Archive for the ‘in Philadelphia’ Category
Fond … “A Hundred and Fifty Thousand Percent Right!”
t says: In a mini-FTC (any gathering of 4 of the five of us: g, t, a, v, and/or kp), all but kp headed to Fond. It was a meal that started at around 9:30 I think. It ended after 1am. I’m sure it could have gone longer had we had more wine. Here’s a picture-show of what happened …
8/2011. Friday Dinner. Party of 4. We arrived with quite a few bottles of wine that night. Riesling, Champagne (the ‘good stuff’), 1.5 bottles of red. There may have been one other. I can’t remember – a might remember, but the details are not as important as the fact that we offered some to our server, who happened to be one of the owners, Tory. Brilliant move.
A liquid amuse bouche ...
We started the meal off with a “Spicy Watermelon Gazpacho”. It was refreshing, cleansing, sweet, spicy, awesome. Someone remarked, “hey! it’s like a Bloody Mary … but with watermelon.” Upon informing Tory of our opinion (no idea why we felt it was necessary to do so), he chuckled with us and agreed. “It only needs vodka.” This amuse was so good that it inspired g and d to try and concoct one at home. While not as successful as the original, messing around with pureeing watermelons was good fun and we’ll give it another whirl for everyone at a brunch one day. I hope everyone’s ready for “Blushing Mary”.
The veal breast and sweetbreads and broccoli rabe terrine.
I ventured the “special” terrine appetizer. I will say simply that this is the best thing I ate that night and easily the best terrine I’ve ever had. Of course, it has the distinct advantage of being a warm dish, whereas most terrines I’ve had have been cold (I like warm dishes). For some reason, my notes indicate that someone said, “The heat is broughten”. Apparently, the terrine was so good that we felt obliged to violate some fairly basic rules of grammar … It actually defies description, so I’m moving on …
g got the yellow fin tuna crudo. She always gets the yellow fin tuna crudo. It’s that good. I have nothing else to report …
v had the corn risotto, for which I lack a picture. Her response consisted of “Wow!” followed by unintelligible sounds/noises/silence. Eventually, she said something about how “it was like Mexican food” or “a high class cream corn” or “a fancy Thanksgiving”. She agreed with g’s assessment: “I feel like i can make this at home … but I know I can’t”. At this point, someone was declared by v to be “a hundred and fifty thousand percent right”, but the context is unclear – g thinks it might have been something she said … so all we know is that something about Fond’s corn risotto is “a hundred and fifty thousand percent right”.
Something v got? Foie?
v also ventured the Foie. I have no notes – I assume she liked it. Either that, or this dish, too, strickened her with silence.
a's wing of skate and gnocchi
a’s lone comment regarding his skate was: “This is some badass skate”. Upon further inquiry, we’ve decided that this skate had been donning tattoos and riding a motorcycle (without a helmet, of course) immediately before being caught …
Harpoon-caught Swordfish
The harpoon-caught swordfish was my entree. Actually, it was perhaps the weakest of the entrees at the table. But that’s not to say it was “bad”. On the contrary – much was very delicious. The fish was superbly cooked, retaining some its fish-like qualities in terms of texture, not the least bit resembling those thick, steak-tough swordfish pieces I’ve seen elsewhere. But unfortunately, in terms of flavor, it wasn’t really pushing an envelope. The angel hair cake was intriguing as an accompaniment – it reminded everyone of ramen – I guess due to the umami from the mushroom and salt of the broth? End result: superb cookery in the dish, but more subtle than I was expecting.
Skirt Steak
g got steak. Big surprise. Her response: “You guys, i’m so happy right now”. And that cheese concoction in the upper-left, something that g normally shies away from, she enjoyed very much. Once again – so close to overtaking Bibou – her fave for steak – it’s only missing that reduction that Pierre makes that’s so intoxicating …
chocolate dessert (guess who ordered it?)
For dessert, I went with a dark chocolate mousse (surprised?), accompanied by candied ginger, coconut, and that wafer which I believe was cocoa nibs (but I could be wrong). While I’m no stranger to chocolate-ginger combo, I enjoyed the twist of coconut in the dish.
The other chocolate dessert ...
Unfortunately, a ordered the real chocolate winner for dessert – I was extremely jealous. Lucky for me, he was sharing … Oh – I forgot to tell you what it was: malt chocolate ice cream accompanied by peanut brittle and a peanut butter ganache. It was like the best kandy kake I’ve ever had.
The non-chooclate dessert of the evening ..., fig, pistachio tart, some kind of ice cream
g and v ventured the fig and pistachio tart dessert. “It’s kind of like baklava … but better”. I still don’t understand why someone would want to eat that over chocolate.
a had the final food-related quote of the night: “Oh SHIT that was good.”
Ok, so you realize now that we were light on descriptions, mostly because you’d get tired of the superlatives we’d be using. Take our word for it: Fond delivered truly great food. It’s not the kind of food coming out of some fancy-shmancy restaurant (there were no foams or mists or crazy-looking food vessels) – it’s homey and it’s tasty. It’s the stuff that we imagine chefs would make at home, even though we fully realize that this is most certainly not a reality. Better yet: it’s the stuff we wish we could make at home.
What rivaled the food that night was the service. We shared a glass or two of our liquors with Tory, who we didn’t realize was a co-owner. End result: he was really nice to us. He didn’t give us free food or anything, but he took us to the back patio and showed off their “chef’s table” space. For around $100/head, you get some insane meal for you and 7 guests. Immediately, we had flashbacks of Talula’s Table. We’ve got to do that.
Later, as the other patrons left, the staff and Tory visited our table and started chatting with us. We met the famous “Steve” – PhillyMag’s “Best Waiter of 2011”. We’ve had him once before – before his fame/fortune. He’s good. But this night, we got to know him – he is funny. Select quotes include:
-“Stop touching my hair it’s Friday night.”
-“I’m trying to get two years in a row.”
-“Yea, the foie – its a nice piece you could share it… but I wouldn’t – it’s too damn good.”
-“Not because I work here but it’s the best swordfish I ever had.”
There were other quotes but either included more expletives or were surrounded by a controversial/racy context (this is a family-friendly blog!), so I can’t put them here. Trust us – he actually is funny.
Then Omar, a server from Lacroix came in and chatted with us some. Topics ranged from countries in central and South America, how surprisingly tall a is, and why v hates Lacroix. Hilarious. Time flew and before you knew it, some members of the party were enjoying a shot of some sort of unidentified alcohol and we were being invited to a happy hour celebrating their second anniversary.
In summary, the food was excellent. The service was friendly. We’ll be going back, guaranteed.
Wedge and Fig Revisit
t says: g, v, a, d, and I all went to Wedge and Fig the other day (more people were also there, but they are as of yet un-lettered). a and v went there a while ago and enjoyed themselves. We gave it a whirl for brunch. Here’s what we saw and what we ate …
8/2011. Saturday Brunch. Party of ?8?. g and I got there early. That’s a fairly uncommon occurrence [when I’m the one responsible for keeping track of time]. We killed time by snapping a few iPhone pics.
Bacon Lattice Mac and Cheese
While we didn’t sample the mac and cheese, how could it possibly be bad? Well – you might have a heart attack for consuming 6 strips of bacon on top of cheese-laden carbs, but you’d enter the afterlife with a smile on your face.
Strawberries and chocolate in a giant cake.
We actually ended up getting some cake at the end of our meal – it was pretty good. The strawberry preserve layers (it’s hard to see them in the pic) made the cake pretty moist (but it was still a bit crumbly). Icing was good – not too sweet. One slice could definitely serve 2 people (I think our table split two slices?)
The hidden outdoor seating area ...
If you enter this door right next to Wedge and Fig, you gain access to a little open backyard area. Super-cute. Having a tiny party back here would be wonderful! Get some lights up in there, get some good food (?do they do dinner?) and have yourself a dinner party not at your home (i.e. someone else cleans up).
French toast pudding with raspberry (and some syrup, butter, and fruit).
That slab of “French toast bread pudding” was heavenly. Just the right amount of “mushiness” (I like bread puddings closer to bread than pudding) and tart raspberries throughout. It was hard to tell if it was an especially chunky raspberry preserves, but I think it was actual raspberry that had cooked down some in the preparation. It’s a shame that the accompanying fruit was kind of under-ripe.
A tribute to a Philly hero/controversy: the "Joey Vento Omelette"
We had visited right after Joey Vento had passed. In honor of this Philly icon, the owner of one of Philly’s most touristy cheesesteak joints, they put together this cheesesteak-themed omelette. g had it. (Obviously, I, was too busy satisfying my sweet tooth to be bothered with ribeye and cheese). Others at our table had it, too. It seems like they were satisfied with the preparation – and even if they weren’t, it’s not like they were going to dis’ a dish named after a fallen Philadelphian.
In summary, the food was tasty and reasonably priced. Sure, it’s not perfection-on-a-plate (and the server’s a little weird – friendly and competent and we like him – but still weird), but they are taking jabs every now and then to push things beyond the boring. Good for them! We look forward to seeing their outdoor space in action …
Roost Charms a True Southerner
kp says: I went to Roost (West Philadelphia). It is a delivery/pick up restaurant (no seating) that serves Local Organic Chicken in two varieties. Rotisserie and Fried forms. I tried the Fried Chicken (one Leg and 1 breast piece). The meat was overwhemingly succulent, juicy and perfectly seasoned (hints of buttermilk, paprika and garlic). The crust on the chicken was the best I’ve had in the City. The first bite gives an amazing crunch with hints of black pepper, salt and cornmeal. It was evenly browned and just right in terms of texture and flavor. Now my cousin ordered the chicken tenders which were massive (nice big thick chunks- a good breading to protein ratio) and again the crunch and meat were spectacular. However, they do need sauce (not as moist since there is no bone and its all white meat); they have a selection of sauces to accompany it- bbq, ranch, honey mustard, etc. Along with the succulent chicken were some standard sides (they serve greens, smashed potatoes w/ grarvy, mac & cheese, biscuits, coleslaw). We tried the biscuits– a little too dense, needed more air and fluffiness, but the right amount of butter and buttermilk. The smashed potatoes were nice and buttery but like the biscuits- too dense. The gravy is very underwhelming, it was basically the pan drippings from the rotisserie chicken without the benefit of added roux, etc to make a better gravy (definitely gonna skip next time). The mac and cheese gravy was a gooey cheesy dream. They definitely above and beyond the regular form with added flavor of paprika and garlic. The macaroni was perfectly cooked (not to soft and not al dente)- the way your grandma would serve it and so good you would slap her too! (t interjects: sorry for those who don’t understand this reference – we here at adsz do not condone the slapping of grandmas – only joking about it)
As for the service, the front staff were friendly and knoweledgable and profusely apologized when i asked for sweet potato fries (they were out). However, a little forgetful: they forgot the sauce for our chicken tenders.
The location is perfect because you can pick up your order, walk by the gas station and pick up some sodas or water (or if classy like g & t then bring a nice wine pairing) and take the stuff to Clark Park for an old fashioned Southern Picnic (minus the humidity and hillbillies). Personally, I’d make Sweet Tea Vodka (don’t worry t, it will have no fizz).
Supper’s Superior Burger
t says: g and I went to Supper a long long time ago and ventured their burger. It was frickin’ delicious. Since then, we’ve noticed that no one really mentions the Supper burger – people are too busy talking about burgers at Village Whiskey or Rouge or Butcher and Singer or Grace Tavern, but not a breath about Supper. I’m not saying that those burgers aren’t also yummy, but to be completely omitted from Philly Mag’s burger challenge is ridiculous (especially cuz I feel it’s better than the VW burger)! So I figured maybe they stopped making it or something. But they haven’t. So I figured maybe it wasn’t as good as I had remembered. g and I made it our mission to find out …
8/2011, Wednesday 6pm, Party of 2. g and I rolled into Supper without reservations on a Wednesday. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. They seated us without a problem. We consulted the menu but knew precisely what we were there for: the burger. But we got a few apps to whet our appetite.
g's "Green Salad"
Funny thing about the green salad – it wasn’t entirely green. It had a slice of peach, some bacon, buttermilk dressing, and that cornbread thingee (which reminded me more of some kind of hush puppy). g housed it. She says: “It was simple but it was fresh and it let all the ingredients sing.” So there we go – they make a good salad.
The Pepper "Special"
I had the pepper special. Holy crap. It was amazing. The peppers had a wonderful char on them and the texture had just the right amount of bite (like not too firm and not complete mush). It was served with a “lime crema”, which, upon investigation (i.e. asking the waiter), consisted of creme fraiche, lime, and “some other herbs”. There was also some salt and cilantro. All together, everything made sense. The peppers were spicy and smokey, tempered by the crema and brightened by some lime and the uplifting zing of cilantro. I am going to steal that lime crema idea for sure. The only real drawback of the appetizer is that I feel that the cilantro leaves should have been separated from the stems (and the stems discarded), as I found the stems kind of hard to eat.
Supper Burger.
g and I split the burger because we find that it’s just too large for each of us to get one on our own. For bigger people, I’d recommend trying one by yourself. Disclaimer: at $14, it is pricey for a burger – but it does come with some duck fat fries, and it’s the cheapest dinner entree on the menu by far. The burger is made of ground brisket (as far as I know) and it has such a wonderful flavor. It’s not just “hey, I’m beef” – there’s something more. It has a delightfully seared outside, a sweet inside, and is, as should be, well-seasoned. I will say that this time, however, we found the burger to be a bit on the crumbly side, so I do have to penalize them for that (I had to use my fork to hunt down the pieces of meat the escaped from the burger onto the plate). The gruyere cheese brought in a nice cheesy funk without overpowering the thickly cut bacon and beef. The healthy slice of yellow tomato was perfect, and the bread, which appeared thick, was actually quite soft and served in a perfect proportion to the amount of meat. Despite the burger being a bit volatile this time around, I say that the Supper burger has retained its adsz crown. The duck fat fries were crispy and well-seasoned (no one likes soggy fries – and I like these ones better than at VW) and pickles and were perfectly balanced between sour and sweet (I ate them plain!).
So go to Supper. Get the burger. Really the only thing you’ll regret is feeling a little like a cheapskate in paying so much less for an entree than everyone else at the table. But I’m sure you’ll find some way to get over it … Now, I do still have to get around to Grace Tavern, Rouge, and Butcher and Singer – so we’ll see what happens when push comes to shove …
The Farmers’ Cabinet Identity Crisis
g says: m and n invited us and two other couples to try out the new and fairly well-received gastropub in center city, The Farmers’ Cabinet. I hadn’t heard much about it, but my impression was that this place has interesting, old-fashioned drinks and supposedly great food. The menu looked promising for a rainy Sunday evening dinner, so off we went (umbrellas in hand).
8/2011, Sunday 7pm, party of 8: The atmosphere in this place is actually pretty cool, albeit a little disorienting. There are two bars, and a separate dining area with one super long table bisecting the space, benches on each side. I wondered how servers dealt with this, as they could not reach diners on the opposite side of the table unless they walked to the end of the long table — which is essentially walking all the way to the other side of the room.
Our server, while friendly, was a bit odd. As he explained the drink menu to us, his mind seemed to wander to the point where he forgot what he was saying midway through. This happened 2-3 times before he finished going through the menu with us.
Now, to be clear, the drink menu is overwhelmingly extensive. No wonder our server got lost in it. Cocktails can be prepared with the alcohol of your choosing, which I found a little unappealing. (How good could the drink be if it wasn’t meticulously paired with the rest of its ingredients? People look at menus to choose something someone else has already done the research on — if we wanted to choose what goes into our drinks, we would order it that way.) Also, all of the cocktails sounded very similar to one another, which makes me feel like they need to diversify their offerings (citrus or lemon, sugar, bitters, etc.). They have beers from all over the world, and a decent number of them. While this is nice, our fellow diners had a difficult time choosing from the over-assortment, and ended up asking the server for a recommendation anyway.
In my opinion, a menu should be a curated show of the best assortment that the restaurant has to offer — something to accommodate varying tastes, all while staying true to the concept of the restaurant. The Famers’ Cabinet has trouble in this area, and could definitely benefit from a lesson in the art of the edit, as this is what makes a place unique.
We ordered our drinks — most everyone found an interesting beer to suit them, while n and I ordered punch and a cocktail, respectively. The beer came out a good 10-15 minutes before our drinks hit the table, which I chalked up to a service kink to be worked out in such a new place.
On to the food! Our table ordered a nice variety of dishes from pork belly bbq sandwiches to mushroom crepes. The general consensus: mushroom crepes were the best thing on the table. t didn’t get a picture of it because someone else at the table had ordered it and he didn’t want to be so forward as to snap a pic while she was actively eating. Here’s the rest with the goods, bads, and uglies.
– pretzels: pretty good, but not great – not particularly soft on the inside.
t's pork belly sandwich
– pork belly: way too much bread, which actually overpowered the pork (t interjects: of course, they could have just had more pork – you can barely see it through the slaw!)
g's and n's burger with bacon jam
– burger: the meat was dry, the bacon jam a gross consistency (and just not pretty), too much bread, not enough cheese
m's blurry chicken
– chicken: chicken was good, but creamed spinach too mushy
t's beef tongue charcuterie
– beef tongue: surprisingly lacking in big beefy flavor like you’d expect from tongue, but good texture
– cheese fondue (not pictured): tasted like cheez whiz (that’s a bad thing)
individually wrapped chocolates
– complimentary chocolates at the end: truly delicious — great job there (t stole other people’s chocolates … he’s like a 4-year-old)
The chocolates arrived at our table in a cigar box, which also housed our check. This would have been clever if the box were smaller to more appropriately fit its contents… and if it had ANYTHING to do with whatever this restaurant’s concept is.
Another note of randomness: everything is served on a slab of slate — but why? They didn’t serve a purpose, and plates without edges are generally difficult to serve, eat from, and clear. It just didn’t make sense from any perspective I could see. So frustrating.
Maybe m said it best …
m chimes in: it’s like they took all the trends in food right now and tried to incorporate them all into one place. (baking own breads, tons of beers, farm-to-table/organic, prohibition era drinks)
g says: Although most of the people I ate with tonight were doctors, you didn’t need to be one to diagnose this place’s multiple personality disorder. It needs someone to go in there and make some creative decisions — they can’t be everything for everyone, and they shouldn’t be. If TFC focused on fewer personalities, the food and drinks they do offer might be better.
t says: I think it’s now named “dissociative identity disorder” – but tomato, tomato, potato, potato. I would offer my services as a creative consultant if they paid me in those individually wrapped chocolates … I don’t know if I’d do a good job, but what’d they expect? They paid me in chocolates!
Pumpkin: “Good but not Great”
t says: We journeyed to Pumpkin last week with kp and another dinnermate. Weirdly, even though it’s close to where we live, we hadn’t quite been able to get to it despite trying to visit for years (it was always our second option). But not this time – this time we were going to go, damnit! (Actually, I had originally wanted to revisit a.kitchen with kp, but alas, they’re still too busy).
August 2011, Thursday 8pm, Party of 4. We walked in to a pretty tiny place – maybe a smidge bigger than Bibou. They do it old school (BYO and cash-only) at Pumpkin, so we came prepared with some pinot noir and riesling. We were seated promptly and introduced to our menus. A lot sounded tasty, so we initially had some personal crises (e.g. duck or pig – duck or pig?!) When the dust settled, this is what came out:
Escargots and Chicken Wings
kp and I ventured the escargots and chicken. It was accompanied with cucumber and sauced with something green that I actually cannot remember what it was. While the escargots were cooked appropriately (soft, not chewy), I found them to be a little lacking in flavor. Whereas Bibou’s tend to hit you in the mouth with a big “HEY – I’M A SNAIL” flavor, Pumpkin’s were much more subdued. The chicken wing was the same – cooked beautifully, but underwhelming flavor (although this was more likely due to underseasoning). I was a little sad because I couldn’t quite look past these two issues to concentrate on whether the accompanying flavors were a good combo or not.
Selection of "Summer Vegetables"
g and our friend had the summer vegetables, which featured some raw, some cooked, and some pickled. Additionally, it was served with an egg yolk, some kind of grain, and a broth poured on at the last second. I don’t know what they thought – maybe g’ll chime in sometime.
Double-duck!
This was my main – confit leg and ?roasted? breast, with some sort of jus (brown sauce), figs, and a crunchy-coffee-flavored pile (crumbs in the upper right corner), and a disk of what I believe was cherry. The duck cookery was right-on for the leg, but the breast was actually a little tough, requiring a bit of force with my knife, which I view as a bad sign. As for the other components, they just didn’t quite come together for me – it was like 5 separate components that I had to manually mix together, myself. To be honest, I think this dish could have gone further (the coffee+cherry+fig+duck sounded good) had the components been combined in a more cohesive manner – but the pretty presentation left them strewn around on the plate, leading to disjointed flavors/textures.
At our table was also the pig entree. We have no pictures of it, but our friend’s exact words were, “good but not great”. This was going to be the theme of the evening …
Cod
The cod was a pretty impressive hunk of fish accompanied corn, potato, and a vermouth sauce. kp really enjoyed the sauce (really REALLY enjoyed the sauce) but found that the fish could have been given a better sear, because the texture was monotonous throughout. There was also a lack of razor clams on the dish, which would have added some other kind of flavor to play with the cod.
Polenta
The polenta was a side-of-the-day. But to be honest, it was kind of a snooze-fest. Yea, it was polenta. And I guess the purpose is to increase the carbs of the other dishes. But please, do something to it!
All in all, it’s not that any of the food we had at Pumpkin was bad – I believe we all finished our plates! But, it didn’t leave with that “gee, I gotta come back here tomorrow” feeling. Perhaps I just had it built up too much because we had heard too many good things about it but felt that they didn’t deliver (e.g. like with Audrey Claire). We wish them a little better luck in the future.
We pigged out on Amada’s pig.
What the what?
t says: Yea, that’s right. We did it. Five manly male friends and I came, saw, and conquered the suckling pig at Amada. What you see above is half of a pig and the head (apparently the head is optional – who the crap wouldn’t want the head?) By the way, it’s a little creepy that the pig seems like it might be stalking that poor defenseless baby on the left.
August 2011, 5:45pm Sunday, Party of 6. Forty bucks a person, reserved at lest three days in advance – just show up and eat some pig and four side dishes. Forget more words, let’s roll the pictures …
Meet Wilbur ... yea ... we named it.
Wilbur's got no backbone ... cuz the dude carving our pig removed it (in the foreground) from the rest of the pig (in the background) ...
Just in case you tried to avoid seeing Wilbur's head above - here it is again ...
Pig ... with potato, garbanzo beans, white beans, scallions ... and more pig ...
Yea … we demolished a LOT of pig. And we had enough for two small piggie-bags (for g and v) to go. The best part was that it was frickin’ delicious. Seriously. I was expecting the feast to be kind of gimicky, but believe you me – it’s probably the best straight-up pork I’ve ever had – no fancy sauces or seasoning – just good ‘ol Wilbur. Pork-for-pork, perhaps Fond’s pork belly is the only pig I’ve ever had better. Also – I must say that it was quite an educational experience to be able to taste the different cuts of pig and see how they differed from one another despite being cooked in an identical manner; my favorite was the cheek – so lucious and sweet and salty. A lot of the members of the party preferred a cut of muscle that attaches the head to the back (?neck muscle?). a and kp took it upon themselves to go for some brain (I refuse to eat brain), too. Their impression: it’s mushy, and doesn’t have a good taste or aftertaste to justify eating it – especially when so many other good pieces of pig are present.
a flexed his wine muscle by providing us with a 2001 Rioja Gran Reserva for the occasion – a fairly bold wine for summer night but it did a superb job matching the intensity of the pig. Great job!
What was the worst part of the evening? I think it was when we realized that they had removed the platform-table that used to be able to hold a party of like 10 but elevated one step up from the restaurant and with these curtains you can draw to add an element of mystery/seclusion to the party. We did it once for g’s birthday a few years ago and it was the best restaurant-birthday I’ve ever been to. Alas – it is no more.
Everyone’s gotta try this at least once (if not more than once). Next time, we’ll bring the chicks women.
after dinner sneeze 