The Citywide Special
Another newsletter about how much I love Philly
I’m writing to you from a coffeeshop in Fishtown. Writing this newsletter in a Philly coffeeshop feels like the most natural thing in the world. My food writing career started here, at 34th Magazine back in 2012, and I’ve logged countless hours studying, writing papers, reading, and gossiping in the city’s cafes. Returning here always brings back a ton of memories, from college and from my family. My grandparents have lots of connections to Philly and I made sure to visit Pop Pop’s favorite statue in Rittenhouse Square, the goat he loved as a boy and as an adult. Grandma and Pop Pop visited twice while I was at Penn and we had such a great time. The city has changed a lot since I last lived here, Even so, a lot remains the same and I love it as much as ever, maybe even more since I’m removed from the toxic parts of college and can love it (and my younger self) more fully.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) came out on Friday and provided the perfect soundtrack for my train ride here. Listening to the songs that accompanied my senior year of high school on the way to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday was slightly surreal and also wonderful.
On Thursday, we’re going to be talking summer reads! I have not spent enough time at the beach this summer but I’ve been doing some beach reading. I’ll also be encouraging you to use your local library.
Now, let’s dive in.
Something to cook:
Julia, Julianne and I watched the Bachelorette (I’m cautiously optimistic about the season so far) and made such a good dinner: veggie fajitas. We seasoned mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions with olive oil, cumin, chili powder, and adobo and cooked them in a cast iron with some garlic. We also heated up some black beans with smoked jalapeño flakes and made rice with butter, cilantro, and lime juice. Fajitas are about the fixings: we made guacamole, warmed tortillas, and had salsa, shredded cheese, lime wedges, and sour cream. It all came together pretty quickly and will definitely be a repeat meal for us.
On Tuesday, Julianne and Ian had their annual barbecue and it was so hot out (theme of the week). I made a Sichuan cucumber salad from Hannah Che’s Vegan Chinese Kitchen cookbook. It was so easy and delicious and smashing cucumbers is a lot of fun. The salad has a little heat from chili crisp and it was very popular at the barbecue. Everyone brought good stuff—Julia made a pesto-y pasta salad with asparagus and Tilden made a pea feta dip with plantains.
For lunch this week, I kept the fajita theme going with rice and bean bowls with avocado, shredded cheese, pickled jalapeños, spinach, and salsa. Filling and easy.
Natalie gathered a group of friends from every chapter of life for her birthday. We stayed at an Airbnb in Fishtown that she stocked with the essentials: seltzers, natural wine from Fishtown Social, pickles, cheese, pita chips, cherries, grapes, and a great playlist.
Something to order:
Amy brought Japanese treats to the office on Wednesday including these incredible pancakes from 7-11 that have butter and syrup in between them and mochi skins in both cinnamon and matcha flavor. It’s so much fun to try new snacks!
Dale and I had a little date night at Cool World on Thursday and I just saw on Instagram that they are closing! This is very bad news because their wedge salad and fries were a perfect combo and I will miss it very much.
On Friday, I headed to Philly and my first stop was at Goldie for a tahini shake. It was perfect in the heat and kept me company as I walked through the city.
Then I headed to Sandra and Jake’s very cute apartment and we walked over to dinner at Irwin’s, which is on the roof of Bok High School, which is where they got married back in 2021. The views from the roof are great and we had delicious Sicilian food. The highlight was a bucatini dish that had just come onto the menu with a barely cooked tomato sauce and housemade ricotta. It was so summery and bright. After dinner, I met up with Natalie and pals at Bob and Barbara’s for live music and a $2.50 PBR (it’s the home of the citywide special after all).
On Saturday morning, Sandra and I got breakfast at Mighty Bread Co, which has such good pastries (the spiced morning bun) and sandwiches. There can be a wait on weekends but we got lucky and avoided one.
The Airbnb was right by the huge La Colombe in Fishtown, which Oset and I visited multiple times for coffee (I also bought a t-shirt). It’s very spacious and great for hanging and they still don’t have wifi, which I realize is a choice.
Natalie had a stunning birthday dinner at Suraya (we were supposed to be in the garden but the weather intervened). She wrote each person a card and we all read a poem at the end, which was so thoughtful. The food was delicious as well, especially the starters, which included fried cauliflower with tahini, tabouli, muhammara. The kanefeh dessert was incredible as well and it was really special to be with such a lovely group. We all had so much in common and it quickly moved beyond small talk.
On Sunday morning, Alicia, Oset and I got Kismet bagels which were really good and amply seedy. We also got La Colombe, of course. Then I waited for my delayed train and wrote this newsletter at Gryphon Cafe, which I had seen on Tiktok and had both wifi and lots of seating.
Something to read:
Me at the grocery store down the block
I love reading Eden’s newsletter
. I always learn something cool about New York.Dumpster diving to shame stores and fight waste
How inflation is affecting restaurant prices
Polar seltzer deserves all the love
How Taylor Swift inspires romance writers
Loved this Olivia Rodrigo profile from Jia Tolentino
Without affirmative action, we all lose
A wild story: When Domenic Broccoli set out to expand his IHOP empire upstate, he didn’t expect to find a grave site — or start a war.
Alicia shared this story on dupe bags. Very interesting.
Have a great week and thank you for reading! I know how crowded inboxes and schedules are these days and it means a ton that you spend a few minutes here!
xo, Abigail
Thanks so much for the shoutout! I love hearing that folks are learning cool stuff from my newsletter 😊