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While we were in Philadelphia last weekend, we had a couple of nice dinners. Pre-show, early at a.Kitchen + Bar.

RAW SEA SCALLOP  cherries, sugar snap pea, garlic scape + makrut lime brown butter 

CHICKPEA PANISSE  burnt eggplant tahini, shiso vinaigrette (and some roasted veg)

Mains were a cheeseburger for Significant Eater, and some lovely pork spareribs for me (with a sour cherry sauce that was great).  All good enough for an early, pre-show dinner.

The following night we were able to eat at a more civilized time (for us), as nothing was scheduled other than dinner. So based on a recommend from @gfweb, we hit Vernick Food and Drink. We were not disappointed.

Arriving about 30 minutes early for an 8 o'clock reservation, we started off downstairs at the bar, and had a couple of nicely made cocktails - Martini for me (3:1, twist, olives on the side) and a cocktail recommended by our bartender, a Water Lily for SE.  I'd have the Martini again. 

Vernick is an a la carte menu (though a separate tasting menu can be reserved for up to 4 guests). In any event, they started us off with an amuse:

Apricot "gazpacjo" and a mini corn muffin. Very good.

Blue crab toast. What could be bad?

Cucumber panzanella. This dish didn't work for me, as I found it too soupy.  We also shared a pasta...

Fettuccine w/ dayboat scallops in a tomato/white wine sauce.  Really perfectly cooked pasta, great sauce (and not too much of it).

Yes, then we moved on to main courses. For Significant Eater:

Fantastic pork chop Milanese. Which we could eat basically 1/2 of. It was huge. And some seafood for me:

A lovely piece of Atlantic halibut, in a light crab broth with fresh corn, herbs. Fantastic.

We drank this with dinner:

A couple of scoops for dessert:

The one on the right - blueberry, and I have no idea about the other one.

This is a fabulous place - certainly one doesn't have to eat as much food as we did!