Bibou - BYOB

Bibou
1009 South 8th street (between Carpenter and Washington avenue) Philadelphia PA 19147

This house converted to restaurant has an unimposing exterior.  Without the sign on the door enclosure, I would not have been able to tell we had arrived. It is nestled in the Bella Vista Neighborhood of Philadelphia and one important caveat is that it is CASH only. Bibou offers a la carte dining from Wed to Sat and Sunday, a 4 course prix fixe for $45- a very doable excursion to the culinary French countryside. The cozy curtained foyer gives way to an intimate dining space with room for 20 or so people.

The restaurant is decorated with fresh picked flowers.  It is a BYOB so make sure to have 1-2 bottles of your favorite wine or liquor of choice on hand to enjoy the evening.

Dinner began with some bread and Echire butter, the butter considered the gold standard by many French chefs.  As I ate the bread, the butter definitely had a distinctive tang and nuttiness that was certainly different than American butter. Here's a great NYT article about Echire butter.

Bacalao soup, saffron fingerling potato, bacon cream. Bacallao literally means "cod" or "stockfish". The soup is made of dried or salted cod  that must be soaked the night before and have several rinses before using in the soup. It was a terrific amuse bouche to start the meal.

I started the first course with a wonderful seared foie gras with poached clementine. Delicious, succulent, melts in your mouth--everything  a foie gras should be. The syrup from the poached clementines was so sweet and pair wonderfully with the creaminess of the foie gras.

salade de crabe: crab and farro salad, watermelon raddish, pickled baby carrot, basil aioli.  Farro is a grain product of certain wheat species and has an appearance somewhat similar to rice. The aioli is the sauce pictured at the left. Aioli or aïoli is a Provençal sauce made of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, usually egg yolks, and seasonings. There are many variations, such as the addition of mustard.

sauteed petit filet mignon, Yukon potato gratin, watercress, shallot confit, sauce Medoc.  The potato gratin was a particularly interesting addition.  It was flaky with layers and golden brown on the top.

canard: long island duck leg confit, carrot and ginger puree, red cabbage compote with cassis, baby vegetables, red wine duck sauce.  Crème de cassis is a sweet, dark red liqueur made from blackcurrants.  Duck confit (French: confit de canard) is a French dish made with the leg of the duck. While it is made across France, it is seen as a specialty of Gascony. The confit is prepared in a centuries-old process of preservation that consists of salt curing a piece of meat (generally goose, duck, or pork) and then cooking it in its own fat.

frozen grand marnier souffle, grand marnier tuile. A tuile is a thin, crisp, sweet or savory wafer made of dough or cheese. Originally from France, 'tuile' means tile in French, and is named after the shape of French roof tiles it is supposed to resemble.

mango and mixed berry sorbet.

Of Note:

Back end of the restaurant, a touchdown area for the servers as well as windows into the kitchen.

Jones - Philadelphia

Jones - Philadelphia
700 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 223-5663

The best way to describe Jones is an upscale version of the local neighborhood Applebee's nestled on the corner of 7th and Chestnut in Old City, Philadelphia. This is a Starr Restaurant, one of several in the area, and aims to offer comfort food for lunch and into the late night. Diners people watch through the floor to ceiling windows and diners can watch other diners from a second floor mezzanine accessible by a gorgeous wood and stone staircase.

A bar area features such playful cocktails as: "Mommy's Little Helper" and "Father Knows Best."  There were a bunch of families there enjoying the upscale eats while still offering such comfort food staples as Fried Chicken and Waffles (Starr's favorite), Cheese Pierogies with Caramelized Onion.

I started the meal with a delicious appetizer of Potato Pancakes: sour cream & apple sauce. These were great and would have been perfect start to a night out with the guys or some comfort food after a long day at the office. The demographic of people I saw was an eclectic mix that could have easily been a party to either of those scenarios.

Matzo Ball Soup. Matzah balls are an Ashkenazi Jewish soup dumpling made from a mixture of matzah meal, eggs, water, and a fat, such as oil, margarine, or chicken fat. Matzah balls are traditionally served in chicken soup.

Spicy Jambalaya: shrimp, chicken & tasso ham. Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence. Jambalaya was created in Louisiana and has its origins in Spanish paella.

Meatloaf: whipped potatoes & buttered carrots. A juicy dish exceeding expectation. Quite lovely. The potatoes were especially creamy.

 S'MORES Cinnamon sugar graham crackers, topped with warm squares of chocolate ganache, toasted homemade marshmallow.Served with chocolate sauce.

HOMEMADE ICE CREAMS AND SORBETS with a pizzelle cone.  This week's flavor was a delightful cinnamon ice cream.

A view of the kitchen touch down area at Jones.

Table side decor.

Barbuzzo

Barbuzzo
110 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 546-9300
Mediterranean Kitchen and Bar
Lunch Monday-Saturday 12-3pm
Dinner Daily, 5pm-12am

Barbuzzo bills itself as a Mediterranean style kitchen which means offerings consist of small plates (tapas). A typical meal might include 3-4 of these plates depending on how hungry you are. Barbuzzo is one of several restaurants owned and operated by Chef Marcie and Valerie Safran. Their other popular establishments include lolita, jamonera, grocery, verde, open house, little nonna's and marcie blaine chocolates.

We were able to sneak in for dinner around 8pm on a Sunday night where the dinner rush was under way.  We were seated promptly but I must say, while I appreciate economy of space, I was wedged between the wall and table. My dinner companion, inches away from the next table had the delight of enjoying their entire dinner conversation.

However, this is a blog about food, so space issues aside, let us begin.

SHEEPS MILK RICOTTA (10) extra virgin olive oil, vin cotto, herbs, sea salt, grilled country bread. Quite fantastic.  Very creamy ricotta and a nice blend of the olive oil herbs and vin cotto. Vincotto "cooked wine" or Sapa is a dark, sweet dense condiment produced artisanally in the Puglia/Apulia and Marche regions of Italy

CHEESE BOARD (17) with membrillo, roasted garlic mustard, toasted hazelnut honey, fig compote, baguette, crostini and marcona almonds ·
-chevre dargental, goat, france ·
-salva cremasco, cow, italy ·
-bianco sardo, sheep, italy ·
-mountain gorgonzola, cow, italy

BUTTERNUT SQUASH ARANCINI (9) crispy butternut squash risotto balls, walnut-basil pesto, pumpkin seeds and grana padano.  Fantastic offering here. I couldn't taste the butternut squash as much as I would have liked unfortunately, but this dish was still amazing.

BLACK AND WHITE CORZETTI (16) fresh gulf shrimp, spicy sausage, confit tomato (slow roasted tomato), french feta, pine nuts. Corzetti are a kind of fresh pasta typical of the Ligurian cuisine of north-west Italy, and traditional also in the area of Novi Ligure just across the border with Piedmont in the Province of Alessandria.

SPAGHETTI AND SUNCHOKES (14) trumpet mushroom, garlic, sunchokes, local greens, pecorino, pinenuts, lemon. Sunchoke (Jersualem artichoke) look a bit like a knobbly pink-skinned ginger root and have a sweet, nutty flavor, reminiscent of water chestnuts. Pecorino is the name of a family of hard Italian cheeses made from ewe's milk. The word derives from Italian pecora meaning ‘sheep’, which in turn is from the Latin pecus meaning livestock.

Of Note:

Earthy wooden tables and parchment paper, matte menus.

Crispen Cider. Crisp over ice. A classically styled, but untraditional hard apple cider. Fruit forward, with a fresh, crunchy appley nose and a deliciously refreshing, crisp mouth feel.

Lovely chandeliers over the bar area.

Chic place settings.

Sitting at the bar offers unique views of an open kitchen grill area.

Cheese plates come with handy labeling--great since seconds after the server spouts off the names of the cheeses, you don't remember a thing.

Crispin American Craft Ciders.  Puts me in the winter mood.

Bistro 7

Bistro 7 - Philadelphia 
www.bistro7restaurant.com/
7 N 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 931-1560

A true hidden pearl of the Penn's Landing area, Bistro 7 needs to be on every Philadelphian's bucket list. Nestled just off of Market St on North 3rd, this home-converted-to-restaurant is an intimate space with seating for roughly 30 on the main first floor area.  There is an upstairs banquet room available for groups up to 35.  Dinner is served Tuesdays through Saturdays with the first seating at 530 and the last at 930.  A late seating at 1030 is offered on Friday and Saturdays. This is a BYOB restaurant, so a nice bottle of Cabernet (or your choice beverage) will do swimmingly.

These people have the right idea.  Moving along.

crunchy salad: organic celery, fennel, green apples, frisee, spiced walnuts, blue cheese, sherry vinaigrette.  Pretty good.  Nice start to the meal.   Little FYI: Frisee is a member of the endive/chicory family with finely curled leaves and a slightly bitter flavor.  You can see a large piece of it on the right of the above picture (it is touching the edge of the photo).

poached farm egg, parmesan cream, black truffle, toasted quinoa, brown butter hollandaise.  This was absolutely fantastic.  Probably horrible for the arteries, but I practically inhaled it.

free-form goat milk ricotta and spinach lasagna, n’duja ragout, toasted almond pesto, burrata. Nduja is a soft, spicy hot, spreadable salami considered one of the most famous, if not the most famous, of typical calabrian (Southern Italian) foods. Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream.

Parisian-style gnocchi, butternut squash, spiced walnuts, green apples, sage, garlic, brown butter.  This is hailed as the signature dish of Bistro 7, and for good reason.  As soon as that hit the table, I was practically drooling.  Mouth watering squash, the sweetness of the brown butter, and the mixture of gnocchi, walnuts, sage, and garlic.  Ugh.  Need to go back.

Slow roasted black pearl organic salmon: white beans stew with rock shrimp, spicy pork sausage, rosemary, baby arugula, lemon-black pepper aioli

Chinese five-spiced duck breast duck confit risotto, toasted hazelnuts, swiss chard, yellow beets, sundried cherry gastrique

Dessert 1: ?

Dessert 2: ?

Of Note:

The City Tavern Restaurant

The City Tavern Restaurant
138 S 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 413-1443
www.citytavern.comThis Penn's Landing gem situation in the Old City, Philadelphia is unique in that the waitstaff are costumed, the food is authentic 18th century offers, and the china, lighting, glassware is all dated to transport you to another time.  As I sat down to dinner a festive Benjamin Franklin served cocktails to the table adjacent mine and a buxom Harriet Tubman served some gentlemen their ales.  The tables were lit by lanterns which unfortunately made food photography challenging, but...in a phrase...challenge accepted!  Hopefully the images do not disappoint.

The lighter colored bread, Sally Lunn: large bun or teacake made with a yeast dough including cream, eggs, and spice, similar to the sweet brioche breads of France. Served warm and sliced, with butter, it was first recorded in 1780 in the spa town of Bath in southwest England.  Darker bread is Anadama, a traditional yeast bread of New England in the United States made with wheat flour, cornmeal, molasses and sometimes rye flour.  The small muffins are Thomas Jefferson's own recipe for sweet potato butter pecan biscuits.

Note: Thomas Jefferson's Biscuit recipe is from the National Constitution Center (NCC), Philadelphia PA. According to the NCC, Thomas Jefferson's biscuits were served at the first meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774. These are light, tasty biscuits (scones), with or without the pecans.

Corn Chowder.  Nothing to write home about, but I will comment on the period china it is served in.  Those are iron bowls and something about eating out of a metal bowl just does it for me.  The Founding Fathers surely knew this as well since after tossing back a few ales, coming up with quotes like, "When in the Course of human events..." In fact I'm pretty sure most of the introduction to the Declaration of Independence was written drunk as it has some pretty dramatic stage effect (Jefferson got carried away)...but I digress, anyway, these dishes won't break easily.  Enough said.  Moving on.

Tenderloin Tips & Mushrooms. Marinated & sauteed beef tenderloin tips, mushrooms, sour cream-Dijon sauce, herbed egg noodles & vegetable of the season.

Medallions of Beef Tenderloin. Pan-seared beef medallions, Burgundy demi-glaze, mashed potatoes, asparagus & Sauce Béarnaise. Béarnaise sauce is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks, white wine vinegar and flavored with herbs.

This was a strawberry tort served with ice cream.  The cool thing about the desserts is a huge tray of sample desserts comes out at the end of the meal and you get to pick what it is you want.  Rather than look at a dessert menu, you actually get to see the desserts themselves.

Very touristy atrium.

One of the highlights of the evening.

Historical Information: If you're reading this I expect you already know, this was the place the founding fathers gathered and visited and drank. However it burned down long long ago, and after over 150 years the National Park Service had this new version created but it was made to be as original as possible. It opened again in 1975.