Chef Ryan and GM Matthew Poli have been very magnanimous about inviting guest chefs into their kitchen at Iggy’s at 609 Merritt Ave. in Wedgewood-Houston as part of an ongoing series of special dinners. For the third and final collaboration dinner of 2024, the brothers have appropriately looked to the City of Brotherly Love for their last guest of the season.
Brothers Ryan and Matthew Poli, formerly of The Catbird Seat, are doing pasta right
On Wednesday, Dec. 11, Brad Daniels — the executive chef and owner of Philadelphia’s TRESINI — will bring his passion for Italian cooking to Iggy’s for one night to prepare a team dinner of seven courses as part of a family-style prix fixe dinner. Daniels is a veteran of the Culinary Institute of America and the Michelin-starred kitchen at Del Posto. He also served as chef de cuisine at the James Beard Award-winning Osteria before opening TRESINI in 2019.
Iggy’s is offering seatings from 5 until 9 p.m. for $100 per person, and tickets are available for purchase via Tock.
To help whet your appetite, check out the menu in advance:
Course 1: Tuna hoagie crudo with tuna, tonnato, celery leaf, oregano, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon, peperonata and tuna spice
Course 2: Burrata with poached pears, shaved coppa and St. Vito focaccia
Course 3: Saffron Arancini with mozzarella and vodka sauce
Course 4: Sweet corn cappellacci with NJ sweet corn filling and Lancaster colby cheese
Course 5: Squid Ink Linguine Frutti di Mare with Maine lobster, octopus, Gulf shrimp, mussels and spicy tomato sauce
Course 6: Tagliatelle with dry-aged brisket Bolognese
Course 7: Iggy’s soft serve
Personally, I’d pay a hundred bucks for any four of these courses, so this looks like a real deal. Grab your tickets, and I’ll see you there!
Bless my compatriot Margaret Littman for tackling the list of holiday pop-ups available around town this month, because there are a lot of them. You could fill your entire December calendar visiting the different restaurants and bars that are decorating for the season and offering wacky Christmas menus, and they are obviously quite popular and entertaining for a lot of diners. However, some of them are really packages that establishments can purchase from national companies that include theme ideas, decorations and recipes custom-made for the holidays. And that’s fine. I’m not ever going to harsh on anybody’s buzz, especially during the holiday season.
Get in the 'National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation' vibe on the East Side
But the pop-up that has caught my eye is from a genuine Nashville original, and it's a bit of a wonderful surprise. Margot Cafe & Bar has announced a holiday pop-up bar that they've come up with all by themselves, and I admit it tickles me. Chateau Marmar feels like the playful take on the holidays with a French twist that fits perfectly with the personality of chef Margot McCormack, chef Hadley Long and their whole restaurant crew. The already cozy environment of the Five Points restaurant feels like the perfect place to deck the halls, spin holiday tunes and project Christmas movies in the background of the convivial bar while enjoying festive drinks and snacks.
They’re firing up Chateau Marmar on Mondays and Tuesdays from Dec. 9 through 17 from 6 until 10 p.m., and you can reserve your spot for the festivities on Resy.
