The Graident Magazine staff was heading down the I-95 to visit a few friends in Philadelphia this past weekend. We made a pit stop at one of Philadelphia’s cheese steak headquarters. Our first stop took place at Pat’s steak’s, the line was wrapped around the aged building, which has housed Pat’s Steaks since 1930. There were two lines, one that gave patrons the ability to order a cheese steak sandwhich, and the other for sodas and fries. The fairly simple process took over one hour, but it only took us five minutes to smother our faces with cheese wiz and steak. We brought home a cheese steak sand which to share with our Gradient friends. It got a little cold by the time we got back to NYC, but it is still worth checking out the dish after the post.

Hoomos Asli located in between Little Italy and Soho is one of the few middle eastern cusines in the NYC. Located in an area dominated by Cuban, Italian and Chinese influenced menus, Hoomos Asli is absolutely one of the stand out’s in the neighborhood. Their schwarma dish is compacted between pita and full of fresh salad, their famous homus, a very spicy sauce and schwarma meat. By the way their Falafel is amazing as well! Gradient highly recommends this hidden gem! Head over there if you are ever in the neighborhood.

After being cooped up in the office for the past 12 hours the Gradient staff decided to take a walk over to Ferrara’s Bakery & Cafe in Little Italy. Serving Little Italy since 1892, Ferrara’s has been the long time tenant of 195 Grand St. The bakery has become an ideal location for tourists and native New Yorkers alike. Their cafe is great for sitting down and enjoying an intimate espresso or grabbing a gelato to go. Our feet scrambled to get through the smelly streets of china town and arrive at the door step of the 100 year old bakery. Once we arrived everything serviced our eyes, the reds, blues and yellows were jumping at our taste buds. All the pastries were alive and yelling our names, our order included a plain Cannoli, chocolate covered Cannoli and a Rasberry Mousse pastry. Check out the rest of the post for more images.

The Doughnut Plant is one of New York’s best kept secrets. Hidden in the crevasses of the Lower East Side, this family business has become one of the best places to grab a delightful dessert in New York. Owner Mark Isreal has modernized the way doughnuts are made, servicing accounts for supermarket chain Dean and Deluca and other specialty food stores in the city. The Gradient staff stepped out of our office to try some of The Doughnut Plant’s newest flavors Blueberry and Crème Brûlée. Both desserts absolutely rocked! Check out the images after the post and head down to the plant to try them for yourself.

Red: it is a color that we see and feel every day of our lives. Making rise in us feelings that range from hot-blooded anger to passionate adoration, the color red pervades our sense of the sight in everything from stop signs to traffic lights, warning us to slow down not only in our cars, but perhaps in life as well. With this sentiment in mind, Chef Ben’Ous works on a dish before me that captures both the strong and fiery aspects of the color red and the desire to unwind and relax with a cool summery dish. Ben’Ous decides on a gazpacho, a tomato-based vegetable soup originating in southern Spain. Historically a popular choice among workers in the fields, both because of its refreshing taste and also the ease in which one can find the ingredients required in making it, this gazpacho is another succulent summer special from Chef Ben’Ous.

My Kitchen Snippets recently brought a very fun and comforting dish to our attention. Their rendition of the Malaysian Siew Bao, the Crispy BBQ buns are extremely appetizing. We would suggest getting your favorite BBQ sauce and marinating the beef to perfection. Read the rest of the post for more images and directions.

The blog chef over at Cookin’ Canuck brewed up something very special for Monday. We have not tried this dish, but it’s visual stimulation is absolutely amazing, it makes you want to jump in the screen and smell this thing. The Cookin’ Canuck was chosen for this month’s Foodie Fights competition, the competition gives blog chefs two major ingredients that they must incorporate into their dish. The two major ingredients chosen were Eggplant and Wine. Check out the rest of the images for inspiration.

Jessie over at The Hungry Mouse created a cool comfort desert that will appeal to anyone’s palette. The raspberry ice cream sundae consists of an edible chocolate shell, that was prepared after Jessie was cooking up a batch of homemade peanut butter cups. The Ice Cream Sundae is composed of raspberry jam, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a few fresh raspberries. This delightful treat is worth taking a peak at more images follow the post.