Locanda Verde

To kick-off a lazy Sunday morning (that would lead into a productive Sunday afternoon), we made the trek from Mid-town Manhattan to TriBeCa in order to eat at Locanda Verde, a popular brunch spot known for their pancakes. It was way more than worth it. Being a big bruncher, I like to think I’m not easily blown away anymore by your typical brunch. This one definitely wasn’t. The atmosphere was really nice and festive, with decorations ready for the holiday season. The space was on the larger size, but not too large, and had both a bar area and regular dining. Plenty of light came in through the wide windows (a must for quality picture-taking).

We began with an order of sheep’s milk ricotta infused with truffle honey that came with a delicious burnt orange toast. The restaurant also sent along a tasty basket of bread with onion and spices that was a real treat. I was a bit nervous, as cheese can be a hit or miss for me, but I was extremely impressed with this dish. The subtle hints of honey in the smooth and light ricotta were delicious in a delicate and simple way. I was tempted to just eat spoonfuls of the ricotta by itself towards the end. We also ordered an apple cider doughnut from the pastry section. It had caught my attention right away and sounded so interesting I just had to try it. The doughnut turned out incredible – firm on the outside, but moist on the inside, and tasted just how I imagined (like apple cider in case you were wondering…duhh ^-^).

Sheep's milk ricotta 

Bread :)

Apple Cider Donut

For our main dishes, we ordered their famous lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberries, lemon curd, and sprinklings of powdered sugar, as well as the hazelnut-crusted French toast with assorted chunks of citrus fruits and mint. It’s always a struggle to choose between sweet or salty, so to compromise, we also ordered sides of crispy garlic potatoes and homemade pork sausage. Both the pancakes and the French toast were absolutely delicious. I really liked how the pancakes were so light and simple, but still so flavorful. The French toast was a lot of fun – every bite had a mix of hazelnuts, grapefruit, orange, or fluffy toast. I also really enjoyed the potatoes, especially the small pieces that soaked in a lot of the garlic flavor. They were super crunchy as well, just the way I like them. Personally, I like to dip my sausage in a bit of syrup for a sweet, salty, and slightly spicy contrast, but the sausage was great by itself as well. 

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Hazelnut-Crusted French Toast

Crispy Garlic Potatoes

Homemade Pork Sausage

If the food wasn’t so incredibly delicious we probably wouldn’t have been able to finish all of it between the two of us, but as it was, we were pretty stuffed by the end. We left the restaurant full and very happy with our meal. 

Jamonera - Philadelphia, PA

This draft post kind of got lost under all the other posts that we have been doing; however, this was actually one of my favorite restaurant that I have been to over the past semester. Sorry for not only the delay on this one but also the dark photos...

We decided to tackle this one together, which makes it the first collaboration post! We randomly chose this restaurant because of its association with Barbuzzo.

Jamonera is a quaint little wine bar with a great tapas menu. Surprisingly, all the tables were occupied by reservations, so we ended up grabbing seats at the bar. (Make sure to make some reservations if you're looking to grab a meal here.) The atmosphere is classy and intimate, which is perfect for a date or even a casual night with friends. The bartender makes an effort to become your friend instantly, which really reinforces that intimate and friendly atmosphere. Overall, great restaurant. We can safely say that we would definitely be down to go back to try some of the other tapas. 

The Papa Frita was a great tapas to start off with. It was made of crispy skin potato with wood smoked garlic aioli, brava salt, and house made sherry vinegar hot sauce. As an avid lover of hot sauce, this hot sauce was great with the entire meal. 

Papa Frita

Moving away from all carbs, we had the Camarones de Ajillo, which was just garlic shrimp with arbol chile, roasted peppers, lemon, and grilled bread. The shrimp could have used a bit more seasoning, but the hot sauces from the papa frita took care of that.

Camarones de Ajillo

We also had the pork tenderloin to include at least one meat dish to our meal. The pork tenderloin was so tender and well-seasoned, and the flavors really worked together.

Pork Tenderloin

Website: http://jamonerarestaurant.com/jamonera/ 

Vernick

Ever since it received raving reviews from a foodie friend, Vernick has been high on my list of must-visit restaurants in Philly. I finally got the chance to go with a friend, who’s also been dying to go, and it was an incredible treat. The venue was classy and minimalist in a neat yet modern sort of way. The lighting was dim, but not overly so, and candles were lit on every table. Overwhelmed by fabulous reviews on yelp and a very eclectic menu, we ended up ordering something from every section.

Before our dishes came, the waiter surprised us with a complimentary teacup of mushroom soup. Usually I dislike mushrooms, but the soup was actually really tasty and nicely set the stage for more good food.

Mushroom soup

Our first two dishes came from the “On Toast” and “Raw” parts of the menu. The beef tartare with fresh horseradish came on a textured sourdough loaf. It was a perfect balance between the stinging spiciness of horseradish with tender beef and hints of cheese sprinkled throughout. There was enough tartare on the bread that it stood out as the main attraction, but was still nicely supplemented by the chewy bread. But the real star came next: the tuna poke with macadamia nuts and sweet soy sauce was out of this world. Based on a classic Hawaiian tuna poke, the flavors were at once intense and subtle in their variations. The fish was soft and smooth, full of a sweet yet tangy essence and was perfectly complemented by bursts of flavor from poppy seeds. The nuts and assorted vegetables were soaked in the sweet sauce as well. It was devastating when we finished it.  

Tuna Poke

Beef Tartare

The next dish to come was our small plate – tagliatelle, braised duck, and chanterelles. Having had a similar dish at Salento (which was decent), this one surpassed my expectations. The duck was tender, contrasting nicely with the pasta, which had just enough resistance, and was coated in savory sauce. The warmth from the dish was really comforting on a chilly autumn night.

Tagliatelle & Duck

The waiter saved our crispy potatoes & shishito peppers vegetable plate for last, along with our large plate of pork blade steak, onion marmalade, and sautéed mustard greens. Throughout our experience he was very knowledgeable about the dishes, how to pair them, and was very helpful (and correct). The potatoes were basically normal fried potato pieces seasoned with spices. They were good, but not particularly special. The peppers were more flavorful and surprised my friend by not being spicy. Our pork steak was really great. Cooked medium rare, full of flavor, with a crispy outer layer and tender meat on the inside, it was covered with a dark pile of marinated onions. The mustard greens weren’t our favorite; they were slightly bitter and a little overly salty. Plus, with all the other great things to eat, we didn’t want to use up too much stomach space.

Pork Blade Steak

Crispy Potatoes and Peppers

Finally, we got to dessert. I had originally heard many great things about the blueberry pie, but our waiter informed us that it would be extremely expensive and environmentally unfriendly to get blueberries during this season. But instead of blueberry pie they had a decadent chocolate pecan pie. The crust was absolutely perfect and always my favorite part of a pie. It had just the right level of flakiness and crispiness that filled us with warmth and happiness.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Overall, we were extremely happy, very impressed, and full (although we could always eat more). 

The Melting Pot

I’m posting this a bit late but after scrolling through my pictures I simply couldn’t resist. A friend and I had wanted to catch up for a while and intended to go to Melting Pot for restaurant week. Unfortunately for us, we somehow planned our dinner for the day right after restaurant week ended T_T 

Luckily for this blog though, we got to order a lot more food and take a lot more pictures!

After much deliberation (there are lots of choices) we decided to go with the “4-Course By You” option (mostly because we couldn’t choose). This included a cheese fondue, an individual salad, an individual entrée, and a chocolate fondue.

For our cheese fondue, we went with the traditional cheddar option with sharp cheddar and swiss cheese, lager beer, garlic, and other seasoning. This came in a melted pot with plates of fresh bread, apples, grapes, and bell peppers. Although I’m not the biggest cheese eater, I definitely enjoyed it – especially the bread. The fruit provided an interesting palate contrast with the salty cheese fondue, as did the bell peppers. The best part is we could ask for second helpings (which we did).

Cheese Fondue

For the salad, I went with the Melting Pot House Salad, which was good, but not particularly memorable compared to the other dishes. For our individual entrees we went with Seafood Trio (mahi mahi, shrimp, and salmon) and The Classic (Angus sirloin, BBQ pork, shrimp, chicken breast, and teriyaki sirloin). The meat came out seasoned and raw on platters and we were given a pot of fresh seasoned vegetable broth to cook it in (think hot pot). The result was an incredibly fresh dinner, cooked just the way we liked it (not that I’m any good at cooking). Everything was seasoned wonderfully with bursts of flavor in every bite. I was legitimately sad when I finished eating, but definitely ready for dessert! Oh, and it also came with vegetables! 

Seafood Trio

The Classic

Vegetables!

The whole picture

And at last, the long-awaited chocolate fondue. All the choices were way too tempting, but we finally went with chocolate s’mores fondue which had milk chocolate with toasted marshmallow cream and graham cracker bits. With it came dippers in the form of strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, Rice Krispies, marshmallows, pound cake, and brownies. It was heavenly. The only bad part is, I couldn’t resist asking for seconds and consequently could barely move from my seat afterwards.  #toofullcantbreathe 

S'mores Fondue

Dippers!

Overall, it was a great experience, a little too pricey to go often, but a great treat. 

Rouge - Philadelphia, PA

I heard about this restaurant from some native Philadelphians sitting next to me at Zahav. The first thing you notice when you walk into this quaint restaurant is the ambiance. The decorations were classy, verging on bougie, which was the perfect setting for a nice lunch date to catch up with an old friend. Even the coat check service reinforced this classy atmosphere.

Bougie Interior

As we were looking at our menu, I was caught off guard when the waitress brought over some bread with butter. I was instantly happy not only because I was famished but also because I love carbs. 

Complimentary Bread & Butter

For my main dish, I decided to try the Spicy Tuna Burger. I was not too amazed by it. In fact, the side salad was better than the burger. The dish was on the bland side and could have used a bit of seasoning. Also, the burger was not as spicy as I was anticipating, given its name.

Spicy Tuna Burger 

The side dishes on the other hand were great. The truffle parmesan pommes frites were amazing (yet again evidence of my love for carbs). They reminded me of the fries at Delicatessen in SoHo (NYC). Although they are not the original Pommes Frites in East Village (NYC), they are definitely a close substitute for Philadelphia.

Truffle Parmesan Pommes Frites

 We also got the mac and cheese side dish in memory of a mutual friend--a girl who loves macaroni and cheese. We quickly devoured this cheesy goodness like nobody's business. 

Mac and Cheese

Since it was a chilly day, my friend decided to order the Spicy Duck Soup. As a side note, this dish was probably spicier than my "spicy" tuna burger. The soup was lovely with some nice kicks and flavors. I would recommend this soup over the spicy tuna burger any day. 

Spicy Duck Soup

Overall, the experience is really in the ambiance. The food was good, but it wasn't spectacular. As a foodie, I don't recommend it. However, if you're looking for that date spot, you should haul your date over here ASAP. 

Website: http://rouge98.com

The Farm and the Fisherman - Philadelphia, PA

This classy BYOB has a very intimate atmosphere, located at a house that has been renovated into a restaurant. The food was pretty good, but the presentation was really the point of interest. The dishes all had minimalistic designs with fun sauce-artwork. 

Bloody Beet Steak

Duck Meat

Panna Cotta

Website: http://thefarmandfisherman.com/