after dinner sneeze

t says:  g and I hit up Petruce et al the other night.  Yes, we know, Petruce has been out there for a while now, getting rave reviews – people have already been there and opined, so there’s no need for another blog post about them.  Right?  Ah, the glory of having a blog: we can write about whatever we want, whenever we want!  And this time, we’re writing about Petruce et al!

October 2014, Friday Dinner, Party of 2.  Although we arrived on time, our table wasn’t ready, so we took up residence at the bar and began constructing a plan to attack their wine list.  Would we be disappointed like at Townsend, where I boo’d their no-BYO policy?  Well, to be honest, I didn’t even ask if Petruce allowed outside wine!  WWHHAA!?!?  Have I taken ill?  Did I run out of wine?  Did I suffer a blow to the head?  Not at all – I knew their wine list was actually going to be interesting.  Like wine-nerd-interesting!  Not a single Cali-cab on the list!  No boring Chardonnays!  And do my eyes deceive me – are those boxed wines on that list?  So I was down for paying by the glass, ready to see what the wine program could surprise us with.  For our meal, we did an Elbling (super-tasty – a nice lighter white wine with good acidity and surprising length for a white) and a not-on-the-menu Cava.  Why cava?  Well, g was originally going to go with a Cremant de Limoux (Domaine Collin – a super-awesome sparkler we’ve had before) but the bartender offered the cava, and then was able to compare-contrast the wine to the Domaine Collin to see which she’d prefer – that’s some good wine-nerdery right there – we were impressed!  And then for the main, I ventured for a Cahors (i.e. Malbec from a specific region in France), and for her main, a pork shoulder, the “wine guy” recommended a rich off-dry white (that’s right – not a red!), which was perfect.  So Petruce gets some big points for their wine.  Will it appeal to everyone?  Nope.  Will it appeal to wine snobs?  Not really – it’s not like these are big-name bottles or anything.  But it will appeal to wine nerds.  Yay!

Ok, enough about wine.  Let’s talk food … with pictures!

beans, chorizo, and cheese.  Imagine, if you will, a cold mid-January night, as you sit cocooned in a blanket, staring out the window  watching the sky cover the earth in forgetful snow … this is the dish you would eat to warm your soul.  It was just a notch below the lentils underneath Bibou’s pig’s foot.  The perfectly cooked, rib-sticking beans along with scattered chorizo adding both meatiness and spice … mmmmmmmm.

The carrot dish was a little quirkier.  The bagna cauda and pistachio was a fun accompaniment, but it seemed like the carrots were of various levels of doneness that confused me.  Were some pickled and some cooked?  I don’t know.  They were good, but just too heterogeneous for my taste.

Ahhh … the duck.  g thought it was the rarest duck I had ever eaten.  Maybe that’s true – but I think it’s because it’s the first duck I’ve had that was this superbly cooked.  The fat was unctuously delicious with excellent greens and eggplant.  Although it was a small-ish dish, it was so rich that I doubt anyone could eat more (even I had a piece left!).

Not pictured was the pork shoulder.  And with that pork shoulder, g felt like she “won” dinner.  That’s a pretty impressive statement coming from g, and here’s why: the usual course for dinners is that g goes for either cow (she loves a good steak frites) or lighter fare (seafood, veggies), often foregoing pig as it’s often too fatty, too rich (usually I get the pig and she’ll take a bite … before claiming that her steak, veggies, or seafood is superior).  But not this time – she went for the pig, and it blew her away.  I agree – the pig was delish!  I don’t know if it “won” – as it was equal to the duck for me – but I will say that the leftover pork shoulder made for a super-awesome omelette the next day.

Other awesome things: service was spot-on the whole night.  They cleared the tables with efficiency.  The chef occasionally delivered dishes (our table was right next to the kitchen), with a smile.  They did give us an extra course (spicy octopus) because the server felt like g’s wine would also pair well with spicy, and nothing we ordered was at all spicy (so he did it for the fun of the meal, it seems!).  g recognized one of the chefs as one of her faves from Little Fish.  What were the bad things?  Well … there wasn’t really anything to complain about.  While nothing we had was quite gotta-have-it-can’t-live-without-it-crack-addictive, it was indeed some excellent food, excellent wines, and excellent service.  It’s going to go toe-to-toe with Serpico for us, which is amazing.  Maybe it’s more along the lines of a Talula’s Garden (but without the cheese … which is a big minus, but more interesting drinks)?  Bravo for a great new restaurant for Philly!