David Snyder praises chef Chris D’Ambro’s Mediterranean tapas at Bocca in Old City.

 Take the timeless beef tartare. D’Ambro updates this standard by using hanger steak instead of filet or sirloin, granting the dish rich, gamey flavor. Tiny decorative spheres of balsamic caviar, which D’Ambro makes with agar-agar, a natural structural ingredient commonly found in Chinese food, add delicate flashes of sweetness and acidity. An emulsion (or “air”) of capers adds a subtle puff of brininess. None of these nouveau elements upset the dish’s balance – each bite remains accessible and fun.

Smart Mouth [City Paper]
Bocca [Official Site]

Is one of Philadelphia’s best new restaurants hiding in an Old City lounge? According to Adam Erace it is.

What did come included some of the wittiest, most winsome things I’ve eaten this year. You’ll forgive me for being surprised by the exquisiteness of the citrus-cured foie gras torchon, so rich and silky smeared on croissant (a crunchy bread would have been better) with blueberry mostarda and zingy pink peppercorn-infused tapioca pearls; for being shocked at discovering the bar snack of my dreams (D’Ambro’s chickpea frites) in an ultralounge that sells Jaeger by the $160 bottle.


Bocca [Philadelphia Weekly]

The description of this Bistro 7 burger has us drooling. Too bad we have to wait until Sunday.

Sunday Burger Nights!
Grass-Fed Beef Burger with Amish Cheddar, Housemade Bacon and Duckfat Fries 

Bistro 7 [Official Site]

Do you like to drool? Then check out the menu Zahav is putting together for a chocolate themed dinner on Thursday, June 11th. If chocolate isn’t enough to get your salivary glands pumping, how about foie gras truffle and kobe beef tataki?

Check out the full menu of the $85 per person menu after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight at National Mechanics is the monthly Science on Tap.

The Return of Science on Tap Brings Us Scott Gilbert from the American Philosophical Museum. Scott will be presenting:
“How The Tortoises Got Their Shells And The Finches Got Their Beaks: The Role of Evo-Devo in Solving Darwin’s Dilemmas.”

Gilbert is a Professor of Biology at Swarthmore and a leader in the field of evolutionary developmental biology. Evo-devo compares the developmental processes of plants and animals to try and find the ancestral relationship between them and discover how developmental processes evolved. Presented by the APS Museum.

National Mechanics [Official Site]

View Zahav Plaza in a larger map
Zahav and the Society Hill Towers are working together to allow Zahav to add outdoor seating in the Society Hill Towers Shopping Plaza. Zahav is looking to start patio service as soon as possible but has to work out a number of logistical issues first.

For those unfamiliar with the layout of the area, the roof-topped plaza backs up to Zahav along St. James Place and is home to a number of merchants and previously to a small super market.

Zahav has been piling up the accolades, Food & Wine, Esquire, Bon Appetit and most recently, Philadelphia Magazine named it the top restaurant. All this before turning a year old.

On Wednesday, May 20th the Israeli restaurant is throwing itself an anniversary party. Starting at 8pm there will be live Middle Eastern music, belly dancing and $5 all you can eat hummus and laffa. plus drink deals like $3 Goldstars and $5 Lemonnanas.

Zahav [Official Site]

56% of you guessed Craig LaBan would give the Terence Feury manned kitchen at Fork 3-bells. But did you know it would be the exotic lamb belly confit that would have him crowing loudest?

For adventure diners, though, Feury’s lamb belly confit is one the city’s new must-taste plates. Cured two weeks in garlic, salt and rosemary, then slow-poached in lamb fat and olive oil, the finished product is an encounter with the ultimate savory mille-feuille. Its myriad layers of roasty-edged, gamey meat and buttery molten fat dissolve on the tongue as the absolute essence of lamb. Add a pickled fan of sliced lamb’s tongue, grilled artichokes, and glossy dabs of black olive jus, and you have a Mediterranean lamb epic on a plate.

Three Bells – Excellent

Fork [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Fork Restaurant [Official Site]

Terence Feury is now at the helm of Fork in Old City. This weekend Craig LaBan is going to check out how the highly acclaimed chef is doing in his new digs.

We gave Old City a bit of a rough time this week but we have to give props. Congrats to the Middle East Restaurant (seen here photographed in 1970) and everywhere else in Old City that has made it a happening place for politicians, druggies, punks, foodies and yes, even Jerseyites for close to 40 years.

Chestnut St [PhillyHistory.org]