Dante & Luigi's

Dante & Luigi's
762 S 10th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 922-9501
http://www.danteandluigis.com/

This restaurant is billed as being one of the oldest Italian restaurants in the United States.  Established in 1899, this restaurant is made of two converted town homes.  Situated in the Italian market district of Philadelphia, arriving immigrants at the turn of the century would come with the restaurant name tacked to their lapels. The upstairs of the restaurant was made into lodging for the arriving immigrants and they were given work in the restaurant downstairs. The restaurant is a mix of "Old World" specialties with delicious daily specials and fresh seafood.

The interior of the restaurant has an Old World feel with chandeliers and old ornate wooden furniture and chairs. The service is on point but not obtrusive. The waitstaff is knowledgeable and friendly. The incandescent lighting has an old country feel, like a trip to grandmother's house.

Veal Bracciole (2) Traditional veal cutlet rolled & stuffed with proscuitto, provolone & peccorino romano cheeses with celery, egg & a touch of long hot peppers. Braised in Italian gravy.

Eggplant Rollantini Batter dipped & stuffed with Ricotta & Mozzarella cheeses.

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom with Crabmeat.  Delicious. The lemon balanced out the richness of the crabmeat while not covering up the flavor of the mushroom itself.  The mushroom was fresh and not gummy, Overall, a delicious starter to the meal, foreshadowing the many wonderful courses to come.

Chicken Sicilian Boneless breast of chicken with hot or sweet peppers, Sicilian olives, fresh tomato & capers.  I chose the sweet peppers which accompanied the dish quite nicely. The chicken jus was not overly salty which is a common mistake so I was happy to note that when I dug into this dish. The portion size was perfect and left just enough room for the dessert.

My main course was served with a side of rigatoni with marinara and fresh Parmesan cheese.

Veal Saltimbocca. Medallions of veal with fresh sage, proscuitto, mushrooms & provolone cheese in a sherry sauce.

Tira Misu Ours is a classic. Lady Fingers, Mascarpone cheese, creamy Egg Custard, flavored with Amoretto, Espresso & Kahlua.  The best tira misu I have had.  Hands down.

Hand Dipped Spumoni Traditional Italian, triple flavored ice cream. Spumoni  is a molded Italian ice cream made with layers of different colors and flavors, usually containing candied fruits and nuts. Typically it is of three flavors, with a fruit/nut layer between them.

One of the banquet areas.

A well stocked bar.

Clean bathroom facilities.

Toilet was unfortunately enclosed in a small stall like area at the end of the bathroom.  This would not be easily accessible if the restaurant patron were handicapped.

Mitchell's Steakhouse

Mitchell's Steakhouse
45 N 3rd St Columbus, OH (614) 621-2333
www.mitchellssteakhouse.com

After much ado at the Arnold Sports Festival, it was necessary to find a good spot for dinner.  Mitchell's Steakhouse is a small chain composed of three restaurants- two in Columbus, OH and one in Birmingham, Michigan. All specialize in providing the best steak and seafood available.  I'd like to comment already, the prices were a hell of a lot cheaper than Philadelphia.  You definitely will get more bang for the buck here.  Just check out the $6.00 valet parking that at any Philadelphia restaurant would be around $20. Quite a big change I'd say.

Upon entering, I was immediately taken aback by the general splendor of the surroundings, the high, vaulted ceilings and large paintings on the walls really made for an immensely pleasurable entrance. I'd classify the atmosphere as upscale (northeast business attire appropriate) but there were people there in T-shirts and jeans.  We were some of those people--after walking around all day at the Arnold Sports Festival, we weren't about to stop at the hotel and change.

I started the night with one of the specialty cocktails, and needless to say, had 2 or so more. BLUEBERRY MOJITO Bacardi Silver Rum, Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice, Muddled Blueberries, Fresh Mint Leaves.

Bread service was nothing to run and tell mother about, but it was certainly not lacking.  The bread served was a sourdough which I thought was a unique touch to the meal. Nothing more to say here, so moving on. We did the 3 course meal option for $45/person.  Quite a steal.

Apple, Walnut & Bleu Cheese Salad to start. This was sprinkled with a delicious balsamic reduction and the walnuts had been candied so it was a succulent, sweet way to start the evening.

Jumbo Sea Scallops - Shittake Ginger Cream Sauce Lemon Risotto. The sweet ginger cream was amazing and the lemon squeezed onto the scallops balanced the sweetness. The scallops were very good sized and properly seared.  A well executed dish.

6 oz Filet Mignon & Shrimp. I can say that this was one of the better steaks and the portion size was good. With the starter and sides, it was neither too much or too little.

The family style sides were enough for two. The corn was slightly salted with butter and the broccoli had a delicious souffle of honey mustard.

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake w/ Cranberry-Pecan Chocolate Bark. Delicious in every sense of the word. The finishing touch of the dark chocolate was an extraordinary finish to an extraordinary meal.  Would definitely go back.

Of Note: 

Gorgeous ceilings with fine stenciling and large mirrors adjacent to the ceilings make the room appear even bigger.

Well stocked wine cellar.

El Arepazo Latin Grill

El Arepazo Latin Grill 
47 N Pearl St, Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 228-4830 
http://www.elarepazolatingrill.com/ 

Well, I found myself in Columbus, OH for the 2015 Arnold Sports Festival. It was a good day for walking. I stumbled upon this gem just a few blocks from the Convention Center.  El Arepazo has three locations in the greater Columbus area and focuses on serving authentic traditional Arepas, corn pancakes from Colombia's and Venezuela's gastronomy with many other traditional dishes. While the restaurant facade does not have all the bombast of my usual Philadelphia haunts, don't let it fool you into thinking the quality of the food was any less than stellar.  I would not take the time to write a review if I felt it was not up to par. 

The restaurant has a modest interior with a counter upfront to place orders.  The food is then brought to the table awhile later. It was a busy lunch time rush when we came in so there was some pressure to get the order in quickly.  Drinks are self-serve on the right of the restaurant. 

Steak, Avocado & Bean Salad Tender steak, green leaf lettuce, corn, pinto beans, sliced avocado, diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro & a generous handful of crisp tortilla chips, broken into pieces.  This was just amazing.  And to top it off, it was served with a green sauce in the souffle cup.  It was like crack-  I had to have at least two more cups of it.  They call it their House Made Cilantro sauce which is nothing short of amazing.

Of Note:

They had natural fruit juices available which were also delicious and freshly squeezed.  We had the passion fruit which was delicious. 

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.