Archive for the ‘Culinary’ Category
Exquisite Eats + Divine Drinks = Philadelphia
Posted by Michael McNulty | Filed under Culinary, Dining
Any Philadelphia resident knows there is no shortage of great places to eat and drink in the city. It’s home of Iron Chef Jose Garces, whose restaurants are popping up like porcini mushrooms in every neighborhood—giving top restaurateurs like Georges Perrier, Stephen Starr and Marc Vetri a run for their money.
Some of Philly’s best bars and restaurants can be found off the beaten path. Take The Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co., a tribute to the speakeasies of the 1920s, for example. Here bartending is an art, not a shot chased by a beer. You can count on the staff going out of their way to concoct the right cocktail for you.
Philly’s variety is virtually endless—whether you want to hit a local bar for a pint of craft beer and some good pub grub or you want to woo a date over a hand-carved steak at Butcher & Singer while taking in the low lights and dark wood of old Hollywood. With so many offerings around every corner, how do you go about choosing where to indulge your taste buds and quench your thirst? Just follow me!
Rittenhouse Square
Parc Restaurant
Village Whiskey
Butcher & Singer
The Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co.
Le Bec-Fin
Davio’s
Washington Square
Tellula’s Garden
The Farmer’s Cabinet
Varga Bar
Tria
Chops
El Fuego
Old City
Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant
Serrano
Alma de Cuba
National Mechanics
Zahav
Nick’s Roast Beef
The Mexican Post
University City
Pub’n’Grub
Distrito
Get out there and taste Philadelphia! And let me know your culinary discoveries…
Fiesta at Rick’s Twitter Contest
Posted by Charisse Gallagher | Filed under Culinary, Social Media
Award-winning chef-restaurateur, cookbook author, and television personality Rick Bayless has done more than any other culinary star to introduce Americans to authentic Mexican cuisine and to change the image of Mexican food in America. Now, with your help, he is bringing it weekly to your screen. Rick has launched a Twitter Cooking Contest where he uses the 140 character limit to post a cryptic recipe. Its then up to the readers to cook up their interpretation of the finished plate. The end result is a very interesting and engaging contest—with yummy looking results.
Recipe for Week 1: Sear 1.25# bnls chix brst; cool, cube. Brn 1 onion,add 3 grlc,2 poblanos (rstd,pld,slcd),6 oz chard,1c broth,1c crema.Boil2 thickn.Add chix
Results: http://www.rickbayless.com/blog/?p=22
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Reciper for Week 2: Rst 1#tomtllos,1 on,3 grlc,3 serranos;puree;sear n oil 2 thkn;simr w 2c broth,.5c crema.Oil,micrwv 12 torts,roll w rstd veg,sauce, chs, bake
Results: http://www.rickbayless.com/blog/?p=41
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- Rick Bayless (photo courtesy of Epicurious.com)
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- Week 1 Winner
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- Week 2 Winner
Extreme Cuisine
Posted by Charisse Gallagher | Filed under Culinary, Travel
Food and Travel. They go together as well as chocolate and peanut butter (scratch that—almost as well…). What a better way to learn and explore a new culture than through their local cuisine? Even if that experience is through your tv or computer screen, it certainly makes you want to get out there and sample what great food our world has to offer and learn about a new culture along the way.
The Food Network has a new show, Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin, that allows you to follow Jeff to countries such as Thailand, Greece and Peru learning from the natives about their cutltures, customs, and of course food. The show airs Thursday nights at 9pm. Bon Appetit!
Their website gives more information about the show, and also has a few video clips to view to whet your appetite.
picture courtesy of FoodNetwork.com
‘Buying the Intern T-Shirt’, My Last Day Interning
Posted by JStephens | Filed under Advertising, Culinary, Dana News, Hospitality News, Updates
Hello Internet,
Only minutes remain between now and the weekend, a time usually looked upon with great joy. By the time lunch rolls around, no pun intended, most are ready to clock out. Eyes glazed over from a long weeks worth of harsh illumination from the computer screen, the arrival of 5:00 on Friday is as anticipated as the final countdown before a school child’s summer recess. Do I feel the same? Yes and no. Like anybody else, I am excited to go home, for, it is the weekend. Lying just ahead are two days of relaxing, catching up on past due things, and the immersion of any number personal pursuits.
But today I feel different. Today marks my last day as an intern here at DANA, and my first experience in a “real-world, post-college” job. I started my internship 10 weeks ago, shortly after the end of the school. Not knowing what to expect, but wanting to make a good first impression I came in on my first day wearing dress clothes and a tie. Immediately after walking through the door I noticed how overdressed I was. From that day forward I did things the DANA way, casual and relaxed, but still ‘down to business’.
During the ten weeks I spent here at DANA, I have seen a lot, done a lot, and experienced even more. Interning at DANA has given me more than a taste, practically a full meal, of agency life. During my short-lived tenure I bounced around from department to department: filing invoices and moving boxes for accounting, organizing magazines and calling contacts for the media department, and making comps, contact sheets, and learning about the printing process from the creative team.
These past ten weeks have definitely given me a strong foundation in the basis of how an agency works. I am glad for the experience, even if all of it wasn’t fun and games. I did my fair share of data entry, some of which I was unable to complete. I still have a box full of business cards to input to the database. In that sense, thank goodness this is my last day. For the most part however, things went well. I was able to meet new people, learn new things, try to make people laugh, and see advertising from the inside.
Thanks for reading my posts and being interested. If you would like to keep in touch with me please do so, all my pertinent info can be found online at www.jacobstephens.com
Goodbye
-Jake
‘Buying the Intern T-Shirt’, The Office is Abuzz
Posted by JStephens | Filed under Advertising, Culinary, Dana News, Hospitality News, Interactive, Uncategorized, Updates
Hello again everybody,
Friday means blog day, and in that case, welcome to another edition of my Jake-the-Intern blog. This morning was a big morning in the DANA office. Last night a number of senior members from the DANA team arrived home from pitch to a potential client. After a solid week plus of hard work from nearly everybody, we were happy to hear the pitch went well. But, what made the morning even better, was a phone call from the client informing us that we have been hired on four distinct fronts, and are in the running for their agency of record!
Becoming an agency of record for this client would be a huge feather in the collective DANA cap. Speaking of caps, this new client is known to have real feathers in theirs. Sorry I can’t give you more details, rules are rules.
Personally, it was interesting to see the pitch process come full circle. During the last two weeks I played my part and prepared research materials about the client, their competition, and web demographics amongst others. As I watched the all the pieces come together in turn, it was neat to see an idea flourish into something tangible.
On another front, today I learned a lesson in comp making. Always always always triple check your pages before you glue them down. In the midst of making a double-gate fold brochure for the printer I mistakenly switched around a number of pages, ultimately rendering my final product worthy of only the recycling bin. In my defense, yesterday was the first time I made a comp of anything. In the end, I fixed my mistakes, even if it took re-doing 2/3rds of the project, turning a mish-mash of pages into a cohesive final project, just how the designer intended. Next time, I’ll make a miniature print out to follow from the get go.
Sorry there aren’t any pictures this week. It seems that I have been neglecting my digital camera and needs new batteries.
Be safe,
-Jake
‘Buying the Intern T-shirt’, Party Up in Here!
Posted by JStephens | Filed under Advertising, Culinary, Dana News, Hospitality News, Interactive, Uncategorized, Updates
Happy Friday interweb. The weekending countdown is on, and what better way to end it than with a mildly humorous and occasionally informative blog about being an intern. This weeks topic…the DANA summer barbecue!
This is how we do.Preparing the food. Notice the apron.
On Wednesday night, the DANA staff came from near and far; really, some people came all the way from North Carolina, to the garden-scaped Lambertville backyard of DANA’s president Bob. As people meandered inside and out, there was an uplifting feeling in the air. The dress was casual, as was the conversation. For most of the evening and into the night, the DANA staff talked, laughed, joked, debated, chattered, gossiped, babbled and rattled on. Set against a refreshing summer evening and the musical styling’s of varied acts like Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, and Steely Dan the DANA staff enjoyed the bountiful smattering of food that was available.
part of the meal
To eat, we had salmon, lamb, ribs, approximately twenty-three different types of pasta salad, fruit salad, a “leafy green” salad, potato salad, and other summer favorites like cookies, brownies, chips, dip, raw veggies, and from all reports a smokin’ hot buffalo cheese dip. Mostly everything was “super delicious”
Enjoying the conversation
Upon entry guests were encouraged to have an umbrella drink. Thankfully it didn’t rain because those umbrellas were a little too small. Aside from that, the bar was stocked with beers and fine wines for everyone to enjoy. I was given a root beer. I think it’s pretty exclusive I was the only one to have it. Maybe it was imported?
If you learn anything from this, as I hope you would, know that hospitality people know how to have a party. From food to the drinks, to the atmosphere and attitudes, the night was a great success on all accounts. And if you are wondering what to do with hotel shower caps, take a tip from seasoned professionals and save them. They come in very handy when you have lots of dishes to cover before refrigerating.
Take it easy Internet,
-Jake
‘Buying the Intern T-Shirt’, My empty cubicle
Posted by JStephens | Filed under Advertising, Culinary, Dana News, Hospitality News, Uncategorized, Updates
Welcome back Internet. Today is a sad day, for at 5:00PM EST, I will have an empty cubicle. My only other cubicle mate, Stacy, will be moving on to another job, in another town, in another state starting Monday. And as for me, I will be left on my own. If I had my way, I would turn the space into a private office. All I would really need is a door. Oh, and a nameplate of course! As per the suggestion of a co-worker, I will be getting saloon doors. If you want to get a matching set, here is the link. http://www.saloondoorsemporium.com/.
In other related DANA news, I have been diligently working on a large research project for a potential client. Now I can’t really give you any specifics, but I can tell you that I have been busy learning about cultural tourism, feeder markets, visiting trends, and local attractions. I have to give thanks to the Google Insights machine for all its help making pretty graphs and the statistical data.
Aside from that I have been enjoying my time here at DANA. I can usually count on refilling the water cooler every week. Too bad there isn’t always someone ‘water cooler talk’. I was expecting that to be a bigger part of the ‘office’ experience. But in the long run, I guess that doesn’t really matter; the cake that was sitting on the kitchen counter more than made up for the absent cooler talk.
On a final note, the more I think about how I portray DANA to the outside world, the more I think you could use another perspective. Sooooo, today I took the liberty of playing paparazzo. Below are some candid shots from around the office. Sorry about the quality. It’s tough being sneaky in a bright blue shirt.
Outside the main door.
Some of DANA's creative department
This is one of DANA's Art Director's. He told me not to photograph him, so I had to.
This is DANA's Senior Interactive Developer Max. He requested to stay anonyous
High above Hopewell
Way in the back there is DANA's president, Bob. I snuck this picture from the 3rd story fire escape
This is Jorge. Now I have a use for all that fish food.
So long Internet,
-Jake the Intern
‘Buying the Intern T-Shirt’, Digging Deeper
Posted by JStephens | Filed under Advertising, Culinary, Dana News, Hospitality News, Updates
Hello again Internet,
As Jef I. Richards once said, “creativity is an advertising agency’s most valuable asset”. Having been here at Dana for another week, it is becoming clearer and clearer to me how this is true. To see it, all I have to do is direct my attention anywhere aside from the current status of my computer.
Recently, my creativity has been slowed to a halt. As we continue to gear up for our 30th anniversary, I have been assigned to the important, yet absolutely mind-numbing experience of data entry. Yesterday, I was briefed in the basics, before being sent out to tame the beast known as Salesforce. A customer relationship management application, Dana uses it to manage their past, present, and future accounts. There must be at least a-zillion. After 5 hours yesterday, I updated accounts A-C. If that pace continues I may be stuck here this weekend, and forced to forego my beach plans after what seemed like 40 days and nights of rain here in Jersey.
On a side note, I have also been doing some media filing for Dana, the person, not company. The media closet has a broken light that kind of flickers, so I usually work in the dark. Most days, she piles up a mass of magazines for me, minus the Spanish GQ. She keeps that for herself.
Take a look at all those mags!
Still, things are not all bad. This morning I was given a crash course on SEO advertising campaigns, everything from keywords to click-throughs. It seems interesting; definitely something worth exploring more if I am given the opportunity. After that I did some more basement filing, wherein if it were not for the expertly placed rubber padding, I would have smashed my head on some very low ductwork. The resulting fall backwards would have seen my way into a pile of boxes including an old ‘scanmaker 800’, an LCD screen, and a Gateway computer where I would probably still be. Luckily for me, that is not the case.
On the way to the archives...
This is an example of one of many archive shelfs
Major injury avoided, having reflected back on the later part of this week has taught me something. Even though what I am doing my not be overtly creative, it has to be done. Creativity may be an agency’s most valuable player, but it is still only a player on a team.
Until next time,
-Jake
First Impressions, Buying the Intern T-Shirt
Posted by JStephens | Filed under Advertising, Culinary, Dana News, Hospitality News, Updates
Hello Internet.
My name is Jake Stephens, the summer intern here at Dana Communications. I’m so excited this day has come. Today I get to tell you, the millions, my story. It’s only been three weeks, but I feel that I’ve paid enough dues to gain access to posting on the acclaimed Dana blog. Either that, or I’m just filling space. Regardless, take the next few minutes to read my story. Chances are, you may even learn something new.
For instance, did you know that my desk came with a jar of Betta Bites fish food?
A welcoming gift from the good people here at Dana.
After feeding the imaginary fish every morning, I never know what to expect here at Dana. As an intern I do all sorts of things, granted, some are better than others, but there is no shortage of variety. Be it the complex assembly of ‘hello books’, the fun-filled fulfillment of a 200+ piece ‘high-end’ direct mailing, or ventures deep into the basement to file archives. If nothing else, this internship has character. I’ll take it one step further. Dana as a whole has character.
Only 60 more to go!
I made 209 pretty personalized boxes.
Set in the middle of downtown Hopewell, NJ in a former home of a historic bank, the Dana office has a certain quality unmatched in modern construction. The large round conference table is as inviting as the heavily reinforced triple locking steel vault where my co-workers tell me all the interns have to eat lunch. I just wish the light switch were on the inside.
Everybody said I eat here because they want me to stay safe.
It is fascinating to see the elaborate symphony that is advertising. Trust me, I have a front row seat twice weekly. From concept to completion, the advertising process is surely a team effort. Before publication or launch, you can bet that what you see has traveled back and forth, over and again to ensure what the client needs and wants is what the client gets.
I am eager to learn more about world of advertising. So far I think I’m off to a running start. Until next time internet,
-Jake
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort: Just Do It.
Posted by Eric Welsh | Filed under Advertising, Culinary, Dana News, Design, Travel, Uncategorized
Last month my girlfriend Kelley and I traveled to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort for an extended birthday weekend. With promises of endless golf and peppered steaks I couldn’t resist her advances to travel the almost 300 miles from our NY/NJ area home. The drive during the fall months is captivating. I have heard growing up that the Hudson Valley had the best foliage in the East. I must admit, having seen with my very own 20/20 eyes, the colors of Pennsylvania Route I-70 are a close second, almost leaf and leaf.
Nemacolin is owned by Joseph A. Hardy, III, founder of 84 Lumber. His vision for this resort is clearly defined by his understanding of family, fun, food and relaxation. Sculptures abound from inside the wooded hiking trails to the mountain tops of the golf courses. One in particular of Mr. Hardy himself with his hand to his forehead overlooking a valley is truly symbolic. His mantra, “Nothing is impossible”, is a true testament to what he has created.
- Falling Rock
When you arrive in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern PA, you are greeted by 3,000+ acres of sprawling mountain and amazing landscaping. There are 335 perfectly situated guest rooms and a AAA Five-Diamond boutique hotel on property named Falling Rock. Kelley and I traveled to the boutique hotel to check-in and refresh. One of the amenities that they provide upon check-in is a personal butler to attend to your needs while you are staying with them. Brian, our butler, was intellectual, informed, made wonderful suggestions concerning our dining inquiries and was an overall “good guy”
View of Room (for some reason we got two beds?)
The rooms are large with almost floor-to-ceiling views of Mystic Rock, their Pete Dye designed course. Several of the services the butler provides are covered under the cost of the room. Which is a relief to frequent travelers who know when an added service is really nothing of the sort. Upon request, the butler will draw your blinds each morning and run a bath full of soothing bubbles and candles, provide you an assortment of 8 different pillows each evening, provide complimentary beverages through-out the day, and retrieve the newspaper of your choice and deliver it each morning.
- Bath full of Bubbles!!!
After cleaning up, Miles Blundell (a PGA Professional and their National Sales Manager) gave us a tour of the entire property. Miles is younger fellow with dry wit and an understanding of meetings and events. His hospitality was unparalleled and hotel knowledge commendable. With that being said let me just cover the fun that is Nemacolin quickly with this…
- Woodlands Spa
- Mystic Rock / Pete Dye Course
- 18 Hole Links Course
- Shooting Academy
- Hummer Off-Road Driving Course
- Wildlife Academy
- Multi-million dollar art collection
- Cooking and wine classes each night
- A Zoo (Yes, they have lions, bears, mountain goats and even zebras.)
- An antique car collection and boat museum
- David Leadbetter Golf Academy
Now that Miles has shown us everything under the Nemacolin sun he offered us a round of golf. Knowing full well we weren’t of caliber to play the Mystic River course the following day; we mentioned we might be better off with a few lessons. He obliged with bravado by setting us up with Joe Neoparte (sorry if I botched your last name Joe!) of the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. Joe, a native of our area, (Westchester, NY to be exact) knew all about Winged Foot Country Club, our grandparents, and even our favorite place for martini’s on a Friday. After a few minutes of chit chat he tee’d us up and put us in front of the camera. While swinging our 7 irons he gave us minor tips on the fundamentals and then sat us down. By videotaping our swings he could put us on split screens mirrored to professionals to point out proper stance, angles and the finer points of completely missing the ball! By digitally comparing us it helped visualize what we looked like from the outside and make adjustments. Personally, I am aggressive and that was reflected in my swing. He broke me down and the stress left. All of a sudden I was almost swinging with ease. Following our lesson we played the back 9 of their Links course and the next day the front.
- 10th on Links
Breathtaking views and challenging holes. Joe, thank you for your time and the wonderful advice. We look forward to meeting up with you next time you travel home.
- The David Leadbetter Golf Academy
That night we drank at the Amber bar with Carolyn our drink specialist. On rare occasions, like my birthday, I am allowed to drink a few Makers Mark Manhattan’s. The three M’s always make me smile! Located just outside Aqueous, the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired restaurant, the Amber Lounge is a perfect start and finish to the night. Good people, entertaining conversation and mouth watering libations. Aqueous is considered an upscale steakhouse, but they have a wonderfully rounded menu. All items are locally raised and it shows in their rich delivery. I had a peppered porterhouse with blue cheese butter. Lautrec, located in the Chateau LaFayette, is Nemacolin’s pride and joy. The AAA Five Diamond for 2008 restaurant boasts table-side food presentations, custom champagne cart and an ingredient driven menu. The experience is one of a kind.
- The Amber Lounge from the lobby.
That Sunday we went to the “The Shooting Academy at Nemacalin Woodlands Resort”. After we got our rifles and 100 clays we proceeded to our golf cart to hit the range. Setting up on multi-leveled platforms with clays firing from left-to-right I took stance. Bob, a wonderfully entertaining old timer who resides just outside of Pittsburgh, taught us “non-shooters” a thing or two about gun safety and overall respect for the sport. After 50 clays (almost missing half) my shoulder and pride were sore. Kelley had hit more clays with her .20 than I had with my .12 gauge. It was memorable to say the least. Bringing a meeting to Nemacolin is a no brainer. There is something for everyone.
- 28/50
To conclude this entry I’d like to offer others in the New York / New Jersey area this advice—
Do not miss out on the beauty of Nemacolin. It may be 300 miles away but that’s alright. If it were in our backyard we wouldn’t appreciate it as much. Take the drive, use your driver on the Pete Dye course, drive a Hummer on the off-road course, drink a Manhattan if you’re from Manhattan and sit back and look around. It’s real, it’s outside of Pittsburgh and its paradise. Miles, Joe, Ian, Brian, Carolyn and Mr. Hardy thank you for the memories.
- Eric
Room with a view... of Mystic Rock.
*Nemacolin Woodlands Resort is NOT a client of Dana Interactive. Nor is this a paid advertisement.
