Fried Chicken, Donuts & Renoir

It was a good weekend. It was a very good weekend. Late Friday, I stepped off the train at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, grabbed Mama Vamp and headed straight to the Center City outpost of Federal Donuts. The place isn't much to look at: a few seats, a counter with a friendly cashier and a couple of guys manning a couple of fryers. But, oh, that chicken.

My pick, pictured above, was a half order of Fried Chicken dipped in a honey-ginger glaze. Each piece was beautifully moist with a shatteringly crisp crust and glossing of sweet honey with a light gingery kick. I like to think the wee side of Japanese pickles could count as a vegetable to off-set the decadence that was the chicken. But, even if that was the case, there was the still-warm-from-the-fryer Honey Donut for dessert. All I can say is, hot damn, that donut was good.

And after being sated in such a fashion, how could Mama Vamp and I do anything else, but go take in one of the world's most lauded collections of impressionist paintings? We made sure to grab wet naps and wipe our greasy fingers thoroughly before hitting the Barnes Foundation, where we ogled luscious Renoirs by the dozen, not to mention breathtaking works by Van Gogh, Matisse, Cezanne, Degas, Cassatt, Gaugin and more. Post-impressionist and modern art also shared the spotlight, along with African sculpture, Pennsylvania-Dutch decorative arts and Native American textiles and metalwork.

I found myself needing to stop in-between the galleries for a "palate-cleanser" for my eyes. Stopping in a hallway or two for a breather isn't exactly the visual equivalent to a bracing sorbet course, but it did the trick.

Fried chicken, donuts and the Barnes. The new ultimate Philly trifecta! Just make sure to have a wet nap or two on hand.