Philadelphia Restaurant Week 2013

One thing that I love most about Philadelphia is Restaurant Week. Every year a handful of restaurants in Philadelphia participate with a fixed 3 course meal that costs $20 for lunch and $35 for dinner. It is a great way to be able to try new restaurants that you might have been hesitant to choose before. I took full advantage of Restaurant Week this year and tried four new restaurants. For the first week, I went to Table 31 with my girlfriends and Garces Trading Company with my dad. Both restaurants were unbelievable!

I was pleasantly surprised with Table 31. Their service was exceptional and the food was even better. For my first course, I had the wild arugula salad and for my second course I had the wild black cod with celery root puree, rainbow swiss chard and scalop vermouth sauce. The fish was perfectly cooked and had great texture. The celery root puree paired very well with the dish, giving the fish some added richness without being too heavy. I finished my meal with the mixed berry semifreddo which was light and refreshing.

I also really enjoyed Garces Trading Company. When you first walk into the restaurant, you immediately feel like you are in Europe. It is a mix between a restaurant and a market. You can go to one counter and order your cheeses and dry meats and you can walk to another counter and order specialty desserts. On the other side of the restaurant is where people sit and order their meals. I started off with their roasted beets with tarragon aioli, candied pepitas and pumpkin seed oil. For my second course I had the sautéed chatham cod with roasted lemon brown butter and pine nuts. For the dessert course, my dad and I split dessert and ordered a red velvet cake and a smoked chocolate tart. I am more of a chocolate lover so I preferred the tart. It was such a pleasant and relaxing lunch and I felt like I could spend all afternoon there.

For the last week of Restaurant Week,  I went to Pumpkin BYOB and R2L. Pumpkin is a tiny restaurant that serves farm-to-table kind of food. I went with one of my best friends Danielle. She also took full advantage of Restaurant Week and went to several restaurants. When we first arrived at the restaurant, we were taken aback at how tiny the restaurant actually was and how romantic it was. This restaurant is definitely a place to take a person out on a date.

However, once we started eating, it didn't matter anymore. The food was out of this world. We started off with an amuse bouche which was a mushroom toast with hollandaise sauce. I then ordered the escargot for my first course and the pocono trout for my second course. The trout was probably my favorite thing out of all of the restaurants. It was paired with cauliflower and violet mustard. The chefs did a fantastic job on focusing on texture throughout all of the dishes. I noticed that they deconstructed most of their dishes and highlighted each specific ingredient on their own. This is the style of food I really enjoy eating. I finished my meal with butterscotch pudding which was the perfect mix of sweet and salty.

My final stop for Restaurant Week was R2L. R2L is located on 16th street and is on the 37th floor. The restaurant is so amazing because the view is unbelievable. You can see all of Philadelphia which is great. I was lucky to go on a day where it was sunny and the sky was clear. I had the winter vegetable minestrone with basil and kale pistou for my first course and for my second course, I had the flounder with almonds. I would normally never think of ordering flounder but I really enjoyed the taste of the fish. I finished my meal with the caramel apple tart. The apple tart was my favorite desserts out of all of the restaurants. I ended up eating it all.

In all, I really enjoyed all of the restaurants that I went to. I am glad that I went to new places around the city. Trying new restaurants is a great way to explore where you live and taste new cuisines. I recommend that everyone get out there and try a new restaurant soon. 

Anne