Pizza Club Report: Fairmount, 7-7-07

[MarketStEl]

...two out of three ain't bad.

Our sojourn through the finest pizza pies Fairmount and vicinity have to offer turned into a two-person, two-pie affair thanks to some unfortunate emergencies and mix-ups. But your faithful correspondents, Bob Libkind and Yours Truly, soldiered on at reduced strength through two of our planned three stops.

First up: Illuminare.

Bob, who knows this territory well, advised me on the way in that the owner is also a custom builder who put a good deal of time and effort into constructing a wonderful space. And it shows.

Back of this bar, which wraps around the open kitchen, is space filled with light thanks to huge windows and a clerestory roof -- appropriate, given the restaurant's name.

We chose to sit in the peaceful outdoor garden, where, if you let your imagination run loose for a bit, you might believe you've walked into the courtyard of a Mediterranean house, even if one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

What better setting to enjoy a margherita pizza, the traditional Pizza Club control pie? We ordered one from our waitress and took our seats at our table.

Not too long afterwards, it appeared: Our...

Wait. We ordered a margherita. Where's the basil? Or the fresh mozzarella, for that matter? This is a plain cheese pizza!

"I know," said our very friendly yet very professional waitress. "I'm a pizza snob myself" -- a claim she then backed up with personal history and stories about some of the city's other top pizzerias. "I've told the manager that they need to change the menu, but they haven't done anything about it yet. Funny thing is, most of our customers don't say a thing."

She seemed pleased someone noticed this error. It appears that Illuminare stopped serving its highly regarded margherita pie without telling anyone they had done so. So, as Donald Rumsfeld might have said in this situation, you eat the pizza you have, not the pizza you want.

And this pizza was decent enough. The crust was nicely browned with only a little char.

The sauce, while canned, wasn't overly salty; in fact, it was just slightly sweet -- but not tomato-paste sweet. The mozzarella had been burnt slightly, but was otherwise fine. And the crust had a very pleasant surprise for a just-browned pie -- a light and airy edge with a most satisfying crunch.

Illuminare has won as much praise for its pies as for its atmosphere, and the pie we had here demonstrated their competence in making pizza. If I lived in Fairmount, I'd come here to order pizza often; besides, their prices -- $7 to $16, depending on the variety, for a 12-inch pie -- are very reasonable. (And I'd bring a date here for a romantic evening meal, ordering off the dinner menu.) But I wouldn't make a special trip for a cheese pie like this one the way I might have for an excellent margherita. On our distance-based rating system, I'd rank Illuminare's pies as 10-milers -- but I have to deduct five miles for misleading advertising. Next time, I will have to try one of their other varieties for a better gauge of what this kitchen is capable of.

From Illuminare, we ambled around the corner and up the block to Rembrandt's, a local institution of long standing. This neighborhood fave has a split personality -- half convivial pub, half romantic hideaway. Bob explained to me that this was the result of an expansion that doubled the restaruant's space some years ago.

We took our seats at the pub and perused the short but interesting pie menu: margherita, bianco (with tomatoes! -- oh, and broccoli rabe and fresh mozzarella), malfatto (with prosciutto, red peppers, Asiago and aged provolone, how can they call this pie "badly made"?), rustica (soppressata, roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, aged provolone), and white clam (with bacon, three cheeses, fresh garlic and parsley), back on the menu after a hiatus, said Bob.

We decided we needed to have something other than a margherita and ordered the white clam pie.

Note that the clams are baked in their shells. It might have been better for them to have been added directly to the pie at the end, for they were chewy and overcooked, but in truth, they were superfluous. The rest of the pie was a perfectly balanced composition of smoky bacon, cheese with some bite and garlic ditto. (Edited to add: Bob thought it would have been even better with panchetta in place of the bacon.) All of this was served atop a nicely charred crust that was thinner than Illuminare's; however, the edge wasn't as crisp as our first pie's.

The peel must have been dusted with flour before our pie was put in or pulled out of the oven, for flour fell from the bottom of our slices as we ate them.

As Rembrandt's also has a short but well chosen selection of draft and bottled brews, we both had beer with our pie here. Bob ordered a Belgian ale with a nice malt-brown color, and I ended up getting the perfect summer beer -- Harpoon UFO Heifenweizen, a light and lemony brew that even came with its own weather forecast printed on the glass:

I quickly figured out that this was actually a description of the beer in the glass--what it should look like at the proper serving temperature. It did.

Prices here are reasonable too. Bob informed me that Rembrandt's had acquired a new head chef some time in the recent past; judging from this pie, the new chef is doing quite well. If the other pies in Rembrandt's repertoire are as good as this one was, I'd have to say that these are really good 15-mile pies -- but for the true test, we will have to return and order a margherita.

From Rembrandt's, we parted company. Much though I was looking forward to Osteria, I decided I didn't have the stomach for an entire pie all to myself there after having downed the equivalent of a 12-inch pie at our two stops. Not to mention that it hadn't even opened for dinner by the time I walked past it on the way back home.

This means, of course, that a Pizza Club inspection of Osteria is still necessary. Not to mention a control pie at Rembrandt's. Feel free to add your own comments, Bob.

Illuminare

2321 Fairmount Avenue

215-765-0202

Rembrandt's

741 North 23d Street

215-763-2288

Nearest SEPTA service: Bus Route 7 (Pier 70 to Strawberry Mansion via 22d and 23d streets) heads west along Fairmount past Illuminare; Bus Route 48 (Center City to Tioga via North 29th Street) runs west along Aspen past Rembrandt's. Both routes run south on 23d near both restaurants returning to Center City.

Edited July 9, 2007 by MarketStEl (log)

[rlibkind]

Not much to add to Sandy's comprehensive report, but here goes...

I was shocked and appalled with the "margherita" at Illuminare. It used to be excellent. Now it's non-existent. On top of this, I thought it inexcuseable for the cheese to be burnt. That means either one or both of two things: cheap cheese and not enough attention paid by the cook. Given that there were only a handful of tables occupied, if the problem was inattention that's even worse.

But as Sandy says, the space, indoors and out, is gorgeous. Over the past year I've enjoyed the fried calamari and panini there, so visit if only for the ambiance and decent enough fare.

I had pizza at Rembrandt's (the malfatto) a couple of months ago, and while it was okay, I was turned off a bit by the excess greasiness -- it actually made the middle of the crust a bit soggy on the bottom. That problem appears to be banished, at least as demonstrated by our clam pie which, in all honesty, would have been better without the in-the-shell clams. They probably steamed the clams first, then placed them on top of the pie in the oven. Would have been better with fresh clams just taken out of the shell and placed on the pie. And why did they place five clams on a six-slice pie? Ran out of clams? (Well, yes. I spoke with a friend who arrived as we were eating, and she tried to order the clam pie but was told it was 86'd.) I would have liked a little bit more garlic punch, but then again, I'm one who believes it's pretty hard to use too much garlic.

My beer, btw, was Grimbergen Blonde, a trappist but not at all heavy. Surprisingly crisp with light fruit and spice. Although not a classic summer beer, it goes well with the season. (Jim Anderson, a former Fairmount resident who operates a pub, restaurant and hotel about 10-15 miles outside Inverness, Scotland, introduced me to this brew when I stopped by his wonderful establishment for lunch three years ago. His place, The Anderson, is in Fortrose, Black Isle.)

Edited July 9, 2007 by rlibkind (log)

[mrbigjas]

see that's the problem with rembrandt's. when their pizza is good it's rockin, but it's so inconsistent -- sometimes it's laden with grease. sometimes it's inexplicably really salty. but when it's on... aw yeah.