Posts Tagged ‘BYO’
pierre’s still in charge
t says: This story begins with Bibou calling out to me – I swear! It all started a week ago, at work, when I noticed (from across the room) that one person was showing another person Bibou’s menu and pointing out all the “good things” they had the night before (that’s right, I eavesdropped, too). I thought at that time, “gee – It’s been a while since we’ve been, maybe we should go?” Then, two days ago, a colleague happened to be reviewing the old Philadelphia magazine restaurant list out loud and and noted that previous faves had been seriously demoted in the 2013 list – I instantly thought about Bibou. Again I thought, “gee, I really want to go now”. And then today (i.e. the day I wrote this post – not the day it’ll actually post to the blog), as I was walking to work, I just happened to be searching through Opentable for an open Friday night reservation, scrolling passed the B’s, when boom! I happened to notice that Bibou had availability! I was so shocked that I had to double-check the reservation date to make sure I wasn’t looking at like a Wednesday night or something. I wasn’t! It was true! I booked it, texted g, and THAT’s how we got a random Friday night reservation to Bibou …
May 2013, Friday Dinner, Party of 2.
it did feel a little awkward to be dining at bibou without the gang (a, v, and kp), so g and I decided to make it very casual – we were not going to order our normal entrees – no beef, no pig’s foot, and we weren’t going to pull out some crazy-big-wines. We were going to bring in the summer with some seafood and enjoy it with a Pouilly-Fusee that my thoughtful sis got g for her birthday (thanks!).
ok … well … I knew I had to go for the snails – they are the bomb-diggity … but these one were different. Pierre definitely changed it up, as I remembered there being far more garlic and the flavors far more deep, while this time the accompanying sauce was brighter, more acidic, and lighter. I preferred the old version – I mean don’t get me wrong – they’re still delicious and fabulously done, but they were only “excellent” and not “legendary”. g’s was the scallop on a half-shell which was, as on one of our previous visits, fabulous – even better than the escargots!
For our mains, I went for the cod in “brick” dough over a bed of carrot and julienne snowpeas and an emulsion of uni and sweet corn. Holy crap. I know I just went to Little Fish recently, but this was on another level. Little Fish’s fish are superbly cooked and finely balanced. Pierre’s still has superb cookery and great balance – but he reaches for flavors that are deeper, more profound. Halfway through my entree, I really did put down my utensils and just sit back, relax, and ponder the symphony of flavors. Dorky as hell, but it was necessary. It was so remarkable that I didn’t miss the pig’s foot. I repeat: I didn’t miss the pig’s foot. Egad! g’s dorade, in the background, was completely different that my dish in terms of flavor profile. We don’t know why, but for some reason, it had a strikingly Asian note somewhere in there amongst the tomato and lemon verbena and ramps (?lemongrass?). It was the lighter and more agile of the two, but nevertheless, it, too, made me take pause after g gave me a bite … (but I like mine better …)
Dessert has never really been a strongsuit of Bibou. But it seems like they’ve stepped up their game! The chocolate cake was thick and rich and luscious. Definitely not fancy (and not the “best”) I’ve ever had, but a nice sweet end to the meal for me. g went with the strawberry rhubarb tart which was quite fabulous – a step up from previous tarts.
just keep winning, just keep winning … just keep winning, winning, winning …
t says: g and I, having had multiple great experiences at Little Fish, especially for their Sunday fixed price menus, decided it was time to crack the whip and demand that a and v and kp accompany us on our next visit. kp couldn’t make it, but that didn’t stop the four of us from seeing the task to its end … for the sake of the blog! …
May 2013, Sunday Dinner, Party of 4.
Sunday dinners work like this: for $35, you get 5 courses, no choices (they can entertain some dietary restrictions), and that’s it. There are two seatings, and they’re typically booked a few weeks in advance. But I tell you this here and now: this is the absolute best way to eat at Little Fish and one of the best deals in all of Philadelphia. Do it. We usually go to the later seating so we can bide our time, but if you go to the early one, you can catch a glimpse out the window (and get actually reasonable lighting for photos of food and wine!). We brought along 4 bottles of wine that night – one of which was a 2011 Alexana Revana Vineyard pinot noir (arguably the wine of the night …)
Course #1: salad with rhubarb: Little Fish’s first course always rides the line between “simple” and “fancy”. There really isn’t a lot of extra super-cool stuff in the salad. No weird things foraged by an anarchist farmer. No super-exotic fruits. No special plating. Just a clump of fresh, bright greens and a touch of ?pickled? rhubarb, some nuts, a light toss, and bam – first course done! Our palates were energized and ready to go!
The second course of hamachi, radish, and cashews was so beautifully balanced that my mouth simply could not believe it. Well – I take that back – that ?buttermilk? smear was a bit overwhelming, but I just cut back on it and the other flavors came out like a rays of sun through clouds. The salinity of the fish, the meatiness of the nuts, the unique crunch and flavor of radish – ah, beautiful.
Welcome to v’s and my favorite dish: speck, scallop, and ramp purée. This scallop was so beautifully seared that v and I could do no more than sit back and wonder exactly how a mortal man accomplishes such a feat. We didn’t ponder for too long, though, as before we knew it, the scallop was gone. Once again – the balance between the seafood and the speck and hauntingly smooth ramp flavor was a beautiful thing.
g and a’s favorite was the swordfish with spinach purée, fava beans, and asparagus. Maybe I just don’t appreciate swordfish – if I wanted something that was this meaty, I’d just eat cow or pig! But g and a enjoyed how the denser, richer texture stood up to the dense, rich puree and sauce. Personally, I woulda gone for another scallop, but whatever!
This was perhaps Little Fish’s weakest dessert ever. Which is shocking because it’s strawberry shortcake! I guess I was expecting more. The cake was a little on the dry side – and I half-expected there to be some sort of small twist – maybe a ribbon of cinnamon in the cake or a dash of mint or basil in the whipped cream. Nevertheless, it was a comforting ending to a wonderful meal (g loves strawberry shortcake!) When all was said and done, we had enjoyed 5 courses and 3 good bottles of wine (and 1 disappointment – that stupid rose from Moore Brothers that was hawked as “the finest rose in Provence” – what a load of crap). What a wonderful Sunday night!
kanella kwietly kicking ass
t says: There are some restaurants that we here at adsz have done a disservice. How? Well, there are some really great ones out there, and, while we tell people about them all the time, we have so few reviews! Furthermore, press like Philly Mag (a suggests: in an attempt to be relevant?) disses them by placing them somewhere on the back 25 of their top 50 list, behind snooze-fests like Stateside, Il Pittore, Le Virtu, and Jamonera … I’m talking about Kanella. Helmed by crazy-piercing-eyed Chef Konstantinos Pitsillides, Kanella has, over the years, cranked out some super-delightful dinners with flavor combinations that are still interesting and novel. And while the servers all seem to have a dash of weirdness, we at least appreciate their enthusiasm/energy. As a matter of fact, g and I ate there with v and another friend (a was MIA) just the other night …
February 2013, Friday Dinner, Party of 4. We arrived to an all-too-familiar experience when visiting Kanella: the wait. It seems that dinner reservation times are always met with some kind of wait. This time wasn’t too bad – about 5-10 minutes. Fortunately, we were allowed to wait inside and not in that super-dinky-ante-room-thingee where we would have surely frozen. Is a wait forgivable? No, not really, but I did see the patrons hanging out at the soon-to-be-ours table, with the check paid, just lingering, so I can’t really blame the restaurant (can I?), rather, other people. But what was cool was the opportunity to greet Chef as he walked around the room, as for all the press he gets for his crazy memos outside his kitchen window, I had never once heard him actually talk. He was a little stiff, but I can’t say I was much better at trying to get a conversation to flow – it’s just his piercing blue eyes!
After we sat, we were greeted by our server, who, also typical of the Kanella experience, was just a little weird. There was something in his verbosity that had us all chuckling, albeit a little uncomfortably – but that’s ok because we warmed up to him nicely. Furthermore, he was very attentive, well-informed, and made everything sound wonderful, so he gets an A+ for the evening.
Now on to the food …
If you eat at Kanella, the “Dips of the Day” are pretty much obligatory. Made of whatever vegetables they happen to have on hand, the spreads are always so lively and fresh that you wish you could just pull out an ampule of dip at work to spruce up your ho-hum lunch (it’d make “baked potato day” a whole lot more interesting … that’s right – some of you know what I’m talking about). The octopus and [free] salad (Kanella very frequently realizes diners are waiting and will send out food) were both nice starters to the meal, waking up our palates with smoky tentacles and bright greens. And after that, Kanella churned out three ridiculously good dishes of food (it was actually four dishes, but two of us got the same thing), just the kind to warm you up on a frickin-freezing-cold night.
oxtail
What you see above you is a LOT of [most-likely-braised-and-then-]shredded oxtail, with a few dumplings and a lot of cilantro. And it was AWESOME. It was the most uplifted/bright/agile dish of braised meat I have ever had (imagine if you will a cow doing gymnastics), most likely courtesy of lemon and cilantro and one other unidentified green stalk (?celery? ?rhubarb?? chard?). My mouth was so sad when it was over (but my tummy was full). I would have liked a few more dumplings to balance against the meat (there were only ~4), but our server graciously gave us more bread (his idea! we didn’t even ask for it!), so I was happily starched for the evening.
I did not get a chance to snap pics of the goat stew, which I’m told was a winner last night (I was so “in” to my dish I didn’t bother tasting anyone elses). While I don’t quite have specifics about their experiences, I can say that with nothing left on their plates, they were very much satisfied. g went for their porkchop which, as she had once before, was scrumptious. Really, I have a lack of words here because no one had an ill word to say – and I think that‘s saying something. Everything had this feeling of warmth and home and comfort that you’d almost forget you’re in a very-busy, loud Philly BYO …
pistachio creme brulee and lemon ice cream in the foreground, baklava and something else in the background
The desserts at Kanella are often in the head-nod-and-say-“pretty good” realm. And that night was no different. The pistachio creme brulee was perfectly executed, and when pit against the lemon ice cream that was dynamite (no, really – their ice creams are always wonderful), it was a fantastic combination. The baklava was chocked full of nuts, which some people might enjoy (I prefer a little more sweet and layers in my baklava), and that other thing (the thing that looks like it’s covered with cheese in the photo), while interesting, was just a little dry. It’s hard because I am probably completely unqualified to judge these desserts (maybe these are exactly how they’re supposed to be? I’m no Greek), so I guess you’ll just have to try it, yourself!
And the bill? It was $42/pp (with tax and tip). That’s not bad at all! We did bring our own wine, so that was wonderful (thanks, a, for the Riesling!). It’s a little pricey for a weeknight, but well worth the tariff on the weekend. So go to Kanella! I don’t know if it’s “cool” or not, but it’s reliably tasty!
little fish justs keep swimming …
t says: g and I hit up Little Fish the other day. It was amazing. Rather than harp, allow me to just say that it continues to be awesome … and taunt you with a photo … of lamb and fish:
Bibou … we love you
t says: a, v, g, and I went to Bibou recently. We did invite several others to join, but no one could quite make it. This was very problematic for a and me. You see, when there’s only four people, we’re only going to go through 3-4 bottles of wine. When there’s eight people, we can open 8 – which means we can taste more interesting wine! And isn’t that the point – to taste!? Well, undeterred by the limited number of people, we still showed up with 6 bottles … you know … just so we could make some game-time decisions (and in case the servers wanted to get in on the action).
Now once again, Bibou already gets SO much love on this blog that it’s absolutely pointless to re-hash awesome dishes like the escargots and pig’s feet. I think v put it best earlier in the day when she said, “if I get there tonight, and there’s no pig’s foot, I am going to cry in the restaurant.” And I believe her. Fortunately, no one cried that night …
g says: We only get to Bibou once or twice a year, so when we are lucky enough to score a reservation, we take our meal very seriously (hence v’s fear of the kitchen running out of pig’s feet). Generally, we each stick to familiar classics — escargot and pig’s feet for t, crudo and beouf for moi — because it is so hard to justify ordering something new when we are guaranteed a sensational dining experience with our old standbys. These are the dishes that we dream about as we anxiously await the day of our reservation, after all.
We threw caution to the wind this time around, and some new items hit the table with thrilling results. My picks for the winners of this meal both fall into this new category of “interesting” rather than classic dishes that remain on Bibou’s menu at all times. v’s squash consomme (that’s right, a clear broth soup made from squash of all things) was, in my opinion, the best first course. none of us had ever even heard of such a thing <t interrupts: for the record – i’ve heard of consommes, but just never had one>, but the deep flavors just blew us away. I also believe that my main course was the winner of that round, an arctic char with bulgar wheat in a buerre rouge sauce. That’s right, fish in a red wine sauce. Intriguing, right? It was AMAZING. Pierre told us that it was a special item on the menu for that week only; I would say that “special” is right on the money for describing that dish.
Apparently, branching out beyond our “usuals” at Bibou really pays off. I chuckle to myself when I think of how apprehensive I felt when looking at the menu that night (i.e. the minor flash of panic that came over me when I toyed with the idea of ordering something other than the boeuf that I love so much). Did I really think that I would receive a sub-par meal from arguably the best restaurant in the city? Probably not. But now I have confirmed that trying something new could provide an exciting experience without feeling sorry that I didn’t order my old favorite. And now I have a new flavor of the month for adsz!
it’s not a “proper” adsz-style dinner unless the glass:diner ratio is at least 4:1 (not including water glasses).
This mysterious, very dark brown puddle was a squash consomme. It’s a clear broth. Like, if you were in the hospital and required to be “on a clear diet”, this would still qualify. However – it was so jam-packed full of flavor (it tasted like fall) that it knocked our socks off.
Arctic char in beurre rouge sauce (butter, red wine, shallots) over bulgar wheat (tasted like Thanksgiving stuffing!) with a fricasse of persimmon and anaheim pepper. g declared it the winner of our main courses. v agreed with that assessment in terms of creativity, but for taste, she had to vote still for her favorite pig’s feet and lentils.
another table abandoned their remaining Sauterne … so our server allowed us to share it (there was more than a glass per person leftover!) … result: he gets a little bigger tip, and we get a little happier …
t says: Bibou still brings down the house in terms of food. The four of us just can’t get enough. And talking to Pierre is always such a delight. Now I know there are some Bibou-haters out there … and that’s fine … we just can’t be friends … ha.
We did have some delightful wines that night, including a bottle we got from Napa: 2009 Blackbird Arise. This is a serious California Merlot-based wine. If you’ve never had some Blackbird before, it’s excusable to lie/cheat/steal so you can try it – it’ll change your opinion on Cali-Merlot. (I’m not saying it’s a Right Bank Bordeaux doppleganger, but it’s something better than the “F-in’ Merlot” mentioned in Sideways).
Thanks Pierre. And, we missed you, Charlotte.
Mercato keeps the dream alive
t says: g and I have a confession to make. We’re “over” Restaurant Week. Back in the day, when it was $30pp, we were all over it like white on rice. But nowadays, with that $5 price increase (actually, I think the increase is a couple years old now), we’re just not so optimistic. The restaurants are crowded. The servers are overworked. Chefs whine/complain in the blogosphere left and right. Of course, there are some exceptions out there (looking at you, Amada!), but all-too-often, the food just isn’t a good representation of what the restaurant can do (which is kinda-sorta-the-fault of the restaurant – if you can’t deal with the RW crowd, then don’t participate! Go on vacation, like Kanella used to!). But … this season … g and I got back into it RW. Why? Well – we had some wine to taste from our Napa trip and people to taste it with (a and v) but nowhere to eat! As we looked at BYOs to go to, g remembered one we hadn’t been to in a while: Mercato! AND – because they did a great RW some years ago, g tasked a to set it up. a got the job done (he’s dependable like that) ,and we showed up, ready to eat and drink …
October 2012, Tuesday Restaurant Week Dinner, Party of 4. g and I met a and v at the restaurant. I pulled out the wine selections for the evening (I caught a with his pants down: his Philly wine stash was low, so he was happy to leave the choosing up to me this time):
wines for the evening … the sauvignon blanc is from a rising young-gun, while the red [covered to conceal its identity] is a lesser-known varietal by life-saving winery Ehlers Estate
Ok, so back to the food …
meet [nearly] the best antipasto in the city!
Here are shots of a’s and v’s appetizers and food.
a’s app: soup of some sort
v’s app: artichoke – v didn’t seem to really take to it – I guess she was imagining something a little more interesting than artichoke and some aioli
v’s main: chestnut fettucini – it smelled wonderful – and I liked how it tasted like fall on a plate!
a’s main: blurry picture of veal: a’s was absolutely delicious! that veal was so succulent, so well-prepared, and the sauce was impeccably seasoned. i loved it! (and I only had one bite!)
t’s main: gnocchi with braised beef and broccoli rabe
I remembered the gnocchi dish from the last time we went to Mercato, so I felt the need to revisit it. And, to be honest, it wasn’t quite as good as I remember. So instead of “in-the-running-for-the-best-gnocchi-in-the-city”, it’s going to settle in as “better-than-La-Viola”. As you might gather, there were some issues. I think the biggest had to do with the sauce consistency – it was just a little too thin for my taste – it didn’t really cling to the gnocchi at all, so in the end, I had some gnocchi that didn’t have a lot of taste due to lack of coverage by the sauce. The beef was also a little lackluster – it just wasn’t “loved” with the intensity during cooking that I wanted my cow to be loved (I realize that this sentence makes no sense – but I’m sticking with it).
pyramid pasta stuffed with lobster shrimp and cheese
g felt that she won dinner. I’m not sure I agree, because a’s dish was so wonderful. However, g was in the mood for something a bit “lighter”, and so she was very satisfied with the surprisingly-light brown butter sauce, the sweet sweet shellfish/crustaceans, and the fresh veggie flavors. Between this and the super-citrus of the Massican sauvignon blanc, she was in heaven …
The desserts … hmmm … to be honest, I can’t find the pictures of dessert. I suspect that the lack of pictures and the lack of memory means that they were unremarkable. g and v had some kind of apple pie thing with cinnamon ice cream (g loves-loves-LOVES cinnamon ice cream). a had panna cotta (that unfortunately failed the “woman’s-breast-test”). I had a molten chocolate cake (that fortunately passed the “I-hope-this-doesn’t-suck-test”). The desserts solid overall – I’m not sure they’d be worth $8ish dollars, but the way we see it – RW is kind of like “you-pay-for-two-courses-and-get-dessert-for-free”, so we couldn’t complain.
In all, 2 of 3 appetizers and 2 of 4 mains were exceptional. The remaining dishes ranged anywhere from “good” to “could-probably-be-great-with-some-execution-details”. With better menu selection on our part, we could have probably assembled a flawless dinner (each of us was deciding between at least two options for every course, so I guess we just got a little “unlucky” for the less-than-exceptional choices). The four of us felt that this was a big win for Mercato. We’ll have to keep it in mind for future RW when we want to sling some wine.
Sotto: no frills, just food
t says: There’s a tiny restaurant that opened up on 24th Street right next to the Walnut St bridge. We’ve been watching the renovations for some time, now, hoping that something delicious was going to move in. What was bizarre, though, is that the blogosphere didn’t report any new restaurant going up in that location, leading us to believe that it was going to be a front of some sort.
When we saw it was open, we decided it was time to visit. Fortunately, we then saw this post, suggesting that the place was going to be a real restaurant, and not a vital piece of an organized crime syndicate. That’s good.
October 2012, Thursday Dinner, Party of 2. It was astonishingly empty when we got there, but picked up by the time we left. We sat by ourselves, and the servers were very attentive (we were the only ones there in the beginning, so the moment we stirred, they were all over us). But they were polite and we liked the enthusiasm.
g and I got down to business:
saute of broccoli rabe
The rabe was wonderfully-textured, with just the right amount of bitter and spice. This is how g makes broccoli rabe – it’s simple and delicious. We would come to find that this was going to be a recurring theme:
dittelini and chicken
pasta and seafood
We went for pastas (we’re predictable like that). Both dishes featured perfectly-textured pasta with just the right amount of bite. The sauces were insanely simple. The added meats/seafood/veggies were tastefully done. But in actuality, nothing was at all that “deeply flavored” … for example, these pastas are not Melograno-tasty, and they’re not going to knock-your-socks-off. Rather, these were bowls of pasta that some Italian grandmother would make and the younger generations strive to emulate. They did fill us up (the servings are large – don’t let the ridiculously-super-XXXL bowls above throw you) and completely disarmed us – this was comfort pasta, seemingly designed to lull you into a state of relaxation that brings to close an otherwise crazy day. With no thought required to eat this food (“simple” is good, right?) our conversations ran wild, from stories of growing up in South Jersey, to lost stethoscopes, to who-we-hoped-would-date-whom. And before we knew it, we were lingering over the last few drops of wine in our glass, realizing it was time to go to our actual home. Well – we did have some dessert in there, too:
tiramisu like an Italian grandmother/aunt would make it
Nice job Sotto. You’re not fancy or frilly. You’re not pushing boundaries. But you are making solid pasta at reasonable prices within walking distance from our home. We’ll be back on those weekdays when we roll in the door, are too tired to cook, and are too impatient to wait for delivery … which is more often that one would think …
EDIT: Boom. Within 2 weeks of our last visit, g and I were back at Sotto for some cheap, yummy pasta. This time we did the bolognese and the matriciana. Wow. They were superb. I mean I’m almost about to take back that “not pushing boundaries” thing, because I’m going to go out on a limb and just say it: Sotto’s “matriciana” is as good as Melograno’s “amatriciana”. Wonderful! The bolognese didn’t quite have the finesse of Melogran’s wild boar bologenese (Sotto uses ground meat and a more “tomato-y” sauce), but g was still very satisfied. We’ll be back for sure …
after dinner sneeze 