Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia’
Giwa: Homely Korean
t says: g and I desperately wanted to go to Zavino for some free wine (while they lacked their liquor license, they were offering patrons two free glasses of wine with purchase of food). Anticipating that everyone else also wanted free wine, we figured that we’d go during the first night of our second “big” snowstorm in Philadelphia. Dumb idea. Everyone else figured that, too. Turned off by the 2 hour wait, we went out looking for a new place to go. We eventually remembered that there was this small Korean place that we’ve been wanting to try called Giwa. We trekked on over through the falling snow and got there safely – it was small, but inside it was warm and not precipitating, so we were happy.
2/2009, Friday Dinner, Party of 2. Giwa’s dishes are not “fancy” or “fusion” Korean dishes – they’re plain ‘ol Korean (with a little bit of polish/pizazz cuz the place is still new). The selection isn’t huge, and perhaps it’s more geared towards a lunch-ish crowd, however, most people, Korean or not, will find something on the menu. I recognized quite a few menu items, so g and I were in good shape.
When we first sat down, we were presented with an assortment of tiny little dishes of various items, pickled and not. This is test #1 for any Korean place – how is the kimchi. Giwa’s was pretty good. I ate it. Theirs had a little more funk than I like, but I’m sure the older crowd (i.e. mom) would like it.
Our first dish was the Haemul Pa Jun appetizer, or, as it was called when I was young, “the Korean pancake”. That name’s a lie – it’s not a pancake – it’s more like a seafood-pizza-pancake hybrid. Imagine you take some seafood, mix it in some pancake dough, and fry the dough into a large disc on a frying pan, cut it like a pizza, and then serve it with a soy sauce based dipping sauce. It was very good. They didn’t skimp on the seafood and the dough still had good crisp – two common problems with haemul pa jun in restaurants. Note that this appetizer is definitely large enough for two people – I’d say more like 3 people (we had plenty leftover).
For my main dish, I had the eel dolsot bibimpap, which is not available for take-out – only for eat-in. The dish comes out in a super-hot bowl. It has rice, veggies, eel, and a delicious spicy sauce that you mix together as the bowl heats the ingredients and browns the rice, giving it a nice flavor (like when you sear a steak to get the outside nice and caramelized). It was hot and spicy and had a lot of different textures and flavors – I liked it a lot. Actually, I would take this dish over every other rice- or noodle-based dish I’ve seen at fancier Asian fusion restaurants (including Morimoto). In my mind it had the same soul-soothing quality seen in Sampan’s pork banh mi, except for a larger quantity (although it does cost about twice as much). It’s just so simple and hearty, especially on a cold day. (n.b. there are a lot of things that those other fancier places do better, however, like having raw fish or desserts).
g went for the kimchi fried rice – it was good, but a little “blah” because it was a lot of rice and super-finely-chopped ingredients, so it was texturally monotonous. It was more like a dish that everybody would share some as a side rather than one person eat all of. But, then g stole some of the spicy sauce from my dish, and she felt the fried rice could take center stage. I guess her dish just needed a flavor that was more dynamic than what it had originally.
In summary, I’d highly recommend Giwa for some not-fancy food. If you’re afraid of spice, there are still things to eat, like bulgogi and dumplings. Also, you could just use less spicy sauce in your dolsot bibimbap. The dishes will come in around the same price as pastas at La Viola, but for me, I’d take dolsot bibimbap over anything at La Viola, so I have a clear personal winner. And for those who might not have such nostalgia attached to Korean food, I think it’s still inexpensive enough to give it a whirl.
Kanella: Doing the Robot …
t says: g and I anticipated a weekend without any plans, so we decided at the last minute to go out for a date night! We visited Tria first, which was delightful as always. And, after we each had some wine, a bit of tete de moine cheese, and a salad featuring grilled asparagus, white bean, and artichoke, we headed down the street to go to Kanella. Kanella (transl. cinnamon) has gained some attention recently – a lot of people on chowhound enjoy it, claiming that it was one of the best BYOs in the city, and, as I found out right before we went, a dish was going to be featured on Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate”. We didn’t know which dish it was, but were happy to go and check out Kanella’s dinner.
2/2010, Friday Night, Party of 2. When we arrived at the restaurant for a 9:30 reservation, we were told that they were running a bit behind. So we, and at least three other couples, crammed ourselves into the super-tiny entrance-way (it was very cold outside, so we stayed indoors). While some of the other waiting people were getting frustrated, I was still happy from the wine I had at Tria. After the first half-hour, I could only laugh that we were still waiting while no patrons had left the restaurant (we figured someone would have to leave for us to move in). The hostess was super-apologetic for the wait (she apologized every five minutes), but there clearly was nothing she could do. Then, she came with a dish of the grape leaves appetizer “from the kitchen”. Then the chef came out and apologized, bearing a plate of the fried halloumi cheese appetizer. I have to admit that g and I weren’t particularly impressed with either of these. The grape leaves had a nice sour punch, but the stuffing was quite bland. The cheese was just that … cheese. But, these aren’t the kinds of appetizers that we would have ordered, anyhow, so we were happy to try something different and greatly appreciated the sentiment. Eventually we were indeed seated – we were the last couple they were seating that night, so we had a nice four-seater to ourselves. On our way in, an older couple dressing to leave commented, “don’t worry – it’s worth the wait!” We hoped so.
When we sat down, we were greeted by a very friendly waiter. He was super-enthusiastic about the food here, so that was great! But things changed a little when we asked him which dish was being featured on the Food Network. He kind of rolled his eyes and admitted that it was the Cyprus Breakfast. Later on, when I returned home and googled it, it turned out that the Cyprus Breakfast had been garnering quite a bit of critical acclaim recently. The waiter said that he was shocked that it was the dish getting such favorable comments, as he felt other dishes were superior; we appreciated his honesty. But then he commented that they would get a LOT of people asking for it at breakfast, referring to them as “robots”. During our conversation, as another server passed by, ours broke conversation and said, in a robotic voice, “cy-prus-break-fast”, to which the passer echoed “cy-prus-break-fast”. Apparently it was a common joke among the servers that patrons mindlessly order the Cyprus Breakfast. I felt a little awkward by this exchange as I felt that even if it is a “simple” dish, if people are willing to pay for it – who cares? Also, had the dish been a dinner dish that I could have ordered, I think I would have been one of those robots they were making fun of. This possibility led me to conclude: if you like something else better, then that’s all you have to say – you don’t have to put down patrons – have some tact! *steps off soapbox* So, that put a sour taste in our mouths to start.
Having had some food at Tria and also the “ok” appetizers we were given while we stood, we decided to go straight to dinner. g ordered the pork tenderloin with chickpea fritters while I had the lamb with some sort of orzo concoction (?giuvetsi?). g’s pork tenderloin and my lamb were good; they were cooked well and seasoned well, but they just didn’t sing to us – it’s hard to be pleased by a pork tenderloin after having had one at Cochon. But perhaps the meats being only “good” was not the fault of the pork or the lamb or the chef, rather, it was the fault of the orzo side on my plate – it was fabulous. We agreed that it was the most delicious thing on both of our plates. It was rustic and tasty – it could have been a dish by itself. And there was so much that I brought some home and reheated it for lunch the next day – it was still phenomenal (so I knew it wasn’t just the wine talking the night before).
Before our entrees were cleared, we had another odd encounter with our waiter. He dropped by specifically to ask g if the pork “was too rare for her” – but something about the way he said it didn’t make it sound like he was being helpful, rather, being critical – I interpreted it as, “are you too much of a wuss to eat pork the way it’s supposed to be cooked?”. The answer was no, the pork was fine and she was just full, but I was tempted to say “no, it’s just too unremarkable for her to eat the rest”. I bit my tongue and let her do the talking (she doesn’t even remember this happening, so perhaps it wasn’t that big of a deal) …
For dessert, we had their assortment of ice cream which included cinnamon, coffee, and pistachio. The cinnamon ice cream was absolutely delicious – the cinnamon flavor wasn’t overpowering and the texture was great. The coffee and pistachio were also very nice and worked well with the cinnamon – we liked these ice creams very much.
So, all in all, we had an “good” meal at Kanella. There were two shining lights (cinnamon ice cream and the orzo). As for whether the rest could stand up to Kanella’s reputation – maybe it was a rough night in the kitchen with how busy they were? Maybe the attitude of the service influenced our perception of taste? Maybe we were just too full from Tria? I don’t know. But I do know one thing … we will be going back … for the cy-prus-break-fast.
10Arts: Too Much Hype?
t says: One of our favorite shows is Top Chef – we’ve been watching since season 1 (although we skipped season ?3?). We used to love how ridiculous the challenges were, but now we’re moreso drawn to how talented these chefs are! One of the chefs on this past season was Jennifer Carroll, who is the head chef at 10Arts by Eric Ripert. She definitely had “personality” from the very first episode of the season, and her dishes in the beginning and end seemed quite good (she muddled in the middle a bit). As soon as I spotted 10Arts on last fall’s restaurant week participants list, I knew we were definitely going. A new restaurant with a semi-celebrity head chef and an association with the michelin-starred Eric Ripert? How could we go wrong?
9/2009, Friday Dinner, Party of 3, Restaurant Week. A “bistro-lounge”, this restaurant is in the ground floor rotunda of of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. The majority of the dining space is not actually set apart from the hotel’s super-large rotunda, making for a very bizarre atmosphere in that it feels both fancy and cheap at the same time. The hostess was nice, however, our waitress was not – no smiles, no excitement, and no enthusiasm when presenting our dishes. However, maybe restaurant week was taking its toll on the staff? It’s a shame because we knew that we’d have to pretty much ignore her soullessness for the rest of the meal, which can put a damper on the food. But in any case, as we were there for the food, we placed our order and held our breath …
The three of us (g, t, and kp) sampled the Octopus and Heirloom tomato (x2) appetizers; the scallop, hanger steak, and shortrib entrees; and the “frozen snickers” (x3). The octopus was a bit overcooked and thus, a little tough; however it was indeed well-seasoned and had a nice smoky flavor. The heirloom tomato was also “ok”, as it could have used a bit more salt and pepper to make the tomato shine (that’s a weird sentence – maybe nonsensical). All of the mains were well-executed, so we were happy. That said, nothing was super-novel or screamed out “awesome” (well, except for the fries with the hanger steak – everyone agreed they were exceptional spuds!). The dessert, on the other hand, was innovative, and did remind me of a snickers bar (although moreso of a Tasty Kake Kandy Kake, which is even better!). So we were definitely satisfied with the final note of the evening.
Given the paucity of writing/description/criticism (which is unusual for me), you can see that 10Arts had only a “good” showing. Perhaps quality suffered because it was restaurant week? Maybe. Maybe our server’s craptacularocity tainted the meal? Maybe. What however is a little scary is that for those portion sizes, even if they managed to cook everything perfectly, it’s just not worth the prices that I’ve seen on their normal menu (?maybe they give you more if you actually went a la carte? or maybe they’re really aiming for a higher price-point altogether?). This, in combination with the bizarre atmosphere leads me to believe that most people like us with limited budgets are not going to come here for multiple meals – maybe just hotel patrons, food tourists, and super-fans of Chef Jen. I hope she/they can prove me wrong!
Talula’s Table: Totally Worth Waking Up at 4am
t says: There’s a pseudo-restaurant called Talula’s Table. It’s located in Kennett Square, PA, just outside of Philadelphia (so I still consider it “in Philadelphia”). It is our most favorite place to eat dinner … ever. Over the past few years, it’s been recognized as the “Toughest Reservation in America”, ahead of The French Laundry, Per Se, Daniel, etc (although I think Momofuku Ko is nearly as difficult – but I have at least come across open reservations for Ko, so it’s not quite as elusive). Why is it so difficult?
Back in the early 2000’s, there was a BYOB named Django. It had the highest food rating of all Philadelphia restaurants according to the Zagat guide. Laban gave it four (out of four) bells, a mark that no BYOB had earned. Better yet, diners did not need to don tuxes or suit jackets or even button-down shirts to go! It was the envy of the Philadelphia restaurant scene. And then … owners Bryan Sikora and Aimee Olexy sold it, signing a non-compete clause in which they could not open up a restaurant within a certain number of miles (?40?) from Philadelphia. They moved to Kennett Square and opened Talula’s Table, a cafe and market during the day, but a venue for a “catered dinner” in the evening. The catch? Only a single reservation per night is available for the single table of 8-12 people (it’s not even a fancy-looking table). You can guess what happens when supply is so limited, but demand is so high: they are booked solid to a year in advance. And every morning when they open up shop, the phone rings off the hook for people looking to get that single reservation 365 days into the future. Meanwhile, Django in the city closed – clearly, something about Sikora and Olexy is magical.
Well, I got one of these reservations. How’d I do it? Those who know me realize that I’m not one leave a thing like this up to the meager “chance” that I’d be the first person to call Talula’s in the morning. No, that’s not my style. You see, there is a more guaranteed way to get a reservation at Talula’s. One must simply be waiting outside their door when they open – if so, then the phones are disregarded in favor of a visiting patron. Of course, showing up at 7 wasn’t guaranteed enough for me – I was shooting for the Saturday of Labor Day weekend 2009. Clearly I should get there extra early so that I’m actually the first one there. 6:30? No. 6? No. 5:30? No. 5. Yep. I woke up at 4am, drove out to Kennett Square, parked right in front of the tiny little shop, and passed the time with some reading and my iPod shuffle. g had contemplated making a shirt for me that said, “Yes, I’m in line for Talula’s – so back off!”. As you might have guessed, that reservation was mine. (In a twist of fate, some months later, when k got engaged to cm, they decided to get married on Labor Day weekend … 2009 … we “returned” our reservation to Talula’s – they post cancellations on their website or in their shop – so that we could attend their wedding – but of course, that was also totally worth it – what a great time!).
So then how do I know it’s worth waking up at 4am for? Well, you see, Talula’s also has what I like to call “a back door”. They have a “Chef’s Table” for 2-4 right in the kitchen. You call up, put your name on the “list”, and whenever they have an opening, they call you – and you have to decide right then and there (or in a reasonable amount of time – I imagine they give you ’til the end of the day) if you can make it. I put my name on the list, and a few months later … We got the call. The reservation was 1.5 weeks in advance for the middle of the week. I hesitated – did I want to trek out to Kennett Square on a weeknight in December and have to drive back to Philly afterwards? I called up one of our favorite food-friends for a consultation – were we crazy? He replied that for Talula’s, he’d take off from work – it didn’t matter what day, what time, or how he got there. Apparently, we were crazy. And it ended up being so good that g and I returned again in June 2009 (for our anniversary) as well. And it was so good the second time that the weekend we drove up to k and cm’s wedding on Labor Day weekend, I showed up at Talula’s early in the morning again (although only 6am this time), and got the big-table reservation for … Labor Day weekend 2010 (I wonder if anyone’s going to get married this time?)
So, our two visits to Talula’s were over 6 and 12 months ago (12/2008 and 6/2009). It’s far too difficult to remember the nuances of the dishes (each meal is 8 courses – 6 savory, 1 cheese, 1 dessert). But I can say that each meal was phenomenal. My personaol top 5 savory courses from our visits include the following:
Sausage fried scallops, creamy polenta, toasted almonds, and chile emulsion
Confit of Meadowset lamb, rosemary dumplings, and parmesan crusted Vollmecke hubbard
Crayfish bisque “a la Sazerac”, Anson Mills polenta pudding, and fava beans
“All things asparagus” (asparagus prepared 3 ways: roasted, tempura, and FLAN accompanied by bacon dust and mustard foam)
Crispy fried hudson valley moulard, baked beans, and molasses
Also, both of the cheese plates offered such an incredible variety of textures and tastes (Aimee knows her cheese). And the desserts were also not mere afterthoughts – they were Zahav-good. Actually, technically Talula’s was first, so perhaps Zahav’s desserts are Talula’s-good. One was a napoleon of strawberry gelee, strawberry-rhubarb mousse, and wine roasted berries, and the other was a ricotta charlotte with a hazelnut-sea salt crust and blood orange sorbet.
But what makes Talula’s great is NOT just the food – it’s the whole experience. Having dined twice in the kitchen, we were able to see Brian (and Aimee) in action – they are the greatest people ever. Brian’s control of the kitchen is calm and cool. He’ll be the first to admit that he has absolute faith that the kitchen could cook the entire meal without him; he’s super-humble. And then, when we got him philosophizing about the importance of focusing on “food” in restaurants (and not things like atmosphere or props – perhaps a subtle jab at Stephen Starr?), we could see that he’s not in the biz for ego or money – he actually likes food (either that, or he’s a great actor)! Meanwhile, every single member of the staff was pleasant and very courteous and professional (despite not donning bow ties and jackets) – friendly top notch service! Add in the fact that we were able to bring our own wine (and visit great local wineries beforehand – Va La is awesome) and walk to a nearby bed-and-breakfast afterwards (shout out to Gilja of Kennett House!) and what you have is not just a dinner, rather, an unbelievable gastronomic experience. I’m actually a little worried about eating at the big-table – we’d lose out on the connection with the staff and being able to see how everything was made.
By the way, if you do get a chance to go – get some scones to go. They were day-old’s … and they were still awesome. My fave was banana-chocolate, while g’s went ga-ga for the lemon-ginger! I’ve also tasted them at 7am when they are fresh from the oven – I actually considered moving to Kennett Square and commuting to Philadelphia …
Meritage: Solid Food for the Price
t says: My dad and I took a “Sushi Basics” class at the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. It was a ton of fun! What was particularly interesting was that our instructor, Chef Anne Coll, was obviously not Japanese – not Asian at all (from what I could tell). That said, she wowed us with her extensive knowledge of and experience with preparing Asian foods – she used to be at Susanna Foo in its hay-day). She was very pleasant and an excellent teacher, explaining to us the finer points of making sushi rice (super-important), slicing fish, and cutting cucumbers. We thanked her for a great time and bid her farewell.
Fast forward several months. g and I found out that Meritage (a restaurant which co-workers of mine bashed as “the worst restaurant in Rittenhouse”) was getting a new chef: Chef Coll! g and I were super-enthused, so we added it to our list of restaurants to visit (we wanted to wait until after it had been open for a bit to work out its “opening pains”). But of course, by the time we wanted to go, LaBan had given them 3 bells. For those unfamiliar with LaBan, 3 bells is quite a good score, especially given the price point of this restaurant – no entree was over $21 (at the time – I spotted a $23 entree on their website recently)! So, while every restaurant in the city that gets 3 bells (or more) becomes instantly booked for the ensuing 2 months, Meritage was super-booked! Fortunately, we managed to go twice, once in November (on a weekday) and once in December (during the first snowstorm that gave us >20″ of snow).
12/2009, Tuesday Dinner, Party of 3. Service was top-notch throughout the entire meal – our waiter was both friendly and informative about the dishes that were offered and his “favorites”. We opted for the dumpling appetizer and found that while they tasted good, they were not revolutionary – g and I have made better dumplings, ourselves.
Our friend went for the tuna tartare and the pork cheek. Having spent some time in Japan, I half-expected him to be very critical of the tartare, but he actually seemed very happy with the dish. The pork cheek blew him away – it was tasty and so tender that exclaimed, “well, guess I don’t need this!” as he put down his knife and used just his fork. I went for the “duo of pork” which featured a tea-smoked tenderloin and pork belly. The tea flavor was very subtle in the tenderloin, which was well-cooked. Having had Cochon’s tenderloin, with its rich, deep flavor, I felt a little let down – but don’t get me wrong – it was still a very nice slab of meat. Fortunately, I felt that the pork belly was on another world, a definite high note in the meal – it was flavorful, cooked superbly, and made me want to go home and cook it myself (I have, and it wasn’t very good – I’ll get it eventually).
g had a good-but-not-mind-blowing hanger steak with chickpea “fries”. Personally, I loved the chickpea fries – I felt they were novel (although perhaps borderline gimicky) and tasted great with my pork. g liked them, but only ever admitted they were “good”.
The desserts were solid dishes, too, as I remember eating them all, but it’s been so long that I can’t remember exactly what we had. I want to say that we had the chocolate bombe, some sort of pot-de-creme, and some sort of apple fruit tart. It was a pleasant finish to a very solid meal.
12/2009, Saturday Dinner, Party of 3. Meritage was so good (and reasonably priced) the first time that we planned a second visit with our other friend. To start, we sampled the BBQ pork sliders as our appetizer – the meat, bread, and sauce made for a delightful sandwich which was NOT too sweet (I dislike super-sweet BBQ sauce). That said, our friend, who’s from Alabama, reminded us that it wasn’t the most “authentic” BBQ ever (nevertheless, he said he’d eat it again).
g went for the chicken and I had the Jersey monkfish. Both were superbly cooked. g’s chicken was great (and we’ve tasted a lot of bland chicken in our time). g felt that my dish was a little too salty, so perhaps the sauce contained too much ?soy sauce? – but I liked it a lot (I preferred mine to hers, and she preferred hers to mine). Our friend, at our recommendation, went for the pork cheeks, which were once again dynamite (I think he’s started searching for pork cheeks in markets to try and cook them at home). However, his lamb chops, judging by his reaction were satisfactory but unremarkable (at least there were no complaints). Sadly, we were all too stuffed for dessert.
All in all Meritage provided for us two solid meals. The portions were a nice size for the price, especially because within walking distance from our apartment, there really aren’t a whole lot of New American restaurants that fit this bill (e.g. Audrey Claire, which has yet to impress us and Matyson, which, while tasty, gives far too little food for the dollar). No dish we had was “bad”, and the few pork highlights were absolutely inspiring. I especially appreciate some of the creativity in Chef Coll’s dishes and I feel that, over time, Meritage could be huge!
What keeps us from going back? Well, Meritage is NOT a BYOB. That said, their wine list is less expensive than it used to be, with wines by the glass coming in at $8 each. Nevertheless, for $16, g and I could have had a whole bottle of wine at a BYOB, not just two glasses.
Bibou: Cozy and Delicious
t says: As we sat in Meritage on the Saturday of the first big snowstorm we’ve ever experienced in Philly (and what turned out to be the first of many snowfalls for the 2009-2010 winter), we realized that, in all likelihood, restaurants were going to be empty the next day, as the accumulation was >20″. So was there any place that we’ve been dying to try but just couldn’t get a reservation? One name came to mind: Bibou. So the next day, g camped out on opentable.com and waited for someone to cancel their reservation – which they did! Sooo … we aerated/decanted a bottle of ’05 Bordeaux (from the Left Bank), hailed a cab, and off we went! We had effectively squeaked into Bibou!
Unfortunately, a lot of time has passed between now and when we ate, so our memories of the components of each dish are a little fuzzy – but our general impressions are intact and below for your consideration.
12/2009, Sunday 5:30pm, Party of 2, $45 4-course dinner. We were seated promptly at a two-top near the window, which would have been nice, but, because it was snowing, it was quite drafty! We inched away from the window a little bit and went for our wine to give us a nice warm feeling inside. Fortunately, the service was so good that I felt that our location was made up for.
For our first course, we both went with the white bean soup. It was warm and creamy, but still very light and inviting. I was not concerned with filling up on soup.
For our second course, g had the oxtail terrine and I had the escargots. g’s terrine was a cold dish, and she was surprised that she liked it as much as she did, as she’s not the biggest fan of oxtail. I felt that the escargots (with fava beans) outshone the terrine. They were amazingly tender and in a garlicky sauce that tastes “like home”. Don’t be confused – I never had escargots when I was growing up (I’ve actually only had them a handful of times) and I don’t make them in my apartment, but there was something about this sauce that felt homely – it was simple but delicious. After I devoured the snails, g and I proceeded to sop up every last drop of the sauce with our bread.
For the entree, I had the lamb (+$8 premium), while g went for the hanger steak. I remember that the lamb was superbly cooked and well-seasoned – it was a solid, delicious dish of lamb. I unfortunately can’t remember much of the other flavors they coupled with the lamb because I also tasted g’s dish. Hers was better. This was shocking because I love lamb. While I only took a few bites of hers throughout the meal (we like to share), I can say that hers was the best hanger steak I’ve ever had (something about their seasoning, their sauce, and the texture of the meat was as tender as a braised short rib!). Now I know why every restaurant keeps trying to serve it!
We went for the optional cheese plate which gave us three super-flavorful cheeses (no wussy cheeses here). While we don’t know a whole lot about cheese (except for that we like cheese), we appreciated that they picked cheeses with a variety of tastes and textures. That said, g and I are not huge fans of blue cheeses, so we gravitated towards the other 2.
For dessert, we enjoyed the buche de noel and the slice of cranberry pie. While the yule log was an excellent dessert, it didn’t really put forth a ton of flavor; it was simple and to the point: chocolate cake and creamy vanilla filling. It was like a good dessert one could make at home (if one routinely makes buche de noel at home). I preferred the pie. First, the size of our slice of pie was very large for a dessert course – I wonder if they were just trying to get rid of it? Even if they were, and gave us an entire pie, it wouldn’t have mattered – I would have eaten it all. The cranberry tartness was salient but balanced well by the sweet. The filling was not too stiff and not too runny – right on! The crust wasn’t soggy, either. Once again, this was a simple [well-executed] dessert with no frills, however, as you might be guessing, I finished the entire slice, even though I was full – I couldn’t help it.
In summary, Bibou offered a nice, cozy atmosphere and delicious, no-frills food. The hanger steak and escargots were shining stars, while the desserts (that pie!) were a pleasant, simple period on the end of a great meal (Zahav has more of an exclamation point). These, in combination with a great bottle of wine made up the best meal we’ve had since Cochon (it’d be a tough time figuring out who’s better).
Bold Flay-vors Coming to Philly
t says: Some people love Bobby Flay. Some people love to hate Bobby Flay (often referencing the epic Morimoto vs. Flay battle on the original Iron Chef). Regardless of which you are, surely you’d be interested in the spring opening of Bobby’s Burger Palace in West Philly. As a Flay-hater, I know that I’ll definitely go and try one of these burgers in the hopes that it will single-handedly change my mind about him. Additionally, surely my patronage will make up for all of those hurtful, sarcastic comments I’ve made about him over the years (e.g. I’m sure that “what these burgers lack in appearance, they’ll make up for in flavor”). But, if/when the flavor doesn’t make up for it, I’ll just have to comfort myself by writing a scathing review (and visiting Capogiro that’s right around the corner … you know … the one that serves gelato and alcohol – why aren’t there more of these?) …
P.S. Yes, I do love that Tony Luke beat him in the cheesesteak throwdown and that Morimoto beat him in the recent Iron Chef America battle.
after dinner sneeze 