Tag: headhouse

LOS Burger Truck Breakfast Edition

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I remember the first time I heard about Lucky Old Souls Burger Truck. I was pumped to hear of a food truck selling burgers with grass-fed Lancaster County beef and unique milkshake flavors like maple, black pepper. Yeah! Unfortunately, it took too long to get the opportunity to check them out.

Luckily, Headhouse Square opened back up a couple of weekends ago. Yay, Headhouse! I’ve written tons about our Sundays at Headhouse and it’s finally back in business for the season!

Previously, we’ve gotten Renaissance Sausages, but Lucky Old Souls Burger Truck has taken their spot for the first few weeks, at least. I follow LOS Burger Truck on twitter and have been mesmerized by exciting milkshakes and crazy interesting burgers. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned in the past, my lunchtime flexibility  is minimal due to my job. When we heard LOS Burger Truck would be at Headhouse, my husband and I gave an enthusiastic “hell yeah!”

On our way over to the truck, with the dog of course, we ran into some friends who had just ordered their food. They told us that we just had to order the breakfast burger. The breakfast burger consists of a whopping grass-fed beef patty, bacon, habanero cheddar and local blueberry jam, all topped with a fried egg. Oh yes. How could we resist? In an attempt not to be completely piggy, we opted to split the massive burger, contained in a buttery brioche bun. But then I added fries. Of course I did.

Check the fried egg nestled under the grilled bun.

Now check the cross section.

I think Guy Fieri would call this the money shot. For those of you wondering what’s up with the blueberry jam?? It worked. It totally worked.  The sweetness of the jam paired beautifully with the savory burger and the slight heat from the habanero cheddar. And the bacon. Well, bacon obviously makes everything better. And then there were tasty little morsels of fried egg–a little cooked, a little runny–just the way I like it. You have to taste it to try it, but these weird and slightly discombobulated ingredients just worked. LOS knows what they’re doing. So if you thought a maple and black pepper milkshake sounded weird, think again, my friend.

Oh, and the fries?

Handcut fries fried in 100% peanut oil with an optional (but let’s be clear here, there was no optional about it) garlic mayo dipping sauce…these bad boys were extra crunchy and just popped with flavor and saltiness. While the burger is the star, don’t leave without trying these guys.

Renaissance Sausage Truck 2.0

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Any reader of this little blog knows how much I adore the Renaissance Sausage Truck and just how heartbroken I was when they shut down. For me, every Sunday between May and December meant a sausage sandwich from their truck at the Headhouse Square Farmers Market. I often opted for the hearty vegetarian sausage with caramelized onions and a vegan chipotle mayo. Ever since they closed, our Sundays haven’t quite been the same.

Recently, I heard news that the Sausage Truck was re-imaging itself as a Sausage “cart.” Cart, truck, makes no difference to me. I couldn’t wait to wrap my mouth around one of those tasty sausages again.

When we first approached the cart, everything looked kind of like a mini-me of the original truck.

I love the “Made in South Philly” logo.

Talk about hyper-local eating.

I scoped the good-looking menu, albeit smaller due to obvious space constraints.

I had actually eaten the breakfast sandwich once before and it was probably the best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever eaten. I obviously ordered that again. Pork sausage, organic egg and local american cheese. Can’t quite beat that. Luckily, the breakfast sandwiches come pre-made and I was able to eat immediately.

I don’t love a breakfast sandwich that’s heavy on the egg and these folks got it just right. Rather than using it as an add-on, the focal point of the sandwich is actually the meat. How can you possibly beat that?

While I’m sure my father will be aghast, this porky sausage is inimitable. The sage and thyme flavor mingle perfectly with the tiniest bit of a spicy kick. Bottom line: eat this sandwich now.

The Latin Farmer

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What is it with me and food trucks? I seriously can’t get enough of them! In the Row Home Eats household, our Sunday tradition (at least between the months of May-November) involve waking up and heading over to the Headhouse Square Farmers Market while listening to brunch with the Beatles. Dog in tow, of course. We used to do our shopping for the day then hit the Renaissance Sausage Truck and munch our sandwiches on the cement stairs adjacent to the shambles. My favorite was the vegetarian while my husband usually opted for the Mediterranean. But alas, a few months ago I stumbled across some alarming news. The Sausage Truck would be closing! We were sure to visit Headhouse on their last official Sunday and split a kielbasa in sadness as we wondered who could possibly fill their big, big shoes.

Around this time, another truck began to make a name for itself in the Philadelphia area. The Latin Farmer debuted at the stupid Mt. Airy Night Market where I couldn’t find a stupid parking spot after driving all the way up there in rush hour traffic. Nah, I’m not still bitter. The Latin Farmer promoted healthy, local eating and had an eco-conscious truck to boot. I had to check this place out.

Unfortunately, my day job (i.e. my only job) does not allow me the leisure to take long lunch jaunts to Love Park, where the truck set up shop, so I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that it would be replacing The Sausage Truck on Sundays. The first time we spotted the truck there, we just knew we had to try it. I love the shiny green truck (get it, the “Green” truck is green?)

We checked out the menu and I was drawn to the chicken salad but couldn’t quite wrap my head around the collard wraps. I do love me some bread.

My adventurous husband chose the steak collard wrap while I ended up with the braised beef sandwich, the bocadillo.

The collard wraps were pretty adorable, I must admit. For $8, however, it was a bit shrimpy. Luckily, reports were glowing. The steak inside was well-seasoned and the salsa was the perfect sweet accompaniment.

The bocadillo looked pretty hearty in comparison.

Surprisingly, the highlight of this sandwich was the crunchy apple slaw that sat atop the braised meat. The crunch played well with the soft and chewy meat and gave it a great tang. I must say, and it’s funny that I’m complaining after whining that the collard wraps had no bread, that the bread to filling ratio in the bocadillo was a bit off. There was just too much  bread for this sandwich and it overwhelmed the filling, which should have been the star.

While I miss the Sausage Truck, who will always remain near and dear to my heart, I’m happy to say the The Latin Farmer has found a home. Unfortunately, since that Sunday, the Latin Farmer has temporarily ceased operations. Hopefully we’ll see them back in business in the near future.

Brunch and Headhouse

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Besides the fact that it’s the day before Monday, I tend to love Sundays.  My favorite kind of Sunday is the lazy kind with a world of possibility. In the fall and winter we have football season (more about that in a few months) where we’ll throw something on the stove or crockpot to simmer or braise away for a few hours until game time. From May-November, I am blessed with one of my favorite things of all time–Headhouse Square Market. Now, I love Farmers Markets and always have. I grew up in West Philly and have spent countless hours at the Clark Park’s farmers markets, flea markets and outdoor fairs. My husband and I try to give business to the small Wednesday market at the Fountain on Passyunk each week. However, nothing holds a candle to Headhouse. From the Sausage Truck (vegan sausage, anyone?!) to Talula’s Table and Griggstown, the Sunday market has everything I could possibly need. Sometimes–if we’re going on vacation or already have a full fridge–we don’t buy anything. We simply stroll under the shambles with our dog who SORELY misses the organic dog treat stand from last year!

Many Sunday visits to the shambles include brunch at the taco stand or the Sausage Truck. We’ll get our goods and sit on a stairwell while the dog begs for whatever we’re devouring. I usually end up tossing something her way, much to her delight. This morning, with the weather in our favor–we could eat outside with the dog–we decided to splurge on a real brunch.  Due to the ominous clouds above, we decided to hit up Hawthorne’s because it is close to our house and we figured we’d be able to get a table quickly. We got to Hawthorne’s and snagged up one of the last outdoor tables despite the host’s warning that it may start raining. We figured we’d order quickly and get our food to go if the skies opened up.

We’ve only been to Hawthorne’s once before and I had SOS (aka creamed chipped beef on toast.) As a former vegetarian, I had never eaten SOS but had always been intrigued. I figured it was time and quickly learned that I love SOS! For that reason, I was tempted to have the dish again (I tend to be a repeat orderer when it comes to something I like) but was drawn to a few other menu items, including the chicken salad sandwich on a baguette. I ended up going with the “Captain Ahab” platter of an everything bagel with lox, cream cheese, capers, red onions and mixed greens due to a recent lox craving. I couldn’t complain.

My husband ordered the “steak and eggs” which was a decent sized helping of braised beef with shirred eggs and a side of Claudio’s mozzarella and tomato salad. I didn’t get a chance to snap a picture before he dug in, but we also got an order of home fries to split. I like their home fries. Heavy on the rosemary and lots of fried pepper and onion. Yum!

My favorite part of the meal was the couple sitting across the way with their two dogs. Apparently one of them is a beer lover!

After brunch, the weather continued to work in our favor and we headed over to the Headhouse Market.  I’ve been drooling over a recipe for scalloped tomatoes/tomato bread pudding that I’ve seen in a number of iterations of the past week and knew that I wanted to get some fresh tomatoes so I could finally make it. We strolled under the shambles, checking out the vendors, including the largest and strangest looking squash I’ve ever seen from the Asian produce stand (sorry, no pictures) and allowing my dog to be center of attention. I walked away with a container of tomatoes and some corn with directions on how to keep it fresh. Apparently you are supposed to keep it damp in the fridge. Who knew? No wonder my corn has been drying out so quickly.