La Famiglia

La Famiglia Ristorante: Philadelphia's Best Italian Restaurant
8 S Front St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 922-2803 www.lafamiglia.com/

I lifted the title of this review from the official Google search for this restaurant, and the top of the results lists the La Famiglia website as Philadelphia's Best Italian Restaurant. A bit pompous on their part, proclaiming themselves the best, but after eating here I have to agree.

Opened in 1976, La Famiglia has been serving the Philadelphia community for almost 30 years.  Given that according to the Small Business Administration, "About half of all new establishments survive five years or more and about one-third survive 10 years or more." it says something about the experience provided by dining at La Famiglia that has withstood the test of time.

Upon entering the restaurant, the establishment at once has an aristocratic, old money feel. This restaurant is not for the faint of heart, or wallet. It is also a two to three hour affair.  The waitstaff doesn't even bring the menu out until 15 minutes into the meal as you are given various amuse bouches and an extensive wine list for leisure reading.

If Noah Webster made a wine dictionary, this would be it. It's no wonder La Famiglia won the Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence, 2013.  This wine list was thicker than a Bible or a Dictionary for that matter.

I arranged the wine list next to the flower vase at the table and salt and pepper shakers to give some sense of proportion.  There are literally hundreds perhaps thousands of bottles to choose from, and given the tour of the wine cellar I took later, each and every bottle is accounted for.

The first course (complimentary) is a standard bruschetta.  Excellent.  Sliced tomatoes, crisp and crunchy with buttered toast perfectly browned that all melts together in your mouth. A+ One of the nice things about this restaurant is if you really like the amuse bouche you can order another round of it at no charge, which was a nice touch.
I have to take a second and comment on the china.  Sterling silver cutlery and ornately decorated china make the meal so much more pleasurable. It gives a warm, family dinner style to the meal, I assume in keeping pace with the restaurant's name.

Gnocchi Gorgonzola — $16.95 Homemade gnocchi with Gorgonzola cheese, cream and crushed almonds. This was a fantastic creamy dish with a little accent by the addition of the crushed almonds.  I cleaned my plate in less than 5 minutes. Delicious.  For your information: Gnocchi are various thick, soft doughs that may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour and egg, flour, egg, and cheese, potato, breadcrumbs, or similar ingredients.  Usually served as a first course in place of soup.

Insalata con Arancia e Finocchio — $9.95 Mixed greens with fennel in a lemon extra virgin olive oil dressing, garnished with fresh orange slices.  Also delicious, very citrusy though.

Vitello al Pistacchio — $26.95 Pistachio crusted veal medallions served with cranberry in a light madeira sauce. This was amazing.  I practically licked the plate. Madeira Sauce is a classic sauce made by adding Madeira wine to a basic demi-glace (rich and deeply flavorful sauce made by half basic brown sauce and half brown stock reduction). The Madeira sauce is an excellent accompaniment for roasts and steaks.

Special: Veal wrapped with Italian eggplant.  Finished with a touch of eggplant cream sauce. Eggplant and veal certainly is an interesting mixture.  It was not bad by any means but certainly not a combination I would make myself. The veal was tender and sauce was adequate and creamy.  Nothing too crazy here.

For dessert: Creme caramel, vanilla flavored flan. Interestingly enough, this is a dessert of Spanish origin so I was surprised to find it on the Italian restaurant dessert menu. It was very good and the caramel sauce was fantastic. Presentation was a bit on the plain side, but it certainly made up for it in taste.

Of note: 

A fully stocked bar adjacent to the main dining area.

Bottles of fine spirits adorn the mantles.

Gorgeous overhead lights

This is a view of the wine cellar with hundreds and hundreds of bottles of wine.  I am standing just outside the restroom facing the beginning of the wine cellar.  Some bottles are visible in the far right of the above picture.

Inside the bathroom.  Marble and ornate decor everywhere. Certainly one of the best restaurant bathrooms in my opinion.

Look at all that tile and marble.

A detail showcasing the wine cellar. Chairs are set up along the walls so one can enjoy a glass or two admiring the general splendor of the area.

History of the Restaurant (Per La Famiglia Website)
The Sena family tradition of culinary excellence dates back to early 1947 when Carlo "Papa" Sena began to cook in postwar Naples. The family carried this experience across the Atlantic and opened La Famiglia in 1976 in the shell of a Colonial tea warehouse. With the help of his family, and a lot of hard work and dedication, Carlo turned La Famiglia into one of Philadelphia's top culinary institutions. Since their father retired from the kitchen in the early nineties, Carlo's two sons, Giuseppe and Gino have maintained the first-class image of La Famiglia that its long-time patrons recall from the early days. Those who consider themselves to be La Famiglia loyalists can still find that same level of service. Today, La Famiglia stands as the finest Italian restaurant in Philadelphia and a major landmark on the city's vibrant dining scene. It has earned an international reputation as one of the finest examples of gourmet Italian cuisine to be served outside of Italy.