Amis mentioned in Philadelphia Magazine’s Philly 76; live eel video posted
By Hashtag on Dec 12 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
First, the restaurant received a quick mention in Philadelphia Magazine's sprawling feature, Why We Love Philly: The Philly 76:
"35. 13th Street
In the early ’90s, 13th Street was a desolate and scary stretch of city; the only people who walked it were those looking for a shady buck or a good porno. Fast-forward 20 years and it’s a bustling epicurean corridor swarming with 20- and 30-somethings sipping fancy cocktails and nibbling designer pizzas. It’s the embodiment of a new Philadelphia, one hungry to shake off its inferiority complex. So thank you, Amis, Sampan, Lolita, Jamonera, Barbuzzo, Zavino, Capogiro, El Vez, Vintage and the Corner. You feed our bellies and our egos."
Second, a new video from Tasted in which Brad Spence and Jeff Michaud share a recipe for live eel:
Tags: amis, Jeff Michaud, Video, brad spence
Marc Vetri’s Caramelized Delicata Squash recipe in the Wall Street Journal
By Hashtag on Dec 10 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
"To get the recipe just right, you must supervise the dance among the browning sugar, the delicata and the heat by flipping the squash every so often and making sure the temperature remains low and consistent. From start to finish, only a few bubbles ought to burst at a time as the caramel cooks down. Nutmeg, cinnamon, garlic and rosemary, added at the end, perfume the dish and lend additional dimension.
Steady stewing can draw deep flavor from even the humblest of storage vegetables—not that there's anything humble about delicata squash. A dense variety with delicate edible skin that holds its shape even when sliced thin and cooked low and slow, it is the best squash for this dish. "Nothing else is sweet enough," Mr. Vetri said. Paired with a caramel taken nearly to burning, the squash finds a sharp counterpoint, and some of the gravitas it so frequently lacks."
Read the entire article here.
Tags: vetri, marc vetri, Recipes, The Wall Street Journal, recipe
Marc Vetri talks at Fox School of Business at Temple University
By Hashtag on Dec 07 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments "Originally from Abington, Pa., Vetri told the intimate gathering of students about his journey from Philadelphia to California to Italy to New York and finally back to Philadelphia to open his first restaurant, Vetri, which he called his greatest career achievement. Entrepreneurship students asked questions about branding and finding investors – neither of which Vetri had when he opened his first restaurant."
Read the full article here.
Tags: vetri, marc vetri, temple, fox school of business
Alla Spina one of 25 Coolest New Businesses in Philadelphia, says Business Insider
By Hashtag on Dec 04 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
"What it is: Italian gastropub
Why it's cool: Alla Spina is the latest restaurant from Mark Vetri, one of Philadelphia's most successful restaurateurs and arguably one of the best Italian chefs in the country.
The North Broad gastropub has a selection of Italian beer on tap, including Negroni. It serves dishes like fried pig tails with fennel agrodolce and poutine with guinea hen leg bolognese and mozzarella curd."
Read the full article here.
Tags: Alla Spina
Louisiana Gulf Prawns with Citrus Butter Vinaigrette at Alla Spina
By Hashtag on Nov 30 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
Photographed by Jason Varney.
Tags: Alla Spina
Judd Apatow (The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) dines at Osteria, raves about it
By Hashtag on Nov 29 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, 0 comments
He tweeted the following:
We ate at Osteria in Philly. @azizansari recommended it/ many others too.They were right! Delicious. twitter.com/JuddApatow/sta…
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) November 28, 2012Thanks for the kind words, Judd!
Tags: osteria
Marc Vetri’s Guanciale makes the New York Times
By Hashtag on Nov 28 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
"There is an edge of obsessiveness to carbonara _ and I gave in to it completely a year ago by starting to make my own guanciale, the cured pig cheek central to most Italian versions of the dish. There’s no real need to; it’s available online from places like Heritage Foods USA. New Yorkers can find it at, among other places, Buon Italia at Chelsea Market and BKLYN Larder in Brooklyn, which cures its own. But I was inspired after eating a wonderful meal at Vetri Ristorante in Philadelphia, and buying a cookbook, “Rustic Italian Food,” by its owner, Marc Vetri. He made it sound easy — and it is. It’s also satisfying."
Read the full article here.
Tags: marc vetri, new york times, rustic italian food, Recipes, recipe
Marc Vetri’s recipe for spaghetti in parchment w/ clams makes Wall Street Journal
By Hashtag on Nov 27 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
"Spare and snappy as this preparation is, Mr. Vetri believes it is actually one of the more difficult pastas to master. 'It's all about timing,' he said. That applies to the cooking of the noodles as well as the clams. A mere minute too long on the heat, and both will lose their succulent bite. It is imperative to monitor the progress of each ingredient as it cooks. In other words, taste as you go.
It all happens efficiently, with different elements in play simultaneously. Bring the pasta water to a boil while you steam the clams. As you remove half the clams' meat from the shells (in the interest of easier tossing later on), cook the noodles. Then, sauté everything together in a wide pan. Once the noodles are coated in that glorious sauce flecked with red pepper flakes, chopped parsley and scallions, seal them inside their parchment packets.
To gauge the pasta's doneness as it boils, bite into a strand. It should come out of the water when it still has a hint of crunch, and the supple exterior gives way to a firm, white center. At that point, it's about three-fourths of the way to al dente—just where you want it to be before it goes into the sauté pan."
Read the entire article here.
Tags: marc vetri, Recipes, The Wall Street Journal, recipe
Marc Vetri writes food captions for Vanity Fair
By Hashtag on Nov 19 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
The article series, called Food Porn, features seasonal photos of unique twists on Thanksgiving cuisine.
You can see the slideshow here.
Tags: vetri, marc vetri, vanity fair
Marc Vetri talks ingredients, his favorite restaurants and more with the New Potato
By Hashtag on Nov 14 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
On his favorite spots in Philly:
"I love the Fairmount neighborhood. It’s really up and coming with lots of families. La Cantina Feliz is a great place there; The Belgian Cafe for beer and burgers – and obviously Osteria and Alla Spina are there too.
Northern Liberties is a funky little area with great places as well. The Standard Tap is a great gastropub and there is great nightlife there too; Johnny Brendas is a great bar; One Shot Coffee is a cool coffee shop with great eats. 13th Street (in Washington Square West) is so cool. Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran have made it a great area with all of their spots like Barbuzzo and Lolita, which are my favorites. Amis is on the other end of 13th Street – and Vedge is right in the middle too."
On school lunch:
"Most people only concentrate on the nutritional value of the food. The fact of the matter is that how you eat is just as important as what you eat. It creates community, interaction and teaches lessons about sharing and working with others. It also makes eating healthier easier. Think about putting apples in a lunch line…How many kids will take an apple? But think about slicing apples up and putting them in a bowl in the middle of the table…Kids will be eating apple slices, talking and interacting. They won’t even realize they are eating healthy."
On Restaurant Week:
"It’s just what it has evolved into [that I'm against]. Like anything, a good idea can turn into a bad thing when people get greedy. It’s a good idea – that was supposed to boost sales in a very difficult time – gone bad. I don’t know how it’s done in other cities, but here there are no deals and no advantages other than a quick fix – and the timing is preposterous. They do it at relatively busy times of the year when it should be done in August when things are slower."
Read the full interview here.
Tags: marc vetri, the new potato
Philadelphia Weekly highlights Amis’ Tonnarelli cacio e pepe in ‘50 Things You Must Eat in Philly’
By Hashtag on Nov 13 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
"Tonnarelli cacio e pepe at Amis 412 S. 13th St. 215.732.2647. amisphilly.com Why it’s great : Classic Italian cooking is predicated on simplicity and great ingredients. This pasta dish ($14) embodies that impeccably. And while it really is as straightforward as the name implies—pasta with pecorino and pepper—the interaction of each with the others lifts this seemingly humble plate of noodles to levels of flavor that even most steaks rarely achieve. What to have with it : Ask your waiter or sommelier to pair a wine that you’ve never heard of before, from a grape variety that means nothing to you and from a region that may as well be on the moon. The combination and sense of discovery will be phenomenal."
Read the entire article here.
Tags: philadelphia weekly, amis
Marc Vetri’s Turkey Milanese featured in Wall Street Journal
By Hashtag on Nov 12 2012 Posted in: Vetri, Osteria, Alla Spina, Amis, Press, 0 comments
"'Milanese'—literally, in the style of Milan, where this dish originates—is the Italian term for food that is breaded and shallow-fried. Though often made with veal, a Milanese can also be made with turkey. At his trattoria Amis, Mr. Vetri put turkey Milanese on the menu after trying an outstanding one near Milan, in Bergamo. 'We were eating lots of Milanese,' he said. 'One day my friend's mom made this, and I was like, Wow, that's turkey?' He knew at once that he would try to replicate it back home.
True to the version that so impressed Mr. Vetri in Italy, there are no bells and whistles here. Recipes like this one, he explained, have been perfected over hundreds of years; he sees it as his job simply to get the execution right. The first step is to pound the meat until it is thin—an even quarter-inch from end to end. This makes all the difference with a lean meat like turkey: With each wallop, muscle fibers and connective tissue break down and the meat becomes ever more tender. Hammering out a consistent thickness also helps the turkey to cook evenly. A noisy and cathartic act, the pounding can be done with a mallet, a rolling pin or the back of a heavy pan."
Read the entire article here.
Tags: marc vetri, amis, Recipes, The Wall Street Journal, recipe