Talula's Garden

Talula's Garden
210 W Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 592-7787
www.talulasgarden.com/
Sunday Brunch: 10am - 2pm Sunday - Thursday: 5pm - 10pm Friday - Saturday: 5pm - 11pm

Talula's Garden, named after Owner Aimee Olexy's daughter, Annalee Talula Rae, this chic-hot spot of Philadelphia is probably one of the hidden gems of the city.  An unimposing entrance through a park housed in the Ayer Condominium building, Talula's Garden is a humble understatement to the truly awe inspiring cuisine inside. I have been here several times and have not once been disappointed.  My only sorrow is that it has taken me so long to review this masterpiece of the Philadelphia Washington Square scene.

We walked in about 730pm one blistery Thursday night sans reservation.  It was a miracle we were even seated at all.  However, the fact that we were dressed well and I was conspicuously snapping pictures with a professional grade camera may have "bumped" us up in the priority of seating.  About 15 minutes later we were comfortable at a cozy table barside to watch the magic of Talula's Garden unfold.

It is a gorgeous art-deco building with high ceilings that our server informed us used to be a bank.  Talula's is a collaborative effort between Stephen Starr of the Starr Restaurant empire and Ms. Olexy who has had her hand in at several Starr restaurants before deciding to open Talula's Garden in April 2011.

Talula's is probably most famous for their unparalleled world class cheese selection.  We decided to try the Winter Wonders.  From left to right: Capricho de Cabra (Goat, Spain), Jasper Hill Farm Harbison (Cow, VT), Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor (Goat, CA), Beehive CHeese TeaHive (Cow, UT), Napfkase (Cow, Switzerland), Doe Run Farm Bathed In Victory (Cow, PA), Roth Kase Moddy Blue (Cow, WI).

TeaHive: finely ground black tea leaves
Napfkase: nutty, grassy, sharp finish
Bathed In Victory: washed in local Victory IPA beer
Moddy Blue: crumbled but with a smoky finish

I'm ashamed to say this dish was brought out con gratis and I didn't have time to make a note of what it was.  It was a finished with a mushroom jus which is about all I can remember.

This was a brown butter glazed potato gnocchi, rich pumpkin conserve, toasted pine nut crumble, and leek port wine syrup.

Overnight pork belly, Berkshire pork, black garlic crush, ginger scented sweet potatoes, local apples, pomegranate pork gastrique.

Side dish of fried fingerling potatoes, black kale anchovy pesto, lemon ash. Yum.

For the main course, I had the old fashioned beef brisket, glazed carrots and turnips, creamy potato puree, pickled horseradish, carrot tops, and thyme-beef jus. Just fantastic.  Wonderful main course here, perfectly cooked meat and tender as well.

Amazing creamy nora mills speckled grits, sweet and salty caramel butter.  The caramel butter was to die for and was an especially interesting take on grits.

Lemon pudding cake.  Pomegranate granita, moist lemon cake, sweet meringue. The carmelized meringue was unique but otherwise, this was a very average dish.  Executed perfectly but nothing out of the ordinary.

Bananas Foster Crepes. Cinnamon ice cream, warm rum sauce, spicy pecans. Best part of this dessert was the cinnamon ice cream.  That was fantastic.

Of Note:

The main dining area.

Wall stenciling detail.

Table adjacent to a gorgeous all granite cheese bar.

Said cheese bar.