|
 |
|
Philadelphia's Dining Scene: What's New and Notable?
Fall 2006 and Beyond
Press Release
PHILADELPHIA’S DINING SCENE: WHAT’S NEW AND NOTABLE?
Fall 2006 And Beyond
PHILADELPHIA, September 6, 2006
New On The Scene
More than 140 years after it closed for business, Fairmount Park’s famed Water Works—onetime home to the engine room for Philadelphia’s cutting-edge water department—reopened this summer as a chic destination lounge and restaurant. Sitting right below the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Water Works Restaurant and Lounge has an amazing view of Boathouse Row. On 24-year-old chef Adan Trinidad’s menu: grilled octopus with cilantro, duck risotto with porcini mushrooms and vanilla butter-poached lobster. Philly’s edgy Northern Liberties neighborhood recently welcomed extremely hip and colorful Bar Ferdinand, where Owen Kamihira, designer for restaurateurs Stephen Starr and Jeffrey Chodorow, serves true tapas—steamed cockles, fennel salad and saffron broth; savory crab and white asparagus flan; charred watermelon, Serrano ham and tarragon—all at reasonable prices. Spanish libations and weekly specials of $1 draft beer and $2 wines by the glass round out the offerings. Near French Creek State Park in Chester County, chef Martin Gagne has taken refuge in the Inn at St. Peter’s Village, where white tablecloths and French influences turn local ingredients into elegant New American fare. Adding to Center City’s already prolific assortment of Italian bring-your-own-bottle (BYOB) restaurants is Roberto Café, owned and operated by a native of Apuglia, Italy, and serving Dover sole and mozzarella-topped gnocchi in bright tomato sauce.
Tria
Photo courtesy of Tria
BYOBs for the Non-Wine Drinker
Philly’s cozy contingent of bring-your-own bottle restaurants traditionally demand diners tote along their favorite Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir. That is, until BYOB restaurateurs decided to tap non-wine-loving customers who prefer beer, tequila, rum and the like. Lolita, a hip Center City spot for inventive Mexican cuisine, serves fresh-squeezed seasonal juices in chic pitchers to patrons wishing to mix in their own tequila for margaritas. Both the Jamaican Jerk Hut (South Street) and Geechee Girl Rice Café (Germantown) offer homemade ginger beer that mixes with rum and lime to make island-inspired dark ‘n’ stormies. Down home joints like Sweet Lucy’s Smokehouse (for the best barbecue in town) and Tacconelli’s Pizzeria (where customers call 24 hours in advance to reserve their dough) are perfect for toting along a six-pack of locally brewed Yards beer. Bryn Mawr’s Café Fresko and Lourdas Greek Taverna serve souvlaki, rack of lamb and Greek-style fish that practically cry out for ouzo.
Healthy Pizza
In the past, Philly’s pizza praise went to classic joints such as Port Richmond’s family-run Tacconelli’s, where you have to call ahead to reserve dough, or the sublimely straightforward pizza at South Philly classic Marra’s. Lately, however, there’s been a regional explosion of health-conscious (and still delicious) pizzas. Springhouse’s family-friendly BYOB Arpeggio sends wheat-crusted, artichoke or mushroom-topped marvels into its wood burning oven and serves them up with stuffed grape leaves and big, Mediterranean salads. Despite its name—and its popular curbside (and traditional) delivery—Manayunk’s Couch Tomato Café keeps it healthy by offering fresh and inventive veggie toppings and 20 different salads. Longtime favorite Philly BYOB Mama Palma guarantees its all-wheat crusts to be just as tasty as its white-flour crust. Got a wheat allergy? Still on South Beach? Doylestown’s Jules Thin Crust creates savory pies to suit most any diet (how about a gluten-free crust topped with broccoli, garlic, lemon and mozzarella?) and serves them with organic teas and salads.
Featured Chef: Jose Garces, Amada
Last year, Jose Garces debuted Amada, a stunning Spanish and New World-influenced tapas restaurant in Old City that attracted immediate crowds—and now ranks among Philly’s hardest-to-score reservations. The 33 year-old maverick trained under Douglas Rodriguez, the father of Nuevo Latino cuisine, before Garces helmed the kitchens at both Alma de Cuba and El Vez, two wildly successful Latin-influenced Stephen Starr restaurants. This fall, Garces will open a yet unnamed “pinxto” and wine bar in Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. “Pinxtos” are the Basque region’s unique Spanish- and French-influenced version of tapas. The wine list will largely consist of wines from Northern Spain and Southwestern France.
Tackling Tapas
The aforementioned Amada and Bar Ferdinand indicate the popularity of the region’s small plate restaurants. Near Rittenhouse Square, Noche, one of seven restaurants belonging to Philadelphia bar entrepreneur Avram Hornik, is an upstairs taproom drawing laid-back crowds for drink specials and Argentinean-influenced empanadas, meatball sandwiches and steak and chicken on bruschetta platters. Horizons Café, near bustling South Street, offers amazingly delicious vegan tapas—edamame guacamole, Jamaican barbecue seitan ribs, smoked tofu and wild mushroom enchiladas, along with vegan wines and beer—in its island-inspired downstairs lounge. The Main Line’s Citron is a tribute to Spanish and Mediterranean cooking, including a major concentration of appetizer-sized portions of cumin-spiked chorizo, fried calamari and warm lima bean salad, which lead up to serious paellas and fish dishes.
Wine Time
Long known as the beer brewing capital of the western hemisphere, Philadelphia has recently come into its own in the wine scene. Venerable wine bar standouts include: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, with its romantic upstairs Tank Bar and longstanding policy of low-markups ($10 per bottle), Old City’s Panorama, a traditional trattoria with a bar that dispenses vintages from an overhead pouring system, and Le Bar Lyonnais, Le Bec-Fin’s hideaway downstairs bistro, which doesn’t accept reservations, but does offer reasonable, a la carte pricing for four-star dishes, and serves the same world-renown vintages as upstairs. New on the list is Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro, an industrial-chic wine bar with a chandelier made of empty bottles, a list of 60 wines by-the-glass—from a bubbly G. H. Mumm & Cie to a rich Cotes du Ventoux Grenache—in the heart of Center City, just steps from City Hall. Only a few years old, Rittenhouse Square’s Tria is a naturally lit sidewalk cafe and corner bar specializing in the fermentation trio of very select wine, beer and cheese. Tria’s menu describes accessible but unique vintages as “funky,” “smooth” and “social” and offers all wines by the glass or bottle. University City’s Penne Restaurant and Wine Bar is known for its chef-driven pasta laboratory—and for its spectacular flights of mostly Italian wines, such as a $29 sampling of Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello di Montalcino.
Asian Tour de Force
The region’s amazing array of Eastern Asian restaurants stretches beyond Philadelphia’s Chinatown. Iron chef Masahuru Morimoto holds court in his futuristic, eponymous Japanese restaurant, where fans and foodies flock for sublime sushi, tofu prepared tableside, warm octopus carpaccio and an exciting omakase tasting menu. Deep in South Philly, tiny, modest Hardena attracts crowds from far and wide for its hot buffet of Indonesian spicy beef rendang, peanut-sauced cabbage salad, and on weekends, chicken and lamb satay cooked out back. Near the increasingly international Italian Market, Café de Laos offers a double menu of Laotian and Thai specialties, including catfish, tom yum soup and a variety of lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime-enhanced Laotian appetizers. On the Main Line, chef-restaurateur Margaret Kuo oversees her own mini empire. Her popular and far-reaching restaurants incorporate sushi bars, Chengdu (Szechuan) menus and classic Mandarin dishes. Northeast Philadelphia is known for its Korean barbecue-style restaurants, and capital among them is Jong Ka Jib, a simple storefront famous for its chile-spiced tofu stew served in hot stone bowls.
Around the World in Old City
Philadelphia’s most popular neighborhood for a night on the town holds it own when it comes to authentic, international dining. At chef Patrice Rames’ ship-shaped Patou, the largely French Mediterranean menu offers spicy shrimp pil-pil, sublime bouillabaisse, lavender-crusted halibut and St. Tropez cake. Before it gets packed with Guinness-pounding pubgoers, The Plough and the Stars is a laid back spot for authentic Irish fare such as oak-smoked salmon and pork tenderloin beneath a rasher of bacon. Diners request spots on the floor at Kabul, a vegetarian-friendly Afghan BYOB specializing in saffron-spiced dishes and dumplings. Konak Turkish Cuisine offers a literal soup-to-nuts of Turkey’s finest fare, including lamb kebobs, imam bayildi (stuffed eggplant), homemade pita and delicious sigara borek. Native Indian and just-visiting eaters put Karma on regular rotation for spicy-rich butter chicken, raisin-stuffed nan and tender lamb curry.
ADDRESS BOOK
New On The Scene :
-
-
-
Inn at St. Peter’s Village, 3471 St. Peter’s Road, Elverson, (610) 469-2600
-
Roberto Café, 2108 South Street, (215) 545-0793
BYOBs for the Non-Wine Drinker :
-
-
Jamaican Jerk Hut, 1436 South Street, (215) 545-8644
-
-
Sweet Lucy’s Smokehouse, 7500 State Road, (215) 331-3112
-
Tacconelli’s Pizzeria, 2604 E. Somerset Street, (215) 425-4983
-
Café Fresko, 1003 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, (610) 581-7070
-
Lourdas Greek Taverna, 50 N. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, (610) 520-0288
Healthy Pizza :
-
Tacconelli’s Pizzaria, 2604 E. Somerset Street, (215) 425-4983
-
Marra’s, 1734 E. Passyunk Avenue, (215) 463-9249
-
Arpeggio, Spring House Village Shopping Center, 909 Sumneytown Pike, Spring House, (215) 646-5055, www.arpeggiobyob.com
-
-
Mama Palma, 2229 Spruce Street, (215) 735-7357
-
Featured Chef: Jose Garces :
Tackling Tapas :
Wine Bars :
Asian Tour de Force :
-
-
Hardena, 1754 S. Hicks Street, (215) 271-9442
-
Café de Laos, 117 S. 11th Street, (215) 467-1546
-
Margaret Kuo, 175 E. Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, (610) 688-7200; 4-6 W. State Street, Media, (610) 892-0115; 1067 W. Baltimore Pike, Media, (610) 566-4110; 190 Lancaster Avenue, Malvern, (610) 647-5488, www.margaretkuos.com
-
Jong Ka Jib, 6600 N. 5th Street, (215) 924-0100
Around the World in Old City :
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside™ a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region’s vitality. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.
Note to Editors: For photos of Greater Philadelphia, visit our Photo Gallery. On the pressroom, you can also subscribe to RSS feeds to receive updates on topics that are specifically of interest to you: What’s New, Dining, Events, Seasonal Travel, Hotel Packages and Tourism Research.
CONTACT:
Donna Schorr, GPTMC
(215) 599-0782, donna@gptmc.com
Related RSS Feeds
| Topic |
XML Feeds |
What's New
This feed will be updated whenever any new content is added to Gophila.com’s Press Room. It includes all topics. |
 |
Dining
Restaurant news, trends, openings, etc.
|
|
What is RSS?
|