countdown to DeB
t says: It’s getting close! Only 17.5 more hours!
wishing Gardenia was still around …
t says: g and I visited Rittenhouse tavern for brunch. After such a glowing review from Craig LaBan (who did more of a dinner review), we figured we’d try give brunch a whirl first and then go from there. We know that in the restaurant industry, Sunday brunch isn’t exactly “the best” of what the kitchen staff can do (or even possessive of “the best kitchen staff”), but we figured that if the last restaurant in that space, Gardenia, was already “good”, then this would be even better!
August 2012, Sunday Brunch, Party of 2. g and I walked in to an empty restaurant. I guess their brunch service takes a little while to get going. We sat in the b-e-a-u-tiful outdoor space and proceeded to be torn in a variety of directions by the menu. I could have gone in a sweet-breakfast direction, I could have gone in a savory-sandwich-lunch direction, I could have gone anywhere inbetween. Everything sounded good. Of course, some things sounded stupid, like the $25 foie supplement to the pancakes, or the $5 fruit supplement (I mean, seriously, how much fruit could they possibly be adding to the pancakes? a quart of strawberries?). But alas, we rolled with the punches and, after consulting with our server, ordered/ate the following:
fluke crudo
So I forgot that Craig LaBan actually love-love-loved the crudo, which was offered to him during dinner: “That crudo of local fluke, cured in kombu before being layered with sheer radish chips and silky dabs of lemon puree, was one of the best bites of raw fish I’ve had in months.” We have to agree that it’s a net-positive dish, as the crudo was a surprising mix of delicate flavors that were very-nearly-perfect. We say “very nearly” because there was a little bit of a salting issue in that some pieces had salt (i.e. all the ones I had) and some didn’t (i.e. all the ones g had). Thus, g was actually pretty underwhelmed by the crudo (and she loves crudos) … right up until she had a salted piece, and was much happier (but still not blown away). It’s not necessarily “the best bite of raw fish we’ve had in months”, but it shows that someone can make a very pretty, very tasty dish that shows a nice balance of delicate flavors.
For our mains, we did the turkey schnitzel and the pancakes (sans fruit/foie):
g likes chantilly cream …
I have to come right out and say it: the pancakes were a disappointment. Flat [“as a pancake”]. A touch rubbery. A wee-bit burned. g suggested I send them back (and g never suggests that I send things back), however, upon tasting the single not-visibly-burned pancake (1 of 3), I found that it, too, had some of that burned-smokiness to it, so I doubted whether it could actually be done any different – and it’s not like “buckwheat” is so full of flavor that I was missing out on something. Now I know why someone would want to pay $5 for the fruit: to add some much-needed flavor and friendliness to the pancakes … and in that moment, as I doused my pancakes in the Chantilly cream, I longed for Gardenia’s lemon-ricotta-blueberry pancakes …
The schnitzel, on the other hand wasn’t bad at all. The sauce was delightfully punchy, and the potatoes were nicely done. The meat was well-seasoned and as tender as turkey could be. Was it authentic Austrian schnitzel? No. But that’s ok – those things tend to be very heavy, while after this one, we felt full, but not gross. So I put this one in the “win” column … not in the “rocked my world” column, but it was just a whole lot better than the pancakes.
We do have to mention one course that we did not have but looked pretty awesome: the bread board. There were an assortment of breakfast pastries: I believe I saw a cinnamon roll, some small muffins, maybe scone or something like that. Looked pretty tasty! (And definitely better-looking than my pancakes tasted!) So try that next time and let me know how it is!
In conclusion: Sunday brunch is something that we’re not going to be re-trying at Rittenhouse Tavern (and if a friend suggests it, we’ll try to re-direct them to Parc). We will, however, give dinner a try, as that fluke was quite delicious [for me], so we hope that LaBan was actually on to something with the rest of his review. On the flip side, our server said, and I quote, “The schnitzel is like one of the best things that we make, including the dinner menu …” I hope not, because it was squarely good, but not nearing greatness … I guess time will tell …
bobby flay claims his first victim
t says: Ok. So we knew that Shake Shack is the hottest thing since sliced bread. g, having spent nearly three years working in NYC, was well aware of Shake Shack’s reputation and did want to go and see Philly’s version, but warned us: “People go there to hang out – not necessarily to eat the best burgers ever.” I heard her, but I just don’t think I listened to her (I have husbandearitis), so I was actually super-psyched when we went there on a whim the other day with cm and k.
August 2012, Saturday Dinner, Party of 4. We went and there were no lines. This made me super-happy. g and I ordered up the mushroom “burger”, classic Shake Shack burger, and, of course, some cheese fries. This is what they looked like:
shack attack!
In the end, we decided that Shake Shack is more like a fancy McDonald’s. The meat does taste a bit more like meat, and the tomatoes and lettuce are real lettuce and tomatoes, but that’s about the extent of the compliments that I can extend to Shake Shack, as there really is nothing further remarkable about in the sandwiches. The toppings are plain (the special sauce isn’t very “special”). The burger was underseasoned. The bread was 80% butter. The mushroom was 5% mushroom and 95% cheese (that had an oddly-congealed texture). The fries were tasty, but I’m not sure if there was really really $1 worth of cheese on it.
And then cm (or maybe it was k?) said it: “Bobby’s is better than this place.” And he (or she?) was dead-on. Better bread, better sauces (and I don’t even really like Bobby’s sauces), better meat, super-way-better toppings, and still <$10 (although I guess Shake Shack is cheaper by 30%). But is that a fair comparison, as one is in West Philly, and the other is in Center City? I guess not, because it’s not like g and I are going to venture across the river just for Bobby’s Burger Palace. Of course, g and I aren’t going to venture 4 blocks to Shake Shack just for a burger, either (we’ll go if others want to go!). In this area, alone, Rotisseur has better sandwiches. VW has way-better burgers. I’m sure Rouge could teach ’em a thing or two (I haven’t had a Rouge burger yet, but some day!). So I just can’t figure out why one would ever wait in line for one of these guys. Gotta be for the shakes (we were a little sugar-overloaded from a previous dessert party, so we’ll have to visit the shakes again later) …
I guess all I can say is this:
When Federal Donuts moves into the area, we’ll forget all about Shake Shack.
the food stands alone at Bar Ferdinand
t says: After hearing about Ansill cheffing it up at Bar Ferdinand, g and I decided to venture out to Norther Liberties, or “No-Libs” as the cool kids call it (I guess “Norberties” wasn’t cool enough). Actually, we had not been there since wandering in after a delightful dinner at Modo Mio a while back … but that’s another story. We picked a Thursday (g and I wanted to try the $40 8-course tasting menu), hopped a cab, and arrived exactly on time …
August 2012, Thursday Dinner, Party of 2. We were seated promptly … which was good … because we were starving. Scratch that. I was hungry. g was starving. So we quickly pondered the menu, but because we were there for the tasting, there really wasn’t much choice (but, as you see the menu below, that was totally fine with us):
it was jamon night!
g and I approved of the jamon-themed dinner (but we wished kp was there to enjoy all this ham) and decided that two tastings and one wine supplement would be enough to hold us over. So the plan of attack for this post is first food, then wine, then service. So here we go …
ham sampler and ham-and-mussels
The first two courses were done quite well. I liked opening up with the sampler because I was really able to taste the differences between the three (and who knew that Iberico would be so sweet – even without the peaches!). g felt the weakest item of the dish was the pickled cauliflower. I disagree – I felt the peaches were superfluous. So we agreed to disagree about the ham pairings, but we agreed that it was indeed a brilliant move to have us taste just straight-up ham – especially because each of them would be incorporated into the dishes that followed. We also both agreed that the mussels were very nice – bursting with bright and lively flavors – kind of like a crudo/ceviche, except the muscles were fully cooked. It’s true that nothing here was otherworldly, but it was a nice solid start for the meal.
croquette
Don’t let the picture fool you – the croquette was tiny. And to be honest, it was underwhelming in flavor. Yes, good crunch. Yes, a nicely textured filling, but just make the thing a little bigger so you can stick some more ham in it or something. This was my weakest dish of the night (but hey – it was fried and crispy, so you bet your bunsen burner that I ate it with a smile!)
pork rillette
This pork terrine was amazing … but not because of the pork. Don’t get me wrong – the terrine, itself, tasted fine, featuring a variety of different textures/types of ham in one single slice – so that made me happy. But what took this dish to “the next level” was that red jelly-like smattering you see in the upper left. That, my friends, reminded me of a cross between cranberry sauce and sangria, and it was ridiculous in combination with the salty-savory pig. And when you mixed it up with some of that unidentified brown sauce on the bottom, it had this odd feeling of Thanksgiving – not necessarily the exact flavor profile, but it definitely filled you with a sense of cozy comfort.
The salad was kind of unremarkable so I’m not going to show the pic. The surprise was that it was accompanied by what was essentially potato stix. I might carry around potato stix with me in the future just in case I come across any boring salads while I’m at work …
The last three dishes had pics that were taken with such low light that there’s no real point in me posting them. Which is a shame. Because the two savory dishes were VERY good. As far as Merluza was concerned (i.e. it’s like cod), it was a fantastically cooked piece of fish – I mean I didn’t even know that fish could have that kind of texture! (In my mind, it was as perfectly cooked like how a sous vide steak is perfectly cooked). And the accompanying potatoes and sauce added such beautiful subtle flavors. And then there were the albondigas (read: lamb-pork-cow meatballs) which were also kinda-sorta-insane. They weren’t fancy, and texturally, they weren’t much (in reality, I prefer my meatballs a little softer), but there’s something about their flavor, when mixed with the smokey-tomato-based sauce that instantly captivated me. I had the urge to slap those meatballs on a hoagie roll and devour it with my bare hands (I assure you that no such thing happened in the restaurant – I stayed with my fork and knife). The meatballs lacked subtlety/complexity, but that was perhaps its strength, as no thought was required except one: “these are so yummy”.
The dessert was fine – I mean, it was a cookie and some lemon curd. The cookie was unremarkable, but lemon curd (like ham/bacon) makes up for a lot of sins. I was shocked he didn’t do some kind of choco-bacon concoction to finish off the ham-themed dinner, but whatever …
Ok, so, the service … the service was horrendous. g and I recall that they are a tapas restaurant where the dishes normally just come out of the kitchen as they are ready. We would have been fine with that concept, however, because we ordered the wine pairing, there needed to be appropriate progression of plates for the pairings (i.e. we had four glasses of wine that were each paired with 1-3 specific courses) so that each wine hit the table with certain courses. They failed this task several times – but in all kinds of ways. Some times we’d have the wine but no food. Other times we’d have the food but no wine. And still, there were lengthy gaps between courses and at least twice did servers attempt to give us food that we had already seen or straight up wasn’t something we ordered. The table next to us, who also ordered the tasting and pairing, even had things completely out of order! And I assure you that our server, at any given time, had no idea what courses we had had, which ones were coming next, or even what glass of wine we were on (at one point she tried to convince us that we had already had our second glass of wine when we had just finished our first … and then she never came back with the second glass like she promised …) On one hand, I could excuse them for “just being a bar”, but seriously, if the food is going to be this good, you kinda-sorta-havta step up the service, otherwise patrons who actually are going to your establishment for the food (i.e. like us) are going to be a little turned off.
And now for the wine … the wine was horrendous as well. ARGH!! I will list the badness:
1) The xarel-lo was way too light to tango with the terrine, which had such booming flavor due to the pork and the accompanying sauces. That terrine screamed for a heavier white or a light red or something! After a bite of the food, the xarel-lo tasted pretty much like water (it was best paired with the salad … which really didn’t have much going on, so you could actually taste the wine). It’d be different if it was zippy or fruity or something … but it had nothing to offer. Failure.
2) The Montsant was a classic Spanish red from Montsant – there really is no other way to put it. It’s bold and in your face with stewed fruit and a twist of very-nearly-aggressive backbone/bitterness. It’s a wine that puts some hair on your chest (and was served a little warm, so the alcoholic burn was kickin’!) And then they pair it with the fish and the meatballs. The problem is obvious: Montsant + fish = stupid (in my book – feel free to disagree). I’m not saying that you should never pair red wine and fish, but I am saying that this particular red wine completely blew the fish out of the water. All of the subtlety and complexity of the food was completely masked. Failure.
3) The dessert wine … ugh … the dessert wine … Just because you have a dessert wine doesn’t mean you just blindly pair it with whatever you’re serving for dessert. This dessert wine = super-sweet and rich. Lemon curd = super-sweet and rich. And two sweets don’t make a right – they monkey-knife-fight each other. Maybe the cookie and the wine would have been alright, but the lemon curd forced us to make a decision: lemon curd or wine? Result = we abandoned half our dessert wine – the lemon curd was more delicious.
So as you can see, the food at Bar Ferdinand was actually quite wonderful – and for the price, it was very-nearly-a-steal! It’s a shame that the service and wine could use lots of improvement. I’m sure the service will get better as they get used to the idea of meal progression and pairings. But as for the wine, well, I don’t know who made those selections, but let’s just say that I know of a certain Spanish wine enthusiast that would be more-than-capable of taking over Bar Ferdinand’s wine program and selecting wines that would actually complement instead of fight with Chef Ansill’s delicious food … and he’d probably do it for little more than his love of wine, alone … right, a?
gettin’ my coma on at sabrina’s
t says: After working a 16-hour shift from 7pm to 11am, what’s the first thing that you would do? Most people would probably go home and sleep. But not me. And certainly not my coworkers, either. We’re super-humans. Well, either that, or we’re plain ‘ol silly … and hungry … Collectively, it was decided that we go to brunch. After a few back-and-forth emails/texts/conversations, we chose to venture to Sabrina’s in University City (closer to Drexel than Penn). The journey was a dangerous one, as one of us almost perished on the way due to desert-like heat and Louisiana-like humidity. We were able to rally our spirits when I confirmed on my iPhone that we were indeed 1 block away and not lost/drunk somewhere in Bangkok.
July 2012, Brunch, Party of 4. After sitting down “in that round porch thingee”, we perused the menu and decided that we should choose four different items and divide them equally. It’s been a while, so I can’t remember what they were, but I can tell you that three of them had Batman-related names (probably in honor of the new film). What I can show you, however, is a pic that was taken of a plate adorned with precisely 1/4 of each of our items:
why have just one dish when you can have four?
What is above is a pancake dish, a French toast dish, a frittata dish, and some kind of “chihuahua” dish. My memories about each is fuzzy, but what I do remember is that everything was quite delicious. The French toast used less cream cheese than past stuffed French toasts I’ve had at Sabrina’s, which I find to be an improvement (who wants to eat a hunk of cream cheese?), while the pancakes were doused in some kind of crack-like citrus-based glaze that everyone loved (drawback: there wasn’t enough of it – only the top pancake was covered in it … resulting in many-a-stranded bottom two pancakes). I had no qualms with the two egg-based dishes (although I think that maybe as a whole, they were weaker than the sugar-laden bread-based ones – they didn’t have punchy flavors that I can remember), and the potatoes were wonderfully fried. And … well … that’s it. It was a large quantity of delicious food – great for putting an immediate smile on your face and a coma on your brain. Nice job Sabrina’s. I still don’t think it’s worth waiting in line for on Sunday morning, but definitely a superb weekday brunch!
the return to the booth at the end
t says: Hooray! Hulu’s “Booth at the End” is back for season 2! Definitely go and watch season 1 and the premier of season 2 – it’s fun!
remembering lolita
t says: The other day, a and v and I decided that we wanted to go to a BYO for dinner. We originally thought of the semi-BYO GTC … but they were just too busy/cool to seat us before 9:30pm. We were hungry and didn’t want to wait. Kanella was booked ’til 10pm. So what were we to do? As we wandered towards 13th street, either a or v thought of Lolita. While normally a place I associate with BYOT (bring your own tequila), they also don’t object to wine, either. I hadn’t been in a super-long time (i.e. circa ?2006?), but I was game – it was threatening to rain so I was happy to get indoors pronto. So off we went …
July 2012, Saturday Dinner, Party of 3. g was said she couldn’t make it – she was busy in NYC. We came, we sat, we ordered, a made an ATM run, and we ate. Here’s the dillio (sans pictures) …
a says:
-Tequila-Lime Smoked Salmon Tostaditas: I thought this was the best “bite” of the night. The salmon was very good and went better with the fresh veggies/fruit than I expected. The crisp of the tostada added another layer.
-Tamal De Humberto Con Huitlacoche, Pollo Y Mole Rojo: A crowd pleaser that has been on the menu for as long as I can remember. Well described as comfort food. The best part is soaking up the remaining sauce with the masa “hiding” at the bottom of the tamal.
-Carne Asada A La Lolita – Described as the best dish on the menu and I can say it is definitely a winner. The beef was cooked perfectly, had a tiny amount of heat, a nice cumin bite, and was cut nicely by the guacamole. I didn’t love the fried yuca “fingers” that provided the steak’s base but the sauce and plantain chip paired well. This is a very solid dish but I have the underlying feeling that something is missing.
-Vaca Con Budin De Papas – t thinks he won (t interjects: I don’t “think” I wont – I know I won …), and I would tend to agree (t boasts: Buzinga!). This dish had some great flavor (t agrees: Yea – it was a surprisingly well glazed, nice-and-tender hunk of meat – highly recommended!).
-Enchiladas Verdes Con Portobello Enchipotlados – v went vegetarian and was not disappointed… v jumps in: On my dish… the sauce was light…not creamy crap that most Mexican restaurants pile on dishes. The portobello mushrooms were fresh and flavorful. t echoes: Yea – it felt some comforting, but it didn’t feel “heavy” – quite nice!
back to a:
-Tres Leches De Coco, Chocolate Y Nueces – One of the best desserts in the city. If you haven’t had tres leches or love it, get there soon and save room for this. With a cafecito, this can’t be beat.
-Budin De Con Chocolate, Canela Y Nueces – An interesting take on bread pudding, this was solid but not knock-your-socks-off. Though there was no rum listed in the dish, I enjoyed what I thought was a rum-like quality. The tres leches is better but I still kept coming back to this for another bite. (v suggests: Eat the bread pudding when you are having a bad day!)
-The wines: We brought one red and one white – both that we had were solid, cut-above-the-rest table wines. The red was CMS (Hedges Family blah blah) and was a nice blend from Washington that makes no attempt at being complex. The Cabernet (C) gives it a cola punch, Merlot (M) good fruit, and Syrah (s) spice and richness. Take this to a dinner when you know there will be red meat but not much else. t, as become his M.O. of late, went for the esoteric. t pontificates: Yes – I brought this white pinot noir from Italy, inspired by a white pinot noir that we had in Oregon. It wasn’t sock-rockingly good, especially when compared to Erath’s, but it was fine. It had a Chardonnay richness without being Chardonnay. It was a good way to prepare us for our last bottle of that Erath sitting in my cellar – it’ll be making an appearance soon!
In all, I think that Lolita had some surprisingly-good food – it was better than I remember! True, it doesn’t get a ton of love in the press nowadays, but I’m happy that a and v have convinced me to put it back on my radar. If you haven’t been to Lolita recently, definitely give it a whirl – it’ll make you forget all about your previous reservation at GTC …
after dinner sneeze 