Philadelphia: Continental, DiBruno Bros.,Branzino and an Anniversary!

Happy Monday… or not. One more Monday after this one to sleep in and enjoy my summer. I can’t believe ten weeks has come and gone. It’s been a great summer, so no complaints.

We came back from Philly yesterday from our stay at the Hotel Palomar. I loved the hotel, it was super nice and accomodating. The room we had was gorgeous and the fact they had free coffee, wine and water put it over the top for us. Also if you sign up for their loyalty program you get free internet and $10 to the mini bar. SCORE!

Our Room

Lobby

I loved how the bathroom had a tub and a big shower in one area behind the glass shower doors. That was my favorite, plus our view was pretty incredible up on the 19th floor.  We ate at a bunch of our old favorites and of course a new one also.

We had breakfast at the Continental, a Stephan Starr restaurant, which is like a fancy  diner. I had an egg white omelette with a side of fruit and whole wheat toast. The fruit bowl was especially delish for some reason. My omelette was good, but was kind of soaked in butter, I ate it, but it wasn’t fantastic. The rooftop seating was also so nice. It was a gorgeous, cool morning out that just called for an out door breakfast.

This is my "I need food" face

Rooftop seating

For lunch we went to our favorite place, Di Bruno Brothers. I didn’t take any pictures there, but they are an Italian market that has all different types of meats, cheeses, sandwiches, italian hot and cold dishes, coffee, gelato, dessert, everything. Upstairs they have  a cafe where you can get sandwiches, omelettes, salads, some hot entrees and thin crust pizza. In channeling my inner Rachel Zoe: Die.

Dinner was at this adorable little BYOB. They have so many BYO’s in Philly and Jersey, but I’ve never seen any in New York. The restaurant was called Branzino and they also had seating inside, out front and on the back patio. We chose back patio and it did NOT disappoint. I think I had the best dinner I’ve had in the past year there. I started with a lentil and beet salad, which I will be recreating ASAP. Then I had jumbo shrimp and scallops with mushrooms over arugula. Ugh, it was so amazing, I couldn’t stop when I was stuffed. Danny had potato gnocchi with fresh mozzarella on top. We both REALLY enjoyed this meal.

Outside Patio at Branzino

Gnocchi

Lentil and Beet Salad

Shrimp and Scallop over Arugula

Branzino

Highly, highly recommend this restaurant if you go to Philadelphia any time soon. Sorry for iphone pictures, but I couldn’t get out my camera in time before digging in. Of course we had to end the night with some Scoop De Ville. How could I not???

We also went for a 7 mile run yesterday around the Schuylkill River. It was our longest run yet, and I’m surprised at how much my legs do not hurt. I guess it’s because we went pretty slow, but slow and steady always wins, or at least finishes right?

Today we are celebrating our 2 year anniversary and we’re going to dinner and the Yankee game later on. This is one of my favorite videos from my friend below. It’s a short clip from our after party on Dune Beach in the Hamptons. We had some grilled pizzas, appetizers, s’mores , a fire pit and a DJ (and lots of drinks) to finish our wedding day off. Picture perfect.

Happy Anniversary to my husband!

Tagged as: anniversary, philadelphia, restaurant, running, wedding