March 11, 2010
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Events
Photo: Flying Fish
Our Beer Week(end) line-up commences tomorrow with Jersey brewery Flying Fish. We’ll be pouring brewmaster Casey Hughes’ thirst-quenching American Trippel, Exit 4, recently re-released in 12-ounce bottles. Here’s what Flying Fish has to say about the trip:
This inspired Belgian-style Trippel has a hazy golden hue and the aroma of citrus with hints of banana and clove. Predominant Belgian malt flavors give way to a subdued bitterness in the finish. Bottle conditioned, this beer will develop as it ages.
Come catch a taste tomorrow. We’re not trippin’.
March 10, 2010
· Filed under Specials · Tagged Events
Photo: Johnny Goodtimes
This Sunday afternoon, it’s all about Eggs & Ales, brought to you by Sly Fox and the charming Suzy Woods. Better known as the Beer Lass, Woods is a Sly Fox rep and runs the women’s beer club In Pursuit of Ale. Sunday from 11 am to 1 pm, eggs will be $4 instead of $5 and Suzy’ll be crack-a-lackin’ cans of Pikeland Pils and Phoenix Pale Ale, plus bottles of Saison Vos and “perhaps some surprises too”. Follow Suzy on Twitter and her blog, and stay tuned for emerging details on Green Aisle’s Beer Week(end).
March 10, 2010
· Filed under Bakery, Snacks, Specials, Sweets · Tagged Events, Musings & News
Photo: Beer Radar
Beer Week may have moved to June, but rain or shine (looks like rain), Beer Week(end) is going down Friday through Sunday. Even in the midst of Duvelgate 2010, the snarling hydra that is the PLCB isn’t keeping our pubs and restaurants down. Rare tappings, meet-the-brewers and bus tours are happening all over town. At Green Aisle, we can’t sell beer, but we can give it away, which is exactly what we’ll be doing all weekend. The line-up isn’t locked, but it looks like Flying Fish, Ommegang and Sly Fox will be keeping your favorite neighborhood grocery hydrated Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In addition, we’ll be carrying beer-themed products like Betty’s Buttons cupcakes crafted with Yards Brawler and Victory Storm King Stout and special Wild Flour beer breads including the dark, mysterious Yards Porter Pumpernickel and brioche baked with cardamom, orange, chocolate and Philly Pale Ale. Just don’t tell Phyllis.
March 6, 2010
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Musings & News
Photo: CBS
We’d been searching for a while for a local composting company, but today, the business we’ve been looking for came to us. Tim Bennett owns and operates Bennett Compost, a South Philly-based set-up that works with small businesses and residents to turn everything from paper waste to apple cores into rich organic material for community gardens. Tim’s dropping by with a container later today. And do give us a shout if you want his info; for about $10 a month you can compost at home too.
March 3, 2010
· Filed under Fresh Produce
It’s been a minute since we’ve had onions in stock, but thrilled we’ve been able to connect with a reliable supplier in Landisdale Farm, a certified organic set-up in Lebanon County. Landisdale also handles deliveries for the Tuscarora Organic Growers, a co-op of Pennsylvania farmers. Here’s what’s fresh today…
Purple-top Turnips / Tuscarora / $4 for 10
Russian Banana Fingerlings / Tuscarora / $5 per pot
Yellow Dutch Shallots / Tuscarora / $1
Red and Yellow Onions / Landisdale / $1.25
Japanese Sweet Potatoes / Landisdale / medium $1, large $2, stupid $3*
(This is what we mean by stupid.)
March 1, 2010
· Filed under Cheese, Dairy · Tagged Press
Photo: Felicia D'Ambrosio
On Meal Ticket today, fromage hound Felicia D. went about examining the virtue of a $25 truffle honey she recently scooped. To test if the nectar was worth its price, she fashioned the drool-worthy cheese plate you see above with these biscuits and a wedge of our very own Black River Blue. We sell the turquoise-veined ivory hunks by the half-pound–shout out to our friends at Milk & Honey Market, who cut and wrap it for us–for $5, a price way lower than you’d expect for a blue this racy.
February 27, 2010
· Filed under Italian, Pasta · Tagged Recipes
Some see Lent as a drag. We see it as an excuse to splurge on seafood. Whatever your faith, this recipe for capellini and cockles will have you crying alleluia. We start with fresh angel hair from Severino, heavenly hand-spooled strands that cook up in mere minutes, and cute, green-lipped cockles that are almost always available Ippolito’s, located just around the block from Green Aisle, for around $7 per pound (approximately 30 cockles). Warmed with cinnamon and brightened with preserved lemon, the spicy marinara evokes Sicily. Recipe after the jump Read the rest of this entry »
February 26, 2010
· Filed under Fresh Produce
Oh yeah, those are tomatoes you see in the basket. Ripened on the vine, not in an ethanol gas chamber. From Penn’s Woods, not Peru’s. If you’re looking in the wrong places, eating local during Pennsylvania winters can be boring. About now is about the time we’re sure if we see another braised meat-and-root vegetable affair we’ll ram our heads into a Le Creuset pot. But thanks to Gap’s Green Meadow Farm and their three greenhouses (heated with recycled vegetable oil), we can get locally grown tomatoes, salad greens, seedless cucumbers, lemongrass, cilantro, baby fennel and more all through the winter. We’ve got all that in stock today, plus more. Come by and check out this week’s Green Meadow haul.
February 25, 2010
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Press
Photo: Mike Persico for Keystone Edge
Tuesday’s Inquirer ran a dope story about the revitalization of East Passyunk Avenue. Staffer Kia Gregory, a PW alum, deftly examined the balance between old and new that makes this street so vibrant, interesting and authentic. We were featured as well as Avenue newcomer Fuel and been-there-forever cheese shop Mancuso’s.
In the last year, 19 businesses have opened on the avenue between Ninth and Broad Streets. Drawn by cheap rents and cooperative landlords, the new owners have created an eclectic patchwork of bistros, galleries, and boutiques, joining fixtures such as Di Cocco Family’s St. Jude Shop, where girls for 20 years have bought communion dresses, and Mancuso’s, where mothers once lined up outside to buy handmade ricotta for Sunday dinner.
Such a mix, “it’s what keeps the avenue authentic,” says Adam Erace, 25, co-owner of Green Aisle Grocery, which opened three months ago up the street from Mancuso’s, where Erace remembers shopping with his mother. True to the avenue’s roots, Erace’s neighbor, a seamstress who owns his building, often brings him homemade Italian dishes for lunch.
“It’s a great balance,” Erace says, “and I hope it stays that way.”
We love the love for Mancuso’s. As kids, we used to stop on the way to our grandmom’s–she still lives at 10th and Mifflin–order softballs of fresh mozzarella on sheets of wax paper and unwrap one long ivory strip at a time, as if were peeling oranges. (Insiders also know Mancuso’s is the place for water ice in the summer.) The image sounds like something out of the ’50s, but no, this was around 1996. In South Philly, old traditions are alive and well.
February 25, 2010
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Press
Yesterday, PW released their Better than Best issue and we landed the award for “Twitter Feed that Makes Us Hungriest”! The weekly says:
Pimping the Erace brothers’ cute-as-can-be Passyunk Avenue specialty grocery Green Aisle could be considered a conflict of interest, since Adam Erace reviews restaurants for PW . However, when something is this good, you want to shout it from the rooftops. (Or just put it on your best-of list.) Find out about specials, drink nights and what’s in stock by following the Eraces at twitter.com/greenaisle. If you’re anything like us, you’ll have to physically restrain yourself from jumping on the Broad Street Line when you read “only two tubs of Zahav hummus left” or “Ekta re-up is here.”
Mission accomplished.
