A Sandwich Quest to Cleavers Cheesesteaks in Center City

On a recent Sandwich Quest we visited Cleavers, a new cheesesteak shop a few blocks from Rittenhouse Square. According to Philly Insider, the four partners come from families who run a meat manufacturing company and have been in the restaurant business for years. Sounds like the fearsome foursome of cheesesteak creators!

Cleavers is a classic, made-to-order cheesesteak shop that uses prime USDA ribeye (most use a lower grade beef) that is neither sliced nor chopped to bits, but a sort of combo of the two. You'll be hard pressed to find a cheesesteak with more meat, except maybe Ray's in Lansdale. It's truly a monster that deserves kudos considering far too many shops skimp on the meat.

Overall, it's a high-quality cheesesteak, but still has room to improve as the meat was a bit stiff and the fried onions did not add enough of a sweet, caramelized flavor.  While it's nice to have an above average cheesesteak option in Center City, we'll continue to suggest John's Roast Pork and Spot Burger as our two favorite cheesesteaks.

As an aside, the Parmesan waffle fries were a hit, served in a hefty portion for only $4. The rest of Cleavers' menu includes a variety of more creative cheesesteaks, chicken sandwiches and veggie options, a variety of fries and other fried sides.

*Kid friendly? Yes fine for kids, ours ran around and made a mess!

Cheesesteak with ll fried onions from @cleaversphilly, the new cheesesteak joint on 18th Street in former Good Stuff Eatery. Hearty serving of meat and cheese served piping hot on a good roll. Onions missing a punch but Cleavers still a good addition for Center City. Also big selection of bottled beers!

A photo posted by 22nd&Philly (@22ndandphilly) on May 21, 2016 at 2:17pm PDT

Why Vernick has the Friendliest Chef's Counter in Philadelphia

A recent dinner had Vernick Food & Drink hit us with the ultimate restaurant hat trick: excellent food from first bite to last, outstanding service and notably generous wine pours. All that and a last minute seat at the chef's counter? Everybody wins.

View from the chef's counter and our grilled romaine

Reservations at Vernick, located on Walnut St. in the Rittenhouse neighborhood, are highly recommended - we made ours several weeks in advance for a birthday, but didn't call until the day of to ask for chef's counter seats. We were surprised to see the counter wasn't packed all night, maybe people don't realize it's there? Or are we the outliers who enjoy it over a regular table?

Either way, it was a great experience watching the small army of cooks prepare almost everything served that night. Edward, who was on fish duty, introduced himself right away and was willing to answer questions or toss us fun facts throughout the evening.

We usually aren't too picky about service but Vernick's staff was extremely attentive and friendly, very knowledgeable on food and wine, keenly aware of how to portion out our over-sized order, and never more than a half step away to address any need.  It was the best service we've had in a long time, with possible exception of The Four Seasons.

Sandwich Quest: Bulgogi Cheesesteak at SK Pastrami & Things

I have walked past SK Pastrami & Things, a deli on 18th Street between Market and Chestnut, countless times and never once thought about entering. But my interest was piqued several weeks ago upon seeing a sign outside advertising a bulgogi cheesesteak. Memories of the Koja Truck’s bulgoki sandwich left my mouth watering so I went back one weekend to try it.

Verdict: while Koja still takes leads the Sandwich Quest category, the bulgogi cheesesteak at SK is a darn good sandwich worth stopping in to try.

The finely chopped bulgogi meat comes with their spicy house special sauce, grilled onions and sesame seeds. The spice was just about right although Koja’s offers a bit more kick to the get the forehead sweat going. The roll was average yet slightly toasted to give a nice airy crunch with each bite.

Three Bell Dinner with Mom at the New Rittenhouse Tavern

Whether you’re a starving college kid or a 30-something professional, having your parents come to town is something special. We’re in a big, amazing city so you want to show them the best we have to offer.

When my mom came to visit in early August, I knew exactly where I wanted to take her for dinner: the new Rittenhouse Tavern, just off the southeast corner of Rittenhouse Square.

I also totally lucked out in securing a reservation about 2 weeks before Craig Laban’s glowing three-bell review was published. Between that write up and shore weekenders returning soon, it will be tougher to get in for a while but well worth the commitment to planning ahead.

Sidewalk Dining at Audrey Claire

Why oh why did it take us 6 years to eat at Audrey Claire??
— 22nd&Philly (@22ndandPhilly) June 16, 2012

That was our final tweet on a recent Friday night. A last minute decision to grab a bottle of white and dash over to Audrey Claire at 20th & Spruce before the rush finally, and deliciously, broke our streak.

A neighborhood mainstay for Rittenhouse Square and Fitler Square since 1996, Audrey Claire is a no frills, cash-only BYOB that is packed most nights. It only takes reservations Sunday - Thursday so either go then, arrive early on the weekend, or join the crowd that gathers outside waiting upwards of an hour for a table.

Il Pittore Impresses with Service and Suckling Pig

Famed Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr opened one of his latest endeavors - Il Pittore - last October. It took over the tall, skinny space vacated by Noble American Cookery on 20th & Sansom.

Il Pittore joins top notch Melograno and often-overlooked Porcini as the third Italian restaurant on a short block. If you haven't checked out that area, you're missing out. In addition to the Italian food, Village Whiskey, Vic Sushi, Helium Comedy Club and the Adrienne Theater round it out with excellent burgers, sushi and comedy shows, plus Shake Shack is on its way this summer. Now if only the Roxy movie theater would replace its decrepit old seats...

The food at Il Pittore was very good. The service was phenomenal. The prices were steep.

I'll start with the service because we spent most of the walk home talking about it. Our waiter was very attentive and friendly, and he really knew the wine list. He even offered Bradd a taste of two different wines based on a description of what he liked (this rarely happens, if ever). When I wanted to order another cocktail - the Rye Smash btw is a great choice for spring/summer - all I had to do was turn my head around and another waiter was there in a snap to ask what I needed. Most impressive, when each dish was delivered from the kitchen, whoever brought it (usually not even a waiter) repeated all the ingredients from the menu to remind us of what we were about to eat. How nice! Who really remembers all the details after you order? Great way to re-energize us before each course.

Sunday Brunch at a.kitchen in Rittenhouse Square

a.kitchen off Rittenhouse Square has been on our brunch to-do list for quite some time. It's not very big and Sunday reservations go fast, but we managed to get seats at the 8-10 person cafe bar recently. Our two bartenders were pleasantly attentive while busy pouring generous mimosas, bloody marys and coffee, but didn't put on any pressure to chase us out quickly.

House-made english muffin, country sausage, fried egg

Craig LaBan raved about a.kitchen's house-made english muffin as "a pedestal for breakfast bliss." I can't argue with that after thoroughly enjoying the restaurant's version of a breakfast sandwich. The muffin is toasty on the outside, fluffy on the inside; the egg fresh and fried to perfection; and the country sausage made with a mix of spices to push the flavor up a notch.

It comes as an open-faced sandwich, but I recommend using your knife and fork because it will get messy. Plus you'll want to soak up all the extra runny yolk with the top half of the delicious muffin, so don't waste any on your fingers or in your napkin.

For $10 it does not disappoint on flavor, but at first glance you may lament that the sandwich looks really small. Not to worry, it has plenty of substance to satisfy your brunch cravings. Plus the side potatoes are too good to pass up, anyway.

Melograno BYOB

Last night I went to Melograno with two friends who bought a house in the 'burbs and are moving out of Center City next weekend. It turned out to be a great choice for a bittersweet dinner party (of three people, plus two bottles of wine).

Bradd and I went to the BYOB last summer for our first anniversary but hadn't been back since. The menu looked different to me - I recall it being dimensionally smaller and with more pages, but I don't know if that translated to more options. I recognized what I ate last time right away, mainly because the girl at the table next to us had the same thing and, man, did it smell good. It's called Pappardelle Al Ragu di Cinghiale, or "braised wild boar bolognese made with fresh tomatoes & rosemary finished with Parmigiano." One of my dinner mates opted for it last night but I decided to try their Pappardelle Alle Olive instead, "Sauteéd jumbo shrimp & Sea scallops cooked in a light tomato sauce with black & green olives." I'm not a fan of olives so thankfully there were only a couple and I couldn't tell if they really did anything to the flavor. Really, it was kind of like pasta (pappardelle, which are long, wide, flat noodles that are a little thick and give you a much different feel than eating regular pasta) with shrimp, scallops and a red sauce. It was definitely good. But what I had last time was better.

Note to self and others: when you see "wild boar ragu" just get it. It's going to be awesome. Everywhere we've had it, like Osteria, it never fails to impress. I was a little jealous watching my friend eat it. Both options are $17, as are their other pasta dishes, so reasonable for a more upscale BYOB. Melograno's meat/fish entrees are all priced in the $20's. Everyone seemed pleased with their meals but no one particularly raved about their food. Maybe we were just too consumed in conversation, though, or in polishing off two bottles of wine between one light weight and two tired souls determined to get drunk (I'm not the lightweight).

What really made this Melograno visit great, however, was the fact that they never chased us out. We got there at 7pm on a Friday night and were seated right by the window immediately. The service was fine, not rushed at all, and 3 1/2 hours later we were still sitting there. Now, in the past I've always seen people waiting outside for tables and Melograno packed inside. For whatever reason last night it was never 100% full and no one seemed to blink at the fact that we weren't moving. And neither were a lot of the tables around us. I wish more places were like that. I get the fact that you need new patrons to make money, but I also need a place to finish my wine and talk with my friends before they move [gasp!] 12 miles away (versus 9 blocks today).

Melograno is a solid Italian BYOB - not the best, nowhere near the worst - and a great spot for anything from a romantic dinner-for-two to an outing with friends.

D'Angelo's Ristorante Italiano

 D'Angelo's takes this blog back to the beginning.  The genesis for 22nd & Philly came while we were sitting outside enjoying a meal at  D'Angelo's.  Read the first post here. That was in May of 2008.  It's a complete coincidence, but we headed back to  D'Angelo's again on a recent Friday night almost two years to the day.  And we didn't realize until now that we never reviewed D'Angelo's.  So here goes.

D'Angelo's is a solid Italian restaurant.  We sat outside the first time we went, but this time it was chilly so we sat inside.  Neither of us realized how big the place is inside.  Downstairs is a bar and upstairs is the main seating area.  It's a nice atmosphere although we got stuck in the back corner much like FARMiCiA.  Two in a row...

Since you can't have an Italian meal without wine, Kristy had the chardonnay and I had the pinot noir.  Nothing special even though we are not picky wine drinkers.  I thought the price of $9 a glass was a bit steep.  

We both thought the bruschetta was amazing during the first visit so we ordered again. The tomatoes didn't have much flavor, which I hope is not a sign of things to come this tomato season.  The bruschetta is different than others as it is smothered in mozzarella and sauce.  It is good though and both of us would recommend.

I went with the penne arrabiata.  I also had this two years ago.  It is still very good.  The sauce passed my "did i clean the plate with bread test" with flying colors.   The sauce has a nice kick.  Excellent.  

Kristy had the tortellini again. Yes, we both went the same dish from out first visit.  The sauce again passed the clean plate test.  The tortellini was a bit undercooked though.  

Consider  D'Angelo's a nice neighborhood Italian restaurant.  The only drawback is that is not a BYOB.  The wine is too expensive when the restaurant is not any better than any nearby BYOB.  Can save yourself some bucks by going to other simple BYOBs such Caffe Casta Diva, La Baia, Salento, among others.

Meme not for me

Bradd said it best to me this weekend. Sometimes one bad (really bad) thing about your service can make you completely forget what you even ate.

And now our review of Meme.

I don't remember what I ate. Granted it was a little while ago but I just looked at the menu online and *think* I had the scallops but I'm still not sure. Anyway let me rewind and be my normal positive self first... I love the style of little restaurants like Meme that sit on a neighborhood corner, have tiny tables close together, lots of floor-to-ceiling windows so you can feel like you're a part of the hustle of Philadelphia, and outdoor tables. It's why we'd been anxious to hit up Meme, and I still really want try Audrey Claire. Only thing holding me back from both was that we are not super huge fans of these tiny 5 "small plates", 5 "large plates" menus. I often think about going to Audrey Claire but then look at the menu online and am not sure what I would eat. Sure once I got there, I'd get inspired. Anyway....

It was a Friday night about 6:30. We walk up to Meme, seeing ONE table occupied by four old ladies (on giant chair pads, it was too funny), and figure no problem, plenty of room for us. So we walk in and innocently ask for a table for two when the host (it was a guy but didn't get a name) proceeds to huff, puff, look around, sigh and respond with, "well, if you can be done by 8, I guess I can seat you."

Excuuuuuuuuse me? Dude. There is NO ONE IN YOUR RESTAURANT save for some little ol' ladies already almost finished with their really expensive early bird special! Sorry to be SUCH an inconvenience for you, but just freakin' sit us down. We eat fast, I promise.

We sat at the table and debated walking out for a while, but then just stayed. Again, not sure what I ate but I do know it was two "small plates" because none of the "large plates" looked very appetizing. And I remember that the bill was way more expensive than it really should have been considering how much we actually ate.

A little wine helped the situation, but it didn't mask the fact that every time our waitress came over, I had a straight view into her white shirt to see her lovely undergarments. (Ladies, please take note. Space often forms between the buttons of our button-down shirts, through which innocent people, especially those sitting at eye-level to your boobs such as restaurant patrons, can see straight through to your bra. The solution is called a camisole. They have every color at H&M for like $7.)

Bradd immediately jumped on Twitter to explain our dissatisfaction with the host's attitude, in 140 characters or less. To date, we have not recommended it to anyone, actually citing the price more than the way we were treated. I think the food is probably pretty good, but for people like us you can get just as good a taste, in bigger portions, for cheaper prices, at many other Philly restaurants.

We took the high road, didn't complain about a thing, signed the overly-expensive bill and left. But at least we were out long before 8pm. Oh and by then? The place was still half empty.