Wednesday, September 17, 2014

A Fantastic Birthday Treat...



Sbraga
440 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146

My fiancé gave me a great gift for my birthday last year, she took me Sbraga to sit at the Chef's counter. I was beyond excited about it because it was my first trip there, and I had heard nothing but good things. We have been big fans of Kevin Sbraga's since the season he won top chef on. We watched the whole season and were pulling for him since hes from a town close to mine in Jersey. From the moment we walked into the restaurant, we were treated like royalty. We had a special menu waiting for us when we got in, and a hand written birthday note from Kevin Sbraga and his staff. I thought that was super nice. 




The menu looked fantastic. We were greeted by Ben Filleccia, the GM, and he stood next to us on the line pretty much the whole night and joked with us and talked to us quite a bit. Our meal started out with a deliciously whipped and light chicken liver mousse on pumpernickel bread. It was fantastic. The texture of the mousse was masterful, and the nice crunch of the pumpernickel bread was the perfect textural contrast. As we were indulging in the mousse and our first cocktails, old fashioneds for both of us, they brought out the truffle and gruyere popover that they serve was bread. Its these little things that places like Sbraga do they put them in another category. It was a fantastic popover, rich and cheesy, but still light, fluffy and crusty. 





Next up were the beet tartare with smoked mackerel and the carrot soup with Thai chili and ginger. I really liked the carrot soup. It was sweet with just the right amount of spice from the chili and it had a nice kick from the ginger as well. The marshmellow on top was amazing. It was sweet paired well with the carrot flavor. The beet tartare was good, but it wasn’t my favorite. I really liked the smoked mackerel on top, but the beets themselves needed a bit of seasoning, maybe some fresh herbs or some salt. We had mentioned to Ben that we were hoping to get to taste the famous foie gras soup with our tasting menu. He walked away and got us two small tastes for us to try it in addition to our whole menu. What an awesome thing to do, and what a tasty soup! It lived up to the hype. It was velvety and creamy and incredibly rich. 




Before the hake came out, the chefs asked us if we had ever seen it before, and when we said we hadn’t, they told us not to look it up before we ate it. Of course we did anyway, and it is one hell of an ugly fish. Thank god it tasted way better than it looks. It was seared beautifully, and it flaked apart so nicely. The whole wheat ramen with the miso broth was delicate, but still very tasty. I loved the crunch of the fresh vegetables as well.




I also ordered a drink called the Not Toddy. It was one of my favorite drinks in recent memory. It had black tea infused bourbon, honey and lemon. Pure deliciousness. At this point Ben explained that the chef really takes inspiration from foods that he likes to eat and then makes his own riff on things. The next dish was a play on Italian roast pork and I don’t think itll ever taste the same way. It was phenomenal. It was roast pork, stuffed between pork belly, with a provolone bread pudding, long hots and a pork jus. I looked nothing like Italian style roast pork, but hot damn if it every bite didn’t taste just like it. It was an amazing riff on that classic dish and definitely my favorite of the evening.




For dessert we were served dirt pudding with house-made gummy worms. It was just the perfect amount of dessert to end the meal. It wasn’t too sweet, but just sweet enough with some crunch and creaminess. It was the perfect finish to a perfect evening. Except of course when Kevin Sbraga himself came in and we caught him on his way out and chatted for a bit. One of the nicest guys ever. And then, when we walked outside, who was there but Marc Summers? Awesome times two. The real kicker was the to go fresh rigatoni they gave me for my birthday and the pesto recipe that accompanied it. It was amazing!

Four pints for Sbraga. This is a fantastic restaurant with great service and fantastic food. The chefs counter is totally worth it and an incredible experience. I cannot wait to return. The food is a great value. You should check it out because I know you will love it too. Cheers!

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
I am a food lover living in Philadelphia.

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