Field Trip to 10 Arts: Where the Fries Never End

Since the economy's in the crapper, Philadelphia restaurant week was extended through this Friday. As such, BW and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to visit Eric Ripert's lovely restaurant, 10 Arts in said Philadelphia. Unfortunately, as we soon realized, Saturday nights aren't part of restaurant week at 10 Arts, but since it worked out (shockingly) that BW, PW, BMG, and I could get together on such short notice, we decided to go anyway. Hooray for stimulating the economy! Sadly, due to excessive drinking in the dive bars of Trenton, BMG was unable to join us, so I had to make the drive to PA alone, dressed in my hot outfit for dinner. However, the lack of BMG gave me the chance to sit at the table with an empty seat next to me, in the hopes that Eric Ripert would actually be in his restaurant and want to join us for dinner - it didn't happen. But, I think that's because he wasn't at the restaurant, I mean, come on, if he had seen us, with the empty chair, there's no way he'd be able to refuse an invitation to dinner.

Our reservation was for 8:30 pm, we arrived almost exactly on time, the hostess took our coats, and we were ushered to our table. The restaurant is in the Ritz Carlton hotel, right by City Hall, and the space is awesome. It' basically the lobby of the hotel, so it's huge expanse, great high ceilings, columns, the works. I was especially enamored of the chandeliers, which are pretty much bigger than my apartment. We were all pretty hungry, and also excited to be there, so it took a while to order, luckily we were able to decide on a wine quickly, so we had a nice splash while deciding what to order...

And, oh, did we order. To start, we shared the fried calamari, which was awesome. So NOT rubbery and gross like most calamari that has been fried and not at all greasy. Plus, it came with a delicious remoulade which I would have eaten straight from the ramekin if it was socially acceptable. Next, for our first courses, BW got the heirloom corn chowder, PW got the chicken soup (it had alphabets!!!), and I had the warm goat cheese salad. All were awesome. The corn soup had smoked sea salt in it, which gave it a delicious, smoky, rich flavor (seriously, though, it was great).


The chicken soup was so, so good! The alphabets were great, a whimsical touch for an old classic. My salad was amazing, too; with a big hunk of goat cheese, baby beets, and greens you really can't go wrong.


Next came the entrees (I should also mention that PW order a scotch part way through the meal, because, you know, if we're all going to lose our jobs soon, we might as well go all out while we can. I mean, we'd already committed to an expensive meal, why not just throw some delicious, alcoholic frosting on top?). For her main course, BW got the fish burger, which (as the waitress informed us) was basically a crabcake made with striped bass instead of crab. It came with delicious (and crispy) fries and a fantastic saffron aioli. Better than the remoulade. I would bathe in it.


PW ordered the filet - it was perfectly cooked and had a great, thick reduction poured over it

and he also ordered a ""side" of French fries (the same as the ones that came with BW's food - crispy and all seasoned, mostly rosemary and salt...some other stuff, too). Now, I say "side" because it was basically another entree. And, we can eat, let me tell you. But that bitch kicked our asses - the more we ate, the more full the cone of fries seemed to become. See for yourself - here's the before:


And here's the after (don't worry, I'll get to the mac and cheese in a second:

The only way you can tell it's a different picture is that some of the mac and cheese is missing. Oh, and that mac and cheese was awesome. Lots of great cheesy flavor, but the crispy top really made it.

I had the striped bass "Grand Mere," which was a difficult decision, as I was also extremely interested in the rabbit paillard, but, ultimately decided that I should honor Ripert's skills and go with the seafood. It was a good choice. The bass was cooked perfectly and came with an assortment of great vegetables (potatoes, green beans, mushrooms, pearl onions) in a light, very flavorful broth. Unfortunately, due to the block of goat cheese and mac and cheese and trying everyone else's food, I wasn't able to eat it all. That's the only time I wished I has gotten the paillard, so I could bring it home and eat it later - reheated striped bass would not be right.


I should also add that our waitress was awesome. At some point during the entrees she brought us a free glass of champagne that was an extra from some other table at the restaurant (free liquor - sold!!). She also, very nicely, brought us a scoop of the coconut-avocado sorbet to taste, as there was no way in F any of us was eating dessert after that meal. But, when she explained the sorbet to us, we were all so intrigues, she brought us a taste - what did I tell you? Awesome.

After that, the night was spent recovering from eating too much and watching "Saturday Night Live" while realizing it will never be as good as it once was.

Provided we all still have jobs shortly, more restaurants are coming soon - I've set a goal of one new restaurant a month...let's see if I can keep it up. That's what she said.

(Also, I would like to thank BW for her pictures of the food - it was so dark in there and we didn't want to use the flash and look like complete hick-degenerates, so that's why the pictures are somewhat dark. However, if I had taken them, they would have been dark AND blurry, as I have the shaky hands. So, strong work, BW! I'm glad you have steady hands and like to stalk chefs, too!)

Fork - Philadelphia, PA

So, AbS ventured down to Philadelphia, PA (the city of brotherly crunch) this past weekend to celebrate the birth of BW. You may remember BW from such posts as the Bar American adventure, among others.

Friday night was the surprise party, which was pulled off quite artfully by EdT, as BW had no idea and was quite surprised. A good, drunken time was had by all, especially me, as I didn't have to drive home on Friday night. After a strong Saturday afternoon of TiVoed shows, lunch, and a trip to the butcher, we were off to Philly to Fork, for dinner.

OK, actually, we went to Patou for a pre-dinner cocktail, as we arrived early for our reservation and, clearly, needed the liquor to help numb the pain of the night before. I chose a vodka martini, after contemplating the wine list, while BW chose...something purple. I think it was "the voltaire" after a quick consult with the online menu. Here they are:

BMG and PW opted for a gin and tonic and a glass of scotch, respectively, both poured with a heavy hand by our faux-hawked bar tender - not so good with the hair, but good with the pour. Here's a crappy shot of the bar:


We spent about an hour at Patou, then headed next door for our dinner at Fork.

And let me tell you, what and effing dinner it was. Seriously, made of awesome. It's honestly the best dinner I've had in a long time, including food I cook for myself, and I'm pretty biased toward my own cooking (and pretty arrogant about my culinary abilities - mostly kidding). Wow. Where to begin? With appetizers, of course!

BW, PW, and I are all pretty adventurous when it comes to trying food, so the three of us decided to get a bunch of appetizers and share them, then BW and I would share an entree and another appetizer for dinner, we didn't want to have THAT much food (although we did anyway). PW chose the Hamachi Sashimi, with chili oil, basil, and carrot-cucumber slaw, BW selected the roasted beet salad, with goat cheese and mache (also known as my favorite green ever), and I opted for the seared scallops with watercress, green mango, and curry-citrus vinaigrette. OK, sorry to invoke RayRay here, but YUM-O! All of it was so, so, good. The scallops were giant and cooked perfectly, the hamachi was so fresh and tender, the roasted beets paired fantastically with the goat cheese and pear (and the mache, of course). The salads were all dressed properly (a pet peeve of mine), not too much dressing and clearly dressed just before being sent out, not all wilted from wallowing a puddle of vinegar for 20 minutes.

The Hamachi:


The Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Pears:


The Scallops, oh, the scallops:




For the actual entrees, BW chose the Duck Confit with Frisee and Bacon, while I chose the Hangar Steak with Chimichurri, Yucca Fries, and Sauteed Chard, again, to share between the two of us. The duck confit was SO good. You know how sometimes you get crappy confit, when it's really chewy or super greasy? Yeah, this was the opposite of that, falling off the bone delicious and so tender.


My steak was really good, too, although, thinking back and looking at the picture, I don't think it had any chimichurri on it. Maybe it did, I was a martini and two glasses of wine in at this point, so it's definitely fair that the sauce was on there and I completely ignored it and promptly forgot about it. I will also say that I ordered this steak medium-rare and it totally arrived medium rare. Awesome. I heart their grill man.


BMG had the NY Strip Steak and substituted the Brussel sprouts for snap peas, since he's a baby and wouldn't try them. His steak was really good, too, a perfectly cooked medium and full of beefy-goodness.

Notice his smart-casual shirt in the background.

PW had Seared Duck Breast with Citrus Glaze and Lentil Salad:

Now, I love lentils, more than most normal people, but I will probably never like any lentils as much as I liked these. No joke. I wish I could go to Fork, steal their recipe, and make them for myself everyday. Luckily for me, PW isn't such a huge fan of lentils, so I got to power-through a whole lot of them.

Here's the aftermath:

Special thanks to PW's hand for properly indicating the aftermath.

So, you're probably thinking that's it, right? I mean, how could normal humans eat more food? Well, we did. I mean, it's BW's birthday weekend - we had to get dessert, right? (I'll also say here, I'm not sure these dessert descriptions are exactly correct, they've changed the dessert menu since this weekend, so it may not be exactly what we had. I'm sure BW and PW will correct me if I'm wrong, though).

BW's Strawberry-Rhubarb Spring Rolls with Basil Gelato:

The basil gelato was made of awesome. I'm not a huge dessert fan, but I would bathe in that stuff.

BMG had the Chocolate Mousse Cake with a side of Milk:

Bonus points to the restaurant for not even batting an eye at BMG ordering a glass of milk with dessert.

I had a cheese plate for dessert, which, by the way, is a giant mistake after gorging on food over the previous hour and a half. I didn't really think it would be a problem, but, unfortunately, I forgot that I normally have NC with me to help power-through the cheese. Nevertheless, I ventured onward, to my eventual stomach pangs due to extreme fullness. The cheese menu was actually fairly good sized and very varied. I selected three different cow's milk cheeses, as those are my favorites and also because I'm kind of lame. I think I would have been OK with just the cheese, but the selection came with a bunch of other stuff, too:

Oh fermented lactose, why can't I quit you?

That was pretty much it. I don't think it would have been possible to eat any more food after that showing, plus, we had to drive back to BW and PW's house, so no more alcohol (not that any liquid would have fit into our already distended stomachs). Thus, we returned home, just in time to watch Shia on SNL (MacGruber!) and go to sleep. All in all a fantastic evening.

And, seriously, if you find yourself in Philadelphia at any point in the near future, run, don't walk, to Fork. Well, maybe call ahead and make a reservation, then run there. It's totally worth it.