DiPasquale's--Is that lasagna or is it a brick??

Welcome back to Baltimore!! If I haven't said it before (and if I have it really bears repeating) Baltimore is one of--if not the--best Triple D town we've done so far. Don't get me wrong, I love Pittsburgh, and we found some amazing food, but there were some bumps along the way. Baltimore (Bal-more for you locals) has never failed us. It is a full 6 for 6 and I only wish that Guy would go back so we could keep exploring, but alas we work with what we've got. So today I bring you Part 1 of Baltimore 2.0. This was a Happy Valentine's Day trip for us, right after the insanity of Snowmaggedon out here on the East Coast. We headed out on a brisk February morning in search of good old fashioned comfort food, and we most definately found it...in the form of real deal Italian at DiPasquale's.

DiPasquale's had a reputation to live up to, because they were featured on the same episode as LoBello's (Real Deal Italian), so naturally we were going to compare and contrast the two, and since we loved LoBello's so much (Ben's actually heading back there this weekend...lucky dog) we had to wonder if this place would pale in comparison. We could not have been more wrong. As you know we're always looking for firsts in our Triple D adventures and DiPasquale's wins the prize for oldest joint visited yet...this was the first time we have been somewhere that's been open for almost 100 years. 2010 marks 96 years in the B-more for this place, so they've obviously been doing SOMETHING right to have stuck around that long. We don't see things like that anymore in America it seems. Family run places seem to be fading into the background. Everyone wants to follow their own goals and dreams and create something just their own, regardless of what Mom and Dad did--we just don't see multi-generation restaurants as often anymore. Fads are changing so quickly and everyone wants something fresh, new and different that the old landmarks get shunted off to the side. Thank God for the loyalty of Baltimorians though because this place is an institution that should never close.

While they aren't in the same location as the original DiPasquale's (for shame their like 3 blocks away now! LOL) it's still run by the DiPasquale family. The current owners are the grandkids of the original owners and they have been keeping things just the way Grandma and Grandpa intended with maybe a few new twists here and there. We've finally branched out from the Fells Point community of Baltimore and expanded out to Highlandtown, an older section of the city, with plenty of ethnic restaurants and markets to satisfy any craving. DiPasquale's is an unassuming, gorgeous, brick building that does take a little manuevering to find, but once you're there you're in heaven. The place packs a lot of stuff into such a tiny space. They've got a full Italian market with any product you could every hope to find, from huge gallons of olive oil to anchovies...if you're looking to do some authentic Italian cooking they can hook you up. Then on top of that they have a full service deli counter where you can get stuff to take home...so your meats, your cheeses, a bagillion kinds of olives (Ben got some to take home), any kind of cold salad you could want, plus deli meats. They wouldn't even need a restaurant really, you could find plenty of food at the deli to eat. BUT! They of course have a full scale restaurant here too. You can get it to go or find a seat at the one of the 8 or so tables they have tucked into the corner. I'm tellin' ya you'd think this place was huge, but it's pretty much the size of a standard store. Oh and I forgot they also have a full wine section for purchase.

We spent a good twenty minutes just wandering around the store looking at all the stuff they have, but then we finally got down to the business of ordering...which was no easy task. I had honestly planned my order in advance. If you remember way back when, when we talked about Big Jim's in Pittsburgh I mentioned that I always want lasagna but never order it. So I declared that this was the place to break that trend. This was where the lasagna drought ended, because when Guy had it on the show, it looked nothing short of amazing. I actually had to NOT look at the menu so I wouldn't be deterred from my plan, because trust me there was plenty of options that could have distracted me. Thank God I didn't give in. This lasagna was literally the size of a brick and easily, EASILY at least 8 layers if not more. Plus it came with homemade bread. Ya know how sometimes when you cut into a piece of lasagna all the stuff oozes out? Not here. This stuff is so dense it stays intact. From the slightly spicy sausage, to the creamy ricotta, down to the homemade sauce and pasta, this stuff was nothing short of incredible. I mean honestly there were no words. Ben went the sub route, but these weren't your stereotypical subs on Italian bread. No, no, no. They take literally a mini loaf of homemade Italian bread, and instead of cutting it in half, they cut off one end, pull out the middle, stuff the bottom with sauce and homemade mozzarella, load in the filling, and cover the top with the end of the bread. Ben went for the meatball, and he was in heaven. It looked like he was eating a meatball ice cream cone. That's really the only way to describe how this thing looked. It was kind of hilarious honestly. Now, Ben really was the lucky one here, because he got to have dessert. Unfortunately, we timed our trip during Lent and I give up sweets during Lent, so no dessert for me, but Ben went for their homemade, filled to order, cannoli. He got just a plain shell, even though they come chocolate covered too, and he said it was pretty awesome, but really I was so jealous I couldn't look at it so I can't describe it too well haha. Overall, this place stacked up to LoBello's beautifully, and for as much as I loved me my ravioli there, I think this place gets the edge. I can still remember what that lasagna tasted like...months later. BUT we aren't done with DiPasquale's yet. We'll hear from them again when we get to Baltimore 3.0...but not in the way you'd probably expect. For now...check back later for Baltimore 2.0 Part 2, where we'll wander to handest down the oddest location for a Triple D joint yet...

In the meantime...check out DiPasquale's revamped website. You can even see pics of the DiPasquale's who started the place 96 years ago...

www.dipasquales.com/home

Silk City Diner--Everything Old is New Again

So I just finished watching the latest Triple D episode which featured a couple who recently made their 100th stop, yes you read correctly 1-0-0. At first I was disheartened, because let's face it we aren't even close to 100, and we will never actually be on Triple D, but then I started thinking...this is exactly what Triple D is about. What what we're doing is unique...it's unique within a community. There are tons of people who are out there doing exactly what we are, and there are some people who are at 100, but there are also people who are at 5 and are just as ecstatic. In the grand scheme of things, these people hittin' 100 are retired and have all the time in the world, and here Ben and I are both juggling grad school, living on opposite sides of the state, without excess time on our hands, and yet next Friday we'll be walkin' into numbers 30 and 31. In about a year and four months we've been able to hit up 29 places across 10 states! Holy crap I just realized we've done 10 states--only one is fully complete--but still 29 spots in 10 states in less than a year and a half...I must say it's impressive and it's been a blast. If this summer hadn't gotten so complicated we'd probably be near 40 but you do what you can and we've got upcoming trips planned, so I must say I salute the Holms' and their 100th visit (Hillbilly Hot Dogs was the big 1-0-0 for them), and I hope they enjoyed their hot dogs as much as Ben and I did when we were there. But for now...the blogging continues despite being a bit behind...so without further ado here's number 17...the Silk City Diner in the heard of Philadelphia (and thank you for listening to my digression)

If Daddypops was the uber traditional, classic silver car diner, then the Silk City Diner is silver car dining for the millenial generation. They're both beautiful silver cars, only 15 miles apart, and yet it is a completely different experience going to them. Walking into the Silk City is like night and day compared to Daddypops, which made it kind of awesome to do them in the same day. It was like a microcosm of what Triple D is all about...here were two owners who both were dedicated to keeping silver car diners alive, and yet they were doing it in their own unique, awesome ways, both cranking out amazing food, but from completely different angles. Don't walk into the Silk City expecting a stack of pancakes and a cup of coffee...walk in expecting Asian flair, kicked up French cooking, and old school classics with the slightest twist that blows your mind--I guess that's why their slogan is "Everything Old is New Again."

The Silk City is right in the heart of central city Philly, and believe me if you drive by you'll notice. The place is a blaze with neon, and honestly if you go at night it's pretty frickin' beautiful. Taking up easily half of a city block, the Silk City is the quintessential silver car diner, but they've added on to it with a nice big brick addition which holds the bar with a huge dance floor and has much more of a lounge feel. It's like two restaurants in one. You go into the silver car and you get the ambiance of a diner, while the other side is more like a club--not what you'd expect from a traditional diner right? Now--before we break this place down a word of logistical advice--parking at the Silk City is purely street parking and in Philly that's no pretty picture. However, if you are so fortunate as to find a spot outside of the restaurant, MAKE SURE TO PAY YOUR METER! I don't care what time it is, even if it's 5 minutes until the end time of meter paid parking--put your money in. Can you get the sense we learned this the hard way? Yes indeed...while we left with our stomachs full of amazing food, we also left with a beautiful parking ticket. So...you have been warned. Anyway--what does this place look like?

We only hung out in the silver car side of the restaurant, and it was almost surreal. It was practically completely dark inside, with the entire interior lit by Christmas lights around the booths and the counter, along with neon lights running along the ceiling. Their menu board even had neon marker. I'm tellin' ya if it wasn't for the vinyl seating in the booths, you'd never guess that you were sitting in a diner. This place has the feel of a hip, apres work hangout, rather than your grandma's nostalgic silver car. It was almost jarring going from Daddypops to here, but it was also awesome, because it was like we were traversing the silver car spectrum looking at just what you can do with a diner. Diners can't be pigeon-holed when there are places like the Silk City out there. There is nothing about this place that's stereotypical from the decor down to every ounce of the menu. If you're looking for spicy, funky, tricked out food then I'm tellin' ya head to Philly and good luck deciding what to get because the menu is insane.

So as you all know by now...we love our wings right? Right. Well, welcome to the home of the best wings of the Triple D gamut thus far. No joke. Best. Wings. Yet. and they're going to be pretty tough to top. They were really what made this one of the first joints we wanted to visit from Triple D--it just took a bit longer to get it on the schedule than we anticipated. Guy raved about these bad boys and man he wasn't kidding. They've got two options--Spicy Buffalo or Thai Chili glazed. We hands down went with the Thai Chili and I would recommend them to any future visitors. They're spicy, they're sweet, they're crispy, they're flat out, crazy good. They come completely coated in sauce and dusted with sesame seeds, and their homemade bleu cheese (yeah you read that right, homemade bleu cheese--I told you this place is crazy). The only thing I can compare these things too is like sesame chicken from a Chinese place. That's the flair they have and it's perfection. Probably one of my favorite things we've had ever, not just in the wing category. For my meal, I went for a smattering of appetizers--but the serving size was no where close to appetizers, these things were entree size. The highlight of my meal was the baked mac 'n cheese which is covered in a garlic bread crust. Wow. All I can really say. It's crazy creamy, with a little bit of a cayenne kick to it. It came out in a huge crock (kinda like what you'd serve French Onion Soup in) and the sauce was their homemade cheese sauce. Ben tried to steal it from me, but I didn't let that happen. I also got a "side" of fries, and when they say "side" they mean a bowl as big of your head...which also comes with 2 homemade dipping sauces--their cheese sauce and chipotle ketchup (also homemade) and then they're sprinkled with scallions. I could not finish these things...I desperately wanted to, but I'm tellin' ya the serving was so huge it was impossible, but they were so good I felt guilty leaving them on the table. Ben conceded that I won this place for best meal. We tend to compare and see who made the better choice and here I definately won. Ben's meal was good to, but how can you compare with mac 'n cheese right? Well, he tried by countering with their roast beef sandwich. It sounds so tame right? Wrong. Crunchy French bread, gruyere cheese, and black pepper horseradish sauce, oh yeah and a homemade French dip sauce. Sure that sounds just like a plain ole' roast beef sandwich. We were so full when we left we could barely move, and dessert was almost impossible to resist, but we did. The next time that will not happen. Not when there are options like hurricane key lime pie with pomegranate drizzle and banana praline gelato. Seriously...gelato...at a diner. This place takes tradition and throws some neon lights across it and coats it in thai chili sauce...off the hook. Go. Get in your car now and go. They're open until 2 am every night you could still make it.

Don't believe the hype? Check it out for yourself...

www.silkcityphilly.com/

Daddypops--Kick back in the barber chair like it's 1950

We have hit a part in the Triple D road trip where things have turned much more intentional, more planned out trips, more visits to cities specifically for Triple D, because once I moved out of Pittsburgh at the end of last summer and went back to school, we needed to start planning a bit more carefully. So round about November, we were starting to really hit Triple D withdrawal and decided to plan a day around the side of Pennsylvania we had yet to explore for Triple D--Philly. So we ordered some Sixers tickets, because really we felt like we needed more to do than just eat after driving all the way there, and we decided out of the three stops in Philly, which two we were going to head to for the day. What's kind of cool about Triple D Philadelphia style is that all three restaurants are variations on old silver car diners, so you get to really see how different restaurants treat the heritage they've inherited by buying a silver car diner.

We headed out from the Harrisburg area early, with the intention of wandering to the Philly suburb of Hatboro for some good ole Mom and Pop breakfast. Hatboro is a tiny hamlet north of the city that has a really strong, small town feel, even though you aren't that far from Center City. Serving as a centerpiece to that small town feel is the local diner: Daddypops. It's a Hatboro staple, serving up simple, just what you would expect from a silver car diner fare. Now I'll admit that we had a bit of trouble finding it, even though it's on the main drag of town, so if you're wandering out that way and think you've gone too far, keep driving, and eventually you'll reach the corner home of this quaint little diner. The outside makes you think that you've stepped back into the 1950's with it's big, wrought-iron clock, and a cute little well with Daddypops emblazoned across the top. The owners of Daddypops are silver car owners who have decided not to mess with the classics. They've fully renovated it to look like it did in it it's hay day. It's gleaming silver with green accents, and it is the type of place that is giving a new generation the hometown experience their parents had growing up. The inside makes you feel like you've stepped into your mom's kitchen and that everyone there loves you and wants you to sit down and have a good meal. They only have 7 or 8 booths inside and then seating at the counter so you might have a bit of a wait, especially if you're there at prime breakfast time like we were, but we were still seated quickly. While you wait though take advantage of soaking up the ambiance. While Daddypops is traditional, it definately has it's own little quirks that give it it's own special flair--from the fully restored jukebox and the two 1950's barber chairs that hold down the fort at both ends of the counter to the cove behind the counter that stores all the regular's coffee cups--this place makes you feel at home. They also have a huge old fashioned phone booth in the back by the restrooms which seems very random, but again adds to the fun atmosphere of the hometown joint.

Now since Daddypops is a traditional diner, don't go in expecting a huge, crazy menu. It's simple. It's full of homemade classics. The only unfortunate part about Daddypops for the Triple D enthusiast is that--like the Central City Cafe--they were featured on the rare 4 joint episode, and were the outsider that got the tiny 3 minute slot at the end. So because of that, we don't really get to see a ton of what Guy sampled, and unless you're an adventurer and want to experience the Pennsylvania Dutch "treat" of scrapple (all the parts of the pig that are left over in the form of a patty and then slapped on the griddle), then you're pretty much on your own for ordering. For me, this isn't difficult at a breakfast joint. As we've talked about I LOVE breakfast, and say it with me...Ben HATES breakfast. Given the spirit of the place we went with classics when we ordered. Ben opted for a monterey jack omelet with home fries (which he let me eat since he doesn't like them) and I went for their pancakes. Ben liked his omelet, but again since breakfast isn't really his thing he didn't have much to say about it. Guy had also tried their home fries, and I will tell you they were pretty darn awesome. They mix in lots of butter (always a sign of good food) and some onions for an added crunch and serve them up nice and hot. They were exactly what you'd expect from a diner wanting to do things the right way. If you want something to rave about though, go with the pancakes. They come out with a light coating of powerdered sugar, and even though I was supposed to get 3 with my order and only got 2, those 2 were plenty. These weren't your run of the mill flat pancakes. They were nice and fluffy with the perfect density, so you really felt like you were getting about 4 pancakes. They had the right amount of crisp on the outside from the griddle but inside were so soft and airy that they were perfection. One of their secrets to serving a great pancake though is that they mix in the slightest hint of nutmeg to their batter so you get this nice little nutty aftertaste that really makes them over the top.

Overall, there's a lot to love about Daddypops. It's simple. It's hometown. It's classic. It's tradition. It's doing everything right. If you're one of those Triple D-ers only looking for the eclectic, the crazy, the never before experienced, then Daddypops might not be your cup of tea, but if you're around Philly and you want a taste of home, head to Hatboro and have a cup of coffee and breakfast made from the heart.

No website kids so you're on your own to discover silver car dining done right.