Pig's Head at Alla Spina, Philadelphia

Redneckhunter's brother came to visit and flew into Philadelphia airport, so we picked him up and immediately took him to Alla Spina for dinner. We sat in the "lounge" area, and the whole place was an entirely different atmosphere from brunch.  Much more bar-like with low lights, low-key hip-hop.

As soon as the waitress (the same one we had at brunch incidentally) told us that night's special was a pig's head for 2 served with thick cut toast and a blueberry reduction, we all knew what we were having for dinner.

We got that along with some starters -- homemade pretzels (served in a wooden cute piggy bowl) with beer cheese dipping sauce, rabbit terrine, and poutine with guinea hen ragu. The prices were similar to the brunch prices, so totally reasonable. Redneckhunter and his brother naturally ordered some sampling flights, and we settled in.

The starters were good (if I would have one complaint, it would be that I wished there were more cheese curds on the poutine), but the pig's head was absolutely heavenly!  The meat was falling off tender, juicy, with just enough gooey cartilage to be delicious but not fatty.  It went well with the wonderful sticky gooey sweet and tartness of the blueberry reduction. Even the toast was buttery and divine. I picked that poor piglet's head apart, but it was the perfect size for 3 people to share. 

Alla Spina
1410 Mt Vernon St
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-600-0017

Back at the Brooklyn Flea

I'm determined that this summer I will make it up to the Brooklyn Flea as often as I can. While I do always like a good flea market, we've got bigger and better ones here in New Jersey. No, the reason to frequent the Flea is the food.

This past Saturday I met my friend Catwalker there. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs unfortunately... thus necessitating the need for repeat visits!

We started off sharing a Lobster Roll from the Red Hook Lobster Pound - to die for! We got the traditional Maine lobster roll with cold lobster salad on toasted bun, but they also make them with hot lobster, which I guess is Connecticut style... Next off was a pupusa from the Red Hook Ball Field vendor -- we were disappointed here -- first off they accidentally gave us chicken instead of beef, and it was on the cold side (though granted it was an unseasonable cold day). The best part of the pupusa was definitely the slaw.

We moved on to the next Red Hook stall for pork tacos. I loved the spiciness of these, excellent limey guacamole too -- though I think there could have been a tad less sauce - would have made them easier to eat.

We had planned on moving on to a fish taco from Choncho's, but just didn't have any more room... Next time...

After some walking around and browsing for $5 and $10 costume jewelry, Catwalker got some sweets -- a Linzer cookie and a mini cupcake from Kumquat Cupcakery. I opted for a gruyere paprika pretzel from Sigmund's.

Brooklyn Flea
Fort Greene every Saturday, 10am-5pm, 176 Lafayette Ave
One Hanson every Sunday, 10am-5pm, 1 Hanson Pl. (at Flatbush Ave.)
www.brooklynflea.com