Valentine's Day at Osteria

Bradd and I had a lovely dinner last night at Osteria (courtesy of our friends Cami and Andrew who gave us a generous gift card for the restaurant for our wedding). It was a lovely dinner! We'd been once before but didn't have reservations so we just sat at the bar and ate. Hint: this time I learned that they take reservations just ONE month in advance so I marked the calendar for January 14 to call and then got them easily.

Osteria has been reviewed a lot in the last few years, and called the best restaurant in Philly. I agree that its fabulous and the food was fantastic, but I still think my two fav meals in Philly have been at Gayle and Salt + Pepper. Just my opinion, but Osteria is still one of the best out there.

Bradd and I agreed our favorite dish last night was the Primi (pasta course). We got candele with wild boar bolognese. The candele is like really wide and think fettuccine. Definitely tasted homemade and fresh, and the wild boar meat was very tasty.

I got the chicken Secondi (main dish) which I think was different than what's listed on the menu on their website but tasty. I thought the chicken was cooked really well. Bradd got the rabbit dish and that was great too.

Really nice waiters and waitresses. I have never worked in a restaurant so I don't know how it works but basically any of the staff could have helped us at any time, which is different than most places. Something must have gone wacky in the kitchen cause it was taking a long time to get our entrees (which honestly Bradd and I didn't even notice cause we were so busy gazing into each other's eyes... jk but really we didn't notice) so they brought us out a selection of super-thin sliced prosciutto and that was GREAT. Tasted soooo good. Nice gesture too.

Oh and I really liked our wine. Don't remember the specific kind but it was a "Barbera" style (pronounced Bar-bear-uh I learned, not like the woman's name, oops) which I would definitely try again. Similar to pinot noir but a touch softer.

The set up of Osteria is interesting. There's the main dining room, which is a bit loud and tables are close together, but thats what I think creates its charm. Then there's the extension that's an all glass ceiling and wall (which was cool cause we could see the snow when it started falling). It was a wee bit chilly out there but hey thats what a bottle of wine is for. Funny story - a foursome was being led to their table out there at one point and as they walked past us, the one lady calls out to the hostess that she wants to wait for a table in the main dining area. Not sure why, but lady, the place was PACKED in there. Sorry you can't eat with us commoners, but I think you would have been just fine in our section.

Great V Day all around!

Jose Garces empire

Latest Table Talk column from Michael Klein is about new Jose Garces resturant Chifa.

I think Garces is trying to takeover the city as soon as possible. I've been to Tinto and Distrito and recommend both. I will say that I think you can find better places at a cheaper price, but you pay to be at the hip place with the hot chef.

I am worried that he is overextending himself. The locations are spread out so might be ok. He is good for all us resturant lovers and its good food and cool atmosphere.

Slate

Saw the article about Slate, a new gastropub, in our neighborhood. Went tonight to check it out. It is a cool bar with a small, but good selection of local beers. I had a Belgian type beer to start, which as the owner, Laurentiu Muras, accurately said is a cross between hoegaarden and blue moon. A bit fruity but good. The wife had a wondeful red wine.

For dinner I had a braised pork and cheddar and kristy had the burger. both were quite good. You can tell the kitchen still needs some fine tuning. I was supposed to have mustard fries and Kristy garlic fries, but they were the same. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the food and expect it to improve.

Slate is nice place to grab a drink or two at the bar before a night out. If you want a laid back night with a some friends give it a go. It could be a nice addition to neighborhood.

I hope they keep the menu small and focused, but change every few months.

Interesting side note, the owner rebuilt the place by himself. Took him about a year. Check it out.