Dallas/Austin

Arrived at my hotel, right in the heart of Center City, at about 3:30pm on Friday evening

Nice hotel.

The lobby was nice. It had computers for the guest, a TV, lots of chairs, and couches.

There was even a fireplace. I never found out if it worked or not. Security was a little uptight about me trying to light it. Maybe it was gas. Dunno.

The rooms were small, but clean. I didn't mind. There was a refrigerator and microwave. That would come in handy later for the Arista, a sandwich that I would buy from Paesano's to eat as a late night snack. (Arista is roast suckling pig, broccoli rabe, long hots and sharp provolone) More on that later.

The bed was nice and had clean sheets. This picture is a little dark. I forgot my camera, so I had to use my iphone. So, no flash. Oh well. I took a quick nap and shower before dinner, then I was off to Meme!

Friday night I had dinner at Meme

This place was recommended to me by the chef that was responsible for all the food recommendations on this trip. He was spot on with all of his info.

Cute little place near Rittenhouse Square.


I had the bone marrow with parsley radish salad to start. Then the whole baked Bronzini with new potatoes and heirloom tomato salad. I had a glass of australian Semillon with it.

Friday night I went to see She and Him at Penn's Landing

This is an event area set up on the Delaware river where Penn apparently landed.



They do a sort of retro type of music. The lead singer wrote a bunch of songs and the guy that plays guitar arranges them. It is derivative of 50's and 60's music. All the young ladys there were emulating the lead singer by wearing vintage dresses and boots. Nancy Sinatra should be getting royalties for this.


I was tired after a long drive, dinner, and a concert. I went back to the hotel to rest up for a long day on Saturday. I had a lot of eating left to do.

Saturday morning I found this place

Dibruno Bros. I was just looking for coffee, but they had great breakfast sandwiches for $3.99, and that came with a small coffee. I got the caprese. Scrambled eggs, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil. I couldn't refuse.


I wanted to buy some nitrated meats, and fresh pasta, and cheese, but I just had no time to eat it.

I had to just walk away. I needed to lay down after that breakfast, but I was ready for the Mutter!

After Breakfast, I went to the Mutter Museum

Entrance to the Mutter Museum

The secret tumor of Grover Cleveland, the thorax of John Wilkes Booth and a really big 9-foot colon are just a few of the wonders that you can expect to encounter at Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum, a museum of historical pathology containing about 20,000 fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens, models, medical instruments, and memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians.

The inside was beautiful.

See the “Soap Lady”—the body of a woman who died of Yellow Fever during the 19th century that turned into soap due to the chemical properties of the soil she was buried in.

Then there’s the huge 9-foot colon of a man who took a dump only once a month for his whole life until he died. It is perhaps no great surprise that he only lived into his late 20s.

If that wasn’t enough for you, there are skeletons of a giant and a midget, various skull collections, the brains of epileptics and a murderer, and drawers filled with objects removed from the windpipes of choking people.

The woman is Madame Dimanche, or Widow Sunday. She lived in Paris around the beginning of the nineteenth century. The horn on her forehead attained a length of 9.8" by her eighty-second year, having begun to form six years earlier. It was successfully removed by Br. Joseph Souberbeille (1754 -1846), a noted French surgeon.

Feast your eyes on a plaster cast of the conjoined twins Chang and Eng, various baby deformities and many more displays that will fascinate you and make you feel totally creeped-out.

Saturday afternoon I had lunch at Paesano's...my mouth is still watering just thinking about it.

This was probably the highlight of my trip, believe it or not. This place was so good. I went specifically to get the Gustaio. I don't know how to describe how good this sandwich was. I loved all the other places I ate, but I will go back to Philly just for this sandwich!

This is the Gustaio before being wrapped up. Roasted lamb sausage, dried cherry mustarda (an Italian condiment that is made with fruit and mustard syrup), gorganzola, and fennel. The sun dried cherry mustarda creates a sweet and sour note that brings the whole sandwich to a new level.


I also got the Arista. Suckling pig with broccoli rabe. I ate that later. I stuffed myself that day.

After lunch I checked out Center City

This is Monk's Cafe. It was right around the corner from my hotel. I originally wanted to eat here. It is a Belgian restaurant that serves belgian beer, including the Trappist beers. I just did not have time. I had too many other places to eat. Next time I will make a point of going here.

This is the kind of thing that I would be looking for. I think some of these places are affordable. I checked some prices, but not for these buildings specifically.

I liked the way these looked. I wonder where these people park?

More row houses.

Lots of murals in this city.

I thought this looked like a nice apartment building. I think it was really expensive though.

Broad street looking up towards City Hall.

City Hall.

Saturday night I went to Bibou, a french restaurant in Center City, for dinner.

This is Bibou. I had dinner there on Saturday night. I was lucky enough to get reservations, and sat at the bar since I was dining alone. This was perfect for me since I wanted to watch all the action in the kitchen. I also got to talk to the chef's lovely wife Charlotte. She was charming and very congenial. I also got to see some of the wine that the other diners brought with them. Like many in Pennsylvania, the restaurant is BYOB. Charlotte explained to me, that is largely due to the strange state of Pennsylvania...my words not her's...and various issues related to the storage of wine. I brought a half bottle of Grüner Veltliner with me. It was a decent wine, but I felt bad that I didn't spend more time picking out a wine once the food arrived. The food deserved better than a slightly oxidized 2007 GV. One of the waiters decanted an 89 Chateau Haut Brion right in front of me. That bottle was, literally, more than my budget for the whole trip. Wow. In addition to speaking with the chef's wife, the chef also came out of the kitchen to visit with the patrons. I had a brief conversation with him, and thanked him for the soup (he had sent out a complimentary appetizer for me to try. It was a cucumber soup with peekytoe crab. That was a nice start to the evening). He was very nice, and very low key. That was a nice treat.(By the way, the above picture is the only one I took. The pictures below were taken from online sources.)

I started with the Escargot. They were in a ragu with fava beans. Really excellent, and a perfect start. After that I had the grouper. I am mad at myself for not remembering the menu description. The fish was seared and served with a creamy mango and orange sauce, over fresh peas. There were onions and raisins as well. It was truly awesome. I had dessert, which is rare for me. It was a goat cheese and fig tart with honey ice cream.

Here is the menu. Click on it for a larger picture. The menu changes often, so this was not the exact menu I had, but you get the idea.

Inside the restaurant. Very small, but nicely decorated.

Pierre, the chef.

Charlotte.

On the way back from dinner, I had to walk through a kind of dicey neighborhood to get to the Metro station (should have driven). Anyway, there were some kids hanging out on the corner. Turns out they were in a gang. I asked them some questions about life in the inner city. They turned out to be very nice. They were in the middle of covering an abandoned building with graffiti when I interrupted them with my questions. After a little coaxing from the group, I agreed to try my hand at this "taggin" thing. I think I did pretty well. We were able to evade the police when they showed up, thanks to "lil slice". He showed me a shortcut down an alley, and I made it to the metro and back to my hotel without getting arrested. They also made me an honorary member of the gang. If you are ever on Broad and Washington in Philly, you can see my tag! It says "Hunt Nise!" Lil slice misspelled "nice", but I didn't say anything.