Zahav is my favorite restaurant on the entire planet. No question.
Chef Michael Solomonov is an utter culinary genius. Don't take my word for it: he won the prestigious James Beard award in 2017 for Outstanding Chef of the Year. That makes it impossible to get a reservation at Zahav. Zahav is the Hebrew word for "gold", and Chef Solomonov certainly has the golden touch. He has amassed a culinary empire in Philadelphia, but Zahav is clearly the jewel in the crown.
The meal starts with hummus and laffa bread baked in their wood-fired oven along with salatim–small salads packed with mind-blowing flavors. My favorite salads include the smoky twice-roasted eggplant, sweet red pepper and carrot, and creamy beet salads. I heard Chef Solomonov describe how he invented the recipe for the latter salad in person.
When Chef Solomonov wrote the Zahav cookbook, he did a book signing at the restaurant, and of course I bought a ticket to attend. Chef Solomonov was asked how he came up with recipes. He describe the process for his marvelous beet with tahina salad: beets are sweet, he said, and you need to pair that in a dish with something bitter. What is bitter, he asked? Tahina (ground sesame seeds, also known as tahini). Those two ingredients, along with garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and complementary herbal notes from fresh dill and fresh mint make this recipe utterly magical. As one has more and more culinary experiences, it becomes an increasingly rare surprise to be able to taste something truly new and exciting. This recipe was one such surprise. I took my sister (the ex-Restaurant Critic and Food Editor at Philadelphia magazine) to Zahav, and she loved the salad, even though she hates beets. Chef Solomonov was in the restaurant that night after our meal, and when my sister approached him to ask him to sign her copy of his cookbook, she told him, "You are a fucking genius!" I fully agree.
Anyhow, the hummus and salatim are just the start. An interlude includes small plates (mezze), my favorite of which is fried cauliflower served with a creamy herbed labneh (yogurt-like) sauce. I know what you are thinking: how can cauliflower be amazing. Trust me. It is. Next come grilled dishes (Al Ha’esh) like skewers of lamb merguez sausage, hanger steak, or branzino. The real star of the show comes last: their fall-off-the-bone lamb shoulder cooked with chick peas in a sweet and savory pomegranate molasses, served with a fabulous Persian wedding rice. The selection of wonderful Israeli and Middle Eastern wines make for amazing pairings.
The bad news is that since winning the James Beard award, it is impossible to get reservations for Zahav. The good news is that you can just show up and, if you can get a seat at the bar, order everything on the menu. It's worth it, as the food tastes exactly the same no matter where you sit.
I have met Chef Solomonov several times, and he is a warm, humble person. With his success, he could be a complete asshole, but he is just a truly lovely human being in person. Zahav is a truly magical experience, and Chef Solomonov is an utter genius. Experience it!
Labeling this Stephen Starr restaurant "American" is not entirely accurate, since they often do many other cuisines, but it had to go somewhere. By day, Talula's Daily is a coffee and lunch place. Quaint. Purposely mismatched furniture. Purposely mismatched plates and silverware. By night, however, the place becomes a foodie's paradise. Talula's Daily Secret Supper Club menu is a five-course prix fixe menu that is the same every day for the entire month. That means that they do one meal over and over and over for the entire month. They get it down. They perfect it. Two of the top five meals of my life have been experienced here. It's all right there - all right there. Look, eat, kneel, pray.
And while they have been fabulous about making accommodations for my gluten intolerance, there are no other choices for the five course dinner...unless you go for the wine pairings...and you must go for the wine pairings. Their pairings are always spot-on. It's all right there - all right there. Look, drink, kneel, pray.
The Basque region of northern Spain shares a small border with France, so the theory goes that Basque cuisine shares features of both Spanish and French cuisine. I don't really care if the theory is true, I just know that I love Tinto, Iron Chef Jose Garces' Basque-themed restaurant.
Tinto holds a special place in my heart. A recent experience with my Fiancée involved putting our fate in the hands of the chef's tasting menu, which was made all the wiser by our decision to go with the wine pairings for each course. Highlights of that meal include Brochetas de Cordero (lamb brochettes with eggplant, bacon, and sherry jus), Pulpo (Spanish octopus with smoked green olive aioli, crispy potato, and tomato escabeche), and Vieiras con Guisantes (scallops, peas, toasted bomba rice cream, and wild mushrooms). Quite frankly, those dishes alone would have made this one of the top ten meals of my life.
That said, it got better: the star of the evening was the Entrecôte (beef tenderloin with seared foie gras, broccoli rabe, Roquefort cheese, and sherry & prune jus). Sorry...having a moment...
With the dessert course, we shared a glass of PX (Pedro Ximénez) sherry made from overly ripe grapes so that it tastes like liquid (and alcoholic) raisins.
That meal was truly one of the best that I have ever had. Thank you, Chef Garces.
Amada is one of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia. A Spanish tapas restaurant, it is the jewel in the crown of restaurateur Jose Garces, the Iron Chef with an impressive restaurant empire. I love going to Amada for two reasons: (1) food is served family style, so everyone in your party will have a shared experience of having tried exactly the same things, and (2) you will have so many small plates that, even if you have some that don't blow you away, you will still have so many small plates that will blow you away that you will leave blown away!
I remember the first time that I went to Amada and had the Ensalada de Jamon: a salad with Serrano ham, figs, cabrales blue cheese, and spiced almonds. When you order a salad, you think that you are going to receive a bowl of green stuff. Not so with this one. What is delivered to your table is what looks like a meat log. You're thinking "What??" The thinly sliced Serrano ham is wrapped around the other salad ingredient (lightly dressed) and presented on a plate. You dig in, destroying the meat log illusion, and get a wonderful symphony of savory / salty / sweet / bitter all going on in your mouth at once. This was one of the dishes that garnered Jose Garces the Iron Chef title on The Food Network.
An amazing selection of cured meats and cheeses (you must try the Manchego with lavender truffled honey) as well as the meats, seafood, and poultry grilled "a la planxa" are mouthwateringly delicious. If you like garlic and seafood, the Gamas al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp) is a must, as are the Albondigas (lamb meatballs with shaved Manchego cheese and truffles).
Wonderful Spanish wines (try the red Rioja or Ribera del Duero), great Sangria, and wonderful cocktails like Tie Me Up / Tie Me Down (vodka, lemon, and fresh rosemary) round out the experience.
This French brasserie by renowned restaurateur Stephen Starr will make you feel as if you are in France (only with English-speaking servers). You will be swiftly brought some bread and butter–the baguettes are amazing, and the butter is high quality European style (i.e.,high fat content). The Salade Lyonnaise,a lightly dressed and beautifully composed plate of frisée lettuce, lardons, roasted potato cubes, and a perfectly poached egg is probably one of my favorite things on the menu (minus the croutons which I can no longer eat). I love their oysters, which are always amazing, even during the period when they are supposedly not the best (the months that do not have an “r” in their names). A glass of Sancerre always complements the oysters nicely, as it does the luscious Tuna Carpaccio, simply and delicately plated with a leek vinaigrette.
Back when I could still eat gluten, the Quiche Lorraine (only on the lunch menu) is hands down the best I have ever had, with a rich, buttery crust and a filling so creamy, custardy, and delicate that your mouth will not stop thanking you. It is served with a little side salad to make you feel less guilty about eating something so rich. Speaking of rich, although I love seared foie gras paired with a combination of acidic and sweet accompaniments,I have never been a big fan of pâté. That said, the Chicken Liver Parfait with Red Wine Gelée is just too sinfully rich and delicious to pass up, smeared over a slice of one of Parc’s delicious breads.
During spring, summer, and fall, the best seats are on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, where you get a view of the glorious Rittenhouse Square right across the street. With the park and the passersby, it will be as if you were sitting outside at a bistro in Paris.
Estia is my favorite Greek restaurant in the city. Their appetizers are a delightful way to start the meal, especially the Estia Chips: thinly sliced zucchini and eggplant, seasoned and lightly floured, fried to a delicate crispiness, and served with a thick, bold tzatziki sauce. The grilled octopus appetizer is the best that I have had anywhere in the world. They have a front-loading clothes washing machine that has never held clothes or detergent. Rather, it is filled with octopus, cold water, and sea salt to gently tumble and therefore tenderize the octopus before it is grilled to perfection. Cooking octopus is like cooking squid: if you screw it up, it is slightly more tender than rubber tire inner tubes. There are no such worries at Estia: after charcoal grilling it to perfection, they dress it lightly with an vinaigrette dressing, toss it with red and sweet onions, dill, roasted peppers, capers, and parsley and serve it immediately. It has the consistency of delicate, succulent chicken. Literally the best octopus I have ever eaten anywhere in the world.
For main courses, they do fish better than anyone else in the city of Philadelphia. You can get a whole fish (yes, with the eyes) grilled to perfection, but they will bring it to you to show you how it has been flawlessly cooked, then take it away and take the fish off the bones for you. Easy! Fish is served with a magical emulsion of olive oil and lemon. I gave up trying to duplicate it at home a long time ago. It's so good that you will want to get some for an IV drip. For lamb lovers, the Arni Trahana is a must: fall-off-the-bone lamb cooked in onions, garlic, tomatoes, herbs, and a hint of cinnamon (WOW!), the sauce from which is used to cook orzo pasta which is mixed with Greek cheese and served under the braised lamb shank. Their lamb chops are also out of this world (marinated overnight in lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic).
Their wine selection is great, and I have grown very fond of the Greek red Agioritiko (pronounced "eye your ih tea co"). The Greek desserts (which I can no longer eat since they contain gluten) are wonderful, including the Ekmek, crispy shredded dough topped with a layer of creamy custard.
Italian for "by hand", A Mano is an amazing BYOB restaurant near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Their menu rotates, but thankfully my favorite thing on menu stays on by popular demand. It is their Braised Pork Shank, with fall-off-the-bone tender meat served on a bed of creamy Taleggio cheese polenta and topped with pickled fennel. I have tried many other main dishes at A Mano, but not recently, as I always have the Braised Pork Shank now. Stick with what you know and love, I say. If they have it as an antipasto offering, the Tuna Crudo is great, and the Veal Tartare (with black truffle conserva and mushroom aioli) is heavenly. All dishes come out looking like works of art, as their plating is impeccable. Although I cannot eat gluten anymore, I have been told that their handmade pastas are amazing.
Yet another Stephen Starr restaurant, this one is his collaboration with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. The sushi is wonderful, as are the sake flights. On a particularly memorable dinner, I had the black cod with miso and wasabi fried rice while my Fiancée had Duck Duck Duck—perfectly cooked duck breast with a fried duck egg served over duck confit fried rice. I am glad that I went to Morimoto for that meal, as it changed my mind about the place to be honest. I had gone several years before and went for the Omakase (chef's choice multi-course tasting menu) with the sake pairing and was not overly impressed. I would go back for the black cod and Duck Duck Duck in a heartbeat!
A lot of people from outside Philly are unfamiliar with the concept of a "BYOB", that is, a restaurant where you are allowed and encouraged to bring your own bottle(s) of wine. Melograno is just such a place. It really can cut down on the cost of a meal, as you are able to bring your own wine and not pay the ridiculous mark-up that restaurants usually get. For the record, there is a wonderful wine and spirits show on Market Street between 21st and 20th just a few blocks away. As far as the food goes, Melograno is spot-on.
Their pastas are all handmade in house. My favorites (when I could eat gluten) were the Pappardelle Tartufate (wide pasta with wild mushroom, walnuts, truffle oil, and Pecorino Toscano cheese) and Pappardelle al Ragú di Cinghiale (wide pasta with Medici spiced braised wild boar ragu). If you can't choose between them, go with somebody else, order both, and split them. They are very gluten-friendly, and I particularly love their Risotto ai Gamberoni (shrimp risotto). My Fiancée's daughter ordered one of their pizzas and said it was the best she had ever had.
The manager is lovely, and the place is warm and inviting.
There are two VIetnam restaurants--one in Chinatown and a cafe in University City. I have only eaten at the one in Chinatown and will never go anywere else. The food is stunningly delicious--fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented. Their pho noodle soups are good, but their House Special Vermicelli is to die for. Service is fast, and the prices are ridiculously reasonable. If you are on a per diem expense for the organization for which you work, this place will help you keep to your budget while still enjoying amazing food.