November 17, 2011
So if you haven’t heard yet, 320 has opened a satellite in the great town of Media, Pa. It feels like weeks since we signed the lease. Oh wait, it has been weeks. We found this gem of a spot in mid September and opened our doors just today, November 16! here’s a few pictures of the progress so far
November 8, 2011
Local boys raise the bar
ReAnimator Coffee Roasters Mark Capriotti & Mark Corpus are passionate about coffee. From sourcing to roasting and brewing Mark & Mark have principals. They can control the sourcing and the roasting of their coffee and if it were up to them they would come into your home and control how you’re brewing it. But of course they can’t, not because they don’t want to but because they’re too busy filling orders lately.
Fishtown’s ReAnimator focuses first on origin from high quality lots then roasts each batch to elevate the character and terroir of each varietal.
No French Roast Here.
ReAnimator keeps their roast profiles on the lighter side to bring out the fruit character and high notes of the coffee. The result is a clean cup with complexity, richness and depth.
This month ReAnimator will be roasting
Ethiopia Sidama Organic &
Costa Rican Certified Fair Trade Organic
Check out the brew guide Mark & Mark put together on their site www.reanimatorcoffee.com“http://320market.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/20111107-203347.jpg”>
March 27, 2011
After months of waiting and planning our new display case has arrived. Installation began Thursday and with the help of 6 highly skilled and hard working refrigeration technicians and electricians and after two days of wiring and welding the case was running cold by Friday afternoon.
Come in and check it out.
March 2, 2011
January 21, 2011
Cherry Grove Farm is a farmstead cheese maker in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. They pasture raise a herd of mostly Jeresy cows, as well as raise whey fed hogs and produce pastured eggs.
I had the pleasure of meeting Sam Kennedy, assistant cheese maker at Cherry Grove at a cheese makers workshop in Burlington, Vermont recently. Sam is a CIA trained chef and recent Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese or VIAC graduate. He brought 6 cheeses for us to taste and we enjoyed every bite.
Cherry Grove is a relatively young operation but they seem to be learnering quickly. The cheeses ranged from an alpine style with a piquant finish, a semi-hard Italian style that will have you reaching for a flying fish IPA, an ash covered natural rind Tomme, a luscious and balanced edam with aromatic cumin and a well veined blue.
I loved the whole course and having Sam present answer any questions we had really enhanced the experience. The Havilah Tomme stood out with its black ashed rind and grass fed rich yellow colored paste. The color contrast really looked great on the plate. The Shippetaukin Blue had a balance of salty minerality and peppery finish. The high quality milk showed well in all cheeses and Sam’s passion as a cheese maker shined through.
Look for Cherry Grove cheeses at 320 in early February!
December 9, 2010
Our Friends at Amazing Acres Goat Dairy recently dropped us a huge Christmas order. We’re loaded with Debbie’s critically acclaimed, grape leaf wrapped Banon along with her farmstead chevres and aged crottins.
Have you had Grana Padana? If you haven’t Well you should change that. Grana is a aged cow’s milk cheese from Emilio Romanga, Italy. It looks like Parmigiana Reggiano and has a similar buttery rich flavor and crunchy texture. Where it differs is in the milk, Grana uses part skim milk in its production giving it a slightly sweeter flavor then Parm.
Cave aged Belgioioso Provolone. Over the summer we built a cheese cave. OK, it’s not really a cave but a old refrigerator that we converted to operate at a higher temperature and added a humidifier. We aged 12 month Belgioioso provolones for an addition 6 months and the results are outstanding. The cheese has developed a deep rich sharpness and at the same time it retained it’s creamy youthful-ness.
Greetings and Happy Holidays!!!
Pick up some HOME MADE PICKLES on your next visit to 320.
We’ve been working on a recipe over the last year and I think it’s time to start bragging about them. We a garlic and fresh dill pickle as well as a super hot jalepeno. they’re cruchy and intense. I recently took a sample to my German brother -in-laws and he loved them , called them gewutz pickle. He went on to explain that gerwurz means spicy in german and that they reminded him of the pickles his grandmother made when he was a boy in Hamburg. I’ll take that as an endorsement.
Happy Holidays ! We hope to see you in the store soon!
October 7, 2010
All month we will be raising awareness and money for the United Way of Delaware County. Our local chapter of United Way advocates for the less privileged in our area. UW Delco believes that education, income and health are the building blocks for better communities in Delaware County. This United Way strives for outcomes like lifelong learning and education, financially stable communities and greater mental and physical health .
320 would like to help that cause because we believe our community is a better place when all of us live better and LIVE UNITED!
If you would like to help donate your loose change at the check out counter on your next visit to 320 or visit uwdelco.org for more information.
October 1, 2010
This is great news. Good friend Debbie Mikulak, owner of Amazing Acres was featured in Thursday’s food section of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Restaurant and food critic Craig Laban picked Banon as his cheese of the month and 320 made the short list of stores that sell this little gem.
check it out: Amazing Acres Banon
August 7, 2010
We recently caught up with 320 chef de cuisine and around 320 all-star, John Adams and ask him a few questions about food, 320 and TV. Here’s what he had to say:
John how long have you been with 320?
5+ years, started in the deli area then moved into our kitchen when I realized that I wanted to work more with food in a more in depth/hands on environment.
What’s your favorite food group?
Using any kind of meat (i.e. poultry, beef, seafood, game meats, etc.) is really facinating to me. There are so many different styles and types of meat in any of those groups and learning the different methods of cooking them entrigues me a lot. The possiblilties are endless in my eyes and making something that I enjoy and people around me enjoy is something I love.
What is your favorite food to make?
I get asked that question all the time and I never really have an answer. I love being challanged by a new recipe or idea that I come up with and seeing if I can pull it off correctly. I personally hate when I fail at something or food that I make doesn’t turn out right or to my expectations. Hopefully that is why people love the food at 320 Market Cafe, because they know that we care and put that care into every detail of our business. But if I HAD to choose one specific dish that I love making just for myself it would be a filet mignon steak with a baked potato and roasted asparagus. I enjoy the simple foods, to me they are the best.
Good easy date recipe to impress your romantic interest?
Oh boy, well, in my experience in cooking for a date I have found that women love pasta! That is my secret that I now share with all of you. It has to be simple, flavorful, and nothing from a box (except for the pasta) or a can! That is important, women like the time and effort spent in a meal rather than just the meal itself, and get them to help, that is a key component. Just chop up some vegetables of your choice, saute them in minced garlic, butter, a little salt & pepper, then mix that with the cooked pasta, and there you go. Simple, fun, and romantic all in one. Put on a movie, pop open some Pinot Noir and that’s that.Beer or Wine?
For beer it depends on the season, in the summer you can’t go wrong with a Corona or Sam Adams Summer Ale. But if I’m really in a good mood and want something that will intrigue my taste buds, the best beer I’ve had is Golden Monkey from Victory Brewing Co. As for wine the best I’ve had was when I went to France to a little town in Burgundy. We went to this restaurant where the owner makes his own wine from grapes he grows right behind the restaurant. You can’t get it here in the states, but I’ll never forget the wine or the dinner.320 story that you most likely share with your grand kids some day?
There are way too many of those, to even know where to begin would be tough. But the one that I would say would be most memorable in my eyes would be all of the friends I have made and will make in the future. Employees and customers both. They make my days a lot better and more entertaining than I could even describe. In a family business, that’s the atmosphere that we give off. It’s as if all of us at 320 Market Cafe are a family and I don’t think I would change that for a secondEveryone at 320 seems to really enjoy good (and sometimes bad) movies and TV shows and we all have a pretty strong opinion about it. So John, what’s the greatest TV show of all time in your opinion?
Magnum P.I. – it’s the Ferrari 328 GTB with the T-Top that makes me all giddy.
June 28, 2010
acid-heat coagulated milk that will soon become Queso Blanco!
Have you ever wondered how cheese came to be? How did it first happen? Turn a liquid into a solid? Is it Alchemy, chemistry or artistry? A little bit of each, I think.
I recently attended the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese (VIAC) at the University of Vermont. I took the first installment of classes in my pursuit of the Cheesemaking Certificate Program and it was a awesome.
butter popcorn!, er no...stirring the curd to help remove more whey
Still in it’s academic infancy, VIAC started in 2003 as a program to educate professionals in the dairy field from farmers to retailers to curious consumers about cheese making, milk chemistry and sensory evaluation. Staffed and supported by the best in the field, VIAC stands alone in its mission to support, promote and educate the cheese industry and public about cheese making and the farmstead cheese industry.
My instructors, Marc Druart and Montse Almena both graduated from the National Dairy School in Poligny, France. They are passionate cheese people and fantastic instructors. Dr. Almena is an expert in sensory evaluation and has done extensive research in marketing and the public perception of dairy products, especially cheese. Marc Druart’s expertise and knowledge center around cheese production from Mom & Pop operations to large scale and the scientific research of raw milk.
I first found out about the VIAC program from my good friend and farmstead goat cheese maker, Debbie Mikulak, owner of Amazing Acres Goat Dairy. Debbie attended VIAC in 2008 and she would often encouraged me to go see it for myself. Her dedication to her herd and to producing pure healthy goat cheeses convinced me the program had something special to offer; as if Burlington, Vermont wasn’t enough to convince me to go.
So what’s this all have to do with the 320 Market Cafe? Well, I believe that small scale production and the practice of pasture raised and single herd dairy farming can contribute to the larger causes of sourcing our food closer to home, saving our farmland & open space and knowing the people who produce our food.
1 day old camembert in salt brine
Let’s face it, I love cheese. I love the huge variety, I love that it tells the story of human resourcefulness, I love that it’s a product of hard work and a symbol of how nothing worth a squat comes easy.
queso blanco curd ready for pressing
320 Market cafe is dedicated to sourcing as much as it can from small scale local farms. If you’re interested in your friendly neighborhood farmer visit 320 where you will find a variety of local produce at the height of a great local fruit and vegetable season as well as a great local cheese & dairy selection. But while you’re still on your computer check out the Chester County Cheese Artisans web site and learn about artisan cheese making in your own back yard.
Support your local market, support your local farmers, support your neighborhood!
By the way, Geotrichum Candidum is a starter culture that helps soft bloomy rind cheese get its white fuzzy mold.
Cheese. . .it’s ALIVE!
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fellow VIAC'ers making the hair-nets cool again
Marc Druart, Master Cheese Maker
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Special thanks to Marc Druart and Montse Almena and all the staff at VIAC for their hard work and dedication to the artisan and farmstead cheese industry. They demonstrate, time and again, their devotion to the industry and the VIAC students. I also want to give a shout out to my fellow VIAC students who came from all over the US and Canada to learn along side me. They were equally as inspiring. I wondered, nearly aloud, how I was sitting and learning with the industry’s future stars.
