Archive for the ‘in Philadelphia’ Category
Meritage (Again): Tacos and Dogs
t says: g desperately wanted to write up our latest Meritage experiences, however, she only got as far as an outline. I think the outline is funny to read in and of itself. Thus, without further ado – here are her thoughts (with my edits in brackets).
g says:
– rough week, needed a pick-me-up
– want to try meritage Korean tacos [Meritage’s “special” on Wednesday nights]
– tacos were $3 each, but ladder 15‘s weren’t that big, and we didn’t want to run up a large bill, so we “pregamed” at home with some salad [this ended up being a mistake – more to come]
8/2010, 9pm, party of 2
– same server as last time, who recognized us
– us: “you told us to come back for the Korean tacos, so here we are”
– him: “sorry, we’re out”
– t: “you’re joking”
– him: “no, i’m sorry, i’m not – we just got written up in the NY Times and sold out early. i’m so sorry.”
– us: “uh-oh, our master plans were foiled” [No, we didn’t actually say this, but we thought it. I contemplated leaving, but g felt that that would be entirely too rude, and informed me that we were staying]
– we ordered four small plates and the non-Korean-taco appetizer “special” between us
– food runner brought us shot glasses of cold honeydew/lemongrass soup “compliments of the chef” [these were delicious – smooth and sweet with a hint of lemongrass – it was like summer dessert in a shot glass. We still don’t know if all patrons got this amuse bouche, or if it was only for special clientele.]
– food runner dropped off plate of 2 Korean tacos, said “compliments of the chef” and dashed off before we could say anything …
– looked at each other, looked around. I said, “don’t touch them! If these are for someone else, we would look like such jerks eating them after the guy said they were out”
– t caught server’s attention and asked if they were indeed meant for us
– server: “yeah, they must have been held for a bar order but not picked up, so they’re yours. you have the last order of Korean tacos in the house.”
– didn’t have to tell us twice
– fabulous [really, these were quite good – better than at Ladder15, as the meat was more tender, having been braised. The kimchi was fresh and zingy. It’s definitely something I look forward to making at home]
[– also, g and I still disagree on whether the server was telling the truth – if actually they were left over from another order, or if maybe he somehow convinced the kitchen staff that we deserved tacos as we were faithful clients who love their food … or if he said they should fear a poor review on adsz, given that we clearly have the influence to close restaurants]
– gazpacho [g ate every last bit, so I guess it was good – and one of our Southern friends who claimed herself to be a “gazpacho connoisseur” also liked it]
– pulled pork sliders [these were sweeter than the pulled pork sandwich at Cochon, but were solid performers]
– flatbread with curry sauce [once again, this was sweeter than I expected out of a curry, but the chickpeas were a nice consistency, and the bread was delicious]
– chickpea fries [g doesn’t like these, thinking they’re kind of “hoky” – it’s kind of like mashed chickpeas formed into the shape of large french fries and fried – I like ’em! but really, you need to have ’em with some steak or something]
– special of the evening: duck corndogs – like the best chicken mcnugget and sweet-and-sour-sauce I’ve ever had [I have no idea where g’s been getting her chicken mcnuggets from, because, these are nothing like chicken mcnuggets, with the exception that yes, they’re fried, and yes, they are accompanied by a sauce that is both sour and sweet. But holy crap. These were phenomenal. I’d say they tasted as good as, if not better than than the tacos (and they “win” because I’m pretty sure I can’t yet make this at home)! The fried shell was light and crispy, and the ground-duck-“hot dog” was amazing. The Korean sauce had a hint of spice, once again catering to a more “wousy” crowd, but also had a nice tang and sweetness. This was very nearly KFC-good. Seriously, this should be their new “it” thing – quickly – before San Francisco steals it (although I’m sure SF already has done it … somewhere).]
t says: So, Meritage is definitely bringing the thunder when it comes to their Korean-inspired dishes. I think these dishes are great because it’s not like they’re trying to reinvent a classic Korean dish (a la Sampan), which is dangerous if the new creation doesn’t live up to the original; rather, these are introducing Korean flavors into otherwise hackneyed mediums (media?): fried chicken, tacos, corn dogs. It’s fun! Of course, these are only available on certain nights, so you’ll have to do your homework and ensure that you go at the right time (and hope that the kitchen doesn’t run out – we’ve called ahead since this experience to ensure they would have enough specials for us). We have been back for KFC night with some friends (actually, it’s the fourth weekly consecutive visit for g), and it was still quite delicious (although the sauce was a little more goopy this time – probably because we asked for “extra spicy” too far after we ordered it and they probably had to toss it again in more gochujang, which is pasty – if you want it extra spicy, ask for it up front when you order). There are other non-Korean specials on other nights – maybe we’ll get around to them. It’s just too hard to rationalize going to Meritage on a night when they’re not doing something Korean …
Melograno, Radicchio Cafe, La Locanda del Ghiottone, oh my!
v & a say: Three very different Philly restaurants that fall under the same category – small/Italian/byob. Before continuing, we must reveal our bias with a disclaimer: La Locanda is our neighborhood go-to spot which is as inviting and quirky as the food is delicious. Everyone is welcomed with a poster of the late proprietor, Giuseppe’s, Green Card, which reads “I waited three years for my green card, you can wait an hour for your food.” In any event, the staff (read: the Italian-stallion from South Philly serving you), takes pride in the menu and directs you without hesitation or forced pleasantries. This no-frills, entertaining experience, always leaves you satisfied and is well worth the trip. And, if you can’t find anything on the rustic-Italian menu that strikes your fancy, then tell them what you want and they shall deliver. To start, try the antipasto sampler served with cheese, olives, and grilled veggies. Word to the wise, don’t even think about putting cheese on fish at this devout establishment. Oh, and in response to the many less-than-glowing online reviews of this restaurant: We can see how many may think the service is coarse – personally, we appreciate anyone who enables people to enjoy delicious food, byo libations, healthy portions, and, above all, do so with friends and family – but try to take it all in stride. Also, if you only have time for lunch and desire a little of what La Locanda (only open for dinner) has to offer, try its sister restaurant, Il Cantuccio, for a taste.
Radicchio Cafe and Melograno also provide environments where groups can meet and share Italian cuisine, though we would label Melograno’s as more ambitious. Whereas La Locanda can accommodate a more boisterous crowd, these two restaurants are for more “mature” groups. In terms of food, Melograno takes the cake. a and I both ordered fish specials at Radicchio Cafe and weren’t blown away by either. a was steered away from ordering the soup du jour by the waiter – you know it misses the mark if the waiter specifically tells you not to order something. We followed his recommendations and were still left unsatisfied. Of course, we can’t make judgments off of one visit and so, we’ll have to return and let you know what transpires. What a pity.
At Melograno we had a much different experience. d took us to dinner to celebrate one of the year’s many notable events. He ordered the Pappardelle Tartufate which, let’s just say, is the dish he keeps returning for, over and over and over. We both ordered dishes that left us satisfied, to the point where we didn’t have room for dessert. As with La Locanda, the Antipasto Rustico is a great dish to share. Melograno and La Locanda do not differ in terms of quality of food and ambiance; where distinctions can be made is in the overall experience and approach to the cuisine. Melograno is a modern, comfortable, sleek byo with a menu to match, whereas La Locanda is like eating at your Italian grandmother’s house, crucifix and all.
It’s impossible to fairly rank these restaurants without knowing who we would be sharing the meal with. What we can say is that Melograno and La Locanda are at the top. With a loud, boisterous crew, we would choose La Locanda. With a more subdued group and fussier palates, Melograno.
Carman’s Country Kitchen: Tied for First …
t says: We realized that we never wrote about Carman’s! My memory has faded, so this is less a “review”, and more of a summary.
About Carman’s … It’s this awesome brunch/breakfast spot that’s well south of South. Let me set the scene for you. The place is TINY. It seats about 12 people total. The place is NOT fancy. You drink out of mason jars, and there’s definitely some patio furniture in there. Some people might look around and question the cleanliness because everything looks old – not “vintage” – actual “old”. Then when you do get in there, there’s only four items on the “menu”, i.e. a chalkboard behind the counter …
Yet, people line up out the door on weekends.
Why? Two reasons. The first stems from the service – it’s very personable. Not fake-super-over-enthusiastic, but it feels real – like if your mom and dad opened up a tiny restaurant that they were trying to run, themselves. Servers will not only take your order, but ask your name as well. It’s not unusual for Carman, herself, to come out and chat with guests – she even took our order, once! (She was also doing something on an iPad beforehand – that was definitely weird to see such a modern piece of equipment in such an “old” place.) Also, I’ve heard, even though I’ve never experienced the wait, that they will serve you coffee outside as you wait for your table, looking longingly into the windows at the food.
Number two: It’s that delicious. We’ve only been there twice, but both times everything we ate was wonderful. The pancakes, no matter what Carman’s sprucing them up with (e.g. a fall-themed squash and cinnamon one, a summer-themed peach one) are fluffy and plentiful. No, they aren’t as thick or fluffy as Cochon‘s, but it’s almost made up for by the other things she adds in. g has had an egg dish once and a shrimp-and-grits dish once. The egg dish was fantastic, but I think the shrimp-and-grits changed her life; they were tied with the best grits she had ever had (those made by kp) – so that’s gotta say something. j even joined us once for some sort of weird hot-dog based dish with sauerkraut or something – I don’t know – I didn’t get a chance to investigate, because it was gone in like 90 seconds (maybe one day she’ll fill us in on what she ate) …
What kind of person would go to and enjoy Carman’s?
1) Someone who is totally ok with not knowing what’s on the menu until you show up, and ok with the fact that nothing’s going to be “plain” (e.g. there’s no plain short stack of hotcakes here – it’s going to have a lot of different stuff on top of it or in it).
2) Someone who doesn’t require fancy decor … or sturdy tables/chairs …
3) Someone looking for a plentiful and awesome brunch, even if it does require a trek and quite possibly a wait.
My advice … call ahead. If you call and they say it’s busy, there’s no point in going. BUT – if you call during a weekday, when they are undoubtedly not busy, you can make a pseudo-reservation by telling them your name and number of people and Carman might be able to hold a table for you. But if you do this – don’t be late. That’s just rude. And it’d be extremely awkward sitting in such a tiny place when the owner is right there and thinks you’re rude.
Finally … what would make Carman’s supplant Cochon for our #1 spot for breakfast? That’s tough. Opentable reservations? Closer proximity? Slightly more space so I can take more than 3 people with me? And I know there’s no way my mom would ever like it in there (she likes super clean places). Oh well – I can at least say that Carman’s is my favorite place for weekday breakfast (Cochon’s only open on Sunday)!
Le Bec for $40? Mais Oui!
t says: We mentioned Le Bec was closing soon and have spent many sleepness nights wondering whether doing that $40 dinner option was worth it. And now, here to rescue us from our despair is the latest additions to the cast, a and v!
a says: And the verdict is… definitely worth the (lower) price of admission. The $40 menu is very small and certainly not typical Le Bec Fin extravagance. It is, however, focused and well executed. We ordered everything on the menu and were particularly impressed by the watermelon salad and stuffed quail. The steak was quite good and made more interesting by the pea pommes puree. In the end, the star of the show was the dessert cart. The pastry wizards at Le Bec still know how to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth and the staff ensures you do not leave wanting. Service was extremely attentive and unpretentious, especially the sommeliers. The $40 wine list that accompanies this menu is lacking but use this as a reason to admire (and order from) their regular list. We had a red and a white, both (French) under $65, that were wonderful. I think the lax dress code (read: Hawaiian shirt and jeans) takes away from the ambiance but, thankfully, most diners used business casual as a baseline.
v says: Elegance, refinement, and sophistication come to mind when someone mentions Le Bec Fin. As evidenced by the clientele and service, this Philadelphia institution no longer characterizes such luxury. This is not to imply that the service is lacking, but rather that it attempts to meet the coarse population it has come to serve. In order to stay relevant, Le Bec Fin attempts to exude opulence while remaining accessible. While this is a respectable mission given the direction taken by most Philadelphia restaurants and the current economy, it no longer serves the needs of its niche market.
At the same time, this accessibility enables a broader range of individuals to try the richness and delicacy of French cooking. The 40$, four course meal is worth the dessert, which was the best part of the meal and absolutely compensated for the lacking cheese course. In the end, I left the meal satisfied and contemplating the current role of Le Bec Fin in the Philadelphia food community. Is it obsolete? Should it go back to fulfilling the needs of its intended market? I wonder how my experience would have been different in its heyday – sans the Hawaiian shirts. The sommelier was quite partial to wines from near his birthplace in Lyon even sharing a colorful French idiom, “We drink Burgundy and we piss Bordeaux.”
Zzzzzz is for Zahav
g says: Zahav was one of the few places that t had ventured without me, so I knew we would eventually end up there — because I was really interested in what Israeli food tasted like, and also so you could hear my take on their acclaimed food as well (important for any fair and balanced blog). It was a hot Friday evening, and we were looking for something to do. Walk over to Old City from Rittenhouse? Sure, sounds like a great idea. No matter that it was hotter than Hades and we were walking further than we would on any other day with much cooler temperatures — we were going to DO something. (It really did seem like a good idea at the time…) Anyway, it was 95 degrees at sunset, and we ventured off into the night. Besides the profuse sweating, my dress blowing up in the wind, and getting slightly lost, we arrived at our destination without much incident. But we were admittedly gross, tired, and desperately wanted to use the restroom to freshen up – a couple of hot messes, indeed! Maybe we should have realized then that the evening wouldn’t be quite as smooth as we were expecting…
7/2010, 9:30pm, Party of 2. We walked in right on time for our reservation and were greeted by two well-dressed guys — one friendly, the other not so much. Not-so-much showed us to our table swiftly, and even pulled out my chair for me (what a gentleman)! I was thrilled to be there for about 5 seconds until I started noticing how many servers were constantly bustling all around us (and a bit too close to me for my taste). I get a little claustrophobic, so I scanned the dining room for other seating options. There were plenty of tables as well as seats at the bar, so I suggested to t that we ask to switch tables quickly before we were too settled in.
Now, I completely understand that restaurants seat their diners at specific tables to keep order in their dining rooms, and I would never normally ask to move, but I was feeling really anxious so I thought it was worth the embarrassment of being one of “those people.” t asked our server, who had stopped by for a minute to introduce himself, if it would be possible to switch to one of the other open 2-seater spots. To which he replied that we would have to leave our seats and ask the host ourselves. I was perplexed. I’m no expert, but isn’t that his job? Once we wrapped our heads around this new concept, we walked back to the front desk and posed our request. Friendly guy was professional and accommodating. Not-so-much was clearly annoyed — he would have to walk us about 30 feet to our table again (the nerve of us). The new table’s location was totally fine, and I was happy, though I wondered why the seating thing was such an issue to these people. My guess is that not-so-much acts like not-so-much to the rest of the staff as well, and our server wasn’t looking to mess with him.
Our server is a whole other story. He looked like a nice enough young fellow, but I felt like we didn’t look nice enough to him because he kept staring off in space when he would speak to us. I thought maybe he was new and nervous (scared of not-so-much, still?) but t seemed to remember him from his first visit, and it has been a while since then. He warmed up to us a little throughout the meal, though, so I wasn’t feeling quite so awkward by dessert time.
What’s that? You’re tired of me yammering on about the people and want to hear about the food? Well, here goes: we both ventured the tay’im, the smaller of the two tasting menu choices, and ordered different items so that we could try more dishes. I anticipated some of the best food I would have all summer (with such rave reviews, how could it not be?) but felt overall the dishes were a little hit or miss. The hummus and flatbread were simply divine — sorry, Audrey Claire, you have been booted from my #1 hummus spot, because this stuff is amazing! The salatim (8 different little salads) were also fairly tasty, but didn’t seem like something that I could not make for myself at home. For entrees, I chose the fish kofte (total hit! they were delicate and savory, and not too fishy either), tahcheen (a bit of a miss for me, but there was just some sort of spice in the rice that I wasn’t wild about), and the hanger steak (another hit, as I very much liked the flavors of the steak and pureed eggplant, but this just wasn’t seeming so special to me – there are a few other restaurants I have in mind that do their hanger steak just as well and better). t went for the watermelon salad (could have been a hit, but the watermelon wasn’t quite sweet enough), grilled veal tongue (hit on the meat, miss on the accompaniment), and duck two-ways (a half-hit … duck one way was a hit, but the other way – a dry ground duck patty – was a miss). My cashew baklava won in the battle of “who-ordered-the-better-dessert,” but that’s mostly because t’s pistachio cake with cherry compote was a bit dry — there was definitely potential there. Like Marlon Brando, it could’ve been a contender.
While neither of us were wowed by very many of the dishes, I certainly wasn’t unhappy with anything that came out of Zahav’s kitchen. I think t was a little disappointed that he had such great food on previous visits, and this time it was so-so. I, too, was looking for the wow-factor, but found it to be a little bit of a snooze.
But I think I have learned a very important lesson from this experience (besides the one about not trying to walk 25 blocks before dinner in a heatwave): Israeli food isn’t really my thing. To me, it is certainly good, but not cravable. I feel similarly about Greek food — rarely will you ever hear me talk about being in the mood for Greek food. I have nothing against it, and would absolutely accept an invitation to dine at a Greek restaurant, but I would not choose it over other types of cuisine. It must be the traditional flavor profiles that just aren’t my favorite, or maybe a few spices rub me the wrong way (get it? spice? rub? MAN, i am on fire!)
All in all, we had a fun evening out, and we ran into nothing that a glass of cava couldn’t fix. On a return trip, I think I would probably just fill up on hummus and baklava… which actually wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
t says: Just in case you’re wondering about that veal tongue … It looked like a piece of scrapple … in the shape of a tongue. The taste of the meat reminded me of oxtail, but the texture was different, as the strands of meat were finer and shorter. Overall, it was an interesting and delicious meat to eat, but not so delicious that I’d want to try and cook it at home. In short, it wasn’t as good as beef cheek. Out of all the dishes we had, my favorite style of food was that watermelon salad. Yes, it was an overall “miss” – but the way the flavors evolved in your mouth was intriguing and unexpected. A lot of Zahav’s other flavors, while being bold, seldom evolve like this on the palate – and that’s what I like the most when I eat.
On another note – don’t mess with g when she’s on fire. Not only is she funny (she is funny), but she can get pretty fiesty. I mean look at that title – pretty harsh, right? I knew the food might not have been sneeze-worthy – but I didn’t think it was snooze-worthy, either …
The Lightning Round!
t says: As I had mentioned before, there was a lot of food consumed at restaurants recently. Rather that review each individually, here’s a super-fast highs-and-lows …
20 Manning Grill:
Props: Beef sirloin noodles. Despite having so much beef, this dish’s flavors are lively and playful; it’s also not served “hot” so that helps keep it light. I think I didn’t order the “full” order, but boy that was more than enough – I don’t know how some people might eat more! Slops: A salad (not sure which one). g’s mom ordered a salad with grilled chicken and loved it … except that the plate they had used was so small and the salad so heaping that there was no way to cut the chicken without having some greens escape to the table. The weird part is that even the server admitted, “Yea, it’s such a pretty dish, but it’s not practical …” – then why do they use it?
Village Whiskey:
Props: BBQ pork sandwich. Yea – it’s ridiculously good – probably better than their burgers (in my opinion) and almost as good as the short rib cheddar fries. It’s as good as Cochon’s (but different – Cochon’s is saltier, while VW’s is sweeter). Slops: Our server was obviously let down that we weren’t ordering “enough” – and his attitude showed it. Yes – we’re splitting burgers. No – we’re not ordering drinks. And no – we’re not ordering desserts, either. So yes, “that’s all”. And your passive-aggressive, like-a-teenager-not-allowed-to-take-the-car-for-the-night attitude won’t change our minds. Deal with it, or the next time, I’ll order a single burger for a party of 8.
Miga:
Props: Dukboki – the best I’ve had in a restaurant. Overall, the food tasted good enough for mom to admit it was the better than Giwa or Han Wool. Slops: Dolsot bibimbap was not as good as Giwa’s version with the eel.
Szechuan Hunan:
Props: The food was solid take-out Chinese food. Slops: The food was solid take-out Chinese food.
Sandy’s:
Props: The BLT and french fries. Slops: Italian sausage (i.e. a hot dog).
Mix:
Props: The Tomato Pie (the second time we had it) had some fresh tomato, a great crust, and a not-too-sweet a sauce. Slops: We’ve had some of their other pizzas that are only “ok”. The margherita is very hit-or-miss.
Talula’s Table Pop-up: Maybe a Taste of the Future?
t says: As I mentioned before, g and I were lucky enough to score reservations at this Stephen Starr event. Three of us went – it was a g, t, and cm outing! I’m telling you right now … there’s going to be a LOT to read – so let’s get started!
7/2010, Thursday 8:30pm, Party of 3. We arrived, not quite knowing what to expect. Would it be a restaurant? Would it be a warehouse? Would it be a tent? No idea! All I knew is that it was not BYO …
The venue turned out to be this place right on Washington Square that had an indoor section and an outdoor section. You enter what looks like a large outdoor patio, complete with umbrellas and lounge-worthy sofas and chairs and tables, and then find an entrance to the actual restaurant off to the side. It was a very unique layout. The outdoor patio also had a bar towards the back that was selling a selection of mixed drinks and wine. I have come to understand that anyone is allowed into that outdoor patio/bar area, even without a reservation – and cm believes that food was offered out there as well – so there may be a back door into these events. The drinks were quite pricey, but perhaps on par with what you’d expect from Mr. Starr …
Speaking of which … we saw him. That’s right. Mr. Restaurant, himself, was seated in the outdoor part with another guest (no idea who it was). I guess he wanted to mingle over some drinks in lieu of eating the very fine meal? The funny thing is that g was the first (and only) of our party to recognize him and pointed him out in a very dramatic fashion: “cm … … that’s Stephen Starr …”. We confirmed via iPhone google images to ensure that she was correct. Never doubt your wife. We didn’t have the nerve to really say anything to him – but we really wouldn’t know what to say, as in all honesty, Morimoto and this pop-up are but shining stars in a sea of over-hyped mediocrity (cm and k also really like Buddakan – we have no beef with Buddakan – it’s good! – but we love Morimoto much more, given our penchant for raw fish – Pod is also good, but only on all-you-can-eat night).
As we waited for our table, we decided to enjoy a drink outside. g and cm both went for the raspberry sunset, featuring Patron, Cointreau, lime, and raspberries. From what I understand, it was quite tasty. I, on the other hand, went for the mojito. We all agreed – there was something special about this mojito. The ingredients didn’t seem like they were that different from the usual suspects that you’d find in a mojito (Appleton Estate V/X, mint, lime) – the only difference was that instead of mint it was “Aimee’s mint” – but I doubt that the source of mint, alone, could have made up for the dramatic increase in taste versus any normal mojito I’ve ever had (including the countless 10Cane mojitos I’ve had). In the end, we still don’t know what the secret was!
Right when we placed our order for drinks, we were told that our table was ready. We waited around for our drinks to be prepared and headed inside to be seated. The inside of the place was quite nice – almost like a Stephen Starr “light” restaurant. There wasn’t too heavy of a theme in there (after all, it is a “pop-up”), but, there were tall ceilings, nice tables and chairs, and, much to our chagrin, too much modern … “art”. A lot of the pieces that adorned the walls as well as the free-standing sculptures around the room were trying just a little too hard to be cool. This place was so not Django, which was more of a “rustic home” – with flower pot bread, mismatched silverware, well-worn Laguiole knives, servers in jeans, etc. So not Talula’s, either, which is even more rustic with its farmhouse table and chairs. In these places, because the atmosphere-o-meter was turned so far down, you could focus on the two most important things – the people you were there with and the food you were eating. What more would you need? So, yes, this restaurant was Starr-ified a little – but the one element that I think best captured Djano/Talula’s was the use of potted herbs as centerpieces … cute – very cute.
But enough about atmosphere – let’s talk about food. After we had ordered [I’ll tell you what we ordered below], we were presented with the “cheese bread”. No, they didn’t call it that – I call it that. It’s this small dinner roll-esque bread that is made with gruyere cheese. It was warm and airy and even more delicious than I have ever had it at Talula’s. It melts in your mouth as the flavor of gruyere comes on and fades away like a peaceful wave at the beach. It definitely brought me back to those chef’s table dinners. The three of us fought valiantly against our primal urges to demolish these poor defenseless little rolls. We lost the battle … and the rolls lost their lives. But then … magically … as if we had willed it into occurring with the sheer sorrow in our hearts for the shameful deed we had just done … our waitress came around and formally introduced us to the cheese bread they were serving that night and gave us each a roll. Holy crap. She totally forgot that she had already given us one! Score! The second one was as good as, if not better than, the first. We did take our time with our second rolls, but we ensured that our plate was absolutely clean … just in case she actually had anterograde amnesia (i.e. think “Memento” … or “50 First Dates” …).
When the wine guy came around, g had another moment of recognition. It was Brian [Freedman]! It was the dude from “The Wine School”. A while ago, a few friends and we took a few-hour course on Italian wines at the Wine School (Groupon rocks!), and we were super-impressed with both the presentation and quality of wines sampled (and quantity, too!). We highly recommend it. Brian was our instructor, and, while most of his jokes were “canned”, we liked his enthusiasm. He was no less enthusiastic at the pop-up restaurant. His passion for the wines he described as well as the descriptions, themselves, persuaded us each to venture an additional glass of alcohol. g and I went for two different glasses of red (mine was Spanish “Cap De Barbaria 2005”, g’s was an Austrian “Sattler St. Lauren 2006”), while maybe cm went for some French bubbly? They were all delicious and went well with the food – but I’ll leave the descriptions of the wines to those wine professionals out there.
Now, I feel obligated to warn you in advance that my descriptions of the food are going to be a little spotty. On one hand, a substantial amount of time has passed, and g and I have eaten out a LOT recently due to our move, so we’ve had a lot of very delicious food, and I’m easily confused. On the other hand, because I ordered a glass of red wine in addition to the mojito I mentioned above, my Asian genes probably kicked in, interacted poorly with the alochol, and prevented long term memory consolidation … sorry! Maybe g or cm can fill in the blanks?
We ordered three “middle” courses and shared. These were the smoked scallop ravioli, the chicken sausage, and the fried squash blossoms. g’s fave was the fried squash blossoms. I appreciated the play between the delicate blossom and the delicate fried-ness. They were accompanied by a green tomato ketchup which tasted so good that I wonder why green tomato ketchup is not commercially available (yes, I realize that perhaps one time Heinz may have had green-colored ketchup, but I don’t think it was the same as this ketchup made from green tomatoes … I hope …). Now that smoked scallop ravioli was something else. It had a sweet pea sauce and some micro-greens. And somehow you’d get that smokey flavor radiating throughout your mouth, surprising you as you chewed. The greens and peas added just enough vegetal zing so the dish felt light and summer-y. That was definitely a dish that had Talula’s written all over it – it was the kind of dish that made you close your eyes so you could concentrate on your mouth. The chicken sausage dish was good, but to be honest, I’ve forgotten any and all details about it, so it was definitely outshined by the other two.
We ordered three “dinner” courses as well. I was a little surprised at the expense of these courses, as I was clearly promised $22-28 on the phone both when I made the reservation and when I confirmed. The actual range was $28-30. Liars! I wave my fist at whoever it was propagating the deception.
The Kennett Square mushroom gnocchi was definitely the most massive of the three “dinner” dishes. It featured mushrooms, gnocchi, and cheese – what more do you need? The gnocchi were very soft and pillowy – less “bite” than I’ve experienced from Django. They actually verged on being as volatile as Vetri’s. That said, they were insanely rich – they filled your mouth with goat cheese that just begged to be foiled with the salty grated cheese and the mushrooms. A few interesting notes:
1) Outside of her mom’s Thanksgiving stuffing, these are the only mushrooms I’ve ever seen g eat.
2) The cm and I actually disagreed with g about whether the mushrooms were too salty – and it seemed that cm and I, two people who tend to want to add more salt to things, were arguing that perhaps there was too much salt, while g, who is super-sensitive to salt, argued that it was just fine. I think what we later found was that the grated cheese, itself, was very a very salty cheese – reminding me of a pecorino romano, so that’s probably the reason why the mushrooms had quite a salty twang to them. We agreed that the mushrooms in combination with the goat cheese was the way to go for maximal per-bite enjoyment.
Another dish was the beef cheeks, risotto, and cheddar. The beef cheeks melted in my mouth. I am going to find beef cheeks. Seriously. They were that good. The risotto was well-cooked – and I’m sure there were other components, too, but those beef cheeks … And you know what? g ate the beef cheeks, too! She normally doesn’t go for cuts of meat that sound gross (e.g. oxtail, pork belly), but she ate these beef cheeks. For me, of the three larger dishes, this one most reminded me of Talula’s, as, much like the smoked scallop ravioli, there were a lot of different flavors at play. It made me want to sit back and just think about them. I like food that makes me question the meaning of eating …
The other dish was a duck (prepared sous vide) in cherry sauce with tater tots. I’ll leave it to my trust dinner mates to describe it because I just can’t remember it at all! I know it was there, but it was one of the last things I had tried, and by that time, I had reached the bottom of that glass of wine …
We did venture the “Not Your Granny’s” cheese course. And while I could tell you each of the cheeses (I have the list right here), it’s better if I just tell you that the cheese were great, and their pairings were awesome. I’m going to stick all of my “vintage gouda” in caramel from now on … I will admit a little disappointment that Aimee, herself, didn’t present the cheese plate (some other blogger mentioned that she did), but they seemed very busy that night, and, to be honest, we could just visit her in Kennett Square, so we’re not crushed.
Finally, we were given an Eclat chocolate with our bill. Gotta love Eclat. It’s not your normal caramel-filled chocolate. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, go and buy some right now.
Summary: There was a lot of good food to be had. I personally feel that the highs were right on with Talula’s (which is not shocking as I saw some of these dishes on their menu!). True, some of the dishes missed the mark for me, but a “low” for Talula’s is still above mediocre dishes I’ve encountered elsewhere – so perhaps that’s not a fair assessment. I suspect that given more experience with serving up 90 diners a night in lieu of less-than-20, they’ll be able to pick up right where they left off with Django. We liked what we saw, and we hope that Aimee finds her way back to Philly, although I personally hope it won’t be in the form of a venue that’s this large and “classy”, I’d even consider going even if it wasn’t BYO (just so long as Brian’s still there picking out interesting wines for reasonable prices).
after dinner sneeze 