A Pinch of Favorites

I often find it hard to come up with answers on the spot when asked the question, “What’s your favorite _____?” You’re asking ME, an overthinker, to give you ONE favorite? I’d hate to be defined by one of anything. Whenever I do start the thought of answering a favorite, it typically leads to one more, and then another, but I can’t leave one more out… and then soon enough you better be keeping notes.

And while I know that this isn’t really a problem — and frankly when I’m the one asking, I love getting recommendations or chatting about shared places — it does make me wonder why I haven’t combined my many notes (if you know me well, you know my Notes app is endless) into a single source… so I figure, why not now 👀? More on this coming below.

“And Why?”

This idea of thinking about my favorites came when I was doing a guided run recently (shoutout to Nike Run Club, because how else am I supposed to pay attention in a run?). A few questions along the way to keep moving were about simple favorites, followed by the question, “And why?”:

• What’s your favorite number, and why?

• What’s your favorite letter of the alphabet, and why?

• What’s your favorite season, and why?

You get the gist. So while I was physically running, my mind (also known to be a track star) was actually getting into thinking about why I would answer some things.

My favorite number is five. My middle name comes from the famous #5 for the Baltimore Orioles, Brooks Robinson. So #5 was always with me during sports. And then in a weird way, counts of five seem natural to me when working with numbers. Something feels balanced about it. Weird, moving on.

My favorite letter… this one took some thinking. Naturally, my mind started with C. The first letter of my name. But then I started to think of words: creative, confident, caring, calm, cool, collected. That was enough for me. (I know when I was running, I came up with much better sounding words, but you get it.)

Favorite season… now I’m stumped. Short answer here: I enjoy going through all the season.

My Favorites, Recommended to You

These questions from my run made me start to think back on a few occasions recently when I was asked about some of my favorite places to eat around Philly, or where I would take some friends if they were visiting the city or my hometown in West Chester.

I have lists of restaurants I’ve wanted to try, marking those that I’ve been to – sometimes even sharing these notes with other people to keep track of meals shared together. Add in the various maps on Google, Apple Maps and any recommendations in texts that I swore I’d come back to. And to cap it all off, the options are endless… and just keep growing.

In reality it comes down to this: rarely do I find myself getting back to places I really enjoyed because I want to get to new places.

Enter: A Pinch of Favorites Map

Here’s a first look at the A Pinch of Favorites Google map that will be my tried-and-true source for my favorite places. These are favorites that I ramble off to start for go-to’s, new favorites, under-appreciated spots and much more.

Let’s do a lightning round run through (of random favorite thoughts to get this newsletter out on time, forgive any recency bias… as I said, it’s a free-flowing list!):

• Favorite Philly Dinner: Fiorella

• Favorite Baked Goods: Machine Shop, K’Far, Fiore, Malvern Buttery (had to expect that this was never going to be just one)

• Favorite Dine-in Pizza: Sally

• Favorite Takeout: Blue Corn, Brazas, Woodrow’s

• Favorite Bar in Philly: Black Sheep

• Favorite Meal Last Year: Mawn, Little Walter’s

• Favorite Local Beer: East Branch Brewing Co, Levante Brewing Co, La Cabra Brewing

• Favorite Breakfast Sandwich for After a Fun Night: Deli on 4th, Bart’s Bagels

Now you understand where my mind goes when I start to think about my favorites, especially for food. So this is just the start of the map. Of course I have more ideas of notes I can add to each spot shown. I figure sharing this will give me something to go back to, adding places that I’ve mentioned already here, those I haven’t, and of course the new spots all along the way. (I started with 50 tonight, and I already know I’m missing some notable favorites. More to come back to later.

And even better yet, I’d love to get to know where you’ve tried on the map or not. What you enjoyed at those same places. Similar spots you’d recommend. Or any favorites you’d answer for those above and any to come on the map. Maybe this is a phase 2 to figure out sharing more collaboratively. (Did I mention the mind is always moving?)

I’m sure I’ll have a few more mentions in newsletters to come as this map idea grows out. A man can only write words, create a map and bake so much in one night.

What’s Cookin’

So what did I bake, you may be asking? Some staples here tonight: Lemon Blueberry Scones and a new Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie to the mix. Some quick notes…

Sally Baking Addiction’s Lemon Blueberry Scones

These scones have been a go-to for years now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The only difference I change from this recipe is that I work in the butter similarly to how it’s done to make biscuits: cut refrigerated butter into small cubes, working into the flour until there are no large clumps left. Then the rest of the steps are as the recipe shares. Quick and easy, but taste great everytime.

Cloudy Kitchen’s Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve said it before: give me a reason to brown some butter, and I’m in. This recipe was one to add to the mix and take notes to figure out the best choc chip cookie (spoiler: any cookies that make it here have been approved a few times over). A requirement, of course: flaky sea salt to finish.

The rest of the week was great. I got some damn good meals. First shown, new-to-the-Philly-scene Little Water that feature fresh coastal foods. Highlights of the meal goes to the hashbrowns with crab and uni, and the swordfish milanese.

A slow Saturday morning with my mom started with watching the latest episode of Severance (emphasis on the slow), and then heading to Matines Cafe in Wayne for brunch: some artichoke quiche, a smashed avocado tartine and a strawberry and cream danish.

Rounded out the week on Saturday at Levante Brewing with some friends. That’s where I found my favorite beer of the year so far: Cloudy & Cumbersome Tangerine. A nice take on the classic. The beers were flowing and paired well with wood-fired pizzas from the From the Boot on the Move truck.

If you made it this far… bravo. YOU 🫵 are my favorite this week. Now we have one hell of a week to look forward to. Murmurs of it potentially getting up to 70 degrees here. How bout that for mid-March?

Enjoy your week 🤘