Archive for the ‘Restaurant Reviews’ Category
vetri. wow.
t says: g and I went to Vetri this past Friday. Holy. Crap.
This was our second time going to Vetri, but the first time with their required fixed price tasting menu. I’ll lead off and say that sure, the price is steep ($135pp), but the food is absolutely phenomenal.
So when you first get there, they show you a menu of dishes that they are preparing for the evening, and you tell them things that you really would like to see or really really would not like to see. Check out the copy they let you take home:
the menu from far away
top half close-up
bottom half close-up
As you can see, there is a major problem with the menu. Well – maybe two problems with the menu … Problem number 1 is that of the things we recongized, there are so many that we want to try! The second problem is that there were also so many things where we had no basis on which to judge whether or not we would like them (i.e. ingredients we didn’t recognize) … So we made it as simple as possible when talking to the server and put our fate in chef’s hands: no brain for me, and no brain and no organ meats for g. Done deal.
There were a total of 6 courses for the each of us: 2 appetizers, 2 pastas, 1 meat, and 1 dessert. Every course was different for g and me except for the meat (we both had beef). There was also some freebie courses, like cured meats and veggies in the beginning and a cookie platter towards the end.
There were also wine-pairing options ranging from $90 to $135 for the “Grand” tasting. The problem is that that is a lot of EtOH for two little people like g and me. I wish they would offer mini-sized pairings, because I was looking around at others who ordered the tasting, and I swear they were getting 3/4 a glass with each course!! g and I would have been hammered by the third course had we done the wine pairing. Additionally, the pairing is a bit too spendy for us – affording the meal was a stretch by itself. In the end, we each ordered a glass of white and a glass of red to be served throughout the meal (and we get a complimentary glass of prosecco to start as we perused the menu).
We didn’t take pictures of every course because we wanted to dine unfettered. I did sneak a pic of the dining room, though:
the perfect mix of upscale and intimate/cozy
Rather than give you a blow-by-blow (which would be pointless because I assure you that everything is delicious), let’s talk about the highlights …
The dish that sounded and looked plain … but was awesome [and not on the menu]:
Persimmon and pecorino salad. Yea, it was just sliced cheese and persimmon with some olive oil and [I think] black pepper. But there’s gotta be something else because it was delicious! g and I are going to try it at home. It sounds and looks easy, but we’ll just have to see about that … Maybe it was the olive oil? We might have to sweet-talk v out of a drop or two of her fancy olive oil
t’s best dish: Pappardelle and braised heart. So good. Perfectly tender pasta, just enough sauce, and wonderfully textured bits of meat. The menu says duck, but I swear the server said “venison”. I guess I’ll have to go with the menu because it’d be weird for Vetri to have a last-minute change of heart, right? (buzinga!) And to be honest – I don’t think I could distinguish one heart from another. The more I thought about it, I think that the pappardelle-heart dish was kind of like something you might be able to get from Melograno on their absolute best day. But the difference, however, is that Vetri then backs this up their ethereal spinach gnocchi, and [apparently] famous almond tortellini. I don’t know how pasta can be this good with every pasta dish that comes out of the kitchen.
g’s history lesson: Testarolo with pistachio pesto. This was the oldest form of Italian pasta which is kind of like a crepe made in a cast iron pan then cut into strips. g enjoyed it! (I liked it, too – but not as much as the above three).
the biggest surprise of the evening: So yes, the appetizers were delicious, the pastas were delicious, the steak entree was incredible … but that’s to be expected – this is Vetri after all … But lo and behold, they unleashed dessert. First, there was my dessert: “pistachio flan”. They lied. This was no “flan”. This was like a molten lava cake … of pistachio. Holy. Shnitzel. And the cake was swirled with some chocolate and served with white chocolate gelato. Wwhhyy haven’t I seen this before? It was easily the best dessert I’ve ever had. It houses all of the following: any Zahav dessert, any Talula’s Garden dessert (even the dark chocolate cremeaux with bacon, graham, and marshmallow), and even my precious Godiva molten lava cake of the 90’s at Morton’s. I repeat: Holy. Shnitzel. And then the cheese plate: g was in heaven. Just when we thought that no one could hold a candle to Talula Garden’s cheeses – yikes – Vetri was on fire. We even sought out the pecorino truffle cheese from the plate at DiBruno’s the next day because it was so good (but you know what – it was better at Vetri – maybe they had just the right accompaniments?).
I know we’re light on the details here, but I think the takehome is that Vetri does fine dining like very little can (and surely better than anyone in Philly – although we haven’t tried the Fountain or that restaurant in the Union League). It has this odd mix of being fancy, but not stuffy. There’s this mix of novelty with the familiarity of something so comfortable as “pasta”.
I think the big question is: Vetri vs. Talula’s Table … who would win? I. Don’t. Know. The two experiences are very different, so perhaps that’s not a fair comparison. Different atmosphere. Different feels of their services. One is BYO, the other isn’t. But what if it came down to just the food? Well – to be honest – I still don’t know because g and I haven’t gone back since the chef change. I guess we’ll just have to sneak our way into the kitchen table and try it out!
n.b. There was one disappointment with Vetri. It was the “icebox cookies” they sent us home with: they were pretty boring. I mean, I guess they couldn’t send me home with more pistachio flan, but I’m sure they’ve got to have some other Italian cookies to send us home with … (g likes pignoli cookies … just saying … in case you’re reading, Marc … ).
a & v supper at supper
v says: At one point a and I wanted to have a section of afterdinnersneeze entitled “a to z + v”. [t clarifies: They wanted to see if they’ve gone to a Philly restaurant for every letter in the alphabet.] We worked on it for quite some time, but never got around to completing it. We were missing two letters when we starting writing the list, S and Q (which we eventually decided could be Cuba Libre because of its pronuncation). One day we ran by Supper and I yelled, “That’s our S”. a was confused by my enthusiasm, as he had no idea what I was talking about until I explained. He immediately shared in my enthusiasm and made reservations for a Sunday night.
It wasn’t the 1000 point table or that Supper is BYO on Sundays that made this meal special, it was the food. I always says that you can judge a restaurant by its vegetarian dishes. If I’m right, then Supper is the best restaurant in Philadelphia. I ordered the Daily Harvest, but substituted the pretzels for the first course. The pretzels were fresh and the mustard potent. While the combination was tasty, the ratio was off – too much mustard, too few pretzels. The Blue Elephant Farm Salad was one of the tastiest, albeit healthiest salads I have ever had at a restaurant. The vegetable quartet was comprised of four unique, palate challenging dishes. I ended my meal with the banana bread pudding, which rivals the bread pudding at Barbuzzo; ‘nuff said.
a says: I think this is one of the best meals he’s had in the city. the squid appetizer was inventive and full of flavor, yet light. The duck and waffle is interesting entree and does many things well. Best duck in the city… It’s definitely on the short-list. v says it was the best duck she’s had since Django… that’s right… she said Django…
a and v give Morimoto a second chance
a + v say: We wrote the following letter after a visit to Morimoto:
Dear Managers of Morimoto and Steven Starr Events,
Our party of six attended Morimoto this past Saturday (22nd, 2011) for a 9:15pm dinner reservation. We all frequent the top restaurants in Philadelphia but for our friend’s birthday, we chose Morimoto. First, let me praise the chef and kitchen staff for an exquisite meal. The Omakase challenged and surprised our palates with every course.
Sadly, what we will remember is frustration, which began with a thirty minute wait for our table. Thirty minutes is objectionable at most restaurants and unacceptable at a place of Morimoto’s caliber.
The night’s real disenchantment was the result of our server, Jacob. Although he was aware of the situation, he made no attempt to amend our wait, was impersonal, and hard to understand. More importantly, he forgot to acknowledge our friend’s birthday even though it was noted on the reservation and reiterated upon our arrival. Several other glitches throughout the meal paled to the egregiousness of receiving a bill ($1500) that was double the correct amount of our dinner.
One of these shortcomings is forgivable but together, given the circumstances and the server’s lack of rectification, made for an extremely disappointing night. We have great respect for chef Morimoto and owner Stephen Starr, and know our experience is not representative of their expectations. We hope this letter ensures these standards remain, which is what we have come to expect from your other fine establishments.
Sincerely, a + v
With an experience like that who would return? We did … after the apology we received – a $400 gift certificate with a note thanking them for sharing what happened. Now that is customer service!
On our return visit with the same group one year later (January 2012), we opted to order a la carte. We preferred this option, as it allowed us to try a variety of dishes and share with each other. The Cha-Soba Chilled Greed Tea Noodles with Chopped Scallion, Fresh Wasabi, and Dashi-Shoyu Sauce for Dipping, were great. a ordered the Duck Duck Duck (Madras Roasted Duck Breast, Confit Fried Rice, Duck Egg, Mandarin Oolong Reduction) and v ordered the Seafood ‘Toban Yaki’ (Sweet Prawns, Scallops, King Crab, Bok Choy, Manila Clams, Oyster Mushrooms, Citrus Butter). Both dishes were plentiful. While the flavors in the Seafood ‘Toban Yaki’ were delicious and the quality of the seafood and the care taken to prepare the meal stood out. a described v’s seafood dish as a Japanese Bouillabaisse. According to a, all three duck preparations were good, but the confit fried rice was “off the hinges”. Overall, our second experience was very good. The pork belly was very well prepared. The service was better this time. Our server was attentive, professional, and friendly. The room is a bit noisy so it was hard to hear her at times, but this did not interfere with our experience. As for Jacob – he surprisingly still works there.
Marigold Kitchen hangs with the big boys
t says: a got in on a free Savored.com reservation a while ago and was gracious enough to suggest that it be our January FTC meeting. And where would we be going to kick off the new year? As we pondered the list of 30%-off restaurants , we spotted one place where we absolutely had to go: Marigold Kitchen. a and v had been for restaurant week the past fall and loved it. g, kp, and I had never been. It was go-time!
Since making the reservation in 2011, there were a few [free!] times that the dinner needed to be rescheduled, increasing our anticipation (or maybe it was just my anticipation). At one point, a and I got talking about the wine for the dinner. I suggested that we add some element of a blind wine tasting. It was eventually decided that a would choose a bottle, I would choose a bottle, and the rest of the table would have no idea. It was going to be a show-down and we were pretty sure that it was going to be fun!
In preparation for dinner, I decanted the wine and sent teaser pictures to a. I’m mean like that.
poor corksmanship on my part
my mystery bottle decanting ... (I have no idea why I poured it into my half-bottle decanter)
I poured the wine [with a funnel] back into the original bottle and g and I headed off to the restaurant. Taxis conspired against kp, but g waved her magic taxi-finding wand and we saved the day by picking up kp and arriving at the restaurant only 10 minutes late. Fortunately, v and a were there and situated.
As we settled in, a explained to the server what was going on regarding the wine. The server guy seemed a little lost; I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. In case he mixed up the decanters, I had already tasted my wine beforehand (it was the first time I had ever had it) so I was pretty sure I could pick it out if I needed to.
The menu looked delicious – I found at least three apps and three mains that I wanted to try. It was almost painful trying to narrow the options – the blind double red wine tasting that was to come helped me out. Little did I know that what I was choosing was only half of the dinner experience. Actually – it was more like 1/3 of the dinner experience. One-third of the dinner experience was the wine. And the last 1/3 was the food that just comes out of the kitchen – it was amuse bouche galore! We were sent no less than 7 amuse bouches for the meal. While we wrote down all of the amuses, I think I can say with complete confidence than the “best” ones were probably the simplest:
it's not cappuccino ... it's butternut squash bisque with thyme foam!
Yea – it looks extremely boring, but the taste was so vivid. It tasted even more like butternut squash than actual butternut squash (e.g. like when you eat Capo Giro gelatos and they’re “mango” is even better than actual mangos!). And I know that foam is super-frilly (e.g. maybe they could have just added thyme to the soup), but I believe that there really was something special about having such a powerful flavor in a light foam. Maybe it’s because it’s very pleasant to have a little thyme foam mustache to lick off your lips and accent the butternut squash flavors lingering after your last gulp. Whatever it is, kp is going to steal this simple flavor combination for future soups – all he needs is one of those foam canister thingees. Done deal.
Another awesome amuse was our first amuse: the mango lassi (not pictured). v preferred the chestnut ravioli with fennel salt. Everyone had their preferences among the amuses, but the butternut squash cappuccino was on everyone’s list.
My vote for “most interesting” amuse was the foie-stuffed grape:
looks like a few grapes, right? WRONG. There's foie in there!
When the waiter came around with this little spoon that looked like a sprig of grapes (one for the each of us), we were perplexed. Foie? In grapes? And how’d he get it to look so natural? As I ate my grape, my mouth was so confused. The exterior skin was totally grape. And then the foie’s texture was kind of like a softer, over-ripe grape, so that was still expected. And then the unmistakeable butteriness and flavor of foie crept in. Confusion!! And then v swore there was some kind of chocolate taste going on her mouth and I could’t help but agree (but as far as I know, no chocolate was in it). So weird. I wanted to do it again! But alas – we had none left.
breakfast-style foie
Another impressive dish was the foie appetizer: “breakfast style foie”. It had a slice of foie torchon with cinnamon foam what I think was a blueberry compote. The other side had a nice slice deeply seared. If I closed my eyes and smelled the dish, I swear it was like French toast made from blueberry muffins and a side of some kind of breakfast meat (?breakfast sausage?). And it kind of tasted like that … but 10x better. As I’ve said before – I’m not a huge fan of foie by itself as it’s a very powerfully gamy flavor and a pretty mushy texture – but when chefs find a way to mix the foie with other flavors, I’m a happy guy. This foie presentation totally hangs with the likes of Fond and Bibou. It’s fussy, yes (more foam!), but how can you complain if it tastes this good?
The main courses were pretty solid (three of us got venison, two of us got rabbit), but I think compared to all of the amuses and appetizers that we had had beforehand, none of us were really blown away. I did the venison dish, which featured a small-but-thick slab of venison accompanied by a venison scrapple. Both preparations were “very very good”, as it was technically executed quite well, but all of the whimsy and creativity of flavors and cooking in the amuses were absent, so it came up shy of “excellent”.
a says: I agree with t on all counts. The mango lassi and soup were the most flavorful and interesting dishes of the night. My marinated boquerones were a pleasant surprise in that I don’t normally love anchovies but found these fresh, light, and well-paired to the apple salad. My experience with the venison was much like t’s – a nice preparation but I thought the scrapple had more going on. (v interjects: The helping of scrapple was outstanding. I ate scrapple twice in the same day, once at Cochon – they have an updated menu for brunch which is excellent – and once at Marigold. Both were great, but I preferred Cochon’s.) My profiterole and mint ice cream dessert was imaginative and whimsical but lacked something, in the end. [It was] one of the most enjoyable meals from start to finish that I’ve had in Philly. However, none of the dishes had the depth of flavor – that ‘wow’ factor – of say a Bibou pig’s foot or the fish soup at Han.
t says: Oh yea! My dessert was the chocolate-chocolate-chocolate one – it was chocolate in all kinds of forms and textures. The whimsy was back, which I appreciated, but the depth of chocolate wasn’t all there. They backed away from a deeper/darker chocolate and went for a sweeter, milkier chocolate that, while fine, didn’t really hold up to the red wines that were on the table.
In conclusion, I will say that I believe that the amuses prop up the meal to something really special. I mean, it was probably a 3.5 hour meal and at no point was anyone bored. At one point, with a glisten in my eye, I remarked that I felt like some of the tastes reminded me of Bryan Sikora’s cooking – back in the old days of Talula’s Table (and Django) … back when he’d surprise you by making something that looked unfamiliar taste familiar, or something that looked familiar taste completely new … back when his food kept me on my toes and kept me thinking … Oh those were the days …
I only wish that some of that fun would find its way into the mains. Regardless, I believe that Marigold, like Cochon, is one of those under-the-radar Philly restaurants that are making wonderful food and pushing boundaries, even if no one is giving them any credit. Better make reservations and go there while you still can …
But wait! There’s more! We forgot about something! What could it be … ?
the wine! we forgot about the wine!
It’s been a pretty long post, so we’re going to have to save the wine showdown for the next one. It’s coming, I promise.
best pie in the world
t says: Imagine this. You’re walking down Walnut. Its getting dark. Alluvasudden, a black, tinted-out limo pulls up next to you, matching the speed of your pace. The window rolls down and a mysterious sun-glassed passenger asks in a raspy, smoker’s voice: “where’s the best pie?” What would you say?
Now I’m sure there are great pies in Philly (I hear Percy Street makes ’em pretty good), but if a mysterious guy in a limo is involved, I’m not gonna screw around with the unknown. I need a sure thing, as the last thing I want to do is piss off a scary guy in a limo … but that’s just me. So I’d direct this guy to the best pies I’ve ever had: Penza’s Pies (at the Red Barn) in NJ.
Yea, this place is in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
I’m going to post the pix of what it looks like to go there, because it’s not like it’s in a city or anything. It’s kind of like a farm stand on the side of the road:
driving down a NJ road
they don't call it "red barn" for nothing ...
But, go into that barn and you’ll see a pretty small area with lots of pies. It seems like there are quite a lot in the picture below, but this one shot has pretty much all the pies they have on hand (unless they’re hiding some in the back).
pies pies pies
As you can see, the ingredients that are on top of the pie identifies the kind of pie they have. In the past, we’ve had their pumpkin pies (and pumpkin ricotta pies) which are fabulous. g’s fave might be the “multi-fruit pie” which has basically every berry that’s in season. We’ve done apple-blueberry, strawberry, plain apple. All fabulous. My personal favorite is the one I bought most recently (and the inspiration for this post):
apple cranberry with a twist of orange ... i'm surprised i even made it home with the pie intact
our pie (enlarged to show texture)
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a side-shot of the pie when sliced, so I’ll just have to let you imagine what it looks like. I guess I’ll have to leave some of it to your imagination. And the taste and textures are always perfect.
The drawbacks of Penza’s are as follows:
1) Limited availability. Especially during the holidays, it’s wise to call them to see what they have in stock
2) Expense. For a pie, they charge $20. But it’s not a big pie. I’d say that a single pie will give 8 “normal” slices (they’re pretty tall, but length and width per slice will look unimpressive). However, realistically, because the pie is so damn good, I’d be inclined to say that it’s better to cut the pie into 6 slices and really give people a stomach-filling serving.
3) It never tastes as good the second day as it does the first. That crumb topping slowly absorbs the moisture from the pie, so it’s really the best on day 1. Fortunately, the pie never lasts much further than day 2 when I’m around.
Now I know what you’re thinking. You probably think I’m crazy. You probably think that you’ll never go that far into NJ for just a pie. You probably think that this was a wasted post. Why must I taunt you?! I don’t know. But for those who know us, if they fork up the cost of the pie and give me a slice, I’ll be happy to pick one up the next time I’m in NJ. As for that dude in the limo … well … he’ll just have to ride his limo about an hour or so … but trust me, he’ll be happy!
not just “chicken” at Rotisseur
t says: Lately, I’ve been going to Rotisseur in Center City a lot. I mean a lot. g actually makes fun of me a little for how often I go, but that’s probably because her dad’s a known chicken-o-phile and could probably eat it twice a day forever if allowed. He once had chicken for dessert. He’s serious about chicken … So … back to Rortisseur. This place is incredibly close to where we live, so when I’m looking for a quick lunch during the weekday, that’s where I go. And really – I just don’t think you can go wrong there. The chicken is seasoned very well and is super tender/moist/juicy. The kale chips and cornbread are delicious. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of their mac-n-cheese, but it seems like a lot of other people like it because I see people ordering it constantly.
As good as these are, I have to say that the true shining stars of Rotisseur are those chicken sandwiches. I’ve seen Chicken Bahn Mi, Chick Italiano, and BBQ chicken. I’ve tasted the first two on several occasions. They are absolutely delicious. Juicy chicken chunks, nice condiments, and, most notable of all, absolutely perfect bread (crisp outside, soft inside, and not soggy … unless you wait too long).
chicken italiano = chicken + broccoli rabe + pepper + sharp provolone
It’s hard to make a chicken sandwich sexy-looking, but what it lacks in visual pizazz, it makes up for in taste. It reminded me a little of Tony Luke’s Pork Italiano sandwich (which I also love) except that because this is chicken, I am able to convince myself it’s healthier. It’s gotta be healthier, right?
The downside of Rotisseur, and the thing that makes me cringe 50% of the times I go, is that they have no good “system” in place to execute food in an efficient manner. At times when they’re not busy, things run smoothly, as one person preps the chicken and the other does the sides and rings you up. However, if you walk in at 12:30pm or at 6pm, when groups of people show up hungry for chicken, you’re screwed. It’s during these crowds that the three people behind the counter try their best to deal with multiple orders simultaneously, but the end result is a disorganized, chaotic, hell-on-earth cluster-fluff. Once, because I happened to walk in right as a group of 6 people were placing their order, I was left hanging out at least 15 mins before my order was taken and 10 mins to receive my food (and would have had to wait even longer had I wanted mac-n-cheese because they ran out). I know they’re trying to do right by their food by carving chicken to order and making their sides in small batches, however, they completely fall apart during the lunch and dinner rushes. Hell, even the tried-and-true “take a number” system’s gotta work better than the off-the-cuff multi-tasking they’re doing now. Also – they seriously need to scale up their most popular sides – it’s not like they have a ton of room for patrons to stand and wait for roasting veggies for a grab-n-go lunch. Of course, what do I know? I have no restaurant experience and am nothing more than a consumer who wants food as fast as possible. Patience is a virtue I need to work on … and efficiency is a necessity they need to work on … but hot-damn those sandwiches are so good that they keep me coming back for more!
after dinner sneeze 