A couple of weeks ago, Tony was away for a few days on a business trip. He came home on a Thursday afternoon, and I had a proposition for him - let's go get dinner at the Night Market in Mt Airy! This was about 10 or 15 minutes away, and when I explained that Night Market is a "roving street fair celebrating the city's diverse array of restaurants and gourmet food trucks" he thought it might not be such a bad idea...
We had a very nice time, though we came away realizing we weren't nearly 'funky' enough to really belong in Mt. Airy - neither of us have our hair in dreads or bright colors, neither of us have adopted or married multiracially, and as Tony put it, "you shave your armpits." But - it allowed for great people watching! There were about 3 or 4 blocks closed off for the market and it seemed to be a great turnout in a really fun neighborhood.
There were some great food trucks that are usually stationed elsewhere in the city. The white one on the right side is called "GiGi & Big R" so we had to take a picture of it for our niece, Gigi. Now, if she could only prepare us some Caribbean food - we'd be set!
This is the booth we eventually settled upon after walking the length of the fair. They were a taqueria and they had the carnitas up on that big rotating spit, like I've seen gyro meat in Greek restaurants. The man carving the meat was an artist - he would slap 3 doubled corn tortillas on the plate, carve a bit of the pork onto each one, and then with the very tip of his big knife he would slip a bit of roasted pineapple onto each taco. He was SO fast it was hard to realize he was actually doing that, and the pineapple went exactly where he wanted every time. It was very entertaining to watch while we waited in the long line.
Speaking of waiting in a long line... this is Tony's "I'm in a long line, but I'll grin and bear it" face! I love that little face!
So here is the final result. We asked for the "mild" green sauce. It looked and smelled delicious. The only place we could find to eat was this stone wall in front a church, which we used as a table. Luckily it was near one of the bandstands so we got to enjoy the live music as we ate.
See how happy he is before he eats any of it? Oh, the anticipation! Okay... so, it was NOT mild!!!!! It was burn-your-mouth-off-spicy!! It was definitely delicious, but SO hot that I could only eat 2 of mine and had Tony finish it. Whoa. I'm sweating just remembering those tacos. Yet, I can see their addictive qualities, and for those that wondered - the pineapple added such a perfect note of sweetness amidst the heat. Okay, so it's usually Tony that waxes poetic about these things. I'll stop now.
Scene on our walk back to the car.
My husband and his newest friend - the cop who was supposed to be turning people into the side street - so Tony of course wanders over and begins a conversation. That is my husband. He never met a stranger he couldn't converse with. I was trying to be discreet and not look like I was taking photos of a policeman - or you would have seen how animated this conversation actually got - and I still don't know what they were talking about. I just wanted to get to the car and go get a water ice to cool down my poor taste buds - and that is just what we did. Yum. What a fun night! Hit up the next Night Market if you get a chance. Oh yeah, and check out this video of the June Night Market (including Duff Goldman) for a better picture of things. And yes, you heard correctly, Philly is Duff's favorite food town in the US! Booyah!
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