Another Star in the World of Vetri...

Amis

412 South 13th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

www.amisphilly.com/ 

I had been dying to go to Amis for quite some time. Last year for my birthday my aunt had given me a gift card to dine there. I decided to use it to take my girlfriend out to dinner for her birthday, so we headed up there at the end of October. When we walked in, I noticed that they were filming some TV show in the front of the restaurant. I looked for Marc Vetri, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but he wasn’t there and I didn’t recognize anyone they were filming, so we pressed on and were seated near the back. It was horribly cramped, which I really didn’t like, but I came to overlook that. 

As soon as we were seated, I let my girlfriend decide on our menu for the evening. Thinking that we had the gift card to use, it was open season and we ordered quite a few things. She decided on the eggplant caponata, the mixed salumi plate, the swordfish meatballs, the fresh cut fettuccini with pork ragu, the grilled tuna tagliata with fennel and citrus, and the salted butter semifreddo sundae with maple syrup and pears. We ordered a couple beers and sipped them as I tried to figure out what they were filming in the restaurant. 

The eggplant caponata and the salumi plate came out first. The salumi plate came with three different meats on it. It had a house made pepper salami with a cranberry compote, a sage and pork pate topped with pumpkin preserves, and a house made mortadella topped with hazelnut honey. The eggplant caponata was stellar. The bread was perfectly toasted, and dropping a big spoonful of caponata on top made it even more delicious. The salumi plate was out of this world. I never thought I would like the sweet fruit taste combined with the meats on the tray, but I was blown away. The flavor provided by the meats was phenomenal. The star of it all was the pork pate. The sage flavor really shown through, and the pork flavor was robust and delicious.

The swordfish meatballs came up as we were finishing up the salumi and we dug in immediately. My girlfriend thought that they were too fishy, but I was completely impressed. Wonderfully moist in the center, and perfectly browned on the outside, a meatball made of swordfish was never even a thought in my mind. After tasting it, I don’t know how I could not have. The flavors were incredible and the creamy polenta underneath of it was just a heavenly shower of flavor.

The portion sizes were pretty small, so when splitting them with my girlfriend, they came out to be the perfect amount. Our pasta and tuna came out next and the flow of taste amazingness continued. The pasta was super fresh, clearly made very recently, and the pork ragu was absolute bliss. It wasn’t a traditional ragu with sauce, but simply it was reduced pork with tons of flavor and very nice seasoning. It was topped with a touch of parmigiana cheese for another dimension of flavor. 

The tuna dish was just as fantastic as the pasta. It was my first experience with fennel ever, and I truly enjoyed the flavor it provided. It was the perfect flavor profile to go with the deliciously simply tuna. The tuna was thinly sliced, but was perfectly seared. The tiny segments of citrus dispersed on top of the fennel were delicious little explosions of juice and sourness. 

To put the topping on the proverbial pie that was our meal, we ordered something I had read and heard tons of good things about. That delicious salted butter semifreddo sundae with maple syrup and pears made its way to our table, along with a scoop of vanilla semifreddo with a birthday candle in it for my girlfriend. The sundae literally tasted like butter. It was so cool, and so delicious, but it simply just felt so wrong to be eating. The pears and maple syrup contrasted the salty taste from the butter ice cream. It was very delicious, but definitely not the healthiest of all options, but man was it phenomenal.

Four pints for Amis. I was blown away by my experience at Amis. I loved every item that we ate, and I would have ordered anything on their menu. Unfortunately I had a little problem with the gift card I was given when I went to pay, but it seems like the restaurant is trying to rectify that situation. I can't wait to go back and try it again with my new gift card. You might be able to catch a glimpse of us enjoying our meal on the upcoming Travel Channel show called All Forked Up. They wound up coming to our table and filming us for a little while. Look for it to premiere in the fall! You should get to Amis as soon as you can because it is simply that good! Cheers!

South Street Dining...

South Street Diner

140 South Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

www.southstreetdinerphilly.com/‎ 

My girlfriend and I wanted to go out and grab some breakfast one Saturday morning, and we had planned on going over to Silk City Diner in Northern Liberties based on the recommendations from one of my friends from Elon. However, my schedule got messed up, and since Silk City didn’t open until 10, we had to change locations. Instead we headed to the South Street Diner to grab some food.

I didn’t even know that this place existed. I haven’t ventured too far down on South Street since my girlfriend moved there, but now that I know it is there I know I have a place to grab some good diner food right nearby. We were one of the very few people in there at 9 am on a Saturday, so we were seated right away. The waitress brought us over some coffee and we ordered right away. I ordered the Fighting Irish Omelet and my girlfriend ordered the LeGrand Benedict. 

The food came out pretty quickly, and we dug in with gusto. My omelet came with corned beef, Swiss cheese, onions, and home fries. The omelet was tasty, but nothing out of this world. The corned beef was good, as were the eggs, cheese and onions, but there just wasn’t anything spectacular about it. It was a typical diner omelet, executed very well.

My girlfriend's eggs Benedict were good as well, but again nothing out of this world. Solid food and good execution, but nothing to make it really stand out. The hollandaise could have been a bit richer in my opinion, and the English muffin could have been a bit crunchier, but overall it was pretty good.

Two pints for the South Street Diner. It is definitely a solid choice in terms of diner fare. They do your traditional diner food and they do it pretty well, but again nothing out of this world. Cheap food done well is always a hit in my book, so I will definitely be back. Go ahead and try it and let me know what you think! Cheers!

Old School Ice Cream...

Franklin Fountain

116 Market Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

www.franklinfountain.com/‎ 

I love old school places. One of my favorite steps back in time is the Franklin Fountain in Old City. It is an old-time soda shop serving housemade ice cream, and doing everything the way it was done in the early 1900s. From the second you step inside, you feel like you are in the past. From the cash register to the phone on the wall, to the employees’ uniforms, everything looks straight out of the 1920's. The flavors however are new school, and the owners have been nailing both them and their concept for some time now. My girlfriend loves to go get ice cream there, so we went on the same night I made the venison to have some dessert. 

We decided to split something, and I let my girlfriend choose. She wound up choosing the ‘Lightning Rod’, a sundae with a dark chocolate brownie topped with coffee ice cream, a shot of espresso, chocolate covered espresso beans, and a pretzel rod. The line was pretty long on this particular visit, but I have definitely seen it much longer. 

Once we got our sundae, we sat down at one of the open tables outside and dug in. I thought the flavors were pretty bold. They smacked you right in the face and most of them were really delicious. I loved the coffee ice cream and the chocolate covered espresso beans. I did not really enjoy the shot of espresso or the brownie underneath though. The brownie was a little too rich, almost like a chunk of fudge, and the espresso shot was just a little bitter to be mixing nicely with the ice cream. However, I thought the good outweighed the bad, and I would still tell you to check out the ‘Lightning Rod’ sundae when you go.

Three and a half pints for Franklin Fountain. Franklin Fountain is one of the coolest places I have ever been. I love ice cream, and I can’t think of a cooler place to experience good ice cream anywhere. They scratch make everything in house, and they have a long history of success. Go out, try it and let me know what you think! Cheers!

This Ain't Bambi...

Cooking Venison Two Ways

My brother-in-law is a veteran hunter. He and my sister live out in Tabernacle, and they have frequent visitors in their yard in terms of wildlife. One night this fall, a man hit a deer in front of their house, and the deer attempted to get up and run into the woods with two broken legs. My brother in law chased it down and put it out of its misery, and was left with some wonderful venison in return. After his dad skinned it and hung it to dry, he butchered it up, and I was the lucky recipient of a roast and some medallions. I took them to my girlfriend’s apartment one night and cooked them up for our first time trying venison. She was a little apprehensive about it, but I assured her that it would taste great. I seared it off in a pan, then coated it in mustard and pistachios and roasted it in the oven with some chopped veggies. I also took the medallions and coated them in the pistachio mixture and cooked them in a pan on the stove stop while the roast was in the oven. Once they were ready I served them with some buttered egg noodles and a delicious blackberry/pinot noir reduction. 

The meal turned out incredibly well. The venison was so flavorful. I loved each and every bite, and if we weren’t going to get ice cream after, I would have stuffed myself full of it. I liken it to a leaner more flavorful beef, and it is not gamey at all as I had heard from some people. The blackberry sauce was a really nice touch, although I wish I had run it through a strainer to get the seeds out of it. You live and learn I guess. I posted the recipes below for you to try. Beef or pork can be substituted for the venison if you can’t find it or don’t want to try it! Cheers!

• 1.5 lbs venison roast and 8 medallions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup toasted and ground pistachios
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• Cranberry, Black Pepper and Sage Reduction Sauce, recipe follows
• Fried sage leaves or chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Season the venison with the salt, pepper and spices. Place a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the pan and once the pan is hot, sear the venison on one side for 1 minute. Using tongs, turn the roast and sear on each of the other sides for 1 minute until nicely browned on all sides. Remove roast from the pan and allow it to cool completely.

In a medium bowl combine the pistachios, breadcrumbs, remaining 1/2 teaspoons of spices and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss well.

Once the roast is cool enough to handle, rub the roast with the mustard. Dredge the roast into the bread crumb mixture to evenly coat. Turn down the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Place the roast in a baking dish and roast in the oven 45 to 60 minutes or an instant read thermometer inserted into its center registers 140 degrees F for medium-rare.

Slice the venison roast. Spoon 1/4 cup of the sauce around the plate and garnish with fried fresh sage leaves or chopped parsley.

Blackberry, Black Pepper, Sage Reduction:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh blackberries
• 1 1/2 cups veal stock
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cold unsalted butter

Place a 10-inch skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the shallots are translucent, about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and raise the heat to medium-high. Add the sage and blackberries and continue to cook until the wine is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 3 minutes. Add the stock to the pan and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Season with the salt and black pepper and swirl in the cold butter. Puree with a stick blender until smooth, Run through a cheesecloth to get the seeds out. Serve immediately or cover to keep warm until ready to serve.

Yield: 1 cup