Food and Drink: jamonera

Jamonera
105 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 922-6061 jamonerarestaurant.com/
Marcie Turney & Valerie Safran's Spanish wine bar on 13th Street in Center City, Philadelphia.

I wouldn't normally start the review with a picture of the door panel, but I loved the metal stenciling so much I couldn't resist. Now below, the de rigueur restaurant exterior shot.

With a nice al fresco dining area, many patrons that evening chose to dine outside, but of course since I wanted shots of the restaurant exterior, I declined an outside table. And the view inside was nothing to sneeze at either:

Look at that marvelous wood grating that serves as the ceiling. A well stocked bar lit by bright LEDs makes this at once a hip and modern place. A pseudo-Picasso painting adorns the wall and keeps nicely with the "red" theme of the restaurant.

A view from our table. Loved the wooden tables and chairs. Candles were a nice touch. Some diners enjoyed a dinner in the corner.

To start, I ordered this delicious gin based cocktail - La Primavera (Spanish for spring). It is composed of gin, honey, fresh lime, cardamom, and black pepper. Briefly: sweet with some spice. It was garnished nicely with a flower denoting a "spring" theme to the drink. Cardamom is of course a spice native to India with a unique flavor and aroma that is hard to put into words. It defies the boundaries of normal sensory comparisons. It is compellingly strong, yet delicate; sweet, yet powerful; with an almost eucalyptus freshness.

Food is served family style: that is, it is brought out as soon as it's ready and set in the center of the table for people to share. Hence with each course, you are given new round of small plates. With this is mind, 4-5 courses is a good, hearty portion for two at Jamonera. To start the evening, we begin with: Local Farm Salad (Gap, PA). Grilled market vegetables, whipped goat cheese, hand torn croutons, lemon-honey vinaigrette. Loved the lemon-honey vinaigrette. Absolutely delicious.

PAPA FRITA (v) 6 crispy skin potato, wood smoked garlic aioli, brava salt, house made sherry vinegar-hot sauce. It was a bit spicy but not TOO spicy. The garlic aioli was excellent (white sauce in the picture). Aioli or aïoli is a Provençal sauce made of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, usually egg yolks, and seasonings. Brava salt is usually made from espresso. A perfect finishing salt for steaks and roasts, it can also be used in rubs and marinades or as a delicious addition to chocolates and desserts.

MUSHROOM COCA (v) 10 sautéed wild mushroom flatbread, urgelia cheese, arugula-almond pesto. Had a sweet flavor to it colored by urgelia cheese. Urgelia (also called Queso de l'Alt Urgell y la Cerdanya) is semi-soft cows milk cheese made in Alt Urgell and Cerdanay in the Catalonia region of northern Spain. The mixture of the bread, cheese and mushrooms mixed very well with the arugula pesto sauce. Arugula pesto is made with fresh arugula leaves, garlic, olive oil, walnuts, and Parmesan cheese.

BERENJENAS (v) 7 crispy eggplant fries, smoked tomato salmorejo, truffle honey, zamarano cheese. Salmorejo is a purée consisting of tomato and bread, originating from Cordoba in Andalusia, south Spain. It is made from tomatoes, bread, oil, garlic and vinegar. Normally, the tomatoes are skinned and then puréed with the other ingredients. The purée is served cold and may be garnished with diced Spanish serrano ham and diced hard-boiled eggs. Zamorano (Spanish: Queso zamorano) is a sheep's milk cheese made in the province of Zamora, Spain.

PORK TENDERLOIN 15 grilled pork, sugar plum caper chutney, seared fingerlings, arugula. The sugar plum chutney gives the pork a sweet, fruity taste which helps to sweeten the pork. Pork was tender and the fingerling potatoes balanced the meal.

ALBONDIGAS 10 manchego stuffed meatballs, serrano ham, green olive tapenade, sherry-tomato sauce, grilled baguette. Manchego is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the manchega breed. The green olive tapenade is a greenish dipping sauce under the baguette which accompanies it quite nicely. Usually it's made with olives, garlic, capers, thyme and olive oil.

SPICED PEAR SORBET 7 rosemary-sea salt shortbread. Excellent shortbread cookies and the sorbet was very tasty as well. It was a nice excellent finish to a great meal.

Of Note:

Detail of a gorgeous ceiling chandelier.

Spotless restroom facility. However, there was only 1 bathroom that I could see (it was dark behind the curtains leading to the bathroom). Would expect a few more toilets for an entire restaurant. However, it was quite apparent the facility must have been serviced hourly because one could eat off of that toilet seat.