Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia’
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.
a little pretentious, no?
t says: Anyone see the latest drivel to come out of LaBan’s mouth? “I’ll reset the landscape of Philly’s restaurant elite.” I’m sorry, but what? I normally like reading LaBan’s reviews because I, myself, don’t get the chance to taste every single dish on a menu – so his reviews are like scouting reports. But what arrogance this last comment exudes! He must be a Michelin inspector or James-frickin-Beard, himself! Taking yourself a little too seriously, eh? Come on. You eat food for a living. It’s not theoretical physics. It’s not fetal open heart surgery. It’s not curing cancer. It’s inserting matter in one end of a 30-foot long tube so your body can turn it into poo. So let’s all take a chill pill and a slice of humble pie and just say, “I’m coming out with a new list of top 5 restaurants … and my previous top 4 might not have made the cut. Please read my article when it comes out on 2/5, because if no one does, I may no longer have the privilege of making a living by doing something that every single other person on this planet can do. Thank you.”
Lightning Round: Il Pittore, Pub and Kitchen
t says: g and I need to get up to speed on some restaurants that we visited in December but didn’t quite get around to blogging about – so here we go:
Il Pittore. Dec 2011, Dinner, Party of 2. We went to Il Pittore after I took a fairly important exam (medical licensing exam). It had been a long day and I wanted me some good-old-fashioned-pasta. Normally we go to Melograno for such things, but we had an OpenTable gift certificate burning a hole in our wallet, so we figured that it’d be good to use it for something we’d never have done before (i.e. go to a Starr restaurant instead of a BYO). Props: The service was superb. The food was very un-Starr-like (i.e. it tasted like someone was trying to turn out some good food for the sake of the food, itself, not just to conform to a restaurant’s theme). The ricotta was quite delicious, reminding us of a lighter/springier version of Barbuzzo’s. When coupled with the foccacia from the free bread basket (i.e. which was jaw-droppingly good on its own), you were left with a stunning combination.
ricotta + apple + thyme
The Paccheri tasted like what you imagine the ocean would smell like in a fantasy Disney world (clean, fresh, delicious seafood).
paccheri = clams + rock shrimp + salami pieces + broccoli rabe
The Corzetti was a unique mix of goat, mint, and chili oil – it was like Han Dynasty meets minty goat meets al dente pasta, with a pretty delightful result. In retrospect, none of the food was “bad” – as a matter of fact – it was all at least “good” … but I’m going to be picky now … Slops: The portions are a bit small overall. The pappardelle with wild boar is unfortunately not as good as Melograno’s which has a far deeper flavor and more strands of meat. In retrospect, the pasta dishes as a whole were not as “deep” or developed as those we’ve had at Melograno’s, which usually tastes as if more was “going on” in the pot beforehand. The EtOH is pricey, matching the “dressier” feel of the place vs. Noble that had been there before. Conclusion: Thus, it makes it hard to go to Il Pittore knowing that Melograno is so nearby … but what Il Pittore may be good for is for “classier” evenings when you want pasta on white table cloths without tons of ambient noise … like when parents are in town.
Pub and Kitchen. Dec 2011, Lunch, Party of 2. a and I went on a lunch adventure together. We invited the girls, but they were too “busy”, claiming that “someone needs to work to make money” or some such nonsense. Props: Nice fun ambience – the worn wood look. Food was “good”. Slops: Food was only “good”. Allow me to illustrate:
pulled pork sandwich +chipotle mayo + cheese + fried pickle + slaw
As you can see in the above blurry picture, I had the pulled pork sandwich. It tasted fine (like pork and sauce and cheese). But it wasn’t as nearly as good as Village Whiskey. And that makes me frown. I hoped the slaw could punch it up, but it was insipid. The fried pickle was the best thing on the plate.
a’s was a bit happier with his pot pie and his Brussels sprouts, but still, it’s not like they rocked his socks:
dude ... my camera skills SUCK
Conclusion: The meal wasn’t bad, but maybe, just maybe, there’s a glimmer of hope that their dinner will step it up. I’d give their dinner a try …
replacing the Saturday brunch spot
t says: A little bit ago, I described the disappointing brunch at Supper that g and I had, which resulted in a demotion from its former title on our Gold Standards list as our pick for Saturday brunch.. While we will eventually find our way back there to re-evaluate their offerings (how do you argue with free parking at Whole Foods?), we needed to find a reliable replacement for Saturday brunch. We looked far and wide and found two potential contenders.
The first is Monsu. These guys are seriously kicking some brunch ass – and I’m pretty sure no one’s noticing, as it was dead-quiet both times g and I visited in November. Regardless, we were pretty darn impressed with the food and the pricepoint. I’ll smoosh together the visits to show you what kinds of things are going on over there.
November 2011, Saturday Brunch – Multiple Visits. Monsu features a “tourista” menu in which one gets three courses for $22 (actually, it was $20 the first time, $22 the second time – no idea what the real price is). In our visits, we’ve tasted a variety of dishes and all are quite good. Here are our two favorites:
polpo
So it doesn’t look like much … but let me tell you that it was a radical kick to the mouth. Aside from Koo Zee Doo’s milk-poached polpo at dinner, this is the best octopus I’ve ever had. I mean, it beat out Amada’s polpo for crying out loud! I’ve only had it once, so maybe I should re-try it just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke before making such statements … The octopus, itself, is nicely cooked, being tender and not rubbery, but what really makes the dish is the “everything else”. Now, there was a lot going on and at the time, I didn’t scrutinize the menu enough to memorize the ingredients, but there was some fennel, some sundried tomato, and something with a bit of kick. It was zingy and light and sweet and spicy all at the same time. No, it doesn’t look pretty (it looks kind of ugly, actually), but it was awesome!
steak and eggs
Similarly, the steak and eggs doesn’t look like much. The skirt steak was medium-rare-to-medium, and the potatoes looked bored next to the eggs, which had an odd paleness to them. I was pretty unimpressed when this plate showed up in front of me … but then I took a bite: it blew me away. I’m not sure if it was because I was hungry or if it was because it looked so “bleh” that I had zero expectations, but I was shocked. There was a wonderfully textured and nicely seasoned steak, perfect potatoes, and eggs that were clearly cooked in some kind of meat-fat drippings. g felt her steak was over-salted. Mine was not. I consumed the entirety of my dish (the portion you see above is the tourista-sized portion – if you ordered it alone, it would have been larger). So approach this dish with closed eyes, and you’re good-to-go.
Yes, there were starches and desserts offered at our visits, including a delicious pork belly and scallop dish and some classic tiramisu. I think lc joined us for one of the meals and left quite content. And, of course, one of the best things is looking out the window at those people waiting to get into Sabrina’s. Ha! When will they learn?
EDIT: I found more photos!
chocolate mousse, profiteroles
?scallop + porkbelly?
something g liked involving poached eggs, basil, toasted bread, roasted potatoes
And now allow me to introduce the next contender: Parc. PARC?!? Yea, that’s right, Parc. Now, I must admit that there are a lot of things we dislike about Parc. It is a Starr restaurant, so you pay big moneys for EtOH and it’s a little pricey overall (e.g. they charge a ridiculous amount for their “pastry basket” at brunch). Additionally, because of its Rittenhouse location, it tends to attract a slightly older, posher clientele that’s just not quite our crowd. And then there’s the food that I’ve bad-mouthed in the past, including a boring burger and boring French Toast. Don’t get me wrong – they’re still boring and we’re probably never going to order them again – but we’ve been recently going back to Parc again and again (and will do so in the future) for two specific dishes …
January 2011, Saturday Brunch, Party of 2. g loves the “warm shrimp salad”. As far as naming conventions are concerned, this is perhaps the most boring name ever. I think it’s because it sounds a bit like two adjectives and a noun instead of an adjective and two nouns. Also – it should be noted that this is no mayonnaise-laden shrimp salad – this is a completely different animal, being more like a traditional salad with delicious shrimp and dressing Furthermore, even I, who generally hates salads, have been known to enjoy the dish every now and then. Fresh greens, avocado, shrimp, truffle [oil], and buerre blanc sauce. It just can’t go wrong. It’s neck and neck with Tria’s “grilled asparagus salad” as our favorite Philly salad (and might win just by virtue of being closer to us than Tria).
The second dish is one that I encountered just recently:
pancakes!
That’s right – it’s just a pancake. No bananas foster sauce, no bacon ice cream, no chocolate anywhere on the plate. This is a new, more mature t in town – let’s call him “fuddy-duddy-t” (can anyone guess precisely what I’m referring to when I say “fuddy duddy”?).
fuddy-duddy-t says: Sometimes you just want a pancake. And that’s it. You want it a little sweet and a little buttery. You want it to be rich like a bisquick pancake, but still light and fluffy. You want it to be thick, but perfectly browned on the outside and still cooked the whole way through. You want it to remind you a simpler time when you were 7-8-9 years old and would eat McDonald’s Hotcakes with your grandparents before heading to the mall to play video games … except you don’t actually want to eat McDonald’s Hotcakes because their texture is that of a sink sponge that’s on it’s fourth week of use … This is that pancake. Lightly dusted with confectioner’s sugar and served with plain maple syrup, it is an homage to all that is good and holy about pancakes.
Meritage’s Korean taco mediocrity
t says: Over a disappointing $5 glass of zweigelt at the wine-room-formerly-known-as-Biba (it must have been a “special” for a reason: it sucked), cm lifted my spirits with news that Meritage was bringing back their Korean tacos for a single dinner – that very night! Whoa! g and I were psyched. We’ve loved Meritage’s Korean tacos from their first release over a year ago. Unfortunately, we just were too busy to drop by and enjoy some this past summer. This was a second chance! Woohoo! We paid the bill at Biba and weathered the winds whipping across the Schuylkill as we crossed the bridge.
November 2011, Wednesday Dinner, Party of 3. We reached our destination without incident and sat down in a surprisingly empty restaurant (we were the only diners). This made me a little sad – I had always secretly hoped that Meritage was doing swimmingly despite not garnering any recent foobooz or PhillyMag love, and this was not a reassuring sign. Then we didn’t find our favorite server. Darn – that guy, whatever his name is, is so awesome.
While we did sample a few dishes while we were there, I think the whole point of this post revolves around these:
korean tacos!
They had some vegetarian Korean tacos and some shortrib ones. I ordered two shortrib ones and looked forward to the happiness that would almost certainly ensue. I was served these two tacos, and, with a smile creeping across my face, wrapped one up for the first bite. I went for it. I chewed and chewed. But something was wrong. It had the same ingredients as before: tortilla, sauce, kimchi, shortrib, shredded veggies … what was wrong? The ratio of shredded veggies to shortrib was off, with a substantial amount of shredded greens filling up the taco. The meat, itself, wasn’t as tender as I remember and, weirdly, it didn’t taste as succulent as before – it was drier and not booming with Korean flavors (the shortrib didn’t taste anything more than shortrib). The kimchi and sesame seeds were nice and all, but only a small amount was included. What happened to my beloved Korean taco? I don’t know. It was … mediocre! Egad! It wasn’t the stuff that’ll invade my daydreams and make me salivate as I type. I guess it’ll have to live on in my memories …
The other food was ok – but at this point I have long forgotten what we ate (there may have been a dumpling dish that was delish!) as I was crushed at the tacos had changed. I feel especially bad for cm as this was his first Meritage Korean taco, and now it’s likely his last. Maybe Meritage is out of practice? I really want to give them another chance next year – maybe this time was a fluke? Regardless, I sincerely hope that their Korean Fried Chicken hasn’t changed, as that might actually bring a tear to my eye.
g & t are going back to school
t says: g and I are going to a wine tasting “class” at “The Wine School”. We went to one a while ago in the days when groupon was new/exciting and not 99.99% useless like it is now. Basically, you show up, sit down at small tables like at a restaurant (n.b. there’s no food at these events), and some enthusiastic guy/gal talks to you about the wines you’re going to taste. It was actually a lot of fun. Perhaps the most famous quote of the night we went was when d exclaimed, “You know … after all these years, I think that I finally understand that all that wine snobbery isn’t just made-up bullshit … you really CAN taste a difference!”
We’re going to return to school and go to the 12/23/2011 tasting of “Luxury Wines of Napa Valley”. For more info, go to https://www.vinology.com/ and scroll down until you find it.
While I can’t guarantee the level of luxuriosity of the wines at this particular tasting (they’re not naming any wines in the listing), I can at least say that they did a pretty good job with the Italian tasting we went to – some whites in the $20-30 range, and some [appropriately aged] reds in the $60+ range … and that class didn’t have the word “luxury” in its name!
So if you’re bored on Christmas Eve Eve, get warm with some California wine.
UPDATE: They’re now down to 12 spots left! Hurry!!!!
UPDATE: a and v are in! That should be extra incentive to go, because if you didn’t know: awesome story-worthy things happen when you mix together a and v and wine on a Friday night. Can’t wait to see what the night’ll bring.
after dinner sneeze 