Ribs, brisket, classic sides are all in the family at Dibbs BBQ
When Darren and Pierrette Pearson met in high school, little did they know years later they would be helming a family-run barbecue spot - also teaching their son Darren Jr. the ropes, and having learned from the family patriarch, James Pearson.
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Dibbs BBQ is only open for business on the weekends, and they always sell out before closing time.
Best sellers include beef brisket, pulled pork and ribs, chicken, salmon, and beef ribs using the short rib.
All the classic sides are served up, like mac-n-cheese, collard greens, candy yams and more.
Dibbs BBQ | Instagram | Facebook
5617 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131
215-876-6500
Wissahickon Brewing celebrating 5 years with award-winning IPA
At Wissahickon Brewery Company, you can taste the beer just feet from where it's actually brewed.
Their flagship IPA, Devil's Pool, was just awarded the bronze in the 2022 World Beer Cup.
They've also created a line of hard ciders using local apples and hard seltzers made with fresh fruit puree.
The brewery is the passion project of Tim Gill and his three sons.
Dad's the top boss. TIm, Jr. is in charge of general operations; Luke is the head brewer and Pete is the finance guy.
Their sister, Meg, is on the board and a taste-tester.
The family started as home-brewing hobbyists.
But when they started entering and winning beer competitions, they decided to go all in, transforming an old ambulance dispatch center into a tasting room and brewing facility.
For their fifth anniversary in April, they started shipping their beers statewide and unveiled a new brewhouse party room with a corn hole league that plays every Wednesday evening.
They host a rotating lineup of about two dozen food trucks.
But on Wednesdays, it's always Babalouie BBQ serving up roast pork, barbecue ribs, meatballs, brisket, chicken and cornbread.
You can pair it with an ice-cold beer or try the Tangerine Dreamsicle Boozie Slushy (Tangerine puree mixed with Stateside vodka-infused with vanilla).
Wissahickon Brewing Company | Facebook | Instagram
3705 W. School House Lane, Philadelphia, PA, United States, Pennsylvania
215-483-8833
Babalouie BBQ | Facebook
Round up of ice cream options featuring cool treats year round
Ice cream is always a great summer treat. But there are plenty of spots around town that feature sweet treats, sundaes and shakes all year round.
Coco's Cookies and Creamery is run by brothers Teddy and Sav Bouikidis.
They describe the spot as a mix between carnival and creamery.
The Coco Crush blends ice cream and a pick of two ingredients swirled together. They offer fried Oreos, funnel cake and milkshakes.
And every day, the Coco's team bakes a fresh slate of eight different flavors of cookies which are served warm at the window.
Thu Pham started Caphe Roasters specializing in Vietnamese coffee. But when she opened her Kensington cafe in October 2021, ice cream quickly became a menu staple.
The pandan flavor was created in-house and it's the primary ingredient in the Pandan Che Parfait.
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They also mix ice cream with black tea and espresso, creating sweet and creamy versions of signature drinks.
Banana Mousse is run by the mother-daughter duo of Shawna and Shadeerah Goodman.
The mousse recipe was created by Shawna and shared with Shadeerah when the daughter realized she didn't want to attend college but rather engage her entrepreneurial instincts.
They serve five flavors of mousse using homemade ingredients like sweet potato pie and butter cake.
They also make decadent milkshakes featuring the mousse flavors and more.
Coco's Cookies and Creamery | Instagram
3632 Powelton Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2341
Caphe Roasters | Facebook | Instagram
3400 J Street, Philadelphia, PA 19134
Banana Mousse | Facebook | Instagram
5602 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19139
Restaurant Week heading to Atlantic City in October
Restaurant Week returns to Atlantic City from October 2-7.
More than 40 restaurants are participating with an array of dining options from hotel and casino staples to neighborhood spots.
The 3-course prix fixe menu includes an appetizer, entree and dessert for dinner or a 2-course option for lunch.
Prices range from $40.22 for dinner or $20.22 for lunch.
Pulia in Ventnor is the Italian concept from Gennaro Comella.
The Naples immigrant has brought his family's recipes to Atlantic City featuring pizza using homemade sauce and meatballs his grandmother made for him growing up and eggplant baked instead of fried.
Chart House at the Golden Nugget is featuring some of its signature dishes for Restaurant Week, including the award-winning clam chowder, the shrimp Fresca featuring fried jumbo shrimp in a tomato, basil, garlic and lemon sauce and an oozing lava cake for dessert.
At Hard Rock Cafe, Il Mulino New York brings a taste of fine dining to Restaurant Week with a unique chicken parm presentation, grilled octopus, rigatoni bolognese and classic Italian desserts like tiramisu.
Atlantic City Restaurant Week | Facebook | Instagram
Chart House | Facebook | Instagram
644 Huron Boulevard, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Pulia | Facebook | Instagram
5210 Atlantic Avenue, Ventnor City, NJ 08406
Il Mulino New York | Facebook | Instagram
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 1000 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Ex-Action News Reporter Ali Gorman launches app to track your TruFaves
It was while hanging out with friends in New York City that Ali Gorman says she came up with the idea that she now calls TruFaves.
She and her girlfriends were swapping recommendations on their favorite fitness classes, restaurants, books and podcasts. But, by the next morning, they were struggling to remember all of the ideas that had been shared.
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Inevitably, information got lost but an idea was born to create a quick, easy and secure platform where you could share all of your favorite things with your most trusted inner circle and seek recommendations when you need them.
To make her dream a reality, Ali says she went down a rabbit hole of research, learning about startups, entrepreneurship and how to validate an idea.
She worked deep into the night, after working all day as a health reporter at 6abc. Then, when her now 3-year-old son Grayson came along, she would work on the app after he went to bed.
She bootstrapped to create a beta version, raised money from family, friends and angel investors and then got accepted into a tech accelerator program, chosen by serial techpreneurs Jared Yellin from more than 11,000 startup pitches.
Last month, Ali launched the TruFaves app. When she saw it approved on the Apple and Google Play stores, she says she "literally got chills."
From an Army nurse to a longtime TV news health reporter, Ali Gorman can now call herself a techpreneur, the founder of a company she can run from home, with Grayson by her side.
TruFaves | Instagram
Loyalty Leather hand-paints and polishes custom made shoes and bags
Loyalty Leather, the South Philly-based studio of Cheryl and Kyra Ellzysmith, is filled with everything you would find in a custom leather goods maker space - tools, hides, patterns.
But the unexpected addition at Loyalty Leather is paints.
The couple takes top-grain leather hides leftover from the meat industry and makes sure they don't go to waste by crafting bags and hand-painting them with Cheryl's PAFA-trained expertise.
The shoes, made in a small family factory in Spain, get the same treatment, and allow for custom shoes to be designed in unique colors.
They refer to their creations as 'wearable works of art' and have an online store filled with options ready to order, as well as custom options made to specification.
Loyalty Leather | Instagram | Facebook
Jade Forest wants to help you adopt your new favorite plant
When mom and daughter Zee and Kacey Morrissey decided to open The Jade Forest in Bella Vista, they adopted an unusual approach to business.
Rather than buying a plant, they ask that you pledge to adopt it.
The first promise in the adoption agreement is that you'll name the plant after yourself.
"I believe that could inspire self-love," says Zee.
If you can no longer care for your plant, Mama Zee will be your foster "plarent."
For mom and daughter, the adoption program is really about creating community.
For Kacey and Zee, the whole venture has been a reunion of sorts.
"I've lived away from home since I was in middle school because I went to boarding school," says Kacey.
She had been living above the storefront while Zee was in Long Island.
When the commercial space went on the market, they decided to become business partners and finally live close to each other again.
Mama Zee has enthusiastically adopted her new city.
Along with plants, they also sell thrift clothing and antiques that they've collected for decades.
A theme of the shop is actually to incorporate antiques by potting the plants in anything but regular planters.
The Jade Forest | Facebook | Instagram
626 S. 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
The Weitzman's 'Secret Chord Concerts' feature a wide array of Jewish music
It's the inaugural season of the Secret Chord Concerts at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
"Our goal with this series is to promote Jewish music and help to see better representation of Jewish culture across the nation," says Dan Samuels, Director of Public Programs.
It's a cross-country partnership between The Weitzman and the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at UCLA.
New concerts are filmed each month in front of intimate audiences in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
The artists and their music styles represent Jewish backgrounds from the Middle East and Southwest Asia, to North Africa and beyond.
An upcoming performance will feature Andy Statman, an award-winning, Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist.
Audiences can view the concerts for free at theweitzman.org/secret-chord/
Secret Chord Concerts
at Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
101 S. Independence Mall E., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-923-3811
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Milk Jawn opens brick-and-mortar shop in South Philly
Milk Jawn is a popular small-batch premium ice cream brand that has opened its first brick-and-mortar in East Passyunk. The Philadelphia-style ice cream means ice cream contains no eggs.
Owners Amy Wilson and Ryan Miller are known for their unique flavors and vegan ice cream. Flavors vary with earl grey with honeycomb, lemon curd, blueberry basil swirl, and milk and cookies among the more popular.
They started Milk Jawn three years ago with deliveries and pop ups during the pandemic.
The pandemic allowed the owners time to work on their business and as a result, they have their first brick-and-mortar in East Passyunk
Milk Jawn | Facebook | Instagram
1439 E. Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
For the first time ever, the Mütter Museum has opened its research library to the public, with art, ephemera and rare books dating back to the 1200s.
Public tours are weekends only, giving visitors a chance to explore the 200-year evolution of doctors' understanding of how the human body works.
In the historic Benjamin Rush Medicinal Plant Garden you can learn how plants were used to heal. And if you come for the roaring '20s-themed beer garden event on August 31st, you can listen to live jazz and curator talks on prohibition while sampling cocktails made with herbs and roots grown in the garden.
Come for the party and you can explore the museum's collections too, including a new exhibition called Insides Out, a BTS look as museum staff work to catalog the historic landmark's entire 170-year collection of objects and specimens.
Mischief at the Mütter is Friday, October 28, this year. Tickets go on sale in early September.
Mütter Museum | Facebook | Instagram
19 S 22nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-560-8564
Roaring 2020s Beer Garden | August 31, 5:30-7:30pm