Vetri's Osteria

[KatieLoeb]

either we all had this exact same conversation when amada opened, or i'm trippin.

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We may have, but Amada is Amada, not "Tapas Bar". The implication of naming your "source" in the name of the restaurant comes with the responsibility to reflect your self-imposed description.

[I_call_the_duck]

Went to Osteria yesterday.

I had the tripe and candele with boar ragu. Both dishes were well prepared but just a tad undersalted. I loved the candele — the ragu came as a nice surprise as I normally think of ragus as tomato-based, but this was a wonderfully light rosemary-lemony sauce that made the boar stand out.

I humbly agree with Andrew in saying that while nothing was mind-blowing, it was the best Italian meal I’ve had in Philly. But since it’s not really fair to make a judgment based on only two dishes, I’ll have to go back and try more.

[KatieLoeb]

I'm finally going this Sunday, for my birthday dinner. Frequent Dining Companion Miss Claire is a far less adventurous eater than I am, so I doubt we'll be trying tripe or octopus pizza. Should we stick to the Pizza Neopolitan and some pasta? What are the absolute don't miss dishes since there are only two of us and we'll be looking for the more "identifiable" proteins?

[Andrew Fenton]

See if you can get an entree-sized portion of the budino... Okay, maybe not, but be sure to get it for dessert.

I suspect that any of the pizzas-- octopizza excepted-- would fit the bill just fine. The pizza alla boscaiola looked really good.

And if you want to go a little nuts (because hey, go Katie! it's your birthday!) you could split the steak. The couple next to us were eating it, and it looked pretty freaking amazing.

[philadining]

NaFairge reported upthread that the steak rocked, but it might be impolite to suggest that if someone else is paying...

There's not a whole lot on this menu that should freak out even conservative diners. Skip the octopus, tripe and baccala, you're pretty safe.. ( I assume you've tried to get her to eat octopus before - if not, this is a good place to try it!)

I thought the margerita pizza was a little dull, so I'd push for one with a little something on it, and there are lots to choose from. The salumi platter is rocking, and if she won't touch the lardo, more for you!

The cotechino with egg and polenta was really just sausage, eggs and grits, hard to get more straightforward than that... The pork ribs were also homey comfort food. I'd imagine it would be hard to go wrong with a pasta.

That platter with the fried stuff might be a little skimpy for the price, and the special antipasto we got was quite pleasant, but nothing spectacular. But I haven't been actually unhappy with a single thing I've gotten on two visits, so just order something... we await the report!

Edited March 1, 2007 by philadining (log)

[Vadouvan]

Pizza Lombarda

Candele with boar is a tad undersalted but can be simply corrected with parmigiano.

Which brings me to that point, the only one thing missing from Osteria is they should offer grated reggiano at the table for the pastas.

Still delicious however.

We are curious to see your reports.

happy birthday.

[philadining]

Our "bitter little foodie hearts" caught the attention of gridskipper.com.

They're concerned the pressure could be too much for Mark and he'll have a breakdown, enter rehab and shave his head a la Britney! I guess they haven't seen a photo of him...

[Andrew Fenton]

One day, will Marc Ventri wake up, divorced, pregnant and bloated, shave his head and enter rehab? Get your rezzies now, the American appetite for destruction is ravenous.

"Welcome to the jungle, Mr. Ventri [sic]. We got fun and games."

[Vadouvan]

Gridskipper is consistently soooooo BAD.

Clearly they do no research and piggyback on the reviews of other links just so they have content.

Extremely lame...

Besides the fact that that they think a bald chef will shave his head, they cant even google his name to spell it right....

Pathetic...

[Tim Dolan]

They even lifted Philadining's photo! That was the first thing I noticed and I was gonna flip out until I saw his credit. Anyways, I didn't even have any knowledge of Gridskipper until a few minutes ago. Oh well...

[philadining]

Yeah, I was thinking "wait.. that jpeg looks familiar..." but I guess all's fair in the blogosphere, at least they credited me and eGullet.

Edited March 2, 2007 by philadining (log)

[Vadouvan]

Seems like ther are in cahoots with Foobooz..........

[KatieLoeb]

I just posted a comment to the effect that they'd be a lot more credible if they'd bothered to spell check Marc's name.

The steak might be a winner. Miss Claire and I are both confirmed carnivores. It's also my last hurrah for pasta for a while. I'm starting a medically supervised diet the next morning, so I'll be on 800 or so calories per day plus two meal supplements for the next 12 weeks. I'm going to eat like it's my last meal, 'cuz it sorta is, at least for a short while.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will report back dutifully.

[cjtst11]

I made it to Osteria last night with my wife. We agreed that it was good but that's all, in fact we were a little dissapointed.

Nothing was bad, our pizza was excellent (lombarda) and the salumi plate was very good as well. We also tried the wood oven roasted clams which were excellent but we we only served about 8-10 small clams for $16.

Dessert was the cannoli which was not that good. The shells were too hard and filling did not have much flavor. We should have taken our waiter's advice and tried the budino...

I guess this all leads to why were were dissapointed:

It seemed to us that Osteria doesn't know what it wants to be. The prices and abundant staff seem to indicate that it wants to be more than an Italian bistro but the menu and execution say otherwise.

There are entirely too may staff on the floor. We had no fewer than five different people wait on our table. At times they seemed more confused than anything about who should be doing what. There were several miscues including not replacing our silver before the next course arrived, attempting to take our order twice, and the fact that everytime I took a sip of wine there was someone at my table trying to refill my glass. I may be willing to chalk some of this confusion up to the fact that they have been open less than two weeks but it still seemed like overkill. It is like a chicken and egg dilemma, that the large number of staff were there more to justify the prices than to actually provide good service.

Why do I need three waiters, two bus boys and a sommelier to have two appetizers, pizza, dessert and a bottle of dolcetto?

I think Osteria could be very good if they would just back off all of the nonsense a bit. I would still have spent over $120 without the staff buzzing around us the entire time and I still thought it was the best pizza I've had in a long time.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yeah, I noticed that sort of service overkill as well. But (with the exception of dude touching me), I chalked it up to it being the early days of the restaurant. I got the sense that not everybody is totally sure of what they're supposed to be doing at any given moment. But I imagine they'll get it down soon enough: the place has only been open for a couple of weeks.

[Vadouvan]

It is like a chicken and egg dilemma, that the large number of staff were there more to justify the prices than to actually provide good service.

Why do I need three waiters, two bus boys and a sommelier to have two appetizers, pizza, dessert and a bottle of dolcetto?

Restaurants dont hire people to justify their prices, it makes no mathematical sense, why add all those payroll taxes and base salaries, the people are there to make sure the patrons are covered.

I agree too much coverage is bad but not enough is worse, I am sure it will all be figured out soon enough. They certainly dont have any expectation of what patrons are going to order, asking why you need three waiters, two bus boys and a sommelier to have two appetizers, pizza, dessert and a bottle of dolcetto isnt relevant, the servers are there to serve 90 other people in addition to you .

[KatieLoeb]

Osteria hasn't been open long enough for the inevitable "post opening shakeout" to have happened yet. But soon, they'll either have folks quitting because they can't hack it, or getting fired because they can't hack it. In the end, there will be less warm bodies hovering, and more serious customer oriented service taking place. But most new places would rather be safe than sorry, and I totally understand that.

If the staff is still looking like a herd of deer frozen in the headlights in another few weeks, then the management needs to look at their job descriptions and staff training. And maybe, cull the herd a bit as well...

[cjtst11]

I understand the economics and was just trying to illustrate the problem. I also know that the staff is not there soely to serve my table. Maybe I didn't make my point clear...

This place does not know what it wants to be. I see the current overstaffing as a result or symptom of this. I don't know that it just a matter of time until the staff gets it. I think the problem starts at the top and the owners will have to decide what kind of place they want Osteria to be.

[Tim Dolan]

Went early last night and snagged to counter seats in front of the kitchen around 5:30. We were seated right next to where one of the chefs was expediting all of the food, and it was like having courtside seats to a basketball game. We chatted with him about some of the things that were coming out, which made for a very unique experience. I think this place has a cool, upscale informalness about itself.

All but one of the counter and bar seats were taken, and about half of the floor tables were full. We got a chance to see all of the different dishes that were coming out, and it was awesome. There was a lobster special that we didn't ordered that looked incredible. We got the pizza with prosciutto and arugala that was off-the-charts good. The brick oven that they make the pizzas in is really something else. Vetri himself was working the oven while I was there, and the entire kitchen was humming along seemed like everyone was ready to bring their A-game. We split the steak for two, and if you are a serious steak lover you're only cheating yourself if you don't get down there to sample it.

In short, I thought it was faaaaantastic. The servers were cool, and I didn't notice any of the hovering that was expeirenced upthread. Get there if you get the chance.

[Vadouvan]

This place does not know what it wants to be. I see the current overstaffing as a result or symptom of this. I don't know that it just a matter of time until the staff gets it. I think the problem starts at the top and the owners will have to decide what kind of place they want Osteria to be.

I still dont see the point you are making, if you understand the economics, why do you think it's overpriced ?

You have only gone once, you siad "nothing was bad" and you didnt like the cannoli, you havent even tasted the best dishes the restaurant makes yet ?

There is no such thing as an "Italian Bistro", I think we all agree that Trattoria and osteria prices in Italy cannot be economically viable in America.

Osteria is no more expensive than restaurants that do similar food.

Is there somewhere in philly that does this quality of food we have missed ?

[KatieLoeb]

*burp*

I am much too full to even begin to describe my dinner, but suffice to say I had a very lovely evening at Osteria. I felt like the Mayor of Toontown - I saw so many people there that I knew. Ran into Percyn and Mrs. N. coming in the door. Saw lots of other Philly restaurant folks out and about. Lots of fun. Great food, great wine and very attentive service. I'll report back the specifics after I sleep. I'm very tired right now....zzzzz

[percyn]

As Katie mentioned, my wife and I swung by Osteria tonight after visiting the King Tut exhibit. It seems we were seated at the same counter seats as Tim D, which not only gave us a great view of the kitchen and outgoing dishes, but also allowed us to observe the interaction between the front and back of the house...more on that later.

Apologize for the quality of the pictures as I did not want to use the flash.

View from our seats

Since the website does not have a menu yet, I thought I would add...

We ordered..

Tuscan Bean Salad - straigh-forward and well executed

Pizza Lombarda - I have been looking forward to ordering this and it did not disappoint. The egg was perfectly cooked and the yolk was great for dipping the charred (in a good way) crust. Marc V himself seemed to be manning the pizza oven, with a patch over his eye.

Ciareghi - The polenta was amazingly soft and almost melted away in your mouth.

Lobster Spaghettini - My wife ordered the special that Tim mentions upthread. Broiled 1 1/4 lb lobster with just the right amount of sauce on perfectly cooked pasta. OK, I accidentally used a flash on this one.

Tripe - Another dish I wanted to try but I forgot to add it to my initial order, so they were kind enough to add it "on the fly". As mentioned many times on this thread, this is a great dish and the most tender tripe I have ever had.

Polenta Budino - Topped with hazelnut cream and candied pistachios(? - can't remember). Another highlight of the meal, maybe because it reminded me of a similar childhood favorite.

To Drink - Muracci Fortediga and Lechtaler Pinot Nero, a double expresso and a cappuccino.

So a quick note on a layman's observations on the communication between the wait-staff/runners and the kitchen - as expected in this stage of the restaurant, there is a lot of room for improvement. Most window pickups seemed to be followed by ... "waiting for .... on table ...." or the kitchen saying "already sent ... for table ...". Our wait staff was friendly, but because of lack of communication, we were asked twice for our wine and dessert orders. It also took a long time for us to get the bill and we could not find our wait staff to ask for it until finally the Sommilier was find enough to ask if we needed anything, to which I replied...the bill please. These are minor glitches and I am sure they will work these out.

Word about this place must have been spreading. When we entered around 5:30pm, most of the counters and bar seemed open. By 7pm the place was packed with all seats taken. As for the price. Our total was $152 + tip, which I think was quite reasonable as I think we ordered enough to feed 4 people a normal dinner.

Menu Highlights - The Tripe and Polenta Budino

My list of items I would like to try on my next visit - Candele with boar ragu, Octopus and even the Lancaster Chicken with roasted potatoes and porcini

[davecap]

Ok, I haven't been, but I have been reading all your thoughts and reviews. The food looks good, and from the reviews make me very interested in making a reservation. One thing that keeps sticking out to me is the price for those pizzas - $15 for a margherita is outrageous, and a pizza for $22.00? I would think that the pizzas are supposed to be an appetizer, or something for multiple persons to share as an appetizer. But even when you look at it that way, the prices are still unbelievable. That must be one fancy oven to have to recoup, and it won't take long at an average price of over $18.00. The menu looks like it has some very country/peasant style dishes, but with the pricing, the owners seem to be making the restaurant a destination/special occasion place rather than an everyday establishment.

[Andrew Fenton]

Ok, I haven't been, but I have been reading all your thoughts and reviews.  The food looks good, and from the reviews make me very interested in making a reservation.  One thing that keeps sticking out to me is the price for those pizzas - $15 for a margherita is outrageous, and a pizza for $22.00?  I would think that the pizzas are supposed to be an appetizer, or something for multiple persons to share as an appetizer.  But even when you look at it that way, the prices are still unbelievable.  That must be one fancy oven to have to recoup, and it won't take long at an average price of over $18.00.  The menu looks like it has some very country/peasant style dishes, but with the pricing, the owners seem to be making the restaurant a destination/special occasion place rather than an everyday establishment.

The pizzas are good-sized: one makes a fine main course, or you could split it as an appetizer among 2-4 people.

As to price: it isn't cheap. But it's hard to have top-quality ingredients and preparation and still do things on the cheap. Beyond that, I'd encourage you to go back and read the many posts on that subject that have already been made in this thread.

[Capaneus]

Ok, I haven't been, but I have been reading all your thoughts and reviews.  The food looks good, and from the reviews make me very interested in making a reservation.  One thing that keeps sticking out to me is the price for those pizzas - $15 for a margherita is outrageous, and a pizza for $22.00?  I would think that the pizzas are supposed to be an appetizer, or something for multiple persons to share as an appetizer.  But even when you look at it that way, the prices are still unbelievable.  That must be one fancy oven to have to recoup, and it won't take long at an average price of over $18.00.  The menu looks like it has some very country/peasant style dishes, but with the pricing, the owners seem to be making the restaurant a destination/special occasion place rather than an everyday establishment.

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That's also the case with Vetri's if you look at it closely: slight variations on peasant food, done with superior ingredients and flawless technique - at fine dining prices. And, before V. leaves hobnail footprints all over my rear end, entirely worth every one of the (many) pennies I've spent there on a couple of occasions.

As far as I can tell, not having been there, Osteria applies the same equation to food of less involved preparation, served in a much higher-volume space. From the reports, it seems like they have hit the mark again. But you'll have to forget those comparisons: the food here should meet higher standards than other iterations of, say, the margherita that you might find around town.

I know it's not easy to do. I have a bit of trouble with that one myself. And for what it's worth, "everyday restaurant" means different things to different people. But from early reports on the crowds, Vetri and Benjamin seem to have accurately judged their market.