Iron Chef Jose Garces owns several local restaurants. His Garces Trading Company offers picnic bags, with pre-selected combinations of foods that work well together.
They're available without prior reservation, so you can just walk in and get your selection.
If you'd rather, anything in the restaurant is available in a picnic package, but the pre-selected ones are discounted.
They're all Philly-themed. The "Happy Hollow" is named for the city's first playground. It includes pre-sliced house-made Rioja salami, Bianco Sardo cheese, house-made mustard, fig-and-cherry marmalade, fresh apple, fig crackers, macaroons, a large Fiji still water, jute bag, napkins and plastic knives. That serves two people and costs $35.00.
A little more luxurious is the "Boathouse Row", with country pate, duck rillette, Sungold tomato salad featuring house-made mozzarella, a sliced, house-baked sourdough bread boule, mixed cured olives, assorted chocolates, a large bottle of Perrier sparkling water, jute bag, napkins, paper plates and plastic cutlery. That's $45.00.
The third pre-selected combination is the "Belmont Plateau", intended to provide enough cookout ingredients to satisfy four people. You get Agro Dulce ribs, mortadella hot dogs, pain-au-lait buns, potato salad, house-made potato chips, house-made mustard, macaroons, four ice-cold seasonal beers, jute bag, napkins, paper plates and plastic cutlery for $75.00.
You're free to add any menu item to any of these combinations and just pay the difference. Or you may buy a jute carry bag and stuff it with anything you like, at the menu's per-item price.
Your choices include the famous hamburger from Garces' Village Whiskey, a selection of 40 cheeses, and a wide range of house-cured hams, sausages and salamis. There's also house-baked bread, condiments including the chef;s own oils, vinegars and mustard, exclusive coffee blends, and beers.
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board operates a retail store inside Garces Trading Company, so you can get wine and spirits at regular retail prices.
Garces Trading Company is located in the old Western Union Building at 1111 Locust Street in Center City.
For more information, phone 215-574-1099, or visit their website, http://garcestradingcompany.com