WEEKEND IN PHILLY, PART 4
I recently returned to my former stomping grounds in Philly for long foodie weekend: amazing omakase at Jesse Ito's Royal Sushi & Isakaya; a private dinner by legendary French Chef Georges Perrier at Baril; and I even stopped into Vernick, fresh off a James Beard Award. Great food, great friends--yeah, you might say I had a GREAT time!
But unexpectedly, my very BEST meal was at At The Table BYOB on the Mainline in Wayne PA.
Opened this past November by the recently engaged team of Alex Hardy and Tara Buzan. I'm certainly not the first to discover this tiny suburban gem that makes you feel like you are dining at a trendy BYOB in Fishtown. Philly Magazine gave them 3 stars, and you have undoubtedly noticed a 5-star rating so far on Yelp.
I had previously met Chef Alex at a charity dinner where he was helping out my good friend PhillyFoodDude in the kitchen. He seemed like a cool, dedicated and motivated guy. I gather he has worked at a number of noted Philly restaurants, like Marigold Kitchen and Pumpkin. But what really got me excited to try his new venture were the pictures posted on social media. Talk about plating meant to be Instagrammed! Oh, and my good friend Janella is a regular and swears by their food.
So four of us headed out to Wayne for their $45 Prix Fixe "Sunday Supper" menu. As you can see from my photos, we tried most of the menu, but here is what I ordered myself (you order 1 dish form each of the 4 courses, and then we ordered 1 extra course and were comp'ed a shared plate; there was also a complementary amuse-bouche and scones):
AMUSE-BOUCHE: Tuna tartare
THE GARDEN SALAD: With beets, house-made ricotta, carrots, cucumber, cashews
FLORIDA FROG LEGS: Deboned, with 2-hour sous-vide Jidori egg, ramps, ramp butter, pumpernickel
SPRING FETTUCCINE: With ramp pesto, baby carrots, English peas, Morel mushrooms
HOKKAIDO SCALLOPS: With golden raisins, pearl onions, fried capers, Piquillo pepper sauce, pickled ramps ($15 extra supplement)
RIPEYE "CAP" STEAK: The best cut of meat in a steer! I was looking forward to this based on a Facebook post, but it was sold out the previous day. However, Chef kindly comp'ed a tasting of the last remaining serving for the table to share
TRES LECHES: With apricot compote, butterscotch chips, graham cracker crumble
If those descriptions and photos don't make you jump on OpenTable to make a reservation, then here are a few additional thoughts.
First, although Philly Magazine described ATT as a "modernist BYOB", I wouldn't overly emphasize the modernist technique. It is certainly present, but that is true at many restaurant these days and here, as it should, it stays hidden in the background. Did we have something sous vide (the edge-to-edge medium rare of the steak certainly looks sous vide)? Who cares how it was cooked as long as it tastes good. This is not the original Marigold Kitchen that reviled in quirky techniques.
Second, these dishes are fairly complex. Again, not necessarily in a modernist (or old-school French) sense, but they do have a lot of ingredients (not all listed, like the fennelheads in the pasta), with contrasting textures being a common theme (chewy deboned frog legs, al dente carrots...). That complexity can be challenging for a small kitchen to turn out. But they pulled it off for us (and the restaurant was sold out). They also emphasize high quality ingredients. Elyesian Fields lamb (a farm owned by Thomas Keller), Hokkaido scallops (a first for me), Jidori eggs ("wagyu of eggs"), liberal use of seasonal wild ramps & morels...
Third, Alex seems to enjoy paying tribute to his culinary idols (there is a stack of their cookbooks on a shelf). In addition to the lamb, the striking amuse-bouche may be an ode to Per Se's famous salmon cornet.
Fourth, plating is first class. Hopefully my iPhone photos do it justice. If not check out Instagram. In particular, the salad was a tweezed work of art. And not just beautiful, but delicious, with contrasting textures and flavors (although there were a couple of mealy cherry tomatoes in it).
https://www.instagram.com/atthetablebyob/
Byob wines (good wine service; provided stems are excellent):
~NV Gimonnet-Oger Champagne Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru
~2010 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc
~2009 Yvon Métras Fleurie L'Ultime
~2007 Weingut Dr. Crusius Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
Excellent service, well-paced. The space is charming, grey-toned, modern, ~25 seats and white table cloths. A picture-framed view of the kitchen is superimposed by a Julia Child quote. Generally plenty of parking in downtown Wayne at diner time, including a few spaced right in front.
I was blown away! If I still lived in Philly, I'd be eating here twice a month! Comparable to my long-time byob favs, Blackfish and Will.
As Julia Child reminds us: "People who love to eat are always the best people."
And that is certainly true At The Table BYOB. read more