mattohara

THANK YOU! Also note that one chef is named "Larousse," so next time I'm going to pay more attention to find out and research the names of the other chefs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larousse_Gastronomique

wow they're really giving up the ghost. yeah that's pretty much it. once a week he said he's going to try to do Pif-style. it might be once a month. that's all i know.

i think that's overthinking it. i personally think that M failed because nobody knew it was open in the first place. Pif is closing because david's chef de cuisine at Ansill had to leave and he decided to focus on Ansill instead of trying to worry about both. he tried to sell it a while back as we know. and we know philly's not the most food-centric town. i'm not arguing your point about critical mass restaurant-wise or the point that there are a lot of restaurants doing the same thing, i just don't think Pif or M's closings are related to those issues. also i don't know anything about the message. i'll call david and ask him. EDIT: ok i just asked. somebody there didn't know what was up. he wanted to call back but didn't have the caller ID. long story short, call ansill to put your name on the list. p.s. yes dagordon, there may be some tasting menus in your future at a chef's table at Ansill

Yep. I'm unhappy to say the least. David told me not to break it here until it comes out in the paper but of course somebody found out first. I just emailed Michael Klein two nights ago to tell him about it so it will be breaking probably tomorrow morning in the Inq. We'll be open the 10th-14th with a prix fixe. Make your reservations now. The 14th is Bastille Day and the 6th anniversary of Pif.

Can we start this thread please or find it? I have been here two years and haven't been to most of these places in chinatown. I'd rather not waste any more time!

DiBruno will ship anything they have. So you could go into the store, find your choices (they love to give tastes out as we all know), go home and call the mail order department (ask them for the number) and tell them exactly what you want.

oy-yah, we just went to deux chem and saw it on the menu but alas, no more. :\

i can see it. it's the Norman Rockwell version of coca-cola. country bumpkins chewing on straw come to the city in bare feet and overalls to sell their delicious homemade food in the old-fashioned market. while drinking bottles of coca-cola.

my roommate went last night and said it was very good. "too clean," i think he said. i don't think holly will be getting any more grease stains there.

haha yes. but he also has a dry biting wit. i will ask him about it. my girl's family was in town last night and we chose Pif! what can i say, we feel at home there. jared cooked a fantastic meal for everyone and Bridgit kept our wine glasses full. we had a blast.

yeah i saw something like that on citysearch. same thing? were you there?

thanks phil, for the rolled up newspapers comment. i laughed out loud at work here. i'd like to restate my comment from another thread that got locked. i referred to them as kids and somebody got mad. i meant not the larger organization, just the 5 or 6 kids that i've seen outside Pif abusing our friends. this was going to be a long rambling post but i've just deleted it all in favor of saying this: i just try to make jokes with our customers while they're out there threatening us. and yes, we definitely do sell more foie when they're around.

well said sir and thanks. i am almost positive the bread is still from artisan boulanger. i have noticed it not being as crispy lately though. p.s. to all other readers: phil and cap were referring to a local tv personality (i won't use celebrity) who i didn't recognize. her table got sauced and left us exactly 0 dollars and 0 cents tip, pretended ignorance when i called them on it (very politely i thought), and then proceeded to leave about 5%, insult our service and stumble out. pretty funny all-in-all.

ha! i think that was a one-time show that will not be repeated!

my gf and i went last night for a first and final dinner (closes for good on friday). it was our joint birthday treat to each other (sounds better than 'going dutch') so we got all dressed up. we had a perfect experience. great food and drinks, perfect service, got to meet and chat with the chef afterwards. i'll write more about the food when she's around to help me remember everything.

oh i can't wait to hear it. i've downloaded the mp3. btw i'm a corporate shill for findingphilly.com . amazing site.

David is revamping Ansill to make it more like his original vision. It will be a more accessible-though-creative menu at the same neighborhood spot. All of my personal faves are still there but there's some tweaking going on. From what I understand the menu will be changing more but David will be in the kitchen directing in a more hand-on kinda way. I was there tonight but forgot to bring home an updated menu to post here. The menu is now divided into Hot, Cold, Charcuterie and Cheese. There's a good number of new dishes as well. Jared Frazer has been David's guy at Pif for the last 6-8 months. He's a really knowledgeable dude that understands David's vision for Pif and will be executing it and adding his own flair with David's oversight: he is now Chef de Cusine. I've been working with him since he got there and have been consistently impressed with his knowledge and skill. Coming in to assist is Libby, another talented chef from Ansill. All of this is my wording and experience at both restaurants; David gave me the OK to let you guys know what's up. The nutshell is all your favorites at Pif with a different (and dexterous) touch: all your favorites at Ansill with a back-to-basics change-up. Please say hi to David or Edd (the manager at Ansill) or Matt (me) or Matt (sideburns) or Bridgit at Pif. We'll all be happy to see you.

i have to ask david tonight if i can leak the goods. he's doing a cooking show at RTM at the cookware stall. 6:30 PM. it was originally going to be called "chillin with Pif" and be all about cold stuff for the summer but now i think the name is changed to something less fun (same subject though).

- a regular at Pif had a foie tasting menu once. this is my point exactly. it's like political filibustering. they just keep screaming and yelling and hope that people will eventually get so tired of them that they will win. these kids just believe so blindly that no conversation or argument could convince them of anything other than their belief. it's cult-like.

yes indeed. i've had both foie dishes at Tinto (on the same night even) and they were great!

well, me and everybody else i know that's been there. all people whose opinion about food i greatly respect. i know i only had two small things. i know there's a chance that other things will be better. but i've had much better food at OK restaurants that i'll probably not go back to, because they simply weren't that good. this was bad enough that i felt i should write something about it, especially after reading the beginning of this thread all the way to the later posts that were very favorable. i tried not to be mean but it was very bad.

i was hesitant to go for a long time. i'd read all of the slams here and everybody i know who's been had a really bad time. but last night i was by myself and looking for a small bite. you can only get certain items at the bar. that's really lame. the explanation was that due to their seasonal ingredients they only have enough for the main dining room. that's no excuse at all. you order what you'll need, not enough for half the restaurant. and the restaurant was empty! i got the Soup Julienne. it's a chicken soup with julienned veggies. the consomme is poured piping hot out into the bowl. it smelled good but was not seasoned at all. i had a honeydew cocktail with it that tasted lightly of honeydew but not really of the gin that was in it somewhere. then i had a piece of blue d'auvergne. you can't go wrong when you order a cheese that you know you love. served with a dollop of (apparently locally-made) honey. bad bread. then i had a plate of canapes. the fluke (i think) sashimi was cooked. the asparagus soup tasted like raw grass, totally unseasoned. the housemade sausage you'd think would have some salt, but no. no flavor at all. there was some unidentifiable green beside it on the plate that tasted gummy and anise-y. two crostini in the middle, i think one had porcini mushrooms, the other i dunno. and then two little artichoke hearts that had been steamed. a little black oil in the bottom reminded me of a truffle coulis but i didn't taste any truffles or, again, seasoning of any kind. i really want to like this place. it's a block from where i live. but i'm never going back. the bartender was really nice and helpful, but i go for food, not service. the only good things were the drinks and the cheese, and i can get those anywhere. ah well. *sigh* oh yeah i will no longer read Laban. he's a horrible writer to begin with but if everybody i respect (including myself) thinks the food is horrid and he thinks it's three-bell worthy then he's lost all respectablility in my book. edited to add: i would have loved to try a few things on the regular menu. but apparently a single diner at the bar can't. the halibut sounded nice.

oh yeah that table! really nice round table, maybe 6' in diameter made out of wooden wine boxes. NICE wine boxes. i has a pixture of it somehwere... and if by paella pan you mean the preserving basin (pix here: http://www.thefrenchhouse.net/prodrange/show/2160 ) yeah. that's what i wanted too. :\

we got there at 7:20 in the a.m. there was a line a dozen deep. a few minutes in to the wait we saw a few people come out with arms loaded and we realized that we were at the end of the line, not the beginning. the inside was already full! when we eventually got inside we were unfortunately underwhelmed. there was a nice library of non-cookbooks (BORING!) a huge collection of cows and pigs, some furniture and some glassware (200$ crystal decanters, a 20$ glass decanter, some low-quality stemware), some prints and the much-heralded copperware collection. while the copper was impressively heavy and old-looking, half of it was there when we got upstairs and what was left was a couple of huge preserve pans that were huge and 350$, a couple of large saucepans that were 300$ and some teeny little things that could have been used for tarts i guess. all-in-all there was some nice stuff, some ok stuff and some junk, like most yard-sales. my mom really wanted a preserve pan but not one that's bigger than her kitchen and 350$. i didn't find any of the cool serving utensils and antique tools i was looking for, but what was there might have walked out with the first 80 people that got in line at 5 a.m. people who bought the copper were no doubt paying for a piece of history, as newer and probably better (stainless-lined) stuff can be bought for less. it was a pack of buzzards! anecdote: there was a little piece of sheet music in a frame that i'm pretty sure was an original penned by mozart. very old-looking and crinkled with a mini-portrait of the author beside it. i heard a lady saying "he wants 100$ for a piece of music!" in an outraged voice. this stuff was priced to make money, not to dissapear out the door as fast as possible. i left with a pyrex pie plate ($2) that i could get at any store. i brought $450 in cash and spent 2$. ah well.

i thought they had always been there. if not, maybe when dave cain left and he started working in the kitchen again. 65$/head and let us know if you have any allergies/faves/least faves! (advance notice required to track down some harder-to-find ingredients) i think M will be our next tasting adventure. katie can we pair halved cocktails with courses? that might be a fun first, cocktail pairings. and i can't think of a better place to test it!