A Look at Lemon Hill in Fairmount

We’re big fans of Supper, where Philadelphia chef Mitch Prensky cooks up an excellent American-style menu that we recommend all the time. So when Prensky opened Lemon Hill in Fairmount earlier this year we knew it was on our hit list of new places to try.

House made pretzels

Lemon Hill is more gastropub-ish than Supper so this would be your place if you are looking for that type of vibe. You can choose from two seating areas - the bar with high top tables or the more private dining section. We typically prefer the more casual bar section, but it was filled so we settled for the dining area.

The prices are very reasonable, averaging about $10 - $15 for sandwiches and large plates with a solid beer list to accompany them. I’ve been on a Negroni kick lately, though, and Lemon Hill served up one the best, which I’ll attribute to Prensky again partnering with the cocktail specialists at The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co.

Cocktails Garnished with Brotherly Love

There are so many different elements to master in the restaurant/bar business - food, drinks, service, ambiance, price, marketing - that it's nearly impossible to master everything, causing even the hottest spots to close shop quickly.

That's why it is so cool to see two local establishments - Supper and the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. - teaming up to share what they each do best. Last year, Supper Chef Mitch Prensky developed a seasonal menu of bar snacks for The Franklin. (Fitting, as Supper did win Best of Philly Bar Snacks last year). Now The Franklin is creating seasonal drinks for Supper's cocktail menu. Brotherly love is filling the springtime air!

We recently previewed the new cocktails and they were deeee-lish. I highly recommend putting Supper on your to-do list for this spring/summer, even just to chill at the bar. 22nd & Philly is also determined to hit up The Franklin asap. We've never been and although the following drinks are only available at Supper, we have complete faith that anything else drinkmaster Colin Shearn creates, and super smooth bartender "Mike" mixes up, will be tasty.

Two drinks tied as my favorites, the Village Green Preservation Society and the Station to Station. Both served in martini glasses, both ideal for a warm summer day/night, and both dangerously easy to suck down in three minutes or less.

Station to Station (left) and the Village Green Preservation Society (right)

Philly Food Bloggers Invade Supper

This Saturday we had the opportunity to meet and mingle with some fellow Philly food bloggers at a special event held at Supper. It was an excellent day of conversation while also having the opportunity to taste some select items on the Supper brunch menu.

Founder, chef and proprietor, Mitch Prensky, spent time with us and shared the concepts behind the items on the menu as well as for the restaurant. His passion for food stood out and likely explains why the food is so good and why the restaurant has become a local favorite. It was interesting to hear him talk about why it's harder to run a good "American" restaurant than any other type food because there's no set formula here. He takes ingredients we all already know, but blends together ideas/influences from New York, California and the South to come up with one, really unique dish. It made a lot of sense, and it made us realize that when we go to "American" places like Supper, Salt + Pepper or Matyson, we always particularly love the food because it's just a really amazing rendition of what we already like. Accomplishing that is harder than it seems.

Speaking of Supper's great good, we ate dinner there back in November and wrote up our review here. Mitch's wife and co-owner, Jen, told us that the lobster rolls are coming back on the menu soon, which is good because they were awesome.

Mitch is also really active in social media, still a fairly rare thing for great restaurants. He is great about re-tweeting and responding to people that talk about Supper. If you are on Twitter, follow him at @Supperphilly.

We encourage everyone to take a look at the blogs below for a few of the fellow food bloggers we met.  Each blogger has their own unique perspective and we were impressed with their passion for food and the experiences each has had. It was an honor to meet everyone in person and we look forward to future gatherings.

1. La Phemme Phoodie
2. Philly Foodie
4. Midtown Lunch Philadelphia
5. Eating in South Jersey
6. Two Eat Philly
7. Jonny Sparks Lounge
8. The Pour Curator
9. NJ Epicurean
10. Row Home Eats
11. In Search of Beer
12. Exton Dish
13. Doris and Jilly Cook
14. South Jersey Locavore
15. Zagat Buzz

And here are some pictures of the meet up...

All the food we got to try was fantastic, but if you read our original post you'll see the Supper burger is one of my all-time favorites in Philly. All the brunch items shown above are great too - Dixie Biscuit, Pork Shoulder Dog, Red Velvet Waffles and Dock Street Porter Pancakes.

Straight from the Farm to Supper

I put Supper on our own Best of Philly to-eat list because I'd heard rave reviews from foodie friends and Philly Magazine said it has the best bar snacks in town. Have to say... Supper has one damn good lobster roll (plus other great food) and I'm not even a big lobster fan!

We went to Supper last night for a nice, quiet dinner after I had spent a week traveling for work. I had no problem getting a reservation for two people just one day in advance, but I imagine walking in wouldn't have resulted in much of a wait. Supper also has a bar that seats about 12 people.

One super cool thing about Supper is that Mitch and Jennifer Prensky, the owners, also run their own farm. Called the Blue Elephant Farm, most of the ingredients they use come straight from there to the table, fresh as can be. The top right-hand corner of the menu has a list of the ingredients they grow. I really love that this is a budding trend, as Jose Garces supposedly just bought a farm in Bucks County, too.

The decor in Supper intends to give off a sophisticated farmhouse feel, and it works. I liked sitting by the window looking out over South Street, but it was a little chilly.

Off the hors d'oeurves menu (P.S. who calls it that on restaurant menus? I feel like you only see that at parties), we picked out the lobster roll and cheddar & sage gougeres. Lobster roll was awesome - served warm on a crispy piece of bread. Like I said, I don't really like lobster but these were pretty freakin' awesome. Serve 'em at a party and I'd eat 12.

The gougeres were like cream puffs and served cold, so I was a bit disappointed. Just warming them up a little would have made them better. The smoked chicken wings and soft pretzels looked good too - save that for next time.

For the main dish, I got the Pan Roasted Sea Scallops, served as "slightly larger than an appetizer" with just two big scallops but it was plenty for me. Whatever the sauce was underneath was delish, as was the cauliflower that comes with it. I don't know what goes into cooking scallops the right way, but Supper's were just about perfect.

Since the scallops came off the "plates" menu of smaller dinners, I also ordered the Blue Elephant Farm Greens and Herbs Salad. After traveling for a week and hardly touching a vegetable, it made me feel better mentally, but I probably could have saved the $9 and gone without. The dressing, apples and cornbread in the salad were tasty but when a salad is mostly just leaves, I don't get too excited.

Bradd opted for the Supper Burger, which he said was one of, if not the, juiciest burgers he'd ever had. Put applewood bacon, gruyere, caramelized onions, and roasted tomato (which he particularly raved about) in between farm-raised meat and a good bun, and we're sold. It looked like they baked the burger a little after putting the cheese on, too, because it had that nice, slightly brown crisp on top. Yummmm.

Price-wise, Supper is right in line with most other Center City joints that serve a variety of "plates" sizes. It's off the typical beaten path at 9th and South, but the area seems to be really coming alive. Percy Street BBQ (also on our to-do list) is right next door and both Super Fresh and Whole Foods are across the street. Lots of promise and freshness on that block, with room to grow.

Best of Philly To-Do List... and Yogorino

Since moving into Philadelphia about four years ago, I have really enjoyed reading Philadelphia Magazine for its new ideas of things to do and places to eat, hearty (and somewhat snooty) gossip, and extensive local feature stories. The biggest issue each year is the annual "Best of Philly" edition, which showcases the best food, drinks, shops, activities, people and more that Philadelphia and the surrounding 'burbs have to offer.

The 2010 Best of Philly list just came out, so today I settled into a shady bench in Rittenhouse Square to carefully read every review and start my own new to-do/eat/see list. Here's what I picked off the Best of Philly for 22ndandPhilly to check out in the coming months:

Fish - It's right down the road from 22nd Street (a.k.a. us) and Best of Philly listed it as the best new restaurant. We've walked by and peaked at the menu a few times, but will have go check it out now.
Ko Zee Doo - New Portuguese spot in Northern Liberties, named best new BYOB.
Le Virtu - Italian restaurant on Passyunk that supposedly has incredible pasta (just say duck ragu and we're there).
Paesano's - Italian sandwiches at 9th & Christian.
Stogie Joe's - Philly Mag says they have the best tomato pie. And Bradd loooooves tomato pie.
Supper - Foodie friends recently named this spot on South Street their current favorite. Philly Mag says it has the best bar snacks. And I looooove bar snacks.
Kanella - Recently went to the Greek BYOB for dinner and it was alright, but I still want to go back for brunch, which Best of Philly says is #1.
Garces Trading Company - We've stopped in to see it and buy wine, but I definitely want to go back and eat sometime.
Amis - Marc Vetri's newest got a Best of Philly nod for "power snacking." I like feeling powerful, plus we loved every bite of food at Vetri a few months ago, and my Vetri-groupie boss gave Amis a great review.
Dante & Luigi's - Best old school Italian. 'Nuff said.
Fork - I pass by Fork all the time but never think to eat there. Philly Mag gives it props for the best charcuterie.
Silk City - Been there late night for dancing (super fun, good music, but it quickly heated up to about 300 degrees and everyone got all sweaty and gross). Philly Mag says it has the best outdoor dining. It looks fun from the outside on Spring Garden St. 

One more spot would have made it onto this list - Yogorino, named the best frozen yogurt - but it was hot in the park and I got inspired reading the Best of Philly issue so I dashed over to 20th Street and grabbed a cup before I continued reading. Yogorino only offers the traditional, Greek-style flavor but then you can pick a slew of toppings. Philly Mag raved that its the smoothest and richest yogurt out there. I will say that it was much better than Sweet Endings (which I thought was pretty nasty) but I still wasn't thrilled. FroYo to me should taste like ice cream but smoother. Maybe thats just the Americanized version, but oh well, thats what I like. This "mini" size at Yogorino cost me $3.00 but don't let this pic fool you. The bottom half of the blue cup is curved, so it only holds about an inch of ice cream. The fresh strawberries and chocolate shavings I added helped, but I wouldn't go back. I miss my hometown shop, Denville Dairy!

Thank you Best of Philly for all these new ideas!