lfabio2007

Wow. Someone actually POSTING? It's been... uh, a while.

We've been to UT multiple times and we enjoyed the food and the ambiance - the oysters particularly, though the meat was very good (fair warning, our last visit was >12mos ago). The fiorentina at Osteria is OK, though anyone from Tuscany would laugh at the definition. We did not hit BP yet.

We were here a few weeks ago... a saturday for lunch. And we noticed the same thing: no peppercorns. And the food was ...ok, but not up to our previous visits.

The traditional item is in an intestine casing like salami or sausage. You're not supposed to pierce it and it will cook happily on its own, though you have to be careful because it may break leading to excessive loss of fat & collagen. The plastic casing makes me suppose that these are pre-cooked?

...and I called. Reserved until *November 15th*. As usual the article was fatal.

Aw crud. We wanted to go today. No chance without reservations?

If I may - Bibou may attempt to be at LBF's level of service as described by Holly. But, we were there yesterday and I can say without the shadow of a doubt that the attempt is far from successful. More in the appropriate thread by evening.

It was late may when we went and yes, we recalled that they had split off from DSG. But the dumplings were different and the news about the juicy buns depressed us tremendously. The other dishes did taste very good, though!

Bumping this back up. We were at Sakura a couple weeks ago and they said 'they don't really do Juicy buns any more', but they could make them to order if we were willing to wait ~20 mins for them. Also, their other dumplings didn't seem as good as they were. Did the chef change? With this and the closure of the magic kingdom of dough, we're hoping Dim Sum Garden doesn't go anywhere...

We got there last night. It was not bad, by any means, the appetizers were particularly interesting - with particular mention to the melted-cheese-dish-that-reminds-me-of-xochitl-though-it-was-made-with-a-baby-provolone. Here comes the but: I'm sick and tired of getting BRONZINO (conk!) as a whole fish. Yes, it's great - in the Med, wild caught, over 1kg, swimming <24hours before the grill. Philadelphia is on the other side of an ocean. There are lots of fish. They can come from much closer. They are tasty. And nowhere to be seen. The brOnzino was OK, though. The asado 'mixed grill' I had was.. not bad, but for what should be their piece de resistance, it was just.. not bad. The chorizo sausage was an italian sausage overloaded with fennel, the pork matambre was... a chunk of loin (?!?), the rest was good but great lies elsewhere, even in grilled foods. The tres leche pastel for dessert was lacking the dulce de leche (a cardinal sin!). It was good, mind, just... good.

wkl, gfweb, yes, there has been a downturn and it's been a while. Let's hope it passes. As to the food, we were at Talula's very recently. It's still very good. It was perhaps a little more... refined? Balanced? Had a lighter touch? before but it's still one of our go-to places. And this after I raised hell & high water about their reservation policy in another thread...

Granted: however, in most of the places we've been to a change of chef has brought some change (Matyson is actually the most recent notable exception that comes to mind). Good or bad remains to be seen, but if what Phillymag writes is true, I will personally not deem it good. Still, we'll find out when we come back over on the 20th.

http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20100318_Ladder_15_s_lamb_empanadas.html has anyone been?

http://blogs.phillymag.com/restaurant_club/2010/03/16/first-bite-xochitl/ Sic transit gloria mundi. My usual regret is that we should've gone more often.

Aargh, now you tell me! OK, will squeeze in Koozeedoo before leaving. Thank you sir!

We went on opening night. The prices are lower than Osteria but still significantly above and beyond the 'roman trattoria' concept that the restaurant portrays. The food was good, but it could've been so much better if it actually let the flavours come out instead of toning them down desperately, something that also happens at Osteria. It's as if one took the volume knob on the food and turned it to 5%, which is precisely opposite of what BOTH an osteria AND a trattoria should be. But it seems to work for them, so I'll continue to go here http://www.giggetto.it/ when I want the real thing. It is, however, a bit of a shame.

In that case, we're doubly grateful we managed to sneak in before that! We stopped for lunch Saturday and had the grilled anchovies and the picanha + egg + fries + ... . Of course, despite it being lunch, we HAD to try the chocolate salami as well. I'll echo the sentiments expressed by others in the thread: the food was excellent. Well prepared, with good ingredients and without being afraid to let the flavours actually take centre stage as opposed to hitting the -20dB mute button - I was particularly fond of the sauce on the steak. Here's to many more meals.

Sorry for the late reply: if you're familiar with salame cotto.. that's what they are, effectively. There is almost no pigskin content so the texture is completely different. They also tasted like they spent some time in a smoker. The grind is also.. uneven and chunkier. So, very good with coarse dijon and mashed potatoes, but for the real deal, I'll go up to Budrio (GO) when I fly back. Or go to the store that Rob helpfully pointed out!

And so we ordered.. and obtained two cotechini. Which were really quite nice and had positively nothing to do with the genuine article.

Jmolinari: makes a lot of sense, we'll try to source back skin then. Ambra, now it makes a lot more sense! As to the US... chicken soup I understand, but it's a bit of a different animal. Then again, one might say that very little cooking from above Lazio has ever made it across, so I shouldn't be too surprised... And yes, Venice also has some wonderful musetti at the COOP, but even if I were to fly over, they wouldn't let me take one back stateside (and I would NEVER attempt smuggling.. of course... never mind the curiously prosciutto shaped sweater that inhabited my suitcase a few months ago ).

I understand what you're saying, though I'm curious to know where in Italy you're from . I'm surprised to note that the whole idea of bollito, as you say, has simply not made it over, which is surprising, but it is what it is (we had it at Vetri and it was ... not bad. They do not offer it any longer IIRC). In any case! Thanks for the suggestion, buonitalia does have what look like 700-800gr cotechini which actually look raw. I have to wonder where they come from, but if they have Perbellini's panettone, I can hazard a guess or two. I'll give them a call monday morning and investigate. Thanks for your help!

Making an attempt to see if a table opens up tonight given the weather. It would be in keeping with our trips at Tinto and Osteria for the respective openings..

Uh. I tried to make reservations. I used opentable: the next table that isn't at 17,00 or at 21,00 is jan 10th?!? It's easier to get a table at Dan Barber's...

We passed by... last sunday I believe. It was also very, very closed.

Hm! Thanks, I may give it a shot... raw skin.... Giunta's, I wonder? Would the cotenna over pork belly work? It should..