Next Door Bar

126 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne, PA

http://www.teresas-cafe.com/

We had some time to kill before catching a train into the city, so we decided to get a quick drink and nosh beforehand. Seeing as how there is nothing within walking distance to my usual R5 stops, we journeyed to Wayne, where I knew there had to be something. Walking from the train station, I remembered hearing about the bifurcated Teresa’s Cafe/Next Door Bar and thought that might be a good option.

We sat at the end of the bar, which wasn’t exactly the most desirable place, as it was where servers congregated waiting for drink orders and also where dirty glasses were deposited for the bartenders to wash; I would think there would be a better system for that, but if that’s my only complaint, then you know it was a good experience.

And it was. We didn’t have all that much time before our train left, so we ended up going small — a couple of salads and a shared cheese plate. To start though, we each chose a beer, and I chose the wonderful Allagash White, which is my new favorite beer: a classic Belgian from the fruity, wheaty side of the family (see Delerium Tremems, Golden Monkey, et al.), it wasn’t quite as misstep-inducing as its brethren, which was exactly what I wanted. I can’t remember what Rick ended up having, because I was so obsessed with the Allagash.

Our salads were quite good, save for perhaps being a bit overdressed and undertossed: I chose the nuts and berries (spinach, bleu, walnuts, currants) while Rick chose the three bean (fava, English peas, and haricots verts) and radish. They were both tasty and hit the spot. We then shared a generous serving of Humboldt Fog with an assortment of bread and some seriously good balsamic strawberries.

As I said in my previous posts, I would kill for a place like this around us: a relatively affordable gastropub that served great beers and great food — someplace that had a good vibe where you could go for a good meal or just a beer. Please. Do this, someone.

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.

Osteria

640 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130

http://www.osteriaphilly.com/

For quite a while, we’ve been coveting a reservation at Vetri, the little Italian boite in the gayborhood that many laud as the finest Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, if not the eastern seaboard, and therefore presumably America. No, I’m serious. Mario Batali said so.

However, reservations are difficult to come by, so all of Philadelphia rejoiced when Marc Vetri opened Osteria, a slightly less formal and definitely larger restaurant north on Broad–an odd place to put a restaurant, but give him marks for gumption.

We tackled it with fellow foodie, Donna, who had heard great things about both places from the national paper of record. We made a reservation on Open Table, and, though we were a bit early, they seated us relatively quickly. However, the table left some things to be desired. First, we were placed in the adjoining greenhouse space. The problem with the space was not temperature-related, though I assumed on a cold winter’s night that it would be cool. The problem with the space is two-fold: it is noisy (as conversations rattle off of the glass walls and the stone floor), and it just lacks any warmth of character. The tables are far apart, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the arrangement lacks the excitement of the interior spaces. Second, the table was plainly a two-top that had been transformed into a three-top. I asked the server if this was indeed going to work, and she assured me it would. It did, sort of: as the meal progressed, we were soon playing a game of plate and glass Twister, trying to find space for everything, and eventually moving things to the ledge above us to create more space. Overall, I felt like I was getting a bad a less-than-great table in a less-than-great space: not the kind of first impression one should give–everyone should have similar experiences of comfort, as much as possible.

However, the food made up for the space, as did the service. Since my memory is horrible, I can only remember what I had (this was about a month ago), and barely that.

We shared the pizze polpo — octopus, tomato, red chili flakes, and mozzarella:

Yeah, it was that good. It was perhaps a bit more “done” (read: burnt) than I would like, but the flavors and textures were wonderful.

My primi piatti was a gnocchi with parmesan, because I love me some gnocchi. The first place I ever had gnocchi? Salzburg, Austria, August 1992. One remembers these things. Anyway:

A little crock of heaven, frankly. I can say with certainty that this was the best gnocchi I have ever had. Unlike most gnocchi, these didn’t go into your stomach and expand, creating eight times their weight in dumpling goodness. No, these were light gnocchi, but certainly not “lite,” as that cheese and oil were there to help things along. God it was good.

Finally, I had a venison special, because, well, why not? I don’t remember how it was prepared, but it came with some potatoes:

It was very good. Not knockout, blow-me-down, but very good. (Also, can you see how cramped we were? Sheesh.)

From what I can remember, Rick had a soup (very good) and lamb (I think?); I don’t remember Donna’s first course, but she got the rabbit for dinner, and it was good as well. Perhaps they can fill things in in the comments. Here are pics to refresh their memories:

Perhaps I went in with crazy expectations, but who couldn’t? The meal was very good–food quality across the board great, excellent service, and fine drinks (limoncello!). However, I really think that initial impression somewhat soured me; moreover, I just wasn’t slapped upside the head by anything except the gnocchi, and that was just a little crock. I would definitely go again, and I would definitely recommend it, and I definitely still want to go to Vetri, but…it’s not in my Top 5. Sorry.

California Tortilla

1836 Ridge Pike (Court at Upper Providence), Royersford, PA 19468

http://www.californiatortilla.com/

One of the tragedies of moving out east was the sudden lack of good, quick Mexican food. Delaware had for an instant a place called Maui Tacos that largely sufficed, C’ville has Tortuga’s which is overpriced and odd (though did have Cornados, which were like crack–fried corn fries with melted cheese on top. Seriously, how could one possibly resist?), and there are taquerias in Norristown that I haven’t quite gotten to yet. Also, we’ve had a bunch of chains pop up within 20 minutes of us–Baja Fresh and Qdoba (no Chipotle yet, and their insane tortilla chips), but they’re a bit far for that quick, what the hell are we having for dinner moment. Of course, all I really want is for El Pavo to be built next door to my house. Please make this happen.

Anyway, I was very excited that, in addition to us getting a shiny new Target near us, we were getting something called California Tortilla. Turns out it’s a mid-Atlantic chain (suspect, of course) with sites in MD and VA. I was curious and excited.

Well, we’re there weekly, and I think everyone else is too as it’s always crowded. I mean, it’s not going to revolutionize Mexican food, but what they do, they do it well. My favorite at this point is the Thai Chicken burrito (photo, sadly, came out fuzzy) because I can’t get enough peanut sauce in my life. Rick typically gets a burrito bowl, alternating with the limey Havana and the Spicy Sunset options.

Really, everything we have had has been good. They also have this wall o’ hot sauce which is sort of fun to experiment with, and really enables you to customize the already customizable burritos to your liking.

The portions are also quite good: we have always ordered the regular size burritos and have always left full. The value is also good–we typically have a $15 tab between the two of us for two burritos, my side of chips and queso (um, I simply cannot turn down melted cheese), and two drinks. My only complaints are the crowds (yeah, you can’t save tables, you rat bastards) and the over-chipperness of the staff and concept (cf. ), but I’d rather have that then rudeness or dankness I suppose.

So, if you’re in the western burbs and need Mexican with good quality and quickness, California Tortilla will do you right.