As the sweet, dulcet jazz tones of the above video play out, let us have a moment of honesty: 99.999999999% of all granola produced in the world, ever, tastes like packing peanuts. But just as most granola should not be considered “food,” Metropolitan Bakery’s Granola should not even be considered “granola.” It’s too good. We’ve remarked upon this before, but this clip just reminded us of the facts all over again. SIGH.

A quick guhhhh-peek at how-a they make-a the Mack & Manco’s Pizza from the goingtotheshore.com blog.

Food & Wine magazine’s 13-year-running Best New Chef competition has a new category this year aimed at getting the people’s choice. A “People’s Best New Chef” competition is open where patrons can vote for their favorite chefs. The magazine nominated ten chefs per each of ten regions of the country, with four Philly chefs making the cut in the Mid-Atlantic region. The nominees are Charles “Chip” Roman, David Gilberg, Jeff Michaud and Pierre Calmels.

Roman is the chef and owner of Blackfish, a seafood-focused restaurant in Conshohocken. Roman also runs Charles Roman Catering and is an adjunct professor at Drexel. Blackfish was recently named one of the top 50 best restaurants by PhillyMag. David Gilberg and his wife, Carla Gonçalves, run Koo Zee Doo, the well-regarded Portuguese BYOB restaurant in Northern Liberties. Jeff Michaud’s Osteria gets some of their menu inspiration from his wife’s Italian Grandmother. And Pierre Calmels’ Bibou is an authentic French restaurant; Calmels even made an appearance as a guest-chef at Roman’s Blackfish late last year. There are also two Pittsburgh chefs in the competition, Justin Severino and Sonja Finn. The winner of the competition will be announced on March 2nd and will be the subject of a profile in Food & Wine‘s July issue.

To vote, visit here.

Fork, 306 Market St. (215) 625-9425

We bet these guys could beat the bejesus out of those lameass California Raisins.

Apparently, that post about Clearly Canadian unleashed the floodgates of ’80s food memories. According to InThe80s.com, New York Seltzer was “possibly one of the tastiest non-alcoholic beverages ever. It was seltzer water with a lot of flavor in it so that it sparkled and tasted great. At some point in the early 90′s, it just dissappeared.” There is a largely unrewarding Facebook page that you can “like,” but mostly, we just a crave a raspberry seltzer with Cape Cod Potato Chips. Next up: Jolt!

Previously: Hey, You Know What Was Awesome? Clearly Canadian Was Awesome

Inasmuch as Kanye West would do for a blonde dyke, we’d go even farther for one of these. Bravo. It’s an idea whose time has come. While we’re at it, neapolitan ice cream slices should also replace money. That would make this, then, money in a chocolate wallet. Word.

The Westbury has been under new ownership since August 2009 and has steadily increased its beer selection since then, now sporting 12 rotating taps, depending on seasonality and general whimsy, and usually around 100 [!] bottled options. Recent drafts drifting through include Russian River Damnation and Lost Abbey Serpent Stoudt. The Westbury is already light years ahead of all the other gay bars in the city in terms of beer selection, and certainly gives other beer-focused bars and pubs in the neighborhood a run for their money as well. The Westbury is becoming such a beer drinker’s bar that they’ve decided to participate in Philly Beer Week this year. To our knowledge, the Westbury is the first and only homo bar in Philly to ever participate in Beer Week, and to that we give a much deserved hat tip.

So, Dear Readers, behold as we rather proudly present the Beer Week events for our beloved ‘bury.

General Events

Friday June 4
Victory Brewery Day
$3.50 for all Victory bottles and for their Golden Monkey on draft.

Saturday June 5
Battle of the IPAs
$3.00 IPA drafts: Stone Brewing IPA, PBC’s Newbold, Port Brewing Co. Shark Attack, Harpoon IPA

Sunday June 6
Celebrate Local Beers
$3.00 drafts and bottles Philadelphia Brewing Company, Yards, Dogfish Head

Monday June 7
Beer Quizzo
Quizzo from 10:30-12:00 and the ‘bury’s usual Monday Keg Special

Tuesday June 8
Heavy Seas Day
$3.00 drafts and bottles by Heavy Seas Brewing Co.

Wednesday June 9
Harpoon Day
$3.00 drafts and bottles by Harpoon Brewery

Brewer’s Meet&Greets

Thursday June 10
Palm Breweries – Belgium
8:30-10:30 (We’re most excited by this event – we love us a good, cold Palm on a warm afternoon at the Westbury, and Frank Boon of Palm Breweries will be at the bar dishing about the always-on-tap-lately Palm Speciale, as well as their Boon Kriek, Steenbrugge Tripel, and Rodenbach Grand Cru by Palm’s recently acquired Flemish brewery Rodenbach. We’re so there for this.)

Friday June 11
Longtrail – Vermont
9:00-12:00

Saturday June 12
Great Lakes – Cleveland, Ohio
9:00-11:00

And To Finish Off The Week…

Sunday June 13
Kick The Kegs
All Day Long enjoy extra special discounts on all leftover beers from Beer Week – get ‘em for cheap til they’re gone!

And now that they’re serving good bar snacks at totally decent bar snack prices again, both your wallet and your hangover can afford to try several of the Westbury’s offerings. If you’re a regular there (and we know some of you frequent Philebs commenters are >ahem<), then you'll no doubt end up there in the next couple weeks anyway because there will likely be someone there you know or at least someone you "know." If you've never tried it out, you should absolutely check it out during one of their Beer Week events. And not for nothin', if you've never seen the cavalcade of crazy that frequents the Parker Hotel right adjacent to the Westbury, well you’re missing out on a HUGE slice of Philly life, trust. Go. Drink. Fag out. Drink more.

The Westbury Bar and Restaurant
Spruce & 13th Streets

Fill a Bagel, 424 Old York Road, Jenkintown. 215-887-8577

They recently opened their beer boutique, Brew, in the same space after fighting tooth and nail, throwin’ elbows, and no doubt seriously buttering up L&I and skeptical neighbors to get their take-out beer license. And to encourage customers to try a variety of beers, they offer a 10% discount on your entire mix-a-six if you choose 2 or fewer of the same beer – nice, right? Ultimo has been open for a year now, and they’re having a little party on Saturday from 9pm-11pm to celebrate. So if you live in their ‘hood, lazily grill and eat something Saturday evening and then take a stroll over and grab a coffee/more beer and tell ‘em happy birthday. And make no mistake, every single person who works there is cute as a bug’s eyelash, so there’s that, too.

Ultimio/Brew, 15th & Mifflin Sts. 215.339.5177

For all those poor souls out there who are limited to frozen dinners and fast food on a daily basis, we have found the perfect blog for you: Food In Real Life. This blog has a brilliant concept: Take away the veil of food advertising and show the world what this kind of food really looks like when you prepare it. They stick mostly to the frozen dinner category but every once in a while, fast food also sneaks its way in there. Sometimes you’re pleasantly surprised by how well the food holds up to the advertisement, while other times… not so much. If you are stuck eating these types of meals every night, this blog can at the very least can help you figure out what to steer clear of.