Front Street to Fu-Wah; Bang-Bang

“Yeah, you can top me off. Make sure you twist the bottle so none gets on the table.” Caleb started in on a bowl of quinoa porridge as his roommate filled his glass from the tall bottle on the refurbished wooden table.  Raspberries, shaved coconut, apples, and some sort of cashew crema were heaped atop the steaming bowl. “I want to put a bunch of maple syrup on it,” he said, “But I’m not doing that because why ruin this delicious, healthful breakfast?” 

It was 1:30pm on a Wednesday. “We work in the service industry,” John said, “So lunch is breakfast.”

The two sat across from each other at Front Street Café, John in a big, cozy fiber knit sweater and Caleb in a plaid flannel and backwards hat. Today they were having “date day.”

 “We’ll go out if we’re both awake and off,” John said. He was enjoying “A big ol’ burger to soak of the booze in my stomach from last night.” They had been out drinking “Everywhere…” Bacon, Spanish cheese (“Almost like a munster,”), some sort of mayonnaise that they don’t call mayonnaise (“Must be aioli,”), and Bibb lettuce, piled between the toasted brioche roll might help the hangover. “I asked for medium but this is more like medium-well,” he said. “It’s hard to go out to a restaurant when you work in one and turn that off.”

John is a server at Kraftwork, a craftsmanship-inspired bar/restaurant in Fishtown. Caleb has worked for the Vetri Family restaurants for six months, most often at the Pizzeria in Center City. His workplace environment may be changing a bit; in an “unprecedented event in the restaurant and retail world,” (Marc Vetri for PhillyMag) Urban Outfitters bought the Vetri Family a couple weeks back.

The two roommates’ thoughts on the Vetri/Urban combination:

Caleb: “I’m about to get so many deep v-neck t-shirts.”

John (on lifestyle centers): “A food court on crack.”

John: “Let’s pop in for lunch and get a sweater.”

Caleb: “No, I’d get an over-priced Beatles record instead.”

John: “Or a record player that will also pet your cat…” 

“Oh shit,” John said, holding up a pointer finger. They both tuned into the jazz playing for a moment and threw out an artist. John and Caleb went to music school at Temple. John studied jazz performance and education. He’s currently working on a film, and Caleb sang in one of the featured tracks. They’ve lived among many part-time artists and innovators in Fishtown for the past six years.

Typically, they’ll eat lunch where they work. “Honestly, I mod everything,” John said, meaning, he doesn’t order off the menu. “I eat whatever is not going to sit in my stomach like a rock,” he said, “You don’t want to be full when you’re serving.” Caleb agrees. He’ll eat a huge salad with all the toppings on the line. And pizza? “I can’t, because I know what’s going to happen,” he said, “I’m going to eat it all day everyday.”

If you don’t have the opportunity to eat Vetri pizza everyday and happened to stop in for lunch, Caleb recommends a white pizza with fresh rosemary and arugula tossed in basil pesto. John recommended the Beer Can Chicken Sandwich for lunch at Kraftwork, which started a little roommate banter. According to Caleb, the proper way to prepare beer can chicken is to cook a whole chicken over a can of beer. As in, situate the neck cavity of the chicken around a mostly full, open can of beer and let the beer evaporate up through the meat as it cooks.

“That’s bullshit,” John said. Apparently, the beer is just for flavor, and the whole can thing is for show. “Can the customers see the can?” Caleb shook his head and looked at me. “His idea of been can chicken is you cook a chicken and drink a beer,” he said. “Your chicken comes out dry and you’re drunk so you don’t care!”

It’s not quite that simple at Kraftwork. “You take a hotel pan, put Doylestown R5 lager, salt, pepper, bay leaves, you know, and braise the chicken. Get the sugar from the beer to caramelize,” John explained. They pull the chicken off the carcass the next day and pile it on a brioche roll with sharp provolone and caramelized onions and long hots. Caleb laughed at John. “You can’t try to swoon a food writer with caramelized onions and peppers.” (I get his point, though I'd say caramelized onions are a timeless classic.)

“Eat more food,” was their plan for the rest of the day. They were doing what is called a bang bang, “When you eat two full meals in a row.” Louie C.K. coined the term ‘bang bang’ in his show, Louie. You go to one place and eat a full meal, and then you go right to another place and eat another full meal. Bang. Bang. 

They were off to Fu-Wah mini-market on 47^th and Baltimore Ave for the best tofu Bahn Mi. They only had an hour to get there or it wouldn’t count as a legitimate bang bang.

“We literally both owe the same amount,” John said, picking up the check.

“Can I have that?” Caleb asked, pointing his fork at half the flash-fried potato on John’s plate.

“Only if you eat it in one bite.”

Well fed, bill paid, and off to West Philly for another meal.