Perhaps former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf consulted Craig LaBan’s out-of-the-way alfresco column when he chose to dine outdoors at Savona on Tuesday. Or perhaps he just really likes the creme brulee. After all, Dan Gross tells us it is his favorite dessert.

Musharraf dines at Savona [Daily News]
Out-of-the-way alfresco [Philadelphia Inquirer]

For the entire month of September (except Saturdays) Queen Village’s Bistrot La Minette is offering a $30 3-course prix fixe menu, $42 if you would like wine pairings with the first two courses and coffe with dessert.

Also happening at the quaint French bistro, or is that bistrot? Today is their one year anniversary and everyone who dines with them will receive a free Kir Royal.

Restaurant Month Menu after the jump.

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David Snyder checks out the boastful claims of Leila Cafe’s Mohamad Kammoun and finds he’s backing them up.

Turns out it’s Leila’s meat that’s worthy of exaggerated praise. Each preparation is mixed in-house and seasoned with secret blends of between nine and 16 authentic Mediterranean spices. Thick, tender slices of shawarma (a lamb and beef mix here) are carved off a vertical spit and placed in a veggie-stuffed pita coated with homemade hummus. The beef gyro pita (also a lamb/beef mix) comes slathered with a refreshing scratch-made tzatziki. The couscous mixed in with the 100-percent-beef kibbie makes for a wonderfully textured patty.

Feed My Worried Mind [City Paper]
Leila Cafe [Official Site]

Gophila.com picks their top five places for waterfront dining and provide useful tips like that the terrace at the Landing Restaurant in New Hope is animal friendly.

Top Five Places for Waterfront Dining [gophila.com]
Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC

Fries with that Shake posts this photo of an outdoor dining area in an unlikely spot. Can you guess where it is? We were way off.

Can you guess where this new outdoor dining space is? [Fries with that Shake]

Rick Nichols takes advantage of the beautiful weather and crosses downtown taking in the scene outdoors.

Eating on the streets, in the end, adds a personal dimension to local and seasonal. It’s not just about the food. It’s about putting your body on the line; gobbling up an overdue taste of summer – before the heavens part.

Alfresco dining blossoms in the sun [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Outdoor Dining Guide [f8b8z]

When Slate opened it was classified as a gastropub. But with praise from Craig LaBan and here by Philly Food and Drink, maybe neighborhood bistro is more appropriate? [Philly Food and Drink]

Phoodie calls Bridgewater’s Pub the “gem of 30th Street Station.” [Phoodie]

It’s a “small plates binge” at Pub and Kitchen. [Veggicurious]

Mmmmm, Boudin Blanc Sausage and Cajun blackened green beans at Grace Tavern. [Unbreaded]

A cold one in the fresh air? Joe Sixpack names 9 of his favorite outdoor drinking spots. [Beer Radar]

Dock Street Brewery has African-style Sudan Grass Sorghum Ale on tap and it’s gluten-free. [Gluten Free Philly]

Smiths offers sophisticated sandwiches at a sports friendly bar. [Unbreaded]

Rick Nichols visits Mark Bee’s “beer garden” at Silk City geographically nearby the Piazza at Schmidt’s but half a world away in vibe.

In short, the space is the goofball fantasy of one man’s imagination – old tubas on the wall stuffed with flowers, wrought ironwork (by metal worker Jason Roberts) shaped into rickety bones for the stair rail and spiky webs over portholes in the curvy walls, beer kegs as seats: the slaphappy anti-design, in other words, of an anarchic anti-developer. The unapologetically unhinged Piazza on Spring Garden.

Did I mention the sense of contentment and otherworldliness that descends beneath the strings of lights, the birdbath-size fountains dribbling, the potted plants riffling in the breeze? There are few spots in the city more laid back to drink beer or sip a Negroni, or, have I mentioned the stylings of the chef, Jay Henson, back in town (where he once headed the kitchen at the Happy Rooster) after a five-year hiatus at the Shore (the Inlet at Somers Point, Bobby Flay’s place at the Borgata, etc.)?

Main Line Today compiles a worthwhile of list of places to dine al fresco in the burbs.

Wanted: Fresh Air Fund [Main Line Today]

We were excited when we first heard Mark Bee was going to be building a beer garden next to Silk City. But as the months passed we had to ask ourselves, how much work is really needed to convert a parking lot into a beer garden? The video below shows this wasn’t just slapping some picnic tables down behind a fence and frankly, we don’t think its gotten the attention it deserves.

 

 

Update: The Frankford Gazette chronicled the Beer Garden’s metal work being manufactured in Frankford.

Silk City [Official Site]