R2L

R2L
50 S 16th St, Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 564-5337
r2lrestaurant.com/

Arguably one of the best views in the city, R2L sits atop the 37th floor of Two Liberty Place, featuring garage and valet parking, a private entrance, and elevator to add to the "exclusivity" of the venue. R2L offers up what it calls "creative American cuisine" which include their signature dishes of: grilled truffle flatbread, lobster mac & cheese, steak tartare, variations of lamb and skate wing with fettuccine.  We arrived there for dinner reservations around 830pm and were seated in the "lounge" area until a table opened up.

The lounge had some nice couches and chic tables where a nice mix of businessmen, yuppies after work, and other professionals had drinks, wine, beer--a full bar was available.  The lounge offers gorgeous full panel glass overlooking the Philadelphia city skyline.  A breathtaking view, and even more so later when the city is lit for the night.

This was a view of the Philly skyline from our table in the lounge area. The one huge plus this restaurant has going for it is the view.  The entire restaurant is flanked by these huge floor to ceiling windows which offer amazing, quite romantic views of the city.

I started the meal with a cocktail.  The cocktail: come on get happy: bombay sapphire east, pear liqueur, pear nectar, lemon juice, orange bitters + cardamom bitters.  It certainly was appropriately named, and I daresay I had another.

Bread service was relatively uneventful. The bread does come in a wooden box, which is something, but the bread itself was just ok.

CRISP RISOTTO peas, smoked ham, young garlic aioli.  This was certainly a unique was to do risotto. Traditionally, risotto is a north Italian rice dish cooked in a broth to a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetable. Many types of risotto contain butter, wine and onion.  In this case, the risotto is actually inside these fried balls that have been seasoned with the aioli sauce. Aioli or aïoli is a Provençal sauce made of garlic, olive oil, egg yolks, and lemon juice.

LOBSTER BISQUE vegetarian scrapple, lobster, pepper jelly + louis cream.  To start the meal I had a bowel of their famous lobster bisque soup.  It was creamy and full of flavor.  The presentation was excellent and the tradition of pouring the soup in front of the patron never ceases to impress.

BUTCHER'S FILET braised short rib + steuben bean chili, potato + farm veg "slaw," basil

 SMOKED PORK LOIN braised shank, crisp tête, whole grain risotto, radish + pickled ramps.  The pork was cooked medium, perfectly prepared and the accouterments complemented nicely.

Dessert was a nice touch with some toffee cookies to go and some cream puffs and toffee.  Delicious way to end the meal.

Of Note:

Gorgeous bar area

A lovely contemporary sculpture in the middle of the dining area.

Well stocked wine cellar.

Tour of the pastry area.

Kitchen area.

Restaurant interior.

The White Dog Cafe

The White Dog Cafe
3420 Sansom St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 386-9224
http://www.whitedog.com/

The White Dog Cafe was founded in 1983 by Judy Wicks who focused on sustainability, humanitarian efforts, organic everything, fair trade, fair wages etc.  If you are environmentally or socially active, this is your type of restaurant. There are three White Dog locations, the University City location here is the original location, which started as three Victorian brownstone buildings that served muffins and coffee. The other locations are in Wayne and the Main Line.

Upon entering the premises, one can appreciate the "dog" tag (no pun intended) in the restaurant name.  There are pictures of dogs everywhere.  The above panel is featured just off the corner of the rectangular bar area. Well lit with beautiful incandescent lamps, the bar at once has an immediately cozy feel.

I'd be doing this restaurant an injustice if I didn't stop and admire the unique lighting fixtures. Just gorgeous. But, you're all here for the food, and so, here it is:

Standard bread service to start the evening.

KENNETT SQUARE MUSHROOM SOUP Truffle Crème Fraîche, Snipped Chives 9. Not a bad start to the meal.

KALE & STRAWBERRIES Cieligiene Mozzarella, Toasted Hazelnuts, Rhubarb Lemon Vinaigrette 13.  This was a healthy start to a meal, and not too big a portion so I still had room for my entree.

My entree was the special of the night, a fish filet with tomatoes, onion and vinaigrette  Very tasty indeed.

GREEN MEADOW FARM 8oz FILET Shellbark Hollow Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes, Haricot Vert,Truffle Butter, Saba 38.

Of Note:

Even the menus were embossed with dog carvings.

I will say the decor here was pretty amazing.  This is the view adjacent to our table.  Instead of a wall, we had stacked barrels used to age wine.

A better view of the wine barrels.

Only at White Dog would there be dog portraits on the walls.

Yes, the stairs are labeled with dog breeds as well.

Some very cool chandeliers in the basement.

Some very cool decorations above the server's station in the basement.

Main dining area with more doggie portraits and mounted dogs on the walls.

Server station on the main level.

I know I keep coming back to the light fixtures...but whoa!

The Rainbow Room

The Rainbow Room
65, International Council-Shopping Center,
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
(212) 632-5000

I had to reserve an entire separate day to properly write this review.  I have eaten at and reviewed perhaps 100+ of the best restaurants from all around the United States, and when I came to the Rainbow Room one Sunday afternoon for their renowned brunch, I thought to myself, I have arrived.  The restaurant soars above the NYC skyline on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center.  It features it's own private elevator to access the restaurant and brunch starts at $95 per person not including drinks. It was hands down the fanciest brunch or restaurant for that matter I have had the pleasure of dining in.  This experience will be hard to top.

We arrived for brunch early and were shown to a cocktail lounge to wait with floor  to ceiling windows featuring breathtaking views of the city. Contemporary style and elegance permeated the design of the lounge featuring yellow lilies on the tables and an ornately styled carpet with comfortable leather backed chairs.

As we sat down at the table, I couldn't help but notice the rainbow lighting and seemingly twinkling ceiling fixtures and general ambiance of the room.  This is in large part due to crystal curtains, designed exclusively for the Rainbow Room and consisting of 1,200 crystals each, adorn each window around the room.

The crystals make the entire restaurant glisten, and besides the general splendor of the surroundings and room, make for an unforgettable experience.
In addition, the restaurant features a gorgeous central 1934 crystal chandelier which has been restored to its original state and creates a dramatic focal point above the revolving dance floor.

As if the the chandelier, 1200 crystals in each window and general opulence of the room was not enough, all a sudden, I started to hear jazz music.  I thought to myself, must be a nice Bose system and looked up to the walls and ceiling for speakers.  No pre-recorded track will do!  This is the rainbow room. Each Sunday, the restaurant features a live jazz band.

We had not sat down 5 minutes before the bread course was brought out.

Bread was lovely and the croissants were filled with a Gruyere cheese, which was a nice touch to wet the appetite. But, onto the food itself--this is a food blog after all. The food was arranged buffet style with several stations to choose from. These included a raw bar, cheese station, dessert, bread station, cured meats, sushi, comfort foods, and many more.  They say a picture is worth 1000 words, so I will simply show you the smorgasbord of brunch options available.

A selection of breads, bagels, jams/jellies, and various accouterments.

A small shelf of some of the dessert selections available.  Candies, macaroons, cookies, and everything in between.

A small detail showcasing a few of the dessert options.

There was a crepe station with even more shelves of desserts in little shooter containers.

The comfort food station.  The candied carrots seen here are particularly good.  I also had some of the ham in the periphery of the photo which was also fantastic.

I had to laugh at some point because the opulence and gluttony was amusing. There were literally cattle thighs being shaved to perfection with the charcuterie nicely arranged below.

What would charcuterie be without the appropriate condiments.  On an opposing counter, all the condiments one could imagine were prominently featured for charcuterie enrichment.

Of course, it wouldn't be brunch without approximately twenty different cheeses to choose from.

The roast beef.

The raw bar.

Of course, since everything else was stellar, the stemware was Rona.

One amusing tidbit is since the private elevator only accesses the Rainbow Room, there are no buttons.

Table decorations.

Can't beat the table-side view.

Close-up of the central chandelier.