Verts Is Open in Center City With Free Pitas — and Other Intel

— Austin-based fast-casual Mediterranean grill spot Verts touches down in Philly today at 1601 Market Street, with build-your-own pitas, salads, rice and quinoa bowls. If you make it down there before 9 p.m., they’re also giving away one free entrée per person but only long as food lasts, so maybe hurry if you’re really set on free food. (The snow apparently didn’t deter people from lining up, either).

— Want to learn about the process used to make soy sauce, Sake, and more? Balboa Catering & Supper Club in Fishtown are running workshops on the culinary art of Koji fermentation with knowledgeable chefs — there’s also a dinner option for those who want to eat but not learn. The next one is Saturday April 8 with Rich Shiah, then another in May with James Beard award nominated chef Hari Cameron of Rehoboth Beach, DE, restaurant a(MUSE.) — workshops are $35 per person, with discounts for chefs and industry types.

— Also in events, South Philly Barbacoa are mixing food and politics with a series of educational events on Monday nights throughout March called Justice and Agua Fresca. $5 gets you vegan food and rice from co-owner Ben Miller, with guests talking on various social justice topics.

— Midtown Village seafood spot Pinefish has a bunch of dirt cheap early week specials on at the moment — half-price burgers with duck fat fries on Mondays, with burgers starting a $6.75, running up to $12 for the deluxe truffle-foie gras option. Tuesdays will have bottomless bowls of seafood stew cioppino — a fish and seafood-filled tomato fennel broth with grilled bread, for $16. Wednesday nights will offer market-fresh fish selected same day by owner Peter Dissin for $16. The deals are on weekly for the foreseeable future.

— New York farm delivery service Farm to People is expanding to Philly. They describe it as “Blue Apron for those who know how to cook already and dislike ingredients parceled out in dime bags”. 50 per cent of the cost of each food box finds its way back to farmers and producers, and deliveries be tailored to various diets.

— Could hard liquor to-go be an option sometime soon at Pennsylvania restaurants? Yes, if one state legislator gets his way and gets changes to the state’s liquor laws. Westmoreland County’s Tribune-Review has the details.

— Fishtown taco spot Loco Pez is in hot water — a former employee is suing them after allegedly being on the receiving end of homophobic slurs on a daily basis. Sebastian Cummings says other staff used terms such as “cock smokers,” “cock suckers,” “homos,” and “faggots” in referring to him. Philadelphia Magazine has all the details.

— What’s the best beer spot in the state? If readers of the Colorado-based Brewers Association’s website are to be believed, it’s Bulls Head Public House, out in Lititz, Lancaster County — for the second year running.

• Verts Sets Philly Opening Date And Promises Free Food [EPHL]
• Balboa Catering [Official]
• Pennsylvania legislator proposes expanding sale of spirits to restaurants [Tribune-Review]
• Philly Actor Sues Loco Pez Over Homophobic Slurs [PhillyMag]
• National drinkers' survey reveals best beer bar in Pennsylvania [PhillyVoice]