Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia’
Philly’s not-so-secret weapon’s secret
t says: So yea, Serpico has been getting a crap-ton of press lately – be it the pedigree of of the chef and his menu, the new digs, novelty of a grated foie dessert, whatever. So, with some reservation, I made a reservation this past week, as it was a triple-celebration:
1) g & t anniversary
2) my birthday
3) after I had just finished the final installment of the national medical board licensing exam
So … basically … it was time to party … To illustrate how important the confluence of these three big momentous occasions was, I had originally made a reservation at Vetri (i.e. that makes the combination of the above three occasions about equal to one celebration of g’s birthday … or at least one celebration on one weekend of g’s birthday … g’s birthday lasts a whole month …). But in the end, I cancelled because I wanted something a little more unique (because 2 of the 3 things were more me-cenric, I got to call the shots).
So … did Serpico live up to the expectations?
Hell yea it did …
So, first, this review has no pictures. g and I had ringside seats … meaning that when you’re that close to the executive chef, you feel less inclined to disrespect by taking pictures of every dish. Sorry guys – no eye candy this time. But what I can say about the food is that it was all superbly done. We started with the scallop crudo which was so delicious that I asked myself “gee – how come more people aren’t serving raw scallop?” And then I realized that our other favorite Philly restaurant, Bibou, does … so Serpico’s in good company – ha! It was a delicious combination of buttermilk and poppy seeds and a green chili oil and a tiny sliver of chive. As g and I ate, we were impressed with the flavor combination – it was a perfect balance that I couldn’t get enough of (truly, we were sad when the dish was done).
Next up, we did a duo of pasta. The hand-torn pasta with the Chinese sausage, chicken skin, snail, cheese, was put in front of me first. It was this peculiar combination of pasta carbonara meats snail and a flair for the Asian. I loved it – I could totally come home and eat me some of that at the end of a rough day, where the intention is to eat myself into a food coma while being hugged by that cheesy-salty flavor. Yummers. The corn ravioli was the most surprising dish – I had not expected the dishe’s richness given the description including corn, onions, and lime. It was actually also very smokey, probably due to the chorizo – so much so that it had this paprika-y flavor that was so strong that g was reminded of eating paprikash when we were in Budapest … right up until the sweet sweet corn hit you. I remarked that “really, these two flavors [the corn and the smoke] need eachother – there’s no other two that can be put together better”. Nice job, chef.
We finished up with the wagyu “chuck flap” (i.e. kinda-lika-short-rib). This was the most traditional of the dishes we had, with two pieces of meat (they was nicely done – not the absolute-most-tender braised beef I’ve ever had, but I don’t think they wanted to go that way – they wanted you to approach it more like cutting into a steak that a fall-apart-at-the-slightest-touch hunk), some perfect broccolini, and “potato” that were perfect little globes of hashed brown. And these were all put together with a sauce that was one-part ?mustard?, one-part ?bbq sauce?, and one-part sweet fruit (?Asian pear?). As you can see, there lots of question marks because in actuality I have no idea what the sauce was, but the sweet was an addictive component that nicely balanced out the rest of the dish.
The rocky road dessert was a bit unremarkable (so go for something more interesting when you go). In its most simple form, it was chocolate ice cream, marshmallow, and some candied nuts. It wasn’t bad, but let’s just say that Talula’s Garden’s chocolate desserts could wreck this one any day of the week … BUT, that brings up an interesting comparison: The Garden vs. Serpico – who’d win that rumble? We decided that Serpico’s food was indeed “fussier” than Talula’s Garden, but it paid off with more interesting flavor combinations. That said, I don’t think there was any one point where we wanted to bathe in any one dish, rather, with each dish, we’d be surprised/impressed and then excited to see what was next – nothing in particular was so great that we’d absolutely have to have it again next time … but don’t get us wrong – we still wanna go back asap!
So what is the secret to this not-so-secret weapon? Check it out (get ready to squint!):
our wine selection for the evening: TOR napa valley 2010 and Alexana Riesling 2012 … Now those who know us also know that our body size and our wallet limits our drinking-out ability – so did g and I really splurge on two bottles of wine off the wine list in one meal? Nope. And if you scrutinize the drink menu when you arrive, you’ll notice that neither of these bottles are listed. How so? Did we have the hook-ups? Were these from the private cellar of the sommelier? Nope and nope. You see, the “secret” is that Serpico doesn’t charge corkage. I’ll write that again so you know it wasn’t a typo: Serpico doesn’t charge corkage. Now when I made the reservation, I asked repeatedly to ensure that this was true (e.g. “So, when you say ‘no corkage’ is that like when restaurants say ‘no corkage’ but actually mean ‘you can’t bring your wine here’ … or do you mean like ‘yea we have a liquor license, but you can BYOB’?”) So at least for now, somehow, the snowball has made it out of hell, Sisyphus finally got that frickin’ boulder up the frickin’ hill, the Pope stopped wearing the funny hat, and the bear did not crap in the woods: a Starr restaurant is not charging corkage so you can BYOB!! You want proof?
so … as you can see, there was no corkage fee, and I don’t think it was because g and I had an extra special consideration. For example, at no point did someone say, “oh it’s your anniversary celebration, so your corkage is on us” or “you guys are just too cute, so your corkage is on us” – they just kept saying “we have no corkage fee” (but they never said “we’re BYOB”). In any case, g and I were “in” to Serpico originally because of the food, but just so long as this no-corkage thing holds out, we will be back many-a-time for sure (of course, then we give the server a super-large tip to compensate because we feel bad … but it’s still cheaper than corkage x2 for the two bottles we brought!). Also, for $81 of food, g and I were stuffed – that’s pretty cheap if we’re going to start drawing comparisons to Talula’s Garden! (But don’t worry, Garden – you know you’ll always be the one we go back to …)
In summary: go to Serpico for the interesting flavor combinations, the friendly staff, and the spectacle Chef Serpico doing what he does (he was great to watch – he was teaching some new guy the ropes while we were there). Stay for the BYO. And finally, debate the “beauty” of “Philadelphia’s most beautiful restaurant” (that was such a stupid title/focus for a post), but instead agree that the chalk drawings by children on one of the walls near the open kitchen are adorable (and secretly wonder if the restaurant staff, themselves, drew it …).
long live pig at cochon
t says: For the past couple weeks, we’ve had some fabulous meals, hitting up Little Fish and Bibou on consecutive weekends. We kept the trend going by visiting Cochon. We visited Cochon for Mother’s day brunch and it was fabulous (as usual … so no pictures taken) – but in that instant, we knew we had to come back for dinner, soon! So we did! And we brought along kp and two other close friends (a and v were still MIA …) to take on the piggerific dining experience that is Cochon.
May 2013, Saturday Dinner, Party of 5. This one won’t be a full review of every dish, as you already got the punchline from the title: YES, Cochon makes delicious food. YES, you should go. NO, leave your vegetarian friends at home. Well, maybe that’s not fair – I keep on wanting to try their unlisted vegetarian item, but I keep getting sidetracked by things like this:
duck heart appetizer: I’m a sucker for a duck heart. Is it the future cardiologist in me? I have no idea. But there’s something that’s so simple about a duck heart that’s wonderful. Tablemates did try it and we agreed: it had the texture of filet mignon, a brilliant smokey flavor (a lot of the grilled items at Cochon have an intense smoky flavor to them), and a surprisingly mild duck flavor. The accompanying sauce added a hint of sweet and that herbed slaw reset the palate nicely. Quite a delicious appetizer!
out-of-focus shredded suckling pig: if you go to Cochon and they offer you the suckling pig as a special … you get the suckling pig. period. super-tender shreds of pig, accompanied by charred brussel sprouts, lentils, and a bacon broth – instant game over. it’s a dish that could do no wrong. now on one hand, it was so rich that after my appetizer I couldn’t finish it all at dinner …
… but on the other, I took home the leftovers and g whipped up an omelette the next morning that was absolutely to-die-for. I show you the picture so you can see in the upper left corner the congealed fat gold that was so critical in the omelette’s success.
Now, we do have to put a disclaimer up here. Cochon is indeed absolutely brilliant. But in a monkey-knife-fight with Little Fish and Bibou, the other two are going to win. Cochon is all about richness and smoke and decadence. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that … But Bibou’s steak is always going to have that extra layer of refinement, and their pig’s foot and lentils will always have the extra depth. Of course … Cochon is easier to get in to and a tad cheaper that the other two, so pick you poison wisely!
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!
gettin’ crazy sushi
t says: A little while ago, I hopped on a groupon for the new sushi eatery: Crazy Sushi. I figured for $20, I could get $40 worth of food, which isn’t that bad of a deal. g and I went on a Monday night and let’s just say that the sushi was a bit crazy, indeed:
We tried out some rolls like the ichiban roll and some other roll in the middle there that were both salmon-based. As soon as this dish hit the table, we knew that we were in for a different kind of sushi … This wasn’t the refined/elegant sushi of Zama. This wasn’t the simple Sunday-night sushi of Tsuki. No, this was over-the-top sushi with big fat rolls piled high with panko and goopy sauces and the like. The problem we ran into is that all we could taste was the sauce! And all our tongues could feel was either the dryness of the breadcrumb or the mush of the spicy salmon. Meanwhile, the bigger pieces of fish in the centers of the roll got lost int he shuffle. Hell, the taste of fish was actually nowhere to be found because of the sauces – which is pretty striking because that pink one in the middle looks to have a huge amount of fish. g and I were scraping off the way-to-sweet or way-too-creamy sauces in an effort to let the purity of fish shine through. But alas. We failed. BUT – on the flip side, we got full REALLY fast (those specialty rolls are filling!).
This plate had a “sashimi roll”. This is perhaps the weirdest affront to sushi anywhere. It’s a huge piece of salmon, but then stuffed with what seems to be ?spicy salmon? and a dollop of sauce. Ugh. The sauce. Furthermore, the pieces of fish, themselves, were so gratuitous that it was a little overwhelming to take all in one bite. I would have rather have had 6 appropriately-sized pieces of salmon by themselves – skip the other crap (but sashimi, itself, is actually very pricey on the menu)
I also ventured the yellow-tail scallion roll, which was a bit below average – it was a very petite size and the scallion had an unusual resiliency to it – must not have been fresh. I also tried the banana tempura roll which was also rather unremarkable (?where’d the crunch go?).
In summary, I think that Crazy Sushi was a ok groupon deal – you can get some raw fish at a reasonable price. But without it, I’d much rather go down the street and over one block to Tsuki. No, Tsuki’s not as “crazy”, but at least I can feel the fish. But, if you’re going with those who are still in the beginning stages of sushi and might be “in” to over-the-top dish ornaments (serious! what’s the deal with that row of twigs near my sashimi?), this place might be fore you. As for me … I was just happy it was BYO! (yea, that Novellum in the background is pretty much the best $10 chardonnay I’ve ever had – think Chardonnay, but without the obnoxious oak and add on a nice touch of zip.)
will’s a little fussy
t says: g and I joined m and n and kp for n’s birthday the other day! It was a blast – good friends, good wine, and somewhere-around-good food. Check it out!
March 2013, Saturday Dinner, Party of a LOT. m was smart and arranged a fixed price menu. We were promised 4 courses for $65 (1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert, 1 piece of cake) I thought that that was a bit high to pay, but m had already calculated in the tax and tip, so then it came about equal to what g and I refer to as “a special occasion meal” … and n’s special, so we were cool with it!
garlic leek soup: it looked pretty, but g felt it was nothing more than a solid soup – nothing profound like fond’s soups – just some garlic and leek flavors that predominated, with a rich base. It was solid.
escargot and chicken liver: at first the sweet and sour flavors tasted kind of like general tso’s sauce on the escargot, but then when mixed with everything else, the dish made more sense (it needed the oomph from the liver to balance out the sweet). However, it was short-lived as there were FIVE total escargots on the plate – five! booo. It was a shame because when all the favors combined, it was actually a very nice symphony in there!
the tetra-chicken: there were at least four preparations of chicken on this plate, and while some of them were snoozeville (the poached breast had a nice texture but underwhelming flavor and was underseasoned), others were great (that chicken skin was ridiculous). It was good fun trying to figure out what was chicken and what was not (given all the shapes of the items on the plate), but ultimately, as soon as you found your favorite “piece”, you were less inclined to go back and eat the other pieces …
steak and mushrooms: this dish was a little disappointing. First off, let’s just put it out there: it failed to reach Garces Trading Company goodness (and certainly would come in at a higher cost). The cut of meat was nice, and the application of heat was technically sound, however, the flavor was underwhelming – it was reminiscent of the steak we had in Paris (the one at Le Chateaubriand, not the one that gave us gastroenteritis). So in the end, it tasted like steak, which is good, but it just didn’t taste like a $30 entree steak. Does that mean it’s kinda-sorta-a-fail? The veggies and mushrooms were a nice touch (although underseasoned), but weren’t enough to carry the dish home. Sorry will.
In all, as the title of the post suggests, we found Will to be a little to “fussy”. We like the idea of pushing the envelope, but sacrificing flavor depth is not an adequate trade-off. For example, the food at Fond is not quite as “fussy” as Will’s, but in the end Fond’s dishes are reliably delicious and will knock you on your ass if you’re not ready for them (and will likely be cheaper to boot!). Sorry Will – for right now, I can’t join the love-fest of all the critics, and I’m going to have to pass. Fortunately, the friends and wine that night more than made up for the food – it was a fabulous dinner overall! Oh – I almost forgot – the desserts were actually quite good – including the chocolate cake they made for n’s birthday! I think that I enjoyed the desserts more than the meats, so that was a splendid finish to the meal – I give them props for not snoozing on dessert!
a cheu dinner … gesundheit!
t says: kp, a, and v went out to dinner without g and me. That’s cool – I’m sure we were working or something. In any case, here for you, they recount their tales of that wonderful April night …
April 2013, Thursday Dinner, Party of 3. We had a one hour wait and and decided to hit Varga Bar before Cheu Noodle Bar.
Varga Bar Chicken Wings: We got their chicken wings, knowing we’d get wings at Cheu. Varga’s were very approachable. They had a nice tang glaze which could have used a touch more heat. Overall, refreshing with tender, juicy meat with mild duck fat flavor. The blue cheese dip was much more for the celery than a needed accompaniment of the wings.
And now for the main event: the newly opened Chew Noodle Bar:
Uncooked ramen with spice: Brought us back to college with a great crunch and impressive heat.
Scrapple: The sweetness of the dish was the most memorable note. A subtle scrapple, not the typical savory punch you in the face type pork concoction. The crunch of the outside had the perfect sizzle but the overall loaf was soft.
Dumplings: Light and airy, again a subtle way of presenting pork with a mild deficiency in salt.
Buns: First, ask nicely and get all three types. The pork had mild crunch on the bun with subtle sweet meatiness of ridiculous soft pork belly. Maybe the crunch in all three was due to cucumber? The “burger” had perfect cilantro pop to a meaty party, but our party disagreed on how good it was overall. The mung bean is best described as an Asian, falafel so good my mother would eat it!
Wings: Sadly undersalted, but great crunch and no grease. Juicy and tender, much like Varga’s, but again a need for more heat.
Cold sesame noodles: Light airy noodles with less starch and more flavor… Dare we say better than Han’s? (t interjects: for real? no way! now I have to go there!)
Briskest noodle soup: What. A. Mess. By far the weakest link due to a starchy Asian broth (that was more like gravy) and overcooked soggy noodles. And again, the dish lacked salt.
a and v say: So … in summary … right now, the feel of the place is a hybrid between Alla Spina & a typical Philly BYOB (with an Asian flare!). Would we go again? Definitely but be ready for some inconsistency and to have “minor” dishes stand above the big boys. This place has promise but they need to get their noodles/soup in order. The undersalting is a surprise but could be due to a lack of MSG-type flavor enhancers (a good thing) or a want to be “under instead of over” (a less good thing). Oh, and one final note, GET THERE SOON WHILE THEY ARE STILL BYOB.
after dinner sneeze 