In article , [email removed] (P. Fitting) wrote: > I will be in Philadelphia for a few days and would like to repay a > favor by taking someone to a really nice (and good) > restaurant--French/Italian/nouvelle. Thanks Peter Fitting > > Le Bec-Fin French. Probably the best restaurant in Philly. Definitely the priciest -- expect to pay upwards of 100 pp for dinner. Older clientele -- some complain about a sorta stuffy atmosphere. La Truffe. This is my choice for French in Philly. Located in the historic district. Slightly less stiff than Le B-F -- excellent food, piano music, wonderful, personable staff. Slightly less expensive, too, but still pricier than my student budget can usually afford! Alisa Cafe. Still really good (French-Thai) food, although slightly less consistently so than the first 2. I've had good luck here on weeknights, but found it overly noisy and the staff much less attentive on Friday and Saturday nights. It's BYOB. The White Dog Cafe. Always a favorite among Philly residents. Really creative and excellent nouvelle cuisine, very eclectic in food, decor, customers, eveything! Reasonably priced. Definitely an experience, although maybe not as refined an experience as you'd like... I don't really have an opinion on Italian in Philly, so maybe someone else can help out with that. Feel free to write me at this address if you'd like more information about addresses or phone numbers for these places and I'll dig 'em out for you. Wish you owed ME a favor! Katie McCarthy
Philadelphia, PA
phildelphia recommendations
Katie M. wrote: > > In article , [email removed] (P. > Fitting) wrote: > > > I will be in Philadelphia for a few days and would like to repay a > > favor by taking someone to a really nice (and good) > > restaurant--French/Italian/nouvelle. Thanks Peter Fitting > > > > > Le Bec-Fin French. Probably the best restaurant in Philly. I beg to differ (which is a minority opinion, I know). I've eaten there a few times--appetizers are excellent, main courses unseasoned, desserts small; service ostentatious and annoying, and the room is very narrow. . Nonetheless, lots of folks love it. The owner/chef, Georges Perrier, is opening a Brasserie next week in Center City--the prices will be lower than Le Bec. Also, downstairs from Le Bec is The Bar Lyonnaise, similar food at lower prices, if you feel you MUST do Le Bec-Fin. > La Truffe. This is my choice for French in Philly. Located in the > historic district. La Truffe has closed. Other very good French places in Philadelphia are Deux Cheminess (very pricey, classic French food, lots of heavy sauces but excellent preperation); Chanterelles (lighter-style food and lighter on the pocketbook(slightly), good game); Ciboulette (offers an unusal "small plate" menu only; these are like tapas and so you can eat here somewhat more cheaply. The room is lovely. Bistro St. Tropez has very good food and a wonderful view. I really like Napoleon, which has just moved into Center City from outlying regions; it's at 15th and Locust. Really wonderful food, (especially deserts); ambience, and very professional, unobstrusive service. For Italian, La Familia is pricey but excellent; I have not tried Il Portico in Center City but it has a similar reputation; or try any of several more "Philadelphia-style" Italian restaurants in South PHilly. There's a tremendous diversity of ethnic cuisine; including a very, very good Belgian restaurant, Cuvee Notredame, at 17th & Green; Burmese (Rangoon in Chinatown); and many Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Brasilian, Portuguese, etc... .
>La Truffe. This is my choice for French in Philly. Located in the >historic district. Slightly less stiff than Le B-F -- excellent food, >piano music, wonderful, personable staff. Slightly less expensive, too, >but still pricier than my student budget can usually afford! La Truffe went belly-up about 4 months ago...
On 21 Jan 1997 18:42:09 GMT, [email removed] (Katie McCarthy) wrote: >In article , [email removed] (P. >Fitting) wrote: > >> I will be in Philadelphia for a few days and would like to repay a >> favor by taking someone to a really nice (and good) >> restaurant--French/Italian/nouvelle. >> >Le Bec-Fin French. Probably the best restaurant in Philly. Definitely >the priciest -- expect to pay upwards of 100 pp for dinner. Older >clientele -- some complain about a sorta stuffy atmosphere. Expect to *start* at $102 per person for food before you even order a drink or think about gratuity. That's the current price of the fixed-price dinner menu. Also expect to call long in advance for a reservation. Check http://www.lebecfin.com for more details. Brasserie Perrier will probably be excellent when it opens, though I don't know when that is. Peering through the windows recently, it seemed quite clear that they would not make it for "January 1997" as the signs proclaimed. And in any case, they're probably also booked solid for whenever they do think they'll open. >The White Dog Cafe. Always a favorite among Philly residents. Really >creative and excellent nouvelle cuisine, very eclectic in food, decor, >customers, eveything! Reasonably priced. Definitely an experience, >although maybe not as refined an experience as you'd like... We'd be more than happy to serve you! I'm a server there, and I really enjoy working there. The food is very good, very fresh, uses lots of seasonal and organic veggies. Excellent and reasonably-priced wine list. Service is generally quite good (unequivocably suberb if you're in my section, of course ;-) ). It's a great time with very good food, but I wouldn't consider us an extraordinary culinary experience.
Ciboulette at the Bellevue is excellent, as is Chanterelles on Spruce at 13th, and Duex Cheminees at 12th & Locust. ------------------------------------------------------ audrey marsh * when the going gets weird, [email removed] * the weird turn pro... [email removed] * -raoul duke ------------------------------------------------------