A salty new spin on an old tradition

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is said to have made its way over from southern Italy as waves of immigrants arrived in the early 1900s. As years have gone by, Philly establishments have come up with some unique takes on the tradition. 

Fishtown Pickle Project, in that spirit, is host their first-ever Feast of the Seven Pickles holiday cocktail party at Fishtown Social, located at 1525 Frankford Ave., on Tuesday, Dec. 21 beginning at 5 p.m. Admission to what Fishtown Pickle Project owners Mike Sicinski and Niki Toscani expect to become an annual event is $35, and includes a plate of seven pickle-centric dishes and a complimentary flight of wine from Mural City Cellars.

What will the dishes be?

Diners can enjoy a half-sour pickle with gouda cheese sourced by Third Wheel Cheese Co.; fruit jam and tangy cheese schmear from Perrystead Dairy on Kismet Bagels bagel chips; black garlic vinegar pickled turnip hummus with vegetables; deviled egg (sourced by Triple C Angus Farms) with pickle juice served with Chef Eli Kulp’s homegrown pepper mix; soba noodle salad with pickled fennel and carrot; Czerw’s kielbasa with fermented Brussels kraut and Dijon; and a flourless chocolate cake bite from Sweet T’s Bakeshop in Haddonfield, served with preserved blueberry and orange rinds.

Even the libations list is local. Fishtown Social owner Vanessa Wong will be featuring a flight from Mural City Cellars to pair with the pickles. Each customer will receive a mini flight of Mural City’s CSW (Community Supported Winery) red, white and rose wines, and Fishtown Social will also be offering glasses of a very limited Vermut, which has not yet been released. 

A portion of sales will benefit Magee Rehabilitation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities by providing high quality physical and cognitive rehabilitation services.

“We are so excited to host this totally new event, which we feel is perfect for the holidays,” said Toscani in a statement. “We’ve never met a pickle we didn’t like, and we’re excited to not only do something different with our products, but also serve our guests some bites they’ve most likely never even considered before. Vanessa was so welcoming when we came to her with this idea, and we expect to see Fishtown Social full of new faces ready to experience a truly unique culinary experience. I’m also happy to raise money for this charity that helps support patients at Magee.”

There will be 90-minute timed reservations, including a 5 to 6:30 p.m. time slot, and a later option from 6:30 to 8 p.m. A third 90-minute time slot will be added if demand is high. Walk-ins will also be welcome. Bottles of wine and jars of pickles will be available on location for purchase. Those who wish to attend can purchase tickets on eventbrite.com