Joel Came to Town!

My old roommate Joel came into the area! Its been like two years since I've seen him. He currently resides in Seattle as a chef. He graduated with a digital media degree...but apparently he really likes cooking!

I pretty much spent 48 hours with Joel while he was in town. I met up with him at Graham's and from there we went to Belgium Cafe where a bunch of Jules' friends were meeting. It was a little awkward as they are all pursuing their Phd while I'm just bum. But things got a lot more comfortable once we sat a table and ordered a big pot of mussels and beer. After a snack, one of the things on Joel's list was a cheesesteak, a real one. Apparently they don't know how to make them out west, go figure.

Joel swears by Geno's. Its amazing we're still friends. Since he was going over to Geno's I figured this would be perfect opportunity to end which steak is better. My one beef with Geno's is their ridiculous neon lights.
After Geno's we headed over to Pat's to get a real cheesesteak. Joel had already eaten two provy wit (provolone with onions) at Geno's and he got a THIRD cheesteak at Pat's. His third steak was a whiz and mushroom.

I of course kept it simple and traditional with whiz and onions. I like to eat my steaks with the delicious peppers they have. Ugh, my mouth is watering right now just looking at these pictures.
After having the cheesesteaks, one thing is certain, their both very delicious. However, the texture of the meat in a Pat's cheesesteak is just what I expect a cheesesteak to be. Geno's keeps their meat sliced. I do think that sliced would be better if you were getting provolone but I prefer my cheesesteak chopped up with a shower of whiz on top. I also got a lot more meat at Pat's. I compared my steak to Graham's and he didn't get as much. They must like me at Pat's even though I rarely ever get down there. After cheesesteaks we headed back to Graham's for Joel's stuff before heading back to my place.

The next day consisted of Joel watching a bunch of movies I have before we met up with Rich, Manthan, and Brett in Cherry Hill, NJ to watch True Grit. The movie was fantastic. I'll have to watch the original with John Wayne. The dialogue in the movie was awesome. We should have a talk like a Western Cowboy day.

After the movie we headed back into the city to Graham's. There we watched a bunch episodes of Californication and Dead Like Me. It wasn't long until we all got hungry and ordered a feast from California Pizza. California Pizza was pretty much what we ate after every night of drinking. One of the most famous menu items is the Cali Fries. French fries piled with mozzarella cheese, bacon, and ranch dressing which is then baked to perfection. This is one of the worst things you can put in your body but it is so stinkin' delicious you can't resist. We ordered three of these as well as a pepperoni pizza and cheese pizza.

California Pizza is something else, I've never come across a pizza that was as greasy as theirs. They seriously must dump a vat of grease on every pizza before it leaves the kitchen because the amount that drips from each slice is ridiculous. I don't remember their pizza tasting good, but it was irresistible if you had the beer munchies. It was also very affordable for the poor college student.
I managed to get a picture of everyone together except Graham. I should have had him take the picture so I could be in it but he was super cranky so I just ended up with this. It was a long ride home as Manthan, Brett, and Joel all got a ride from me. It was about 3:30 am by the time I got to bed, I slept like a baby until my alarm went off at 9 am.
It was great seeing Joel and getting the gang together again. The only person we were missing was JZ, rats. Maybe I can photoshop him in the picture above...