Philly Restaurant Week: Cuba Libre

I'm a little hesitant to share this with all of you. The fact that Jeff and I, by ourselves, consumed all of this food - practically licking our plates clean - makes me feel like a bit of a glutton. But it was sooooo good!

It's Restaurant Week in Philly again. After sifting through a list of mediocre-looking menus, I discovered the mouth-watering offerings of Cuba Libre in Old City. Everything on the menu looked delicious. Jeff and I were chomping at the bit to get down there and try it.

We ventured down to Philly through the bitter cold Wednesday night. We found on-street parking nearby ($3.50 to park for an hour and a half? Things like this are why Philly kicks New York's butt, in my humble opinion) and hustled over the cobblestones to the restaurant. It was so bitterly cold out, my teeth were chattering after our three block walk. But upon entering Cuba Libre, we were transported into the tropics. The decor is awesome - made to look like a plaza in the streets of Havana (ok, probably a Disney-fied version, but it worked for me). We quickly forgot the cold and settled into debating our menu selections.

The restaurant week menu was incredibly generous - two small plate appetizers, an entree and a dessert. Each. And that did not make it any easier to decide what to get. Even with four appetizers between us, there were three or four more we wish we could have tried. Because of the quantity of dishes, I was sort of expecting tiny composed portions, but the plates were extremely generous. With the appetizers alone, we would have left there happy campers. I'm glad we stuck around for the rest, though!

For our first appetizer course, we chose El Chinito Cubano, Papas Rellenas, and delicious tostones (which I sneakily ordered off the menu in addition to our other selections - score!). El Chinito Cubano was a set of spring rolls with a Cuban sandwich filling served with hot Chinese mustard. While I was extremely excited about this idea, I'd have to say it was my least favorite dish of the meal. Putting anything into a spring roll is a good idea, but the Cuban is not my favorite sandwich. Still, it was interesting, and the mustard was killer. Better were the Papas Rellenas, described on the menu as "Cuban potato croquettes filled with beef picadillo. Sweet and spicy guajillo pepper sauce. Crispy onions and Manchego crema." It reminded me of the Sicilian arancini - a deep-fried ball made of starch with tasty filling. Because of the deep red color of the sauce, I expected something spicy, but it wasn't - it was deep and rich and savory. The tiny sweet peppers in with the beef were excellent. When we go back, I'm totally ordering those again. Finally, the tostones were awesome. They came with a garlic dipping sauce that could kill a vampire at two hundred paces - a little strong on its own, but a nice complement to the plantains.

Then they brought us more food. Jeff's Mejillones Mar y Terra ("Prince Edward Island mussels, poached in rich lobster broth, roasted garlic, Berkshire pork belly, caramelized onions, steamed kale and slow roasted tomatoes") looked like an entree-sized portion. Yeah, you could point out (as I did) that the shells took up a lot of space, but even after they were removed it was a big dish. The contrasting textures of the mussels and pork belly was lovely and roasted garlic is always awesome. I was very happy with my empanada as well - I chose the chicken, corn, sweet pepper and Jack cheese option. It was beautifully crispy, served in a cute little fryer basket. It came with some baby spinach with an extremely (almost inedibly) salty goat cheese dressing and the best tomatillo relish I've ever tasted. It was sweet and rich and just a tiny bit spicy - a perfect complement to the crispy, creamy empanada. And also pretty great licked off of your fingers (since, you know, actually licking your plate in a restaurant is frowned upon).

Then they brought us more food. I was torn between a number of menu selections, yet again, but at the last minute fixed on the Lechón Asado. Best decision I've ever made. This was pork slow-roasted over a charcoal flame served over mashed yucca in a black bean broth, with a little slaw on top. The pork was amazing. Seriously amazing. It was juicy and smokey and charcoaly. Any pretensions I had to taking half of my entree home for the next day's lunch went out the window as soon as I tasted it.

Jeff got the Ajiaco de Pescado a mi Manera - salmon, chicken breast and scallops in a shrimp broth with bacon, yucca, calabaza squash, fennel, and cashew. All of these elements were brought together by the broth with provided the dish with a cohesive flavor. I only stole a small taste of chicken (since I'm not a fan of seafood), but I though that the broth had a lovely light sweetness to it. Jeff enjoyed the dish, but it wasn't as much of a standout as his appetizers (especially the mussels).

Finally, dessert. I had the tres leches - a vanilla sponge cake drenched in dulce de leche-flavored milk with a dab of caramel and a mocha mousse on top. The drenched cake just dissolves in your mouth into sweet creamy goodness. I'm not normally a fan of coffee, but the mocha mousse was perfect, with just a touch of coffee flavor. Jeff ordered the Pudín Diplomatico - banana bread pudding with chocolate chips, spiced rum and roasted pineapple. While I loved my cool and creamy tres leches, Jeff's pudín was more appropriate for the frigid evening with its warm and toasty banana and cinnamon over a sticky caramel sauce.  The dessert portions were sized well - not so small to leave you wanting more, but not enough to make you feel stuffed.

We were happy campers when we left Cuba Libre. My overall impression is very positive - we will definitely be back again for their delicious and unique (maybe not in Cuba, but definitely around here) offerings. A neighbor had commented that she found their food salty; that may have been true (I found myself very thirsty on the ride home), but I didn't notice it at the time (except with the salad dressing). Everything else exceeded our expectations. Restaurant week goes on through February 1st, so if you're looking for delicious food and a great value, I'd recommend a trip to Cuba Libre. I'm trying to find an excuse to go back next week!

Grape Picking at Peace Valley Winery

One of the things that I don't like about traveling abroad during the summer is missing out on the best of canning season. I've been trying to time my trips around the tomato crop, so poor Jeff isn't forced to attempt to can ten and twelve pound batches by himself. Even so, the whole time I was away, I was thinking about what I might be missing. I really wanted to can some peaches this year - what if the season ended before I got home? What if the berries were done as well? What if there was nothing good left to can? (As you can see, I'm a worrier.)

Clearly, I should not have worried: peaches are still available, berries are still available, tomatoes have not yet peaked. I haven't missed anything. And, in fact, I have arrived just in time for the opening of new delicious crops. While I was in London last week, I was thrilled to get an email from Peace Valley Winery announcing the beginning of pick-your-own grape season. Jeff and I have visited the winery a few times. When we were there last winter, the lady manning the wine tasting counter told us a story about the pick-your-own grapes they offered. While there are lots of pick-your-own places near us, I'd never heard of anyone having grapes before. I filed this away in my brain for later. So when I got the email, I was thrilled and immediately informed Jeff that we would be going on Sunday.

Sunday morning came and, after church, we drove over with basket at the ready and were directed to a dozen rows of ripe Fredonia grapes. The smell was amazing - a sticky, heady aroma that took me back to running around my grandparents' backyard as a kid, stealing grapes off the vine. The flavor is so familiar, I think that they had Fredonias as well - I'll have to compare when I go see Grandma later this week.

I'm not sure what I expected grape picking to be like. I guess I must have thought the grapes would be at different stages of ripeness. I certainly didn't think it was going to be so easy (as easy as picking cherries). We chose a spot (which really just amounted to spreading out from the people in other rows - every spot was a good one!) and then started clipping heavy, juicy bunches from their vines.

There were grapes everywhere. It wasn't a difficult task. The difficulty lay in trying not to take too many! The grapes were a bargain at $0.75 a pound, so money wasn't an issue - eating them before they went bad would be the tricky part! We were planning a few canning projects and wanted some left over for eating, so we tried to use moderation. After a few minutes we ended up with eight or nine pounds of gorgeous opaque purple grapes in our basket.

We did visit the pick-your-own vegetable fields as well, but since our produce bins are already overflowing from the CSA, we ended up stopping after half a dozen ears of corn. From what I could see, though, it would be a fun place to bring kids and load up a wagon with summery goodness. As it was, I was happy to take my basket of grapes and hie back home to cook up some jam, which you'll be hearing about soon!

Farmicia, Philadelphia

When we went down to Philly for the Farm and Food Fest earlier this month, I had no intention of doing a restaurant review as well, but when we decided to have dinner at Farmicia, I changed my tune. Jeff, Andrea and I had a delicious meal with beautiful, fresh food. I even found something to fit my dietary restrictions.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Jeff and I gave up meat for Lent again this year. Eating vegetarian for forty days is no problem for me any more. In fact, the majority of meals we've cooked since then have been meatless as well. I could go a long time without running out of delicious vegetarian meals to try. Unfortunately, it tends to be a problem when we travel. Nice restaurants tend to have fairly limited vegetarian options. Generally there is only one, and it relies heavily on mushrooms or eggplant - two things I don't like. One of the reasons we chose to eat at Farmicia over some of Old City's other impressive dining options, was that it had a more extensive vegetarian menu. For once, I had options, which was lovely. And we were not disappointed in any of our choices.

Once we had ordered, we were quickly served from a selection of breads from Philly's Metropolitan Bakery (from which I had purchased a multigrain loaf earlier at the convention center). The sourdough was perfect - crispy crust, tangy interior with just the right amount of salt. It came with some lovely herbed butter at the perfect spreading temperature. Good quality bread is the best way to start any meal, in my opinion.

Jeff ordered light - just an appetizer and a salad - since he had sampled a lot of cheese earlier at the Farm and Food Fest. His appetizer was a jumbo lump crab cake with green goddess sauce, baby greens and fried potato sticks. Now, I am not normally a fish person, but I think I'm developing a taste for crab. I tried a bit of the crab cake and thought it was amazing. It had large, soft chunks of quality crab meat with little filler. The herby dressing complemented the crab beautifully and the potato sticks were a great topper - in fact, they may have been the most flavorful fried potatoes I've ever tasted. I could have eaten a plate of those alone. And I definitely regretted not ordering my own!

For his entree, Jeff ordered a salad of crab meat and Asian pear with greens, almonds, lemon-mint dressing and creamed avocado. The crab meat was just as high-quality and tasty as in the crab cake appetizer. The avocado cream managed to be creamy without the oiliness often associated with that fruit. The combination of the texture and sweetness of the Asian pear, the crunchiness of the almonds, the soft salty crab meat and the sharp and acidic dressing was surprisingly good. In retrospect, I almost can't believe that these things would go together at all, but Jeff definitely enjoyed it at the time, so they must have!

After carefully considering the vegetarian options, I decided on the mega dose of vegetables and grains - the vegan version. When I asked the server what that consisted of, she listed several hot and cold vegetable salads. There were two things I really didn't like (namely mushrooms), but she assured me that this was a flexible dish and the kitchen would sub out anything I didn't want. When that pile of veggies was finally placed in front of me, I knew I'd made the right decision. Clockwise from the top, I had: a selection of veggies, potatoes and tofu sauteed in olive oil; rice pilaf with hominy; white beans; a garden salad; vegetable crudite; and a cold lentil salad. I thought the garden salad was a bit overdressed and some of the sauteed veggies (particularly the broccoli) had too much salt, but other than that it was awesome. After a day of picking at things I shouldn't have eaten (namely cheese and gelato), I was thrilled to have such a nice selection of protein-, vitamin- and fiber-filled dishes in front of me. I particularly loved the sauteed veggies, which were perfectly crisp-tender, and the lentil salad, which had a nice acidic dressing (if I remember correctly). It was a lot of food, but a lot of beautiful and healthy food. I was munching my veggies well after my companions had finished their entrees, but I was doing so very happily. I can't wait to go back and try the dish again. Now why can't every restaurant be so veg-friendly?

For dessert (yes, I managed to have room for dessert), Jeff and I shared an apple and dried cranberry crumble with vanilla ice cream. The crumbs were fantastic - warm and gooey like an under-baked cookie. The apple slices were soft but still firm and deliciously sweet. The cranberries added a nice tang, and the cold creaminess of the ice cream was the perfect complement. It was brought to the table at the perfect time - the crumble was hot and gooey but the ice cream was spoonable but not yet melty (even after posing for pictures). It was the perfect birthday treat (at least, that was how I justified the saturated fat splurge!). At the end of the day, you know we were satisfied customers because all our plates were licked clean. Farmicia will definitely be seeing us again.

1st Annual Philly Farm and Food Fest

Last weekend Jeff, his sister Andrea and I drove down to Philly for the first annual Farm and Food Fest. I had high hopes for this event and I was not disappointed. Food artisans and farmers from the greater Philadelphia area were present in droves, promoting their products.

 

I had wondered, since it is so early in the spring, how much in the way of fresh produce could be available. It turns out, a fair bit. Besides their own herbal teas and potted ramps, this vendor (possibly Happy Cat Farm) had wild foraged mustard greens on offer.

One of the booths I was most excited about was Urban Apiaries, a Philadelphia honey company. I love that each jar is marked with the zip code where it was collected. Different zip codes mean different flavors, as the bees have different varieties of flowers to collect their pollen from. Local and delicious! I passed on the honey, since I just bought a big jar from Pineland Farms at my own farmers market, but I've been regretting it ever since. The next time I go down to Philly, I'll be sure to buy a few jars.

There were tons of cheese vendors there (not a great thing for me, since I'm watching my saturated fat intake). Jeff and Andrea certainly partook of a wide variety. I tried a few, but I'm not really a cheese person anyway (not being allowed to eat it isn't a huge problem). I was happy, though, that we got to say hi to our friends from Cherry Grove Farm (I'll be out there tomorrow to buy some eggs and check up on the adorable calves!).

I was thrilled to see multiple vendors with their own milled grains. While I know of one local farm (the Hopewell Living History Farm) that offers its own whole wheat flour, I buy most of mine from the supermarket. I was really excited to speak with a woman from Daisy Flour, which offers a variety of organic products, sourced as locally as possible (some, like the spelt, from within Pennsylvania). They weren't selling any at their booth and I didn't get to the stand in Reading Terminal Market before it closed, but they'll be on my list the next time I'm in town. What I did pick up was some buckwheat flour from Yeehaw Farm. Pancakes will be made some day soon!

One of the most interesting companies was Frecon Farms, which had a line of hard ciders (which people were, of course, lined up three and four deep at to taste). Jeff and Andrea seemed to like them, although Jeff said that it was a dangerous product, since they didn't taste nearly as strong as they were - 7.5% ABV! It's astounding to think that our colonial ancestors drank the stuff all day long.

I came home with a great haul: some delicious black bean and sweet potato soup from Good Spoon, multigrain bread from the Metropolitan Bakery, scrumptious maple almond granola from Amaranth Gluten Free Bakery, creamy and spicy black bean hummus from FreshaPeel Hummus, and a few other things I already can't remember. We also got multiple samples of delicious gelato from Capogiro (best gelato ever, in my opinion). It was a good day. I'm already looking forward to making it back next year!

Triumph Brewing Company, Philadelphia

Two weeks ago I wrote that dealing with a complicated diet while traveling is not difficult. I suppose that depends on where and how you're traveling, because I found this past weekend's trip to Birmingham, Alabama much trickier.

I suppose one of the issues was the difference between train travel and air travel. When I took the train to Toronto, I brought most of my meals for the day along with me - I only had to rely on the train's offerings for one meal. Flying is different - since we had limited room in our carry-on bags, and the possession of liquids and pastes is a serious threat to national security, we had less leeway in what foods we could bring with us (though we did stash a supply of the pumpkin-apple granola bars!). Add to that the fact that we were traveling in the South, where no dish is served without a generous amount of meat and butter, and things got tricky. A few times over the weekend, I violated my Lenten vegetarianism in order to stick with my medically necessary low-cholesterol diet (especially since I knew I'd be violating that with a slice of wedding cake). The most annoying moment was when I laboriously picked through the lunch offerings at the Atlanta airport, chose a nice salad that fit my dietary requirements, and opened it to discover a pile of chicken which was not on the ingredient list. Clearly, the stars were aligned against me. It's a good thing that I'm not a real vegetarian (in the sense of being morally opposed to eating meat).

It was comforting to know that this food stress would cease Monday evening, when we landed in Philly and drove into the city for dinner. Before our trip, I had scoured the internet for a good restaurant with vegetarian offerings, ideally serving local and seasonal food. I was surprised to find exactly what I was looking for at the Triumph Brewing Company. I had been to Triumph in Princeton several years ago, but I thought of it as an upscale college burger-and-beer joint. At least, I remember having a burger and Jeff had a beer. Triumph's culinary offerings are actually far more extensive and delicious than I had recalled, and I was delighted to learn that the Philly location offers a whole menu of locally-sourced, seasonal eats, in addition to their regular menu (which also seemed appropriately seasonal, although the veggies it featured are not yet ready to harvest locally).

I loved the transparency of the menu, listing the source for nearly every ingredient in the local offerings. I ordered the Phillip's Farm curried sweet potato soup with Solebury Orchards keepsake apple crème fraiche and Tog Farms onions.

The soup was as delicious as it sounds. It had an amazing velvety texture (which I sincerely hope was not achieved with copious amounts of butter - the crème fraiche was already violating my diet!). The crème fraiche was delightfully tart and creamy and fresh all at once, with hearty chunks of apple and onion throughout. The curry was muted enough that it did not conflict with the other flavors. It was truly a soup to savor.

I also ordered the spring vegetable quesadilla off of the normal menu, which included spring onions, peas, mushrooms, smoked mozzarella and a poblano cream. This was probably the lightest, most flavorful quesadilla I've ever had at a restaurant. Usually the tortillas end up greasy and soggy, oozing cheese all over the plate. This one was delightfully un-greasy with exactly enough cheese to hold things together without overwhelming the other ingredients. I am not a huge mushroom fan, but since they were sliced nice and thin, I got all the savory mushroom flavor without the rubbery texture that I don't like - perfection, in my book. The peas were a fresh, springy touch and the poblano cream offered just a hint of heat. The whole combination was great and really got me looking forward to the day these spring ingredients start popping up at my local farmers market!

Jeff ordered the lengthily-titled Oak Grove cornmeal crusted Captain Rodrick Murry scallops with Phillip's Farm sweet potato and collard greens with Tog Farms onions, tasso and buttermilk beurre blanc. The scallops were perfectly cooked - tender, but firm enough to hold together - and nicely seasoned. The simplicity of roasting allowed the inherent flavors of the sweet potato to shine. The collards were also beautifully cooked - tender enough to eat but still had a bit of a bite to them. The little bits of tasso ham provided bursts of saltiness and smokiness throughout. Triumph definitely gets some points for plating here, too - the food looked fantastic!

All in all, a delicious meal on a gorgeous early spring day in Old City, Philadelphia. Since the Home Grown menu changes frequently to take advantage of seasonal offerings, I plan on returning soon to see what tasty new dishes Triumph has cooked up!

The Blue Tortilla, New Hope, PA

This past Sunday, Jeff and I drove out to Bucks county to see a lady about a dog. The dog is a sweetheart and gorgeous to boot - we'll be taking her home in a few weeks. (I'd post a picture, but it was getting dark, so the few I took didn't do her justice.)


On the way home, we decided to stop in New Hope for dinner. (Well, actually, this was decided well beforehand. I shouldn't make it sound like we come upon these places by chance - there is plenty of planning involved!) Since we've gotten good at cooking for ourselves, going out to dinner has lost some of its attraction. I no longer want to go to a mediocre restaurant and pay $15 for an entree that I could have made (or worse, that I could have made even better). I want delicious food. I want food made from scratch. And I'd prefer organic ingredients. This means more planning is needed.


In looking up restaurants, I've started relying on the Eat Well Guide on my links page. Unfortunately, it has nothing for the Lambertville/New Hope area, despite its plethora of interesting restaurants. Instead, I had to wing it. This ended up working out quite well, though, because a Google map search of the area brought me to the website of The Blue Tortilla.


This quaint little place is just north of the bridge on North Main St, and right next door to a public parking lot. The restaurant is pleasantly decorated with Mexican artwork, including some cool statues. The front window displays jars of their homemade salsa. I was a little dismayed at how empty it was - we were there around 6:30 on a Sunday. When we got there a group of four were finishing their meal, and in the hour we stayed, not a single customer walked in. This could be chalked up to the weather, though - it was rather cold out and there were very few people on the street (New Hope generally has crowds of pedestrians). Despite being the only people there and being able to choose our table, I sat us in a place with no overhead lighting, so pardon the dark pictures.

When I saw homemade corn chips on the menu, I immediately ordered them. Both the chips and the two salsas that came with them (which, unfortunately, I neglected to get in my picture) were great. I thought the chips needed a little more salt, but they were perfect for the combo of salsas. I don't normally have salsa verde, so I can't critique it well, but I enjoyed it. I really liked the salsa roja, which had a rich heartiness to it. Both salsas had a fair bit of heat to them.

Jeff ordered the chicken chipotle soup as a starter. It had a generous amount of chicken, beans and avocado. I only had a taste, but I really enjoyed the mild spiciness of it. While my mouth was on fire from the salsa (I'm a weakling when it comes to heat, though I'm trying to work on it), this was a very different sort of heat that I felt in another area of my mouth. It was refreshing to have all of those different areas activated, rather than just continually burning one.

For my entree, I ordered the chicken in molé. I was very excited to see this on the menu, since it's something I've wanted to try for some time. The waitress asked if I'd ever had a molé before. When I said no, she offered to bring me a taste before putting in my order, to make sure I would enjoy it. I really appreciated this - and it was indicative of the rest of the service (although, with one table to deal with, the waitress could afford to be attentive). The molé had a rich chocolatey flavor at first that built into a medium sort of heat. Again, this heat seemed to rest in a different location in my mouth than the others. The texture was velvety and smooth. I devoured the sample - I could have eaten a whole bowl. When it came out on the chicken, it didn't disappoint. The chicken breast was juicy and practically fell apart on the thinner end. The molé was really the star, though - I would have thought chocolate and chicken didn't go together, but this was not a desserty chocolate, it was a rich, hearty chocolate. It came with homemade corn tortillas, a side of rice, and a side of delicious mashed black beans. I usually don't eat the beans at Mexican restaurants - I hate refried beans - but these were very different. They were very smooth, almost like mashed potatoes, with only a bit of that mealy bean flavor at the end. Instead of pushing them away, I ate the whole portion. It was more than I could eat at one sitting, but the leftovers reheated well, and I got to enjoy the delicious sauce once more. I wish I'd saved a bit for today!

Jeff's entree was the picaditas with cochinita pibil - thick, lightly fried corn tortillas topped with marinated pork. The pork was delicious, with a citrusy edge to it. I didn't get to taste the tortillas, but since Jeff all but licked his plate clean, I believe they were great too.


So overall, I think this place is a winner. If you're ever looking for homemade, authentic Mexican food in eastern Pennsylvania, this is the place to go. Despite being in a town that's packed with great restaurants (and just across the river from another), I think I'm going to give this one a lot of repeat visits.

Philly Restaurant Week: Cooperage

When Jeff realized that he had today off (this only happened yesterday afternoon, believe it or not), we decided it might be nice to spend the day in Philly. We've been compiling a list of nearby restaurants we've seen on various Food Network shows, and thought this would be a good time to try one out. But when I started looking at Philly tourism sites for things to do with the rest of the afternoon, I discovered that it's Center City Restaurant Week (Jan 16-21 and 23-28, if you're interested in checking it out).

Initially we had crazy plans involving both lunch and dinner at participating restaurants. Perhaps fortunately, the place we really wanted to try for dinner, Meritage, is closed Mondays, so we decided to limit ourselves to a single three-course meal today. This worked well, because the place we chose for lunch, Cooperage Wine and Whiskey Bar, was quite delicious, and I'm still pretty full.

Cooperage offered a three-course prix fixe menu for lunch: appetizer, entree and dessert. We deliberately chose different items so as to get a nice sampling of the menu. I think we made great choices, and even with six items there are still things I'd be interested in going back to try.

My BBQ Pork Nachos were the hit of the day. Sweet barbecue pork on a crispy tortilla with sour cream, a bit of Sriracha, fresh herbs, and grapefruit wedges. The grapefruit totally made it. I am actually not a huge fan of grapefruit on its own, but its acidity provided a beautiful (and quite unexpected!) compliment to the sweetness of the pork. And Jeff pointed out that the tortilla chip held together really well down to the last bite or two - which is good, because this was hardly a one-bite deal. I think you could make a light lunch out of this appetizer alone. The presentation was gorgeous as well, as you can see.

Jeff's appetizer was the Chipotle-Bourbon BBQ Wing basket. The sauce on the wings was very delicate - I definitely got a bit of sweetness and a bit of smokiness, but it let the perfectly-cooked chicken be the real star. The skin was nice and crisp (I don't usually eat skin, but I enjoyed it on these). It came with a buttermilk blue cheese dipping sauce. I can't comment much on this - I hate blue cheese and didn't enjoy the bit I tasted - but I think (and Jeff agrees) that the buttermilk does provide a nice twist on the usual blue cheese dressing.

My entree was the Pulled Pork Sandwich. I was a little disappointed that it was the same lightly sweet pulled pork from my appetizer, but honestly, who would expect them to make two entirely different batches of pulled pork? It's my fault I didn't like any other entree on the menu (I'm a very picky eater). But there were some differences. The brioche roll was delicious. I love a sandwich on a soft, squishy roll. The slaw was ok - I'm not a fan of mayonnaise and it was more mayo-tasting than any slaw I'd had in Memphis. The best part was the blackberry mostarda that was hiding underneath the pork. It lent a delicious fruity sweetness to the dish - I think fruit complements pork nicely, but I'd never tried it with blackberries. My criticism is that by the time I got to the end, the sweetness of the sauce and the fruit became a bit overpowering. I think it needed some heat to balance it out. The sandwich came with a pile of homemade chips sprinkled with salt, pepper and a little cayenne powder.

Dessert was the crowning glory of the meal. Jeff got the "Coopwich" - their version of a chipwich, but with absolutely wonderful oatmeal raisin cookies. The cookies were nice and hearty, with plenty of raisins and a LOT of cinnamon (and as everyone knows, cinnamon makes everything super-awesome). The ice cream was to die for. I inquired and learned that they get it from the Franklin Fountain on Market St. We're obviously going to have to hit them up sometime soon.

Sadly, I took a horribly blurry picture of my dessert, so you don't get to see it in its glory. Believe me - it was glorious. I had the Deep Fried Oreos. The menu said they were dipped in a homemade biscuit batter, but it definitely didn't taste like a biscuit - it reminded me of a waffle or funnel cake, although quite tender and delicate (not at all rubbery, like some funnel cakes can get). My brain didn't recognize it as an Oreo cookie - I think the batter was the star, though the cookie provided just enough chocolatey crunch at the end. The three cookies came with a scoop of ice cream. The menu said it would be chocolate, but I'm pretty sure it was mocha with a butterscotch ripple. It had delicious buttery notes and a subtle chocolate flavor, and by the time I finished it my mouth tasted subtly of coffee. It was a beautiful smooth and creamy ice cream with great flavor.

To top it off, this place is only a block and a half from Independence Hall and the other tourist sites, where we spent the rest of our day. If you're ever in the area doing touristy things, I would definitely recommend checking this place out. Creative, delicious food in a stylish but casual atmosphere: what's not to love?