Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

27 Mar 2007

Metropolitan Bakery – Philadelphia

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March 3, 2007
Cuisine: Bakery

Rittenhouse Square
262 S. 19th Street

Phone: 215-545-6655
Website: http://www.metropolitanbakery.com/

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Rosemary Foccacia ($1.50)

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I know I’m not from Boston, but the only way to properly describe The Astronomer’s metabolism is “wicked.” He consumes roughly 4000 calories daily and weighs a mere 140 pounds. Impressive? I think so. In order to maintain his body weight, The Astronomer must constantly snack. We stopped by the Metropolitan Bakery while strolling in Rittenhouse Square to pick up some calories for the bottomless pit.

After perusing the gorgeous baked goods, The Astronomer settled on the Rosemary Foccacia. The foccacia was not shaped like traditional foccacia–it was round and bulbous rather than flat and square. Also, the outter texture was much tougher than standard faccaia. The bread reminded me of the pizza crust from Pizza Hut (in sort of a sort good way) and not the least bit rosemary flavored. The foccacia tasted decent enough, but not at all what we were reasonably expecting.

Revisited: March 25, 2007

Chocolate Cherry Roll – dark and rich chewy loaf made with sundried sour cherries and imported bittersweet chocolate ($1.25)

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I decided to give the Metropolitan Bakery another go after a mediocre foccacia experience. At the suggestion of a few readers, I tried their signature Chocolate Cherry Bread. Although I wanted to love the bread very much, it just didn’t suit me well. The tart cherries combined with the sweet chocolate was too extreme for my tastebuds. On a positive note, the bread was moist and the chocolate and cherries were plentiful.

With so many bakeries around, I may be ready to give up on the Metropolitan Bakery.

Restaurant Review

26 Mar 2007

Pizzeria Delfina – San Francisco

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March 15, 2007
Cuisine: Pizza, Italian

3611 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Phone: 415-437-6800
Website: http://www.pizzeriadelfina.com/

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Appetizer I: Spicy Cauliflower – with capers, garlic and Calabrian chilies ($6)

Appetizer II: Collard Greens – with guanciale and chili ($6.50)

Pizza I: Panna – tomato sauce, cream, basil, shaved Parmigiano ($10)

Pizza II: Hen O the Woods – mushroom, thyme, Taleggio ($15)

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A trip to The Bay would not be complete without a meal with my Oaktown friends, Maria and Jessica. Jessica heard good things about Pizzeria Delfina, namely that it was tasty, vegetarian-friendly, and not too pricey. The pizzeria is an offshoot of Delfina, a high-end restaurant next door. I do appreciate fancy restaurants opening up more casual eateries with equally fabulous food such as Otto (Babbo), Osteria (Vetri), Brasserie Perrier (Le Bec Fin), etc.

Jess, Maria, The Astronomer

We started our dinner by sharing two vegetable plates–collard greens and cauliflower. Maria insisted on having leafy greens because she’s a bigger health nut than I am, while Jessica and I chose the starchier cauliflower. The Spicy Cauliflower was garlicky, just firm enough, and fried to perfection; the chilies added a sensational bite. I wish cauliflower could always be this delicious. The collard greens also included some chilies, which tied together the two veggies nicely. Neither Jessica, Maria, The Astronomer, or I had ever had collard greens that weren’t cooked to death a la Soul Food. We were all surprised by how flavorful and delicate the greens were. The guanciale (unsmoked Italian bacon prepared with pig’s jowl or cheeks) were fabulous because bacon makes just about everything better!

Unfortunately, the pizzas were not nearly as spectacular as the appetizers. Jessica, Maria, and I shared the Hen O the Woods. Surprisingly, the mushrooms were tasteless and not the least bit woodsy and as a result, the pizza fell flat. Additionally, the crust was mediocre and the thyme was missing in action. We should have listened to Maria and ordered the Broccoli Rabe. The Astronomer’s Panna suited his taste, but was pretty basic and thus boring.

Restaurant Review

23 Mar 2007

Ferry Building Marketplace – San Francisco

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March 16, 2007
Cuisine: International

One Ferry Building
San Francisco, California 94111

Phone: 415-693-0996
Website: http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

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The Gastronomer: The Ferry Building, located on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, is truly a gastronomic paradise. The Marketplace brings together local farmers, artisan producers, and independently owned and operated food businesses under one architecturally beautiful roof. The Astronomer and I felt like little kids in a candy store and wanted to try a bit of everything.

The Astronomer: It was a rare sunny day in San Francisco, and the quality of the food was on par with the quality of the weather. Our first hour was spent perusing the available options and consuming as many free samples as possible. The number of vendors was somewhat smaller than at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, but nearly every stand looked like it would offer an ideal lunch. I decided that the wisest approach would be to order small dishes from several different vendors.

The Gastronomer: Our first stop was at Japanese Deli – DELICArf-1. I ordered a lunch plate with two salads and one main entree ($9). For one of my salads, I chose the Hijiki and Soybean Salad – Hijiki mixed with dried soybeans, edamame, konnyaku, daikon, wild mizuna, fried tofu, and kuko (wolfberry). For my second salad, I chose the Spicy Burdock and Lotus Root Salad – a spicy mix of braised burdock, lotus roots, and konnyaku (mountain potato) tossed with thin slices of white onion, celery, julienne carrots, and wild mizuna. Both salads were vegan. For my main entree, I went with the Tofu & Chicken Patty with Hijiki – Free-range chicken and organic tofu patty with hijiki seaweed and carrot served in a sweet soy sauce. My Japanese lunch plate was fresh and flavorful. The salads were out of this world, I really need more seaweed in my life. I kept thinking as I was eating that this is what food should be–healthy, delicious, and creative!

The Astronomer: I began my four course adventure by ordering two fried items, the Potato Croquette ($1.50/ea) — delicately fried Russet and Yukon gold potato and sautéed onion croquette and the Sweet & Spicy Chicken ($1.25/ea) — marinated chicken, lightly fried, served with sweet & spicy sauce. These were petite, but well worth the price. The chicken had just the right amount of flavor. The potato croquette reminded me of a crab cake–it was lightly breaded and balanced the chicken nicely. The Gastronomer thought the croquette tasted like an onion ring.

The Astronomer: To compliment my Japanese appetizers, I stopped by Acme Bread Company and ordered a ham and cheese croissant (totally food porn, right?). It was an entirely different flavor–powerfully cheesy, but also deeply sensual. For around $3, it was quite a deal.

The Gastronomer: For my first dessert, I went for a Chocolate Croissant ($2). The croissant was perfectly flaky, I enjoyed peeling away each layer and having them melt individually in my mouth. In the end, I was left with lots of chocolate and only a thin layer of croissant, which was completely decadent.

The Astronomer: My search for desert took me to the Miette Patisserie, where the chocolate madeleine ($0.75) looked irresistible. I also ordered a miniature creme fraiche scone ($0.50). We ate our desserts outside in the sun–the madeleine was delicious, much like a slice of my favorite chocolate poundcake, and the scone also hit the spot. What could be better than chocolate with cream? Perhaps chocolate with cream and fruit.

The Gastronomer: Even though we were both pretty stuffed after our first round of desserts, we decided to go all out and have some gelato too! We ordered the smallest size with two flavors–I chose Dulce de Leche and The Astronomer chose Blueberry. We asked for separate cups because blueberry and caramel do not mix well. The Caramel was good, but nearly melted. The overly soft texture sadly took away from the flavor. However, I did appreciate Ciao Bella’s authentic Italian square spoons!

The Astronomer: I ordered a scoop of blueberry, which actually tasted like it had been made with real berries. Delightful.

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The Astronomer: All in all, I would highly recommend the Ferry Building for those in search of a tasty and economical lunch, a sampling of champagne and caviar, the world’s most fibrous pancakes, or simply a nice walk along an avenue overflowing with pleasant aromas.

The Gastronomer: If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the Bay Area, do your tastebuds a favor and head to the Ferry Building.