Words and Light

The weekend before last, I drove to Philadelphia to spend 27 hours with a high school friend. I’m not sure when Emily and I last saw each other — maybe early January 2009? — but it was too long ago. We were overdue for another visit!

Knowing nothing about Philadelphia, I left everything in Emily’s hands. My only requests were that we have good food — particularly cheesesteaks.

So, upon my arrival on Friday the 4th, Emily whisked me to Jim’s Steaks…

At Jim's Steaks on South Street and South Fourth Street in Philadelphia.

…where we ordered the same thing. It was delicious.

Cheesesteak with provolone and onions at Jim's Steaks.

We then had frozen yogurt (with fruit and other toppings), even though it was somewhere in the 30’s and pretty windy.

Later that night, we walked over to a small wine-cheese-beer bar called Biba. I’ve never been a cheese person, nor have I ever been able to tell a good wine.

This was a Riesling with which I chose to end the night. I started out the evening with a deep, earthy red wine from Cabardès.

But we struck lucky on the cheeses we chose, and I was thrilled with my wine selection. I’ve never really had a red wine I liked, so I was pleasantly surprised that I absolutely loved the Cabardès.

Oh, and the food was great, too. I’d go back in a heartbeat. Wine bars are no longer establishments for me to overlook.

A truffled egg (served with bread). This was after we'd already partaken of some of the egg, hence the mess.

More Philadelphia photos coming soon!