I was going to talk about butter (and radishes, but mostly butter), but I’m holding on to that post for a bit out of respect for Cee‘s gall bladder.
But last night my belly dancing teacher asked me about a local restaurant, and I don’t believe I have talked about it here yet… so let me pull up details from the dregs of my deeply fallible memory.
I think I’ve eaten there twice. Possibly, though, there was a third time.
One of the times was for University City Dining Days (maybe 2005-ish?). I had an absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful dish with a mound of fragrant white rice, some baby green beans/peas of some variety… and something else. Heartbreaking because I remember biting into the rice and having it almost… but not quite… cooked enough. But it was so flavorful, I ate almost all of it, anyway. And I remember the beans (maybe they were snow peas?) not having had the strings pulled… possibly because the fresh sexy presentation had left them with their tops and tails. But they were also crisp and flawless and would have been amazing otherwise.
And the other time was just this past summer for brunch. And their brunches are rather legendary – with the restaurant always spilling over with happy people. There was a pitcher of orange juice for the table, and it was delicious freshly squeezed orange juice (but pricy). I ordered the french toast – it had a nice crunch as you sunk your fork into it (battered before frying, maybe – I don’t remember). It was generously dusted with powdered sugar and had a fruit compote that was very sweet, indeed. I ended up trading it, though, with a friend who had ordered the frittata with andouille topped with hollondaise sauce – it was too spicy for her. It wasn’t too spicy for me, and I quite liked it. The hollandaise was slightly off putting, but I think that might be my lack of sophistication showing – but it was almost like pure coddled egg yolks with hardly any other flavor… but I don’t usually have dishes with hollandaise because I find it too flavorful when made other places. And I do like egg yolks, so I’m not saying it was bad. Honestly, I think the best meal was had by my friends who just ordered eggs, toast, and bacon.
So this sounds like a bad review… and it kind of is. BUT – both times, even though they were both fairly busy, I had wonderful service. And the space itself it wonderfully West Philly. It’s entirely possible that the next time I do, it will be the most amazing time ever.