, red onion and egg salad OR a ballotine of Amish chicken with cassis mustard
Festbier, a malty lager, and a choice of spiced corned duck breast with celery root slaw OR curried herring with green apples and endive
Braumeister Harvest Pils, a wet-hopped pilsner with an herbal bite and layers of soft and smooth malt flavor, and a choice of coriander-crusted scallops with caramelized Brussels sprouts, potato puree and preserved lemon OR an applewood-smoked pork chop with braised red cabbage and apples
Moonglow Weizenbock, a dark amber beer with a spicy fruit aroma, paired with a choice of Shellbark Farms Goat Cheese Fritters with smoked almonds and local baby greens OR grilled salmon with lemon jam and crispy shallots
Individual items from the Oktoberfest tasting will be offered at Maia as a selection of à la carte small plates from Oct. 2-31. All four featured beers will be available. Menu items will range in price from $8- $15. 789 E. Lancaster Ave., Suite 150, Villanova; (610) 527-4888, tastemaia.com.
Mazel Tov: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Blackboard Specials
Beginning Sept. 29 at sunset, London Grill Chef Michael McNally will offer a special menu of festive “Newish-Jewish” dishes, both traditional and innovative. The menu will be offered throughout the length of Rosh Hashana, Sept. 29-Oct. 7, and after sunset as a fast-breaking feast on Yom Kippur, Oct. 9.
Highlights include McNally’s signature salmon gefilte fish, plus matzo ball soup, braised short ribs served kugel-style over spaghetti and classic Rugalach sticky buns. Prices range from $8-$20.
London Grill will also offer holiday dishes for take-out and packaged as a prix-fixe dinner—$35 for three courses—on Sept. 29 and 30; luncheon on Sept. 30; à la carte specials all week; and “break the fast” specials on Oct. 9.
For more information and reservations, call (215) 978-4545 or visit londongrill.com. 2301 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia, in the art museum area.
Closer to home, Murray’s Main Line Delicatessen and bistro M will offer a traditional holiday fare at their one-year-old Berwyn location. Along with Murray’s menu listed below, bistro M will be celebrating its anniversary with a retooled menu from recently hired Chef Chad Wilkoff, a graduate of Johnson and Wales in Miami, and alum of Loew’s Hotel Miami, El Vez, Nectar and Susanna Foo.
Holiday menu:
Soups:
Chicken Soup – $4.5/qt
Vegetable Barley Soup – $6.5/qt
Matzo Balls – $1/each
Cabbage Soup – $6.5/qt
Sides:
Gefilte Fish – $2.5/each
Potato Pancakes – 95 cents/each
Horseradish – $3.5/half pint
Carrot & Zucchini Latkes – 95 cents/each
Chopped Liver – $7.99/lb
String Bean Almandine – $6/lb
Sweet & Sour Meatballs – $7.95/lb
Roasted Asparagus – $8.99/lb
Roasted Potatoes – $4.5/lb
Kugel (Apple Raisin, Cherry Cheese, Vegetable; serves 6-8) – $15
Entrées:
Roasted Half Free Range Chicken with Challah Stuffing – $10.95
Pan Roasted Beef Brisket with Gravy – $14.95/lb
Stuffed Cabbage (Ground Beef, Rice, Sweet & Sour Sauce) – $5.95/each
Organic Scottish Salmon with Horseradish Cream Sauce – $12.95/each
Roasted Turkey Breast with Challah Stuffing – $9.95
Desserts:
Jewish Apple Cake – $35
Pear Tart – $37
Flourless Chocolate Torte – $37
Shnecken – $14.95/lb
Kmish Bread – $14.95/lb
Murray’s Main Line Delicatessen and bistro M, 575 Lancaster Ave., Berwyn; (610) 644-1010, murraysmainline.com.