Pif in Philadelphia

[Mummer]

I guess that's what can happen once you start serving D-list celebrities.

[mattohara]

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.

[mrbigjas]

dudes. wtf is going on in this town?

[HD73]

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.

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So the Pif message just told me to call Ansill, and the person at Ansill told me Pif is closed for good. Is this true, and if not, how does one go about getting a reservation for those last few days?

[matthewj]

Is David selling the restaurant. It is too bad, some of the best meals I had in Philadelphia were there.

[Vadouvan]

It's the natural life cycle of restaurants. there are too many restaurants doing the same thing, it's like trees in a forest.

Some will fall for the others to survive.

When one tree falls, sometimes many others close by do too.

They exist in the same economic environment.

There has been a steady increase in restaurants that is approaching critical mass for a small city

That's no to say the closings are directly related but the last fiscal year hasnt been a good one in general and when there is a massive shift to a few restaurants like Osteria/Amada, some will fail.

At the end, the forest will survive.

it's not over yet.

A restaurant named after a fish might be next.

[mattohara]

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

Edited June 29, 2007 by mattohara (log)

[jelly]

Matt,

When I called Ansill to make my reservation for my last dinner at Pif :-(, I was told that David will be doing a once a week "Pif night". That is some consolation. Do you know what he's planning? French music? Pif menu? byob?

Michele

[mattohara]

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.

[jelly]

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.

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Matt, how is the last week going? Were you working last night? Assuming David is in the kitchen?

[mattohara]

i was there last night. i was a bit rusty so made some mistakes and was slow, but everybody was having a good time. lots of people bringing wine and other gifts for david. it was only one couple's first time there and they had a great time. everybody else was regulars and wanting to talk a lot to me and bridgit. we were a little too busy though!

[philadining]

Had a delicious farewell meal at Pif last night. It was a pretty classic menu, and we largely did the sentimental faves.

Escargots were as good as ever, tender and garlicky. A frisée salad with duck confit had the right rich/bitter balance, and certainly wasn't hurt by a generous sprinkling of bacon.

There wasn't a ton of duck on it, but hey, it's a salad. (Actually, James and I suspect Pedro ate most of it off of there while we weren't looking, but we wouldn't accuse him of that in public.) But even in that strong company, the winner of the apps was a cold marinated salad of mussels, potatoes and vegetables.

The good news is that I got the impression something like it may appear on the menu at Ansill.

Speaking of which, David confirmed that he's planning monthly Pif nights at Ansill. For now they'll be the second sundays, and in the back room only, but I think we need to make it a point to cause him to expand that!

We marveled again at how delicious the entrecôte is, and remain somewhat perplexed about why it's so good, in the end, it's just a steak. It can't all be due to the anchovy butter...

The lamb two ways featured a tender grilled chop, and some falling apart shreds of, umm, I forget... shoulder? Doesn't matter, it was great.

A quail was topped with a nice piece of seared foie (which apparently looks amazingly like a slab of breast meat in the dim light!) and sat on a raisiny sauce, propped on some spinach and rosti-ish potato..

A side of pomme purée with truffles did not disappoint. In fact we got in a minor fistfight with the servers when they tried to clear the table, because we hadn't quite finished licking the bowl out...

Other than that skirmish, service was quite fine, it seems Matt has shaken-off the rust, just in time to put those server chops back in mothballs.

We finished up with the classic cheese plate, followed by a very fine financier, and a tart that was light, crispy, and blessed by intense fruits.

It was a very satisfying meal, and one that made me sad to think of the place closing, but it was reassuring to know that this kind of cooking should at still be accessible, at least from time to time at Ansill.

Thanks to Chef Ansill for all the years Pif has been there, and we look forward to extending the thread on some sundays at Ansill.

Edited July 13, 2007 by philadining (log)

[Phila-Foodie]

Brilliant shots, as always, philadining. Love the lighting on the tart.

[philadining]

Brilliant shots, as always, philadining.  Love the lighting on the tart.

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Ha! It's amazing what one tealight can do!

[mrbigjas]

i was just gonna say, i can't believe you can get shots like that in that amount of light. it was DARK in there last night. i mean, not in an unreadable menu way, but dark.

[mattohara]

i know! i actually turned down the lights at one point in the night to you know, "fit the mood" a bit, but then i felt bad because philadining was taking shots but i couldn't suddenly turn them up a bunch for the photos (even though i wanted to, for everybody's sake). beautiful shots as always. and nice to see/meet people! i hope eGulleters get to come by tomorrow night for the after-party. it's guaranteed to be an all-night love-fest (with a whole roast pig!).

[I_call_the_duck]

Dinner at Pif: the penultimate night.

Thanks, Matt for asking about the quail. It was not on the menu, but Matt nicely asked the chef if there was any left over from the night before. What I got was not exactly the same dish that philadining had (Chef Ansill apologized), but it was great. It came with roasted potatoes and spinach in this lovely sauce. The little bits of foie were just enough to make this dish shine. Mr. Duck had the salmon with cucumber and dates. I'm not a big fan of salmon, but this piece was very fresh, and perfectly prepared. The cucumbers added a lovely fresh/cool contrast to the salmon. Oh, and we started off with the pig trotters. Tasty. Dessert: Financiar and the tart.

Delicious. Made Mr. Duck and me wonder why we haven't been there more often.

Thanks, Chef Ansill and all the staff at Pif for the wonderful meals we've had there. It will be missed, and I hope we can make it to your Pif dinners in the future.

[philadining]

Final good-bye party:

The guest of honor:

Chef making the ceremonial first slice...

Awfully darn nice of Chef Ansill to include us in the festivities. Thanks for the invite, and of course for the years of good food at Pif!

It's some consolation to know there will be at least an occasional flash of this style of food over at Ansill, but we'll certainly miss the specific vibe, the feel, the gestalt of Pif.

Nonetheless, glad it was there as long as it was...

Edited July 16, 2007 by philadining (log)

[lfabio2007]

Oh damn. This all has to happen while I'm in europe, of course.

[mattohara]

Pif nights at Ansill have just begun. The 2nd Sunday of every month.

[Buckethead]

Pif nights at Ansill have just begun.  The 2nd Sunday of every month.

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Will Ansill be BYO on those nights?

[jelly]

Pif nights at Ansill have just begun.  The 2nd Sunday of every month.

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Will Ansill be BYO on those nights?

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yes

[lfabio2007]

Who do we contact for reservations? Mail to david@ansillfoodandwine.com goes conspicuously unanswered.

[Andrew Fenton]

This may be a stupid question, but have you tried calling them? (215) 627-2485.

[lfabio2007]

Actually I had, shortly after the mention that Pif had closed. The person on the phone professed no knowledge, so I figured that emailing Mr. Ansill himself would be the shortest and easiest route. I stopped at three unanswered mails.

I will, out of curiosity, give them a call, although at this point sadly the second sunday of September is behind us and I'll be back in Italy in October and November. Oh well.