Twenty Manning

261 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, PA

http://www.twentymanning.com/ 

Dear friend Michael from chorus is heading north to raise money for that pauvre little school called Harvard (OK, the Divinity School, but still). So, Mike and I decided to treat him to dinner. Where to go? First stop was Open Table because I hate talking to people. Turns out there were quite a few tables open for Sunday, including Twenty Manning: Michael said he loved it there, and we’d never been but always wanted to, so it was a match made in heaven.

I arrived first and immediately ordered a bottle of Cava ($40) chilled to fete Michael. The boys arrived shortly and we sipped our very balanced  bubbly while perusing the menu. So, TM has two special “deals”: Sunday-Thursday there is a $30 prix fixe special that doesn’t let you choose everything on the menu, but an awful lot; tonight, they were also offering a $100 prix fixe for two that included a bottle of wine and anything off the menu. We were sort of confused as to what this would all mean for a table of three, but the waiter basically said to tack on another prix fixe (hence $30) for the third person and have at it. I lucked out with the cava already being one of the wine selections for the special, so we basically got the regular prix fixe price with our choice of entrees.

Either way, it was a steal, because everything was delicious. We started with a lovely cheese plate, with nary a figurative stinker in the bunch, accompanied by some bread, grapes, raspberries, and apple. We also shared the veggie spring rolls which were perfectly cooked and nicely flavored. This course may give an indication of the Asian influence here: if it makes sense to add Asian flavors, they do it; if not, they’d rather provide something delicious and not been hamstrung by a concept. This is not an Asian restaurant, but instead an upscale restaurant with a chef specializing in Asian cuisine. It fits.

After polishing that off, we dug into our entrees. I had a delicious hanger steak (what is my deal with beef lately?) that was in a rich, slightly fruity jus that perfectly accompanied it (the glass of Malbec I ordered didn’t hurt either). Mike devoured his duck, and Michael delicately dealt with his tuna — all raved.

I can’t even remember what the boys had for dessert because I was obsessed with my strawberry shortcake that was just fabulous — not overly sweet, with flavorful and not gritty shortcake.

The service was very good, as one would expect on a slowish night; the room is very nice — upscale but not stuffy; stylish but not pretentious.

Overall, I was really impressed. For around $200 total we were bowled over by well-prepared and flavorful food, nicely selected wines, and wonderful staff. You can’t ask for much more than that.  I can see why it’s become something of a reliable friend for many Philadelphians, and now I want to try Audrey Claire.

Meritage Philadelphia

500 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, PA

http://www.meritagephiladelphia.com/

We’ve been fans of the Center City Restaurant Week promotion for a while, having sampled El Vez, Bliss, and Cuba Libre during this prix fixe week. Often, the $30 price tag for three courses was a good deal, so long as you chose wisely. However, now that the price has risen to $35, and restaurants have clued in, I’m not sure we’ll be partaking as liberally as we have. Meritage, however, was our latest go. We chose it because it had been on my radar for a bit, and some sources liked it and thought it a good bargain for the promotion.

We met Mike in the wee bar for a little cocktail: he was muscled into a nice white by the sassy barkeep, while Rick and I went for a lovely cava as we enjoy the bubbly if given the chance.

After our drinks, we retired up a couple steps to the awfully red dining room (hence the color of the pictures to follow): I didn’t find it nearly as discomforting as Mike did, but I’m not altogether convinced it’s a great color for the small rooms.

After consulting with the sommelier, we ordered what was a wonderful bold white from Argentina. At around $40, it was a steal, and I continue to be impressed with South American wines — we have yet to have a truly awful one.

For the first course, Rick and Mike selected the tuna tartare, while I had the boston lettuce salad with maytag blue cheese dressing, avocado, and crispy pancetta.

Here, Mike and Rick win, which is hardly a surprise. I have to say that flavor-wise, I was content, though it was perhaps a bit too much blue cheese (I never knew that was really possible); I was a bit underwhelmed by the quantity though (of course, at the end of the meal, I was perfectly content with the quantity, so what do I know?), especially considering that the salad retails for $9.

For the main course, Mike chose the roasted chicken, presented on a Yukon gold potato puree;

Rick had the pan seared salmon on sauteed swiss chard;

and I had the gnocchi with puttanesca:

Again, Mike won. We noted that one doesn’t often get chicken dining out (especially when doing fine dining), because, well, it’s chicken. However, when chicken is done well, it can be really good, and this was. Rick seemed content with his salmon (I didn’t try it, what with my gnocchi fixation and the preponderance of mushrooms on his plate).

So, since I grew up in the hardly Italian-y Pacific Northwest, I only discovered puttanesca in grad school when my friend Seth made it, and I loved it. I liked the spice, and also the strange melange of flavors that I’m not usually a fan of — capers, anchovies, and olives are not on my top 100 list, but together in puttanesca, they work somehow.

Or at least they normally do.  Meritage’s puttanesca is sweet. Like Marie Osmond sweet. Like, too sweet. I mean, I don’t think puttanesca is supposed to be sweet at all, but I was willing to give it a little leeway, but the more I ate, the more I was just overwhelmed. It was odd. The gnocchi themselves were fine (not the pillows of transcendence that Osteria provided, but that’s just unfair, probably), but the sauce was just plain strange.

So, it was then onto dessert; Rick selected the banana bread pudding (natch), while Mike and I chose the chocolate tart with a cranberry compote:

Both were fine; I think we won over Rick, who commented that the banana was not exactly unwelcome, but perhaps unnecessary. The coffee, served from mini french presses, was delightful.

So, Meritage? Eh. The food was good (nothing offensive, really), the service largely good (our server had her flighty moments), and the setting was good. The bill came to a relatively whopping number over $200 owing to our predilection for the potent potables, but that was understandable. No need to go back, but perhaps a need to re-assess our fascination with restaurant week.