Tartine

[davidbdesilva]

Had dinner at Tartine on Saturday night and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. A lovely little corner restaurant at 4th and Passyunk (just off of South), Tartine is little, quaint and cozy. Some may say that there isn't much atmosphere but I feel that its sparseness is its atmosphere. Reminds me of a little cafe in Paris. They have a liquor license but also allow BYOB, so naturally we brought our own (a very good 1997 Chinon). The short handwritten menu is completely in French so our lovely server gladly interpreted and descibed each dish for us very well. For apps my wife had an onion tart ($8.50) and I had shrimp swimming in a lovely butterly, garlicky sauce with tomatoes ($12), both were very good. For entrees my wife had simply done Talapia ($22, called St. Peter's fish in Europe) while I had pork loin done in a dijionaise sauce ($18), again both were very good. Deserts were homemade puff pastries, one with raspberries and one with pear, smothered in creme glaze ($6), very good. The food is simply prepared country comfort food prepared by the 70-something chef who comes out and walks around, talking with people. Whereas NYC has dozens of very good French bistros, Philly seems to be lacking in this area. Tartine is a very good, homey French bistro that helps this problem.

[Rich Pawlak]

Tartine is VERY good, David, glad you enjoyed it too!

It is located at 4th and Bainbridge, one block east of Passyunk.

[mikerock]

i had my first experience at tartine last night and was very happy. in the online reviews it said it was a byo (always a plus because that meansd a trip to moore bros.) but when i got there they had 6 bottles on their list? either way they were more than happy to open my bottle (graves chinon 2002). i started out w the pate maison. kind of like a country pate. it was way too cold though and i didn't get to appreciate how good it was until the end. very simple and a little hard but a very nice pork flavor and some very good cornichons. i really wanted the steak frites (i was a vegetarian for 7 horrid years and have a compulsion to get steak very often) but i felt i had to get the frog legs cooked by a 75 year old frenchman. i hate to complain about portion size, but there were so many frog legs. swimming in a superb garlic/parsley butter and tomato confit. they were absolutely divine and even better when i was urged to give into my animal side by the chef who instructed me to use my fingers. to end the simple meal an excellent simple dessert, a square of puff pastry topped w red wine poached apples and dressed w an otherworldly creme anglaise. there were absolutely no people in there and he mentioned 2x how slow their weekdays are. so you guys have to get there and makes sure his place stays open. and go on a weeknight and enjoy the solitude. the address is mentioned above, but just in case it's on the s.east corner of 4th and bainbridge.

one more thing, they had poularsky on the menu. which is a russian dish of fine chopped chicken that is put back together w mustard and cream and then sauteed. it is very good and very uncommon. that alone is worth the trip

the rest of the menu (hopefuly my memory is correct)

apps:

onion soup

haricot vert vin

greens slade

lentil salad w dijon vin

and some tomato thing (sorry)

ent:

mussels (they were out when i was ther so i din't ask for any details)

st. peter's saute (talapia)

pork chop dijon

steak frite

poularsky

frogs legs

and one more thing (again, my apologies)

[Rich Pawlak]

i had my first experience at tartine last night and was very happy. in the online reviews it said it was a byo (always a plus because that meansd a trip to moore bros.) but when i got there they had 6 bottles on their list? either way they were more than happy to open my bottle (graves chinon 2002). i started out w the pate maison. kind of like a country pate. it was way too cold though and i didn't get to appreciate how good it was until the end. very simple and a little hard but a very nice pork flavor and some very good cornichons. i really wanted the steak frites (i was a vegetarian for 7 horrid years and have a compulsion to get steak very often) but i felt i had to get the frog legs cooked by a 75 year old frenchman. i hate to complain about portion size, but there were so many frog legs. swimming in a superb garlic/parsley butter and tomato confit. they were absolutely divine and even better when i was urged to give into my animal side by the chef who instructed me to use my fingers. to end the simple meal an excellent simple dessert, a square of puff pastry topped w red wine poached apples and dressed w an otherworldly creme anglaise. there were absolutely no people in there and he mentioned 2x how slow their weekdays are. so you guys have to get there and makes sure his place stays open. and go on a weeknight and enjoy the solitude. the address is mentioned above, but just in case it's on the s.east corner of 4th and bainbridge.

one more thing, they had poularsky on the menu. which is a russian dish of fine chopped chicken that is put back together w mustard and cream and then sauteed. it is very good and very uncommon. that alone is worth the trip

the rest of the menu (hopefuly my memory is correct)

apps:

onion soup

haricot vert vin

greens slade

lentil salad w dijon vin

and some tomato thing (sorry)

ent:

mussels (they were out when i was ther so i din't ask for any details)

st. peter's saute (talapia)

pork chop dijon

steak frite

poularsky

frogs legs

and one more thing (again, my apologies)

I smell a DDC dinner all over this place; we've gotta keep a place like this busy and thriving.

[mrbigjas]

Excellent idea, Rich. I agree that Tartine needs to be kept open. You don't get old-school cooking like that very often.

[mrbigjas]

All right, I'm bumping this thread up again. We just had a ridiculously pleasant dinner at Tartine tonight (inspired to revisit from this topic, I admit, although we'd been trying to schedule a night out for a while)--and there was ONE OTHER COUPLE in the restaurant the whole night. We were there from about 8 to 10. THIS MUST CHANGE. I don't want this restaurant to go away, because seriously I don't know of anywhere else in town you can get classic dishes like this on a regular basis.

Pardon any French spelling butcherings below; I took Spanish and Mandarin in school.

apps we enjoyed:

salade verte

onion soup

lentil salad

The onion soup is everything this soup is supposed to be--a deeply flavored dark stock, well-caramelized onions to the point of nearly being undetectable, a top of broiled cheese. The only problem I have is that the crouton was apparently made of a black bread, which kind of overwhelmed the other flavors when you got a piece. The green salad's vinaigrette had something more than mine do, which I'm currently attributing to a hotter dijon mustard than my usual Maille (I discovered recently that Maille makes an extra hot version, which I bought a jar of, but haven't used yet, and which I'm hoping is closer to the nose-clearing dijon we got in Paris). The lentil salad makes me wonder how I could have hated lentils with the vehemence I did as a child.

(there were also coquilles st. jacques, tomate provencal and something else on the app menu)

Entrees tonight that we enjoyed were the Pojarsky, the beef curry, and the St. Pierre Meuniere. (other options were a risotto they were out of, steak frites, salmon pau pau, whatever that is, poulet saute, and something else I don't remember).

The beef curry was a little sweet--tender, long-stewed beef with nicely balanced spices, although not as hot as it could have been. The chef mentioned that he believes that curry should bring perspiration to the forehead with the first bite, but that he doesn't make it that way for his customers.

The Pojarsky was just great... here's the thing about this dish: everything about it is familiar, and I think that it's that all the chicken nuggets and preprepared breaded chicken cutlets and shake and bake and all the shit we were all brought up with were imitating dishes like this. So it's familiar, and yet so much more--you just think to yourself, so THAT's what all that prepared stuff I was eating as a kid is supposed to be like.

The St. Pierre meuniere was good too. I'm tempted to call this whole menu comfort food, because it is, but I kinda hate that term. The key thing (and I think the thing where it loses praise when you read through on-line reviews) is that there's nothing inventive, or that strikes you as surprising for what you'd expect for a bistro (except possibly the pojarsky). It's exactly what it's supposed to be: familiar bistro dishes, done the way they're supposed to be. Well goddammit, I like that stuff. I like that there is this place in Philadelphia, where an old, practiced hand can make these dishes the way they are meant to be made, and we can enjoy them.

So everyone go. Go now, go often, especially on weeknights, dammit. Keep it in business.

Edited April 16, 2004 by mrbigjas (log)

[herbacidal]

How many people does it seat?

[mrbigjas]

Probably about 45 or 50, I'm guessing.

[Mike Niklaus]

If it makes y'all feel any better, I was there sometime last month on a miserable rainy Friday night, and the place was packed. We had no reservations, but got the last available table. (Our discussion beforehand, by the way, sounded very similar to the one going on here: "What about Tartine?" "Oh, let's go there. They never seem to be busy: I'm afraid they'll close.") I don't remember everything about the food, but I know we had the lentil salad, the pate, and a beef stew of some sort, and all were quite lovely. The service was great, and I love the atmosphere. I have no idea what an authentic French bistro is like, but if that's it, then sign me up. We BYO'd, and our bill for two was $60, which I consider a very good deal.