Mémé, Philadelphia

Fried Brussel Sprouts

Grilled Quail

Fougoo, Xtine, and I made a trip to Philadelphia to have dinner at Mémé, chef David Katz's casual eatery located just west of Rittenhouse Square. Fougoo picked the place because of the Ralph Steadman designed logo as well as having read some good reviews of the food.
The menu was seasonal and really simple: starters, mains, and desserts. I love eating out with family because we decided to share everything.
We saw a lot of tables getting the roasted bone marrow, cut longitudinally, served with bread and caper-parsley radish, and it looked good. However, Fougoo had recently had her share of marrow at her recent dinner at Beacon.

Sautéed Veal Sweetbreads

We ordered three starters. First up was fried brussel sprouts that came with a ham croquette all topped with a zesty lemon aioli.
We got the grilled quail served with pickled onions, candied bacon, date purée, and aged balsamic.
The sautéed veal sweetbreads were my favorite of the three starters. They were tender and creamy. It came with roast grapes, mushrooms and a walnut purée.

Magret Duck Breast

We ordered two main dishes. First was the Magret duck breast with chard, beets and a port reduction. The duck was cooked beautifully- it was tender, juicy, and wonderfully fatty. I also really loved the chard and beets.
The "Catch of the Day" was a trout stuffed with chorizo cornbread that was served with an heirloom tomato coulis.

Trout with Chorizo Cornbread

Chocolate Ganache Cake

Heirloom Apple Crisp

We saw all the desserts on the menu and decided to order all three of them. There was a wonderful dark chocolate ganache cake with vanilla gelato and an heirloom apple crisp also with the vanilla gelato.
My favorite was the vanilla panna cotta with port cherries. The texture was smooth and rich, and the vanilla flavor went well with the cherries.

Vanilla Panna Cotta

2201 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 735-4900

Mile End, Brooklyn

After wandering Boerum Hill for a while, we had worked up enough appetite to eat at Mile End, the Jewish-Canadian delicatessen (named after Montreal's traditionally Jewish newly hip neighborhood).

We had a big group so 6 of decided to order a bunch of dishes and share. We started out with chopped liver, served with onion relish, egg, and a "pletzel."  Even those unsure of whether they'd like liver thought it was delicious.  The onion and egg went nicely with the liver.  The "pletzel" was like an everything foccacia (not pretzel-like was we were expecting). 

Next up we had the Deli Meat Board - that day's selection was turkey rillette, duck proscuitto, and salami served with toast and apricot preserves.  All the house-cured meats were excellent.

Then came the lamb's tongue with onion raisin marmalade, served on pumpernickel toast with horseradish.  I didn't really taste the horseradish, which was fine with me. The pumpernickel had lots of great rye flavor which went well with the sweetness of the marmalade.  I think they really have a knack for not only preparing the meats well, but pairing them with great flavor combinations.

Our next dish was Veal Sweetbreads with pecan butter, concord grape jelly, apple and chili.  Of course deep-fried sweetbreads are always delicious, but again, it was the sauces and toppings that made the dish stand out.  Concord jelly with pecan butter - like schpanky PB&J -- with crisp spicy apples on top - who would think of such combinations?!  Somehow it worked!

Our last small plate was warm chanterelle salad with radicchio, chevre noir, and maple walnut vinaigrette - the mushrooms were perfect and worked well with the crunch of the radicchio - another great dish.

Then came our mains.  My friend Tricia ordered her own main which was the Hoyt Dog (named for the restaurant's address on Hoyt Street).  It was a house made beef frankfurter with smoked meat baked beans, and sauerkraut.  The beans were excellent - the meat to bean ratio was heavily meaty - and very satisfying.

Brian chose the Trout served on top of smoked trout bisque, with pickled mustard, horseradish.  I only got a small taste of this, but it was nice.

We all dug into the Smoked Meat Deluxe.  By this point, after so much food, we just dispensed of the bread and dug into the meat in the sandwich (pictured above).  Poutine came with it on the side.  Not as good as Montreal (the cheese curds got a bit too melty in my opinion, so there wasn't that nice texture contrast of chewy cheese, creamy gravy, and crisp fries), but I can't complain too much - it was still delicious.

Mile End
97a Hoyt Street
Brooklyn, NY
718.852.7510

B & O American Brasserie, Baltimore

In downtown Baltimore, inside the recently opened Hotel Monaco, there is a restaurant. the B & O American Brasserie, which while not very conspicuous when you drive or walk by, has a pretty talented chef who is making some good food.
Chef E. Michael Reidt was named one of Food & Wines best new chefs in 2001, a class that included Wiley Dufresne and Anita Lo, so having him in Baltimore is pretty fortunate.
I went for dinner with Kwan and Bigfatlar, and we ended up with a humongous meal. For starters, the bread at the table was delicious- very crusty, and it was served with butter sprinkled with basil sea salt.
We ordered several appetizers to start. Kwan's favorite was the chicken liver mousse served with fig jam and toat.
My favorite was the smoked pork belly, especially because it came with a banana-lentil salad with pig ear. The combination of the salty pork with the sweet of the banana all topped with a chili caramel sauce was wonderful.


We also got the Market Flatbread, basically a small crispy crusted pizza topped with ricotta cheese, potato, arugula and an egg.
I also really liked the chef's "Kentoocky Fried" sweetbreads, served on a bed of bacon, capers, and golden raisins. The "skin" was crunchy, chock full of 11 herbs and spices.
In contrast, the small order of the ricotta gnocchi with arugula pesto sauce was light and pleasant.



Our table also order three entrees that we shared. Kwan's rosemary skewered scallops were amazing. They came covered with couscous which added a crispiness, and the scallops themselves were so sweet and plump. They were served on a bed of parsnip puree with braised oxtail and foie gras emulsion.

Bigfatlar ordered the adobo braise pork shank that was the size of his fist. It reminded me of my mom's soy braised pork leg in that the meat just slid off the bone.
I ordered the duck two ways- crispy duck leg confit & sous vide style duck breast. It came with a white beans, cassoulet style.
We made sure not to overstuff ourselves because we were planning on getting dessert as well.

This time we only ordered two plates: Meyer lemon bars with blueberry compote and sorbet and his take on strawberry shortcake- scones in a rhubarb soup with whipped cream and strawberry sorbet.

2 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(443) 692-6172

Cochon, Philadelphia

This weekend, we were all in Philly to check out the Popped! festival, so we decided to try out Cochon, a French bistro on the south side of town. First off the place was BYOB, so Redneckhunter picked up a 6 pack of Yuengling from a place called The Dive a few blocks south.
We split a pair of appetizers. Of course, we had to get the sweetbreads served with haricot verts and red peppers. They were delicious. The sweetbread was delicately prepared and the veggies were really fresh.
Alas, they were out of the fried chicken livers, so we opted instead the seared scallops with a frisée, lardons, asparagus and fingerlings salad, which was good, but not as good as our other appetizer.
For entrees, we all tried different items and shared the wealth. Mine was deemed the best of the three. I got the pork shoulder over lentils duPuy, roasted Brussels sprouts, and topped with a poached egg. Omigosh, the pork was so tender and delicious, and with the egg yolk spilling over it, it was heavenly. The sprouts were good and I particularly liked the flavor and firmness of the lentils.
Fougoo ordered the duck breast with white bean ragoût, baby carrots, and pomegranate gastrique. The duck had a nice crisp skin on it. Fougoo particularly liked her white beans.

Redneckhunter got the stuffed pork loin with mushroom duxelle, potato gratin, and roquefort sauce. The shoulder was clearly the superior dish, but the gratin was very good.

For dessert, we got both the molten chocolate cake with ice cream and the creme brulee. Both were pretty great- we finished them completely.
All in all, Cochon was not expensive and the food was fantastic.


801 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 923-7675