can’t get over serpico …
t says: Ok, ok, ok. My name is t and I have a problem. The problem is that I just can’t stop going to Serpico. It really is ridiculous – the moment I know I have a free day, I check out Serpico’s schedule to see if I can make it. It’s no surprise then that when a was looking for a location for his bday celebration, I had no choice but to recommended Serpico. And, after a and v went by themselves to do some reconaissance, we knew we had to go back altogether as a party of 6 with a’s parents. And, unsurprisingly, Serpico totally, absolutely, 100% killed it. Let the barrage of photos begin:
among our first courses included the above pictured the scallops and the lobster terrine “special”. We find the scallops to be one of the more unique appetizers at Serpico – that buttermilk sauce spiked with oil is tres addictive (I totally caught a eating it by the spoonful). a joins: And the lobster terrine was hoarded by v, so it musta been good … and the [unpictured ] sunchoke salad is not yo’ mama’s salad and worth a place at your table …
t says: But I think we all agree that out of all the appetizers, none could not match the raw fluke crudo. g comes from nowhere: I’ll say it again – I love it when someone knows what to do with cucumber. a agrees: Yea – it’s my new flavor of the month. t says: So if you have to have just one appetizer, we cannot speak more highly about any than the fluke crudo – it just hits all the right notes …
t says: This appetizer was also quite sock-rocking. This banh-mi-style duck leg has been written about before by lots of other blogs … and they’re all right – it’s fabulous, from perfect duck to the sweet hoisin and spicy sriracha and right on down to the pickled veggies in that white cup thingee. Seriously, a perfect lunch would be just one of these bad boys.
this wins for most startling in appearance, as the duck liver mousse was scraped onto the plate like a puddle of paint. on the palate, it had a wonderful balance of being both light and rich, which I quite liked. a would have preferred something with a bit more richness, however, so I guess the liver-enthusiasts among us are split!
g got the steak, which we’ve had before and continues to impress (she ate the whole thing!) …
a got the fish … big surprise there … a defends: Hey – that swordfish special was delicate and the best “steak” fish dish I’ve had in a while. It was somehow served like a soup without being one – but that broth was something to be savored.
t steals the mic and runs to his soapbox: But I have to say that there was no other dish better than my pork shoulder special. Seriously. You know that scene in Ratatouille where the snobby food critic eats the ratatatouille and is transported to his childhood kitchen table … bringing a tear to his eye and shattering his mean, abrasive shell. Well this was similar (except my abrasive shell is still intact), as it reminded me so much of the kimchi jige that mom and grandmom used to make for j and me. But it wasn’t “just like mom used to make it”, rather, each element was done-up all fancy- and modern-like while still hitting all of those same classic flavors. A far cry from the overcooked pieces of pork [or spam] in my childhood kimchi jige (not that I had any problem with those – that’s just how it was made!), Serpico’s featured this huge pile of super-tender pork shoulder with lots of pieces of crisped skin strewn about, all atop shallow pool of intensely piggy broth. I’m not sure why his pig tastes more like pig than anyone else’s, but it does! Then add on kimchi (in that white cup in the upper left) that somehow tastes exactly like grandma’s (it was weird – I’m very picky with kimchi – it has to be freshly crisp, with only minimum sweetness if any, moderately spicy, and only a hint of that sour funk that fermented vegetables get … and I swear that the server said it was cauliflower kimchi?!?) and that triangle of singed riced (thus adding some texture and yummy burnt flavors) and I could not be happier. I don’t think I said more than two words from the time my plate hit the table to the last bite I put in my mouth. It was probably the best thing I ate all year … maybe longer! Did anyone else like it? I have no idea – I forget if I even bothered to share it with anyone. Would anyone else like it? Probably not as much as me. And while I’m sad that I’ll probably never be able to have it again (it was a “special”), part of me knows that it’d probably never hit me the same way again, as now I’d be expecting it – the surprise made it truly special. So I guess this dish will just have to haunt my memories, akin to that single bottle of wine you had that one time from a certain producer from a certain vintage that you’ll never see again: you let the remorse fade away and count yourself lucky to have even had the chance to taste it in the first place …
the birthday boy’s cake was delicious …
… but a just couldn’t get enough of the apple cake – it’s his favorite sweet dish in the city. I, too, thought it was great. Maybe not as good as some of the sweets I’ve had at Talula’s Garden … but I guess we’ll just have to “agree to disagree”.
putting seoul in food
t says: A little while ago, I caught up with an old childhood friend (there’s the disclaimer!) who is opening of Seoul Food Philly, a Korean meets Comfort food. Right now still in its infancy, Seoul Food Philly can be found at the Franklin Flea, open for a few more Saturdays between now and Christmas – we recommend checking it out! We went today and this is what we found:
pork sandwich: on a lightly toasted bun, this sweet-and-savory combination packs tender chunks of pork and some cucumber/cabbage with a light coating of aioli/sauce. And in the background, there was a hint of spice, possibly in the sauce. The balance of the sandwich is more on the sweet than the spicy, but it’s so good that you can’t help but keep on eating until it’s gone. I think that most people will like prefer this sandwich to the other, as it has more wow factor …
… but as for me – I prefer this one: the short rib sandwich, with kimchi and wiz on a toasted hoagie roll. The trick, though, is to not confuse this with a run-of-the-mill Philly cheesesteak, or even a tweaked Philly cheesesteak. Actually, just forget the Philly cheesesteak altogether. Instead, I view it as a modernized vehicle by which to transport bulgogi to your mouth. I think it’s because it had a distinctly bulgogi-and-kimchi flavor that reminds me of my childhood, and only the lightest smattering of wiz (just enough to moisten the roll). If you go into it expecting flavors of cheese and friend onions or broccoli rabe, you’ll be disappointed, as those aren’t the primary flavors. But if you go into it thinking about those table-side grills at Korean restaurants, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the update.
The stand at Franklin Flea didn’t offer their Koreanified mac-n-cheese or chicken wings (apparently they weren’t allowed to deep-fry things on site at Franklin Flea), but I look forward to trying them in the future, too. Bravo to Seoul Food Philly – we wish you the best of luck!
mon cheri, Le Cheri
t says: The gang (a, v, g, and me) had the good fortune of going to Le Cheri on its second night open. Would the Calmels be able to breathe some life into the ridiculously awesome location just off Rittenhouse that had been seemingly cursed to fail? (RIP Gardenia and Rittenhouse Tavern). Let’s find out …
November 2013, Thursday Dinner, Party of 4. We were happy to see lots of familiar faces, like our favorite server Ricky and Charlotte and Pierre. They seated us promply (we had made a last-minute reservation through opentable, so I’m not sure they were expecting us), and gave us their menu. The first impression was that this was a much larger space than Bibou. While we knew it from going to previous restaurants in this location, I forgot just how much additional space there was. The second was that the decor was a little haphazard. On one hand there were sizable wine glasses, white tablecloths, and darker woods, but on the other, the walls were a peculiar color and the finishes weren’t as nearly upscale. So was this place supposed to be more casual than Bibou – more like a bistro? But can you really be more casual than Bibou? Hmmmm – it’s only the first week, so we’ll see how things shake out with the decor. No – we’re not expecting something as sensation as a Starr-ified or Garces-ified restaurant, but at least with a little bit more focus.
Now for the food:
these little cheese ravioli and buttery sauce were amazing. they were like little puffs made to carry the buttery sauce to your mouth. It was a delicious and rich dish that still had a hint of ?chive?/herby length. Wonderful! And they coupled so exquisitely with our wine of the evening: 2012 Massican “Sauvignon” Sauvignon Blanc. The wine, made by Dan Petroski, had a broader palate than the lightning-in-a-bottle 2011, but still finishes with a snap of citrus so forceful it could give you whiplash. It cut straight through the butter like a frickin’ lazer. B-e-a-u-tiful.
welcome to the new escargot: as you can see, this is very different than the normal escargots than one can find at Bibou – gone is the classic snail-like dish, and in its place is a shallow bowl where the escargots are paired with chicken “oysters”, cauliflower, and some kind of parsley-laden broth. And let me tell you that this was CRAZY-good. It was much lighter than any rendition of escargots that Bibou has ever had, and the snails are smaller … BUT, the light and lively flavors danced on forever on my tongue. I was forced to savor the seconds that went by. If only the snails were a smidge larger …
this blurry picture is of the lamb pat-au-feu. The broth was deep and lamby, while the pieces of lamb were moist and tender. I wish that the sweetbreads had some color on them to add some depth, but overall this was a solid dish.
this blurry picture was the most surprising dish of the evening: boudin noir. While it looks like a puddle of fudge or poo or whatever, I assure you that this was mindbendingly surprising. I imagined that boudin would be very hearty or rich, especially after having boudin at other restaurants. However, with a single spoonful, it was apparent that there was one part of thick rich boudin and one part of a light fruitiness (no, not literal “fruit” – more of a figurative light-and-agile-like-a-fruit. I’m not sure how this is accomplished, but both a and I were stunned. It’s worth trying again because I want to be able to understand it better.
The unpictured dish was the short rib and pasta which was downright amazing. It’s everything that you’d imagine a pasta by Pierre could be. The shortrib was perfectly cooked, as was the pasta. I thought I was sitting in Melograno or something (except the portions were much larger here). Very nice indeed.
We did get a chance to chit-chat with Pierre, and while we were privileged to pick his brain and get some insight into the inner workings of Le Cheri and Bibou, we won’t put it here – we don’t wanna start any rumors. We’re just happy to be able to talk with Pierre to show him the smiles that the food he cooked put on our faces …
So yes … go to Le Cheri – and live up that BYO-ness while you can!
rest in pieces
t says: Today was a sad day …
Dominus Proprietary Red Blend (2010 – 2013)
I had been transporting a bottle from our home in Philly to our NJ cellar. And, right before the steps into the house, the neoprene bag I had this bottle of wine in slipped out of my hand and struck the hard concrete. Having dropped many a bottle before, I merely cursed my luck and bent over to pick up the evidence of my clumsiness. But then … it started to bleed … my precious bottle had started to bleed its beautiful fermented grape juice all over the sidewalk. I looked sown in horror … speechless … for a second not believing this was real, rather a horrible nightmare from which I only needed to awaken. The emotions that filled me ranged wildly, from anger at my loss to frustration that I could have been so dumb to sadness, as Dominus is the g & t anniversary wine (we’ve been buying a bottle a year since we got married), and now it was gone. And after uber-critic Robert Parker re-rated the wine this past month to a perfect 100, it’s harder to find [at a reasonable price] than a needle in a stack of needles guarded by porcupines.
Oh well, no use crying over spilt wine and shards of glass … no matter how much I want to …
EDIT:
I told you about how my butter-fingers caused a catastrophic loss of a bottle of wine. Forced to move on, I filled in the space in my cellar and deleted the bottle from my cellartracker. What’s done was done … or was it? This past weekend, sr and ha did the unexpected … they surprised me with a replacement. I’m not sure how they pulled it off, as neither really knows about wine, and, as I had mentioned, it had become “harder to find than a needle in a stack of needles guarded by porcupines” … I’m not sure how they did it, but they did (I imagine it would first involve a magnet to pull out the needles, and then some sort of high-speed optical sorter). So here’s a big online thank you to mom and dad! Thanks!
after dinner sneeze 