Time Marches On

[lancastermike]

For reasons not entirely clear to me, whatever powers that run this universe, and I don't think it is Holly, have allowed me to survive till my 50th birthday. My darling wife Maggie has said she will take me anyplace I want for this event which will occur next week.

So, we are skipping Lancaster and headed for Philadelphia. My first choice based on the thread here is Lacroix for brunch. However, I also crave good Italian which simply does not exist here in Lancaster. I know there have been many, many threads like this asking these sorts of questions so I hope this is not lame. I have read so many nice things about Marigold that I am thinking of that as well.

So how about some ideas? The day and time are flexible though it would most likely be on the weekend. Places I have been include, Le Bec Fin, Matyson, the original Striped Bass and Tangerine. Looking for someplace we have not been and we do like a place that can mix a nice cocktail so I guess for this time the BYO's may be out. However, the food is the most important.

Thanks to all and thanks for always making me feel welcome here even though I am away from Philadelphia.

[Diann]

Mike,

Happy early birthday!

For Italian, how about Vetri? Romantic atmosphere, wine list (and probably full bar), interesting cooking, and formal enough for a special occasion. I don't think it lives up to all the hype, but it's still good food.

I've also heard good things about Sovalo (but that Cal-Ital style may annoy you, and I've never actually eaten there so I don't know what it's really like).

My usual suspects for sublime Italian food are all BYO: Melograno, Caffe Casta Diva, L'Angolo, Radicchio, Tre Scalini etc.

Marigold is excellent, but they may still be on vacation. If you bring the liquor, they can provide you with basic mixers.

If I were you, and had an unlimited budget, I'd do brunch at Lacroix AND dinner at one of the aforementioned places

[jelly]

Since you say you crave Italian and don't want a byob, I was thinking Vetri. Next week might be a problem but if you're willing to go on a weeknight you might get lucky.

Second choice for Italian with a bar (and a great wine cellar) is La Famiglia.

Both very nice places with very different atmospheres and type of Italian food. La Famiglia is more of an old world atmosphere with what I would call Southern Italian food. Vetri looks like a place in Tuscany, and is very attractive but much less fussy. Food is Northern Italian and more adventurous. (BTW, if you are already aware of this, apologies).

[stephenc]

Paradiso for S. Philly Italian. I like that place.

edit: didn't even know Laban reviewed it. He gave it a good review

http://ae.philly.com/entertainment/ui/phil...2&reviewId=null

login: ber@fake.com

pass: fake14

Edited August 11, 2005 by stephenc (log)

[mrbigjas]

oh hey, good call stephenc. i keep forgetting about that place, but it is good, and upscale enough to feel celebratory, and they have a bar as well. also a pretty well-considered wine list if i remember right.

[philadining]

It was mentioned in Table Talk in the Inky that Alan Richman will say Vetri is the best Italian restaurant in the country in Bon Appetit mag. So, if you were thinking of going, get a reservation now.... it's going to be even tougher soon!

[MarketStEl]

It was mentioned in Table Talk in the Inky that Alan Richman will say Vetri is the best Italian restaurant in the country in Bon Appetit mag. So, if you were thinking of going, get a reservation now.... it's going to be even tougher soon!

←

Alan Richman evidently is a member of the Calvin Trillin School of food criticism.

(For those of you who have never picked up a copy of "American Fried: Adventures of a Happy Eater" or "Alice, Let's Eat," Trillin, an essayist, sometime novelist, and regular contributor to The New Yorker, is also well known for his enthusiastic writing about regular-folks food, including a Life magazine essay in the early 1970s in which he declared Winstead's Drive-In in Kansas City the world's best hamburger and another--reprinted in "American Fried"-- in which he called that same city's Arthur Bryant's Barbecue THE SINGLE BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD [capitals his].

(Trillin is also on the record as having written, "Anyone who doesn't think the best hamburger place in the world is in his home town is a sissy." Richman's superlatives are covered by this quote, with the mitigating factor that they really are among the best anywhere.

(Mr. Trillin and Yours Truly share the same hometown, have an everlasting fondness for same, and are both highly unlikely ever to live there again.)