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6:59 PM / Thursday March 28, 2024

22 Nov 2013

Philly’s Men CAN Cook!

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November 22, 2013 Category: Local Posted by:

ABOVE PHOTO: Chef Dana Herbert, winner of the hit TV Show “The Cake Boss” and owner of Desserts by Dana.

(Photo by Velvet McNeil)

While it’s kind of hard to walk and eat, Philly’s Men Are Cooking was worth the attempt

By Denise Clay

While the Shops At Liberty Place is filled with great shoe stores and one of the few locations of The Body Shop outside of Philadelphia International
Airport, it’s not usually a place where I have people meet me for lunch.

That’s because, with the possible exception of Brown Betty’s Bakery, there’s not a whole lot to eat there. They have a sushi place that’s okay, and you
can’t go wrong with a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s, but when Ruby Tuesday’s is the best restaurant you’ve got, you’re not a gourmet destination.

(Oops, I need to correct that. Ruby Tuesday’s is the ONLY restaurant it’s got…)

On Saturday night, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Ivy Legacy Foundation changed all that for a few hours. Their event, Philly’s Men Are Cooking brought men from
around the Delaware Valley, some of them professional chefs, into Liberty Place and turned it from a place where Chick-fil-A reigns to a place where you
could get a decent meal…and some serious libations.

It was a two-story setup with men dishing out everything from gumbo to macaroni and cheese to sweet potato cupcakes. There were tables, but you had to move
really fast to get one. Which meant that you had to eat while walking, something I’m not really good at.

So I chose my noshes carefully.

When I’m at an event like Philly’s Men Are Cooking I look for familiar faces. Set up in front of the Victoria’s Secret store was author, motivational
speaker and general man about town Mister Mann Frisby. Since I’ve seen many of his culinary creations on his Facebook page, I decided to check him out.

He had a casserole that was called “More More”. Made with chicken, rice, vegetables (I tasted spinach) and cheese, it was a meal that any parent could
love…so when Frisby told me it was his daughter Skye’s favorite, I wasn’t surprised.


PHOTO: Damon Wylie shows his jerk garlic shrimp at philly’s men are cooking.

(Photo by Robert Mendelsohn)

I then tried some of Kevin A. Spratley’s vegetable chili. If you like vegetables and a bit of spice, this was the dish for you. It had a smoky flavor,
which was good. It was also filled with beans, which gave me some reservations because public spaces+beans=potential social faux pas.

One thing that’s kind of tough to eat while you’re walking is a meatball. Especially when it’s a fairly large meatball. Algernon Allen, former owner of one
of my favorite places in West Philadelphia, Elaina’s Soul Food, made meatballs on a bed of egg noodles. It was a juicy, well-seasoned meatball, but it was
a bit too big to eat while walking.

I found myself at a long table with a plastic flamingo in front of it. Manning the table was a group of brothers from the Chester Alumni Chapter of Kappa
Alpha Psi. Every year, the group gets together, decides on a theme, and prepares a group of dishes to illustrate that them, said Aldustus Jordan, one of
the group of chefs.

Starting with a delicious she-crab soup and ending with creamy macaroni and cheese with green beans cooked in smoked turkey, shrimp and grits and cornbread
in between, this section of Kappas was a must-stop. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year because topping the flavors from this year will be
tough.

For my story in the SUN previewing “Philly’s Men”, I interviewed Chef Christopher Abbott, a professional chef that works under the name Chef Kristof. He
told me that his gumbo was a popular attraction in past versions of this event, so I wanted to make sure that I tried it.

His bragging rights are more than secure. The gumbo had just the right amount of spice and, I bring this up because I’ve eaten gumbo elsewhere in which
this was an issue, just the right distribution of seafood. It was quite tasty.

Now you couldn’t eat all of this good food without something to wash it down with. In that regard, I was more than covered at “Philly’s Men”, although the
drink choices were almost entirely alcoholic.

There was Wayne Mallory’s Secret Recipe tea…which was a hot tea-based concoction and good for the sore throat I was fighting, Brian Rhodes’ rum punch,
which wasn’t overpowering, and the sweet tea offered by the group of Kappas was pretty good as well.

But the last alcoholic beverage I had before I got a lot more serious about my search for water was one that the ladies in a “Scandal” group that I belong
to might appreciate. It was named after one of the show’s two favorite budding alcoholics, “The President Fitz.”

With an episode of “Scandal” playing on an I-Pad as they worked, chefs Sam Samuel III and Shamir Reese poured two juices, one red, one white, both mixed
with alcoholic beverages they refused to share with the audience, with crushed ice into two blenders. They then turned the blenders on, poured both
concoctions into a cup, and handed it to me.

After drinking it for a few minutes, I was glad I had eaten beforehand. It got stronger as the ice melted…as most drinks do.

There was a lot that I liked about Philly’s Men Are Cooking. It gave me a chance to meet some nice men and sample some good food.

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