Philly Goes After Yuengling For Millions In Unpaid Taxes

The City of Philadelphia has filed a civil lawsuit against Yuengling Brewing Company, alleging that the company owes about $6.6 million in unpaid business taxes. That’s right, you’ve been drinking the beer of alleged tax evaders.

This lawsuit might strike you as strange because Yuengling is local to Philly, but not that local. America’s oldest brewery is based in Pottsville, not Philadelphia. Whether the city want to collect for the use of its roads or for something else, we can’t say really because the city itself won’t say. The Daily News reported that the city has offered no specifics on what taxes are owed, just that there are almost $4 million unpaid with $2.6 million in interest and penalties.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all unfolds in (or out of) court, but commenters online seem convinced that this is the work of malevolent unions who have had it out for Yuengling since the unions suddenly disappeared from its business five years ago. The union believes that the company threatened to close if the workers didn’t decertify, and the AFL-CIO in Philly has tried with almost no success to organize a boycott.

So the unions certainly do not love Yuengling. However we’ll have to wait and see if the city is able to clarify why it is demanding all this money. Stay tuned.

Beer Diplomacy: Lebanese Pale Ale From Lebanon On Draft Tomorrow In Manayunk

In breaking international news, we’ve received word that tomorrow night the Old Eagle Tavern in Manayunk will be hosting a very special guest, Mazen Hajjar (aka Mad Mazen), the brewer/owner of 961 Beer in Lebanon, the only microbrewery in the entire Middle East.

Mazen Hajjar is a former investment banker who quit the business to, you guessed it, start an airline company. But after he got out of that business, he decided to start a microbrewery. Now he is on a world tour to spread good will and Lebanese beer, which brings him to the meet-and-greet at the Old Eagle tomorrow night, where you can meet both Mazen and his Lebanese Pale Ale, an IPA made with za’atar, sumac, mint, chamomile, sage, and anise. There will also be a porter, red ale, and lager from 961.

The word is that Joe Six Pack will be meeting with Mad Mazen for a private tasting earlier in the day, but you might get lucky and find both of them at the meet-and-greet that evening.

The event starts at 5pm and ends around 7. If you’re into craft beer this is a really cool opportunity to try what they’re drinking in the Middle East. Let’s show Mad Mazen a Philly good time.

Old Eagle Tavern, 177 Markle St, (215) 483-5535

Tasty Sausages: The Philly Food Scene Gets Its Own Tavi

When tween fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson first blew up, the reaction was a mix of “It’s great that this young girl is doing this” pride and “Yo, what the hell is this” annoyance. Child bloggers (and sometimes children in general) seem to inspire a kind of hatred from much of the general public, for many different and sometimes unintelligible reasons (jealousy? anger at a misspent youth? general disdain for people?). We get it. We may not agree, but we get it.

It is with this in mind that we wholeheartedly endorse Jett Bolker, the 7-year old food-blogger behind Tasty Sausages. The kid is awesome. He blogs about restaurants and meals he likes, with a little help from his mom, and the results are less the “pseudo important person” feel, and more of the “I am 7 years old and this is the food I like” feel.

For example, his impression of South Philly Tap Room:

“I loved the paintings on the walls best. The chairs are really cool too. Why? Because they are green and they have brassy dots. The food was really, really awesome. The cheeseburger was cooked medium and it had cheese that tasted smoky. The home-made ketchup was really sweet. I love ketchup and it was tasty.”

He goes on to rate SPTR a solid 29 Sausages. Oh yeah! He rates his meals by number of sausages (the highest rating so far, 49 sausages, goes to Will), and is wearing a Lifetime shirt in his blog image. This kid is already cooler than we were at 7, 15, and maybe even 20.

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Dine Like You’re At Downton In Conshohocken

Look, we can’t be the only ones out there who watch Downton Abbey and wish, at least for a minute, to be in that world. We know that time travel (and travel into fictional television universes) isn’t an exact science, so we know that we’ll never be able to visit. Chef Chip Roman feels the way we do, and having previously re-created the final dinner from the Titanic (a time and place we’re less eager to visit), he’s decided to give Downton Abbey the same treatment.

On February 24th (the week after the show’s season 3 finale) at Roman’s Blackfish in Conshohocken, he’ll be serving up his own take on a high-society, seven-course, “sophisticated supper,” as an homage to “the privileged eating habits of the aristocracy and nobility in post-WWI England.” The $100 per person dinner (minus tax and gratuity) will feature open seating from 4:30PM to 10PM, and the offerings are:

1st Course
>>> Cape May salt oysters with brook trout roe and champagne vinaigrette

2nd Course
>>> Mrs. Patmore’s London Particular – Sweet pea velouté with country ham and crème fraîche

3rd Course
>>> ‘Downton Crabbey’ – Blue crab galette with Belgian endive and foie gras

4th Course
>>> Roasted quail with frisée, lardons, fondant potatoes and Madeira jus

5th Course
>>> Slow roasted wild venison with sweet potato, cardoons, juniper, and quince

6th Course
>>> Cheese selection served family style

7th Course
>>> île flottante – Floating island with crème anglaise and raspberry coulis

According to a press release, “Diners are encouraged (but not required) to dress formally or as if they were guests at a Downton Abbey function,” but we really don’t know why you wouldn’t.

East Passyunk Restaurant Week, Ya Say?

Ah, Restaurant Week. The pivotal plethora of good eats and spirits where delicious hotspots lure us gluttonous Philadelphians with their top billing menus and dishes. But Center City isn’t the only Philly neighborhood hosting a week long binge of food porn.

The East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District will be introducing the 1st annual East Passyunk Restaurant Week, a chance for 21 award winning eateries of the South Philly community to show off their culinary chops once and for all, from Sunday, February 24th, through Saturday, March 2nd.

It’s gonna be a hat trick for each restaurant featured in the event, serving up to three menus (brunch, lunch, and dinner) for $15, $25, and $35 greenbacks.

So what’s cookin’?

East Passyunk Ave. mainstays El Zapare (with its “Best Taco”), Fuel (home of the 500-and-under-calorie-yet-yummy fare), and Philadelphia Magazine‘s top restaurants, Stateside, Le Virtu, Fond, and Will, are just a handful of the participants.

Sold yet? Don’t worry, we’ll provide you some official Phoodie napkins to wipe up all that drooling on your part.

On second thought, maybe not, that’s a little gross.

For a full list of participating restaurants with their respective menus, click here.

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Food Blob: Tequila, Beer, and Matzoh Balls

>>> Interested in learning how to make some Ta-Kill-Ya? Drive down to Cantina Los Caballitos on February 5th when they have their very first Tequila Club meeting. Tickets are $35. [Foobooz]

>>> An indoor-German style beer garden is in the works with an innovative beer-tap system on the wall and outlets to plug in your iPad or laptop.[Philly.com]

>>> If you forgot to take your flu shot, come to Meritage where they will be dishing out hot bowls of matzoh ball soup every Wednesday through the month of February. [Meal Ticket]

February Features Microbreweries’ Dalliance With South Philly’s Devil’s Den

It would seem that Pennsylvania microbreweries Stoudt’s (of Adamstown) and Weyerbacher (of Easton) are making a deal with the devil. Well, the Devil’s Den to be more exact. The South Philly hellish haven will be hosting two events to introduce two new blends by the microbreweries that will give a new meaning to the drunken phenomenon of “beer goggles”.

This Thursday at 7PM, Devil’s Den will be hosting the Weyerbacher Vertical Insanity Tasting, featuring Weyerbacher’s Blithering Idiot brew, but with a twist. Weyerbacher’s Insanity brew, first debuted in 2004, takes the Blithering Idiot and ages it in oak casks with notes of dates, oak, vanilla, and bourbon, making it a beer lover’s literal wet dream. The tasting will also feature the 2011, ’12, and ’13 editions to “compare” the evolving taste.

Stop being coy, Weyerbacher, you’re just trying to get us all loosey goosey.

While Weyerbacher is more concerned with the art of seduction, Stoudt’s is a little more kinky when it comes to what they’ve got lined up for all you beer fiends.

Stoudt’s new IPA Fourplay (clever, ain’t they?), will have its satanic baptism at the Devil’s Den on February 20th, at 7 PM.

The new brew’s unique gimmick is the changing recipe every quarter in a four part series, focusing on using different hops, but the same malt for each new batch. Keeping y’all on your toes? Thought so. There will also be other signature Stoudt’s blends on draft, including the Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Gold Lager, and Amber 25. And earlybirds get the worm: The first 24 orders of Fourplay will get Stoudt’s swag including a pint glass and more.

Devil’s Den, 1148 S 11th St. (215) 339-0855

Square 1682′s Parent Company Honored With “Best Company To Work For” Tag

Fortune Magazine recently released their list of the “100 Best Companies To Work For” and the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group (who locally run the Hotel Palomar and Square 1682) is listed at number 28. To celebrate their success, Square 1682 is offering all of their patrons free Truffle Popcorn tonight. In addition, bartender Chauncey Scates will be concocting,the Kim-Osa, a special cocktail topped with Blue Curacao, a pleasant nod to the restaurant’s blue and green logo, for only $7.

Square 1682, 121 S 17th St. (215) 563-5008

Pizza Brain Made A Hello Kitty Pizza. Because They Could.

Hello, is this Pizza Brain? It’s us, Phoodie. We just wanted to say: Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

Get A Sneak Preview Of Ela’s Super Bowl Wings Tonight Only!

If, unlike Wing Bowl contestants, you like savoring the taste of chicken wings, trying new and different flavors of chicken wings, and you aren’t generally a total food jock, you will definitely be interested in getting over to Ela tonight to taste their preview batch of honey-smoked Siracha wings.

We say preview batch because honey-smoked Siracha is just one of four flavors of wings that Ela will be serving up on Saturday and Super Bowl Sunday for $10 a baker’s dozen. The others are truffled parmesan and herb, spicy Thai peanut, and miso mustard. They also have regular old wings if you want a completely boring Super Bowl experience. It’s up to you.

But again, tonight only, you can call Ela and order a baker’s dozen of their honey-smoked Siracha wings for $10.

Ela, 627 S. 3rd St, (267) 687-8512