Brian McManus, food and music editor at Philadelphia Weekly, is a man who will drink just about anywhere. To this end, he wrote a guidebook to dive bars in Philadelphia, appropriately called – Philadelphia’s Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in the City of Brotherly Love (Buy it now!), and he brought the dive bar experience to COOK for one of our rowdiest classes yet (no surprise there).

Alongside his friend, chef Tim McGinnis, Brian discussed some of the more flavorful experiences highlighted in his book (with the help of a photo slideshow), telling hilariously detailed accounts of the city’s seediest and silliest dive bars. Tim concocted a complimentary menu featuring Lazy Man’s Chili, sausages, potato salad (this relates to one of the bars in the book) and other anti-haute cuisine dishes that hit the spot perfectly.

And because it was a class on dive bars, our guests drank PBR and Miller High Life and we may have had a handle of Jim Beam on hand for those who wanted to partake in a Philly Special. But I don’t know anything about that 😉

Needless to say, the night was full of laughs, tales of near-death experiences in shady watering holes and more laughs. Here’s hoping Brian and Tim return to COOK for some more good times real soon!