Food and Drink: The Farm and Fisherman

The Farm and Fisherman
1120 Pine St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (267) 687-1555
Tuesdays - Sunday: 5:00-10:00pm | BYOB
www.thefarmandfishermanbyob.com/

The farm and fisherman is a small 30 seat restaurant owned by husband-wife team Josh & Colleen Lawler. Its premise as the name implies is a focus on sustainable, locally-sourced organic ingredients in the nearby area to go from "farm" to "tabletop". The menu is another highlight which fluctuates quickly due to availability of foods and the changes in seasons. One will never tire of dining here as the restaurant consistently puts out fresh takes on seasonal dishes. The restaurant is unimposing and does not have an exterior sign save the simple fishes logo above the door. It could easily be mistaken for a residential house and in my opinion is one of the better kept secrets of Philadelphia.

Here is a view of the interior of the restaurant, done in a contemporary elegant style with gorgeous chandeliers, white table clothes and a pretty decent crowd. I was impressed that in such a small space, they were able to fit so many people and not make it seem very cramped. One caveat I must warn about is the seats abutting the wall (one of which I happened to be seated in) unfortunately have inter-spaced air vents for the air conditioning and I was sitting directly on top of one of them. It made for a chilly dinner until I was able to switch seats with my dining companion.

Frosted green doctor tomato gazpacho. Summer squash, canteloupe, cucumbers, tomato cloud. Lovely lemon verbana cream and cucumbers gave this soup a most refreshing summer feel. It was an excellent way to start into the evening and definitely highly recommend this dish--that is if it is still on the menu.

Summer vegetable salad: green beans, tarragon, shaved roots, tomatoes. The tarragon are the thin green herbs seen on the plate which added nice flavor to the dish. All the vegetables were so fresh it was ever apparent these were straight from the farm to the table.

Grilled rosa bianca eggplant. almond puree, currants, burrata, roasted tomatoes. Rosa bianca is spanish for white rose, and represents the specific type of eggplant used which is generally a little ligher and sweeter than most varieties. The almond puree was tasty and the burrata was the perfect cheese choice. Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream.

Gemmeli pasta: Walnut basil pesto, heirloom tomatoes, ricotta. This was not bad, but personally, I thought the eggplant much better. The pesto and pasta mixed with the creamy ricotta cheese.

New England Pollack. Baby green beans, ruby streaks, soffritto, white garlic. Soffritto is carrots, onions and celery with some garlic that can be used to make base sauces in Italian cuisine. It is basically finely chopped vegetables. Ruby Streaks will change your mind about mustards with its tempting beauty and mildly pungent flavor that's deliciously fresh in salads. It is the purple tinted greens seen in the above picture.

Natural Beef Ribeye. NJ brown rice, saffron, heirloom sweet peppers. Had wonderful taste to it. The au jus was very good as well. Excellent choice to the meal.

Dessert consisted of coffee and the ginger panna cotta. Summer berries, oats, almonds. Fantastic. Loved the addition of the black berries.

Classic carrot cake. Walnuts, cream cheese, peach butter. Very good as well. I can't decide if the carrot cake or the panna cotta was better. Both great finishes to excellent meals.

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