Romantic dinners and great views of Philadelphia for Valentine's Day

Is that love I smell in the air?? Valentine's Day is less than 20 days away... have you made reservations yet to impress that special someone?

Here are a few suggestions of spots around Philadelphia that we've found to be romantic, along with ideas from our Twitter and Facebook friends...

Bistro Romano's Wine Cellar Table - Headhouse Square's Italian staple holds a special place in our hearts. We ate here the night we got engaged and it couldn't have been a more romantic celebration. The dark-lit dining room with exposed brick walls and cozy wooden booths-for-two serves up classic Italian dishes that won't disappoint.

For an even more special evening, try to get the private wine cellar table. Rose petals and walls full of old wines create an intimate setting for the most romantic of meals. It has to be reserved (I can't guarantee it's free on Feb 14th) and costs $15 extra. Lombard Street between Front and 2nd.

Miel Patisserie for les Macarons Merveilleux

A friend recently pointed me to Olivia's Palate for delicious recipes and informative posts on Philadelphia-area restaurants from a regular "jane" foodie like me. If you are intrigued by this new paleo diet/lifestyle that seems to be growing in popularity, Olivia has a good explanation of it, as well as a set of helpful links and recipes. 

Anyhow, Olivia's mention of Miel Patisserie is what caught my eye. She's french, so I trust her judgement on where to eat great macarons. I have spent nearly every weekend of the past five years wandering about Center City and passing Miel Patisserie oh, maybe, 200+ times, but never stopped in. I guess I figured it would be too fancy or expensive. Not the case.

Apricot and Salted Caramel macarons

I ventured in one Saturday, went straight for the salted caramel macaron and took a gamble on an apricot variety. The mix of soft, sweet caramel filling with the delicate crunch of the outer cookies and a few dashes of salt baked into the top was just perfect. Quel bonheur! Same goes for the apricot. The mix of textures was ideal and then the light burst of fruit flavor was even better.

Stogie Joe's Tavern: Square Pizza and Meatballs in South Philly

Stogie Joe’s Tavern has been on our to-do list ever since it made the 2010 Best of Philly. It took a year and half, but we finally made it with some friends and family before a Flyers game.

It surely will not take another year to visit Stogie Joe’s. The square pan pizza was amazing and the meatball sandwich lived up to the great review that a co-worker had given it.

Stogie Joe’s reminds me of Tacconelli’s. Neither will overwhelm you with the with latest and greatest food craze such as Spanish tapas or pork belly this/that. They are just every-man places offering food that has passed the test of time. The service is average, but you go for the experience of eating and drinking at a simple place doing it right, not the glamour of a fine dining establishment. I love places like Stogie Joe’s.

Better with the tomato sauce on top... 

Our group may as well have attempted to eat the whole menu. Between us all, we had plain square pizza, several strombolis, and meatball and chicken parm sandwiches.

The 2011 22nd & Philly Scarpetta Awards

Welcome everyone to the first-ever 22nd & Philly Scarpetta Awards!

Why the Scarpettas? On the About 22nd & Philly page, we detail why we started this blog and how we define a good food experience: "at the end of the day, if Bradd cleans his plate with a piece of bread, you know it was a good meal." Little did we know there is an Italian phrase for using bread to clean your plate, Fare La Scarpetta. We learned about the word from Anthony Bourdain's show, The Layover, when he visited Rome.

What better way to characterize our own "Best Of" awards for Philadelphia?

The Scarpettas are based on the eateries we visited in the past year, food quests, local events, readers and friends we’ve met, among other considerations. It's our way of pointing out some of our favorite - and least favorite - discoveries within local food scene during 2011. Either our plates were clean, or something was left to be desired.

And the 2011 Scarpettas go to...

Hot Chocolate Wars: European style at Capogiro and Philly Chocolate

(update Fall 2013: Philly Chocolate moved to 1944 South Street in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood)

The folks behind Capogiro UPenn's Twitter feed spotted my tweets about reviewing hot chocolate around Philadelphia and tweeted at us to suggest their own Italian Hot Chocolate. Glad they did, because a) I wouldn't have thought of going there for anything but gelato and b) the Italian HC ended up being great!

20th & Sansom Capogiro Italian Hot Chocolate 

I have traditionally shied away from the thicker, European style hot chocolate fearing it would taste like a liquid candy bar, but the version at Capogiro may have won me back over. I tried it at the 20th & Sansom location, whose rendition was just rich enough. I could also tell high quality chocolate was going into this drink, versus mass-produced syrup or powder (it is, after all, $4.00 so it better be good).

As an extra perk, in addition to the just-larger-than-espresso cup of cocoa, you get a bonus mini pitcher with at least two more cupfuls to drink. It stayed really hot the entire time, too - just the thing to warm me up after holiday shopping. I have to warn you that the surface may not seem so hot, but it is very hot underneath so sip slowly to avoid a burned tongue. Finally, whipped cream automatically came on the side, just how I prefer it. While there, I also had a good tuna melt panini, which was a basic tuna and cheddar sandwich on yummy multi-grain bread.