• “Careless plates” at Popolino, the 5th and Fairmount addition to Peter McAndrews expanding empire, has Inky critic wondering whether “quality control has become an issue,” and if the restaurateur has blown up too quickly. Sweetbread tortelloni “were practically floating in a pool of burnt liquid gold,” while tuna suffered from being “wildly overspiced.” Such missteps, he writes, can only be described as “sloppolino.” Just one bell was awarded. [Inquirer]
• “Friendliness,” is what Trey Popp says makes “Pennsport pub-cum-clubhouse,” the Industry, “tick.” A “genuinely caring waitstaff gives everyone the warm fuzzies,” while dishes like the “perfectly crispy” fried green tomatoes are “the final word for evangelists of that too-frequently-fumbled dish.” A “ho-hum” salad, and a barbecue sauce-dominant pulled duck sandwich “fell flat,” showing that the Industry “has room to tune up a recipe or two.” [Phillymag]
• For the Courier-Post, Adam Erace ventures to Northfield for a a taste of the Italian-American specialties at seven-month-old Carluccio’s Coal Fired Pizza. The coal-fired oven gives “meaty wings a smoky char.” “Thick, crusty, golden-brown breadcrumb shells” of the softball-sized arancine gave way to “core of ground sirloin, gooey mozzarella and peas that pop in your mouth.” A tricolore Sicilian pie proved enjoyable with its “mosaic of crushed San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and herby green olive oil,” but its crust could have been “a shade crispier.” [Courier-Post]
