marigold revisited, ex-Salt

[Holly Moore]

personally i dislike going to restaurants with people who won't do that.  but that's me.

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It was better when I was writing for the City Paper and had command over the table. Then I could taste everyone elses without having to share mine.

[KatieLoeb]

personally i dislike going to restaurants with people who won't do that.  but that's me.

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It was better when I was writing for the City Paper and had command over the table. Then I could taste everyone elses without having to share mine.

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Holly:

No one is actually buying this Curmudgeon act of yours. Those of us that have had the pleasure of your company at meals know you're all bark and no bite...

[Capaneus]

yeah that was the source of my confusion.  thanks philadining.

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Actually, they've e-mailed me with a couple of "Special Event" type tasting menus, so I think that might be something they do semi-frequently>

Also, I had a thought: in a past life, before everyone I know moved to NY or SF, we used to organize dinners where we would reserve a (largeish) table, agree with the restaurant on a per-head budget, and then have the chef put together a tasting menu - usually stuff not on their regular menu, and on the risque side of the palate.

Would anyone be into doing something like that? I figure we would need a minimum of six (on an early-week night, usually, to make the restaurant's logistics work out).

[Rich Pawlak]

yeah that was the source of my confusion.  thanks philadining.

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Actually, they've e-mailed me with a couple of "Special Event" type tasting menus, so I think that might be something they do semi-frequently>

Also, I had a thought: in a past life, before everyone I know moved to NY or SF, we used to organize dinners where we would reserve a (largeish) table, agree with the restaurant on a per-head budget, and then have the chef put together a tasting menu - usually stuff not on their regular menu, and on the risque side of the palate.

Would anyone be into doing something like that? I figure we would need a minimum of six (on an early-week night, usually, to make the restaurant's logistics work out).

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We do that almost monthly, although not always risque stuff (unless you include some of the conversation after dinner!). We call it the Dangerous Dining Club.

[philadining]

Maxine Keyser reviewed Marigold in the City Paper this week. (I think this link always brings up the current review, so won't link to Marigold always.)

[philadining]

Is it just me, or are the reviewers all following each other around lately?

Anyway, odd literary device in Lauren McCutcheon's review of Marigold: the meta-review...

Anyway, she liked it.

(edited for typo)

Edited January 20, 2005 by philadining (log)

[herbacidal]

Yea, I noticed them doing the same restaurant in the same week's review too.

With CP and the Weekly, I think that was true for Barclay Prime, now Marigold. Can't remember the other ones offhand.

[stephenc]

I went there a couple of weeks ago.

The service was efficient and attentive. The food was good for the price. The best were the chicken liver croquettes, which were tasty. I wish they'd serve us more of them however. Just slightly bigger appetizers would have been the perfect size.

The entrees were well cooked, and portions were good. The cod dish was real buttery, which is good if you like buttery food.

In terms of ambience restaurant is a bit on the cold side. It feels like it needs a fireplace or something to warm it up a bit. However, the place is very quiet, which lends itself to conversation well.

[davidbdesilva]

I agree, and I think they have purposely gone for the minimalist vibe amidst an old Victorian row home, kinda a blending of the past with the present. There is the modern gas fireplace, which doesn't add much warmth either in terms of actual temperature or in allure. We sat on the front porch which was cozy but chilly even with two space heaters, it'll be delightful in warmer weather I think. We thought the two dining rooms were kinda loud actually, but then again it was prime time on a Saturday evening.

The chicken liver croquettes were excellent and I thought enough. We had the mustard-crusted pork chop and coffee braised lamb shoulder and thought both were very good. Desserts I think are their weakest part, but respectable. We spent $75 for 2 apps, 2 entrees and 2 desserts with coffee, which I think is pretty amazing. We found the service to be quite professional but never hovering and the GM Jonathan very engaging. The stemware is a very nice touch. We'll be returning in mid-February with my brother and his wife. Maybe I'll try the cod, I've also heard the butterfish is quite good as well.

[Capaneus]

Has anyone been to Marigold since they've made the most recent menu changes? I'm going Thursday, the online menu is wrong (I checked), and I'm trying to pick wines blind, which I hate. Any recollections you'd care to share would be greatly appreciated.

[philadining]

Has anyone been to Marigold since they've made the most recent menu changes?

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I have to be in West Philly tonight, so i gave them a call on a whim, and they couldn't squeeze in 2 at any time...on a tuesday.... jeeze, I hate it when places succeed!

Seriously, good for them, but sorry Capaneus, no recon from me...

[Capaneus]

Has anyone been to Marigold since they've made the most recent menu changes?

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I have to be in West Philly tonight, so i gave them a call on a whim, and they couldn't squeeze in 2 at any time...on a tuesday.... jeeze, I hate it when places succeed!

Seriously, good for them, but sorry Capaneus, no recon from me...

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*No* time? Jeez, even Django can usually come up with a "All we have is 5-or-10, sorry!" mercy meal, once in a while.

[shacke]

I will be there next Friday the 25th for the first time. I am very excited to be finally getting there. I will certainly report back in full detail. I agree that knowing the menu in advance for wine purposes would be really helpful (why did I think I was alone on that one - duh.). I have occassionally thought of calling but it felt really strange to do so. I wind up ordering based on what I brought to some extent.

Evan

[Capaneus]

I will be there next Friday the 25th for the first time.  I am very excited to be finally getting there.  I will certainly report back in full detail.  I agree that knowing the menu in advance for wine purposes would be really helpful (why did I think I was alone on that one - duh.).  I have occassionally thought of calling but it felt really strange to do so.  I wind up ordering based on what I brought to some extent.

Evan

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Well, I mentioned I was trying to figure out the menu when I called for a reservation (asked if the one available online was correct - it wasn't), and when I was offered no further info, I didn't push the matter.

If it comes right down to that, I'll bring burgundy. I've yet to find much that a middleweight burgundy cannot match.

[Capaneus]

Okay. Seems like I have to do everything around here! You folks get *no* credit for the great dinner I just had at Marigold.

Anyway, for posterity, here are the menus:

https://webmail.pobox.upenn.edu/horde/imp/

https://webmail.pobox.upenn.edu/horde/imp/

I wanted to do them as images, but my technical illiteracy bit me on the behind.

Comment-wise:

The celeriac/coconut soup was amazing, rich and light both, the croquettes adding an occasional salty zing that framed the flavors, if that makes any sense.

The grilled cheese... it was a meal in shorthand, a fast and furious medley of disparate flavors that somehow came together in the mind more than on the palate. The egg did work with the cheese toast, but the potato foam needed to be tasted separately. It was all very El Buli.

The seetbreads were the tastiest thymus gland I *ever* did taste (and I've tasted some), and the lentils were awesome, toothsome and in all ways spectacular, although the truffling was lost in the lentils own earthiness. The caramelized apples w/ curry jus were a very odd (and I have a high tolerance for odd) side, but they worked.

The black cod was one of the best fish dishes I've had in a long time, the briney fish and the earthy mushrooms playing off each other, and the braised lettuce... it was great, and it did *too* work with the dish, so nyah! Though I'm damned if I know why.

The banana crepe was amazingly rich and, somehow, chocolatey. The bananas were in a rich creamy caramel, and the whole thing almost made me cry. 'Cause it wasn't my desert. Mine was the tapioca pudding. That's a misnomer, since the tapioca just added the subtlest canvas for the sharp, light burst of citrus from the Meyer sorbet. The semifreddo stayed very much in the background, and seemed to somehow add depth. Very tasty, but the crepe really was amazing.

We also had the cheese plate, which was very good, but somehow seemed mostly like an occasion to polish off the Saintsbury PN (for which, Katie and Deirdre, thank you *so* much).

Hie thee there. Really, I think they're getting better as they go along. This meal really outdid all the previous ones I had there.

[Capaneus]

Anyway, for posterity, here are the menus:

https://webmail.pobox.upenn.edu/horde/imp/

https://webmail.pobox.upenn.edu/horde/imp/

I wanted to do them as images, but my technical illiteracy bit me on the behind.

I hate computers. I really really do. The links go nowhere. When I figure out how to add images I'll edit the original post.

Gah!

[KatieLoeb]

Well then! Doesn't that sound like a lovely meal! I'm attempting to plan a group outing to Marigold for a large party soon myself, so I hope some of those yummy items are still on the menu in early April.

Glad you liked the wine too! I thought it was a spectacular deal for the quality. I had visited Saintsbury when driving through Carneros en route to Sonoma from Napa a few years ago and was mightily impressed both with the caliber of their wines and with the caliber of the folks making them when I had the pleasure of spending a few hours there. They were awfully nice and showed me around a few of the vineyards and explained a lot of viticultural stuff to me in greater detail than I'd ever known about before. My visit to Saintsbury was also an epiphany for me when I finally grasped the concept of "microclimate" there. I always thought that was a bunch of hooey until I literally drove 15 minutes and about 8 miles and the temperature dropped a good 15 degrees and it was much breezier and more humid than where I'd been just a few minutes before. I had a great big "A-HA!" moment over that and the concept has made a great deal more sense to me ever since.

[shacke]

My visit to Saintsbury was also an epiphany for me when I finally grasped the concept of "microclimate" there. I always thought that was a bunch of hooey until I literally drove 15 minutes and about 8 miles and the temperature dropped a good 15 degrees and it was much breezier and more humid than where I'd been just a few minutes before. I had a great big "A-HA!" moment over that and the concept has made a great deal more sense to me ever since.

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That is a tough concept to understand, the microclimate, unless you experience it. I never paid attention to it until I actually lived in the bay area. You could ride to work rolling up and down the windows as you passed through the different neighborhoods. Same is true up in the wine country. People actually pick SF neighborhoods based on the weather there, sometimes it's just a few blocks that is sunny in an otherwise cold foggy area. The rents reflect this! I had a nice apartment two blocks form the hospital where I worked. My street was sunny and the hospital lay in the foggy sunset district. I would routinely see the fog roll over the hill across the street from me and instantly burn off. I can imagine being a vine yearning to be planted 1000 yards away for a better life. It's a fascinating and fabulous city - especially for foodies!

Thanks to Capaneus for his post. I am really excited to go there next Friday.

Evan

[philadining]

Capaneus, thanks for the great write-up.

Between Studio Kitchen, Marigold, Tria, and the north Jersey restaurant "Melt", are we witnessing a renaissance of the grilled cheese sandwich? Hope so....

I had a different preparation of sweetbreads at Marigold back in the fall, and I really liked that, glad to know some version is still on the menu.

I'm glad to know that Saintsbury Pinot was a good companion. I've been using that same tactic: bring a light-to-medium bodied Pinot everywhere, it will probably go just fine. The only problem is that at the last couple of meals, my buddy, who leans more toward Rieslings, has been pointing out that a nice sweet white would have matched better. He doesn't know lots about wine, but he's been right....

BTW - If you're having trouble with posting images, you can upload them to "imagegullet" (it's a link at the top of every page here). Once it's uploaded, there's a button for displaying the absolute URL for the pic. Copy that URL, then come back over here to a forum, click the "img" button in your post and paste the URL into the dialog that comes up. That's it.

[Capaneus]

Okay. I can't edit the original post, apparently. So, for your edification, here are the MK menus for Late Winter '05:

(with many thanks to philadining).

[SG-]

Mango carpaccio??? How can the term carpaccio be applied to mango?? It's just sliced mangoes, nobody cooks them anyway.

Interesting menu otherwise.

[philadining]

Mango carpaccio??? How can the term carpaccio be applied to mango?? It's just sliced mangoes, nobody cooks them anyway. 

Interesting menu otherwise.

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I'm going to guess the mangos are sliced REALLY thin.

The term that amused me was the "farm egg". As opposed to?

The phrase "bacony potato foam" made me feel all warm and happy. And hungry.

[Capaneus]

Mango carpaccio??? How can the term carpaccio be applied to mango?? It's just sliced mangoes, nobody cooks them anyway. 

Interesting menu otherwise.

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I'm going to guess the mangos are sliced REALLY thin.

The term that amused me was the "farm egg". As opposed to?

The phrase "bacony potato foam" made me feel all warm and happy. And hungry.

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Farm egg, as opposed to the quasi-industrially-produced eggs more widely available? They really should use more helpful info, like free-range, or oganically-fed, if they want to get healthy-points.

And the bacony potato foam really did work. The more I think about that dish the better I like it. And I liked it plenty to start with.

[SG-]

Mango carpaccio??? How can the term carpaccio be applied to mango?? It's just sliced mangoes, nobody cooks them anyway. 

Interesting menu otherwise.

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I'm going to guess the mangos are sliced REALLY thin.

The term that amused me was the "farm egg". As opposed to?

The phrase "bacony potato foam" made me feel all warm and happy. And hungry.

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The best I came across was a man at RTM asking if the chickens from which the organic eggs came from were grass fed.

[Capaneus]

Just took a look at Marigold's Fall menu at

http://www.ucnet.com/marigold/

for nostalgia's sake, and that brought home with a vengeance that their prices have gone well up. Which also happened to Matyson once they hit their stride. Is that the inevitable consequence of success? Some places, like Dmitri's seem to be able to keep their prices stable... It's not like I think the prices are excessive, or that I like Dmitri's tradeoff (I went there last week, and recalled why I don't more often - felt very cramped and rushed). But something about the process feels like punishment for the support we give them early on. Maybe they should give us some kind of Founding Patrons' cards, good for 2004 prices in perpetuity?

Nah. I guess I should just count myself lucky they've made it - and still allow my unsavory self in the door.