The 15 tastiest tasting menus in the suburbs | Let's Eat - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The suburban dining scene is plenty hot, so we’re offering our favorite tasting menus. Also this week: Critic Craig LaBan tells you about first-rate Ethiopian-inspired fried chicken, staffer Hira Qureshi has the best spots for mithai (sweets) served during Diwali, and colleague Jason Nark gets inside the Boot & Saddle for its new name and concept.

➡️ Attention, restaurateurs and caterers: If you’re planning special Thanksgiving menus, share them with us now for inclusion in a guide.

➡️ Attention, restaurateurs offering outdoor dining: We’re also gathering info on cool-weather setups. Share your info for a guide.

⬇️ Read on for restaurant news and a quiz.

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— Mike Klein

15 tasty tasting menus in Philadelphia’s suburbs

MONICA HERNDON / Staff Photographer

Philly’s suburbs have long had a stellar restaurant scene. It’s no surprise, writes colleague Jenn Ladd, that the ‘burbs also have their share of tasting menus. She names 15 worth checking out.

🍣 If you’re craving an omakase experience in the city, Craig LaBan has some tasty ideas.

Craig LaBan loves this fried chicken

Craig LaBan

Craig is raving about the Ethiopian-inspired fried chicken at Doro Bet in West Philadelphia, which comes in two seasonings: spicy Berbere and milder turmeric and lemon. Bonus: The batter is made from teff flour, so this chicken is also gluten-free. 🔑

Sweet on Diwali sweets

Hira Qureshi

There’s joyous chaos inside Indian markets on Diwali — and mithai (sweets) are at the center of it. People of Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist faiths mark the Festival of Lights with boxes of gulab jamun and gajar ka halwa, and colleague Hira Qureshi names some of her favorite sweet stops.

Restaurant Aleksandar seems a bit too much, Craig says

Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Restaurant Aleksandar near Rittenhouse Square has potential, but Craig finds inconsistency that cannot be ignored. Craig puts a thumbs-down on management’s wholesale menu change after only two months. This halibut (above) in a chowdery preparation with buttered leeks, little necks, fingerlings, and truffles was a bright spot. 🔑

Vedge owners branching out to the suburbs

Courtesy of Ground Provisions

Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby of the Center City vegan destination Vedge are venturing out to Philadelphia’s western suburbs for a second business, a plant-based market-restaurant called Ground Provisions. What’s it about? About a month out. But seriously: I run down the basics.

Restaurant report

Michael Klein / Staff

After a few months as an events space and nightspot in the former Common and Danlu space, University City’s colorful Pace & Blossom (3601 Market St.) has launched its Japanese-inspired menu.

Owners Kenny Poon and David Taing, who own Bonchon, Chinatown Square, and a bunch of others, have the services of chef Noriaki Yasutake, who ran the sushi show for more than a decade at D.C.’s former Sei. One showstopper is his “fish & chips” roll (hamachi cured in malt vinegar with wasabi tartare, topped with matchstick potatoes). Shown below is an avocado roll topped with beet tartare (yes, I said beet) and a honey-balsamic glaze.

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Blue Bell-bred James Wang contributes kitchen dishes such as bento boxes, crab croquettes, skirt steak, miso cod, dumplings, and sliders topped with spicy miso mayo and makrut lime leaf oil. The drink is a Wax On, Wax Off, with Ketel One, Tropical Red Bull, passionfruit, and orange. Sunday brunch by chef Mitzi Jackson will begin shortly.

Pace & Blossom, 3601 Market St. Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Tuesday-Saturday. For Sunday brunch, see Instagram.

Michael Klein / Staff

Briefly noted

Wednesday, Oct. 26 is opening night for Redcrest Kitchen at Sixth and Bainbridge Streets — 15 months after owner Adam Volk signed the lease and then watched his basement flood due to a ruptured city water main.

Amanda Eap has reopened the South Philly location of her celebrated bakery, Artisan Boulanger Patissier, three months after the passing of her husband and partner, Andre Chin. Hours at 1218 Mifflin St. are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday this week, and on Nov. 3 expands to Thursday through Sunday. She said the Media location is now unrelated.

The Black Tie and Sneakers Masquerade Gala will provide street-food tastes from eight chefs in a benefit for the Trauma Survivors Foundation’s Hospital Heroes Food Drive. It’s 7 p.m. to midnight Nov. 5 at Live! Casino & Hotel in South Philadelphia. Chefs involved: Ange Branca, Cote Tapia-Marmugi, Jacob Trinh, Diana Widjojo, Anthony and Jeremiah Brooks, Julio Rivera and Mariana Hernandez, Margarita Perez, Mike Strauss, Melissa Fernando, Sarah Qi, Mardhory Santos-Cepeda, and Tonii Hicks. Details are here.

Watch a dozen Philly chefs and food folk go bowling in a fund-raiser for the Philadelphia chapter of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association’s scholarship program. It’s Nov. 16 at Brooklyn Bowl in Fishtown. Among bowlers: Jennifer Carroll, Eli Collins, Kurt Evans, Bridget Foy, Jose Garces, and Khoran Horn. Click for details.

Boot & Saddle, the South Philly bar and music spot, is reopening as a cafe, wine bar, and venue called Solar Myth. We did miss this place terribly over the last two years.

Michael Klein / Staff

Chef Daniel Waller signed on last year when Michael’s Delicatessen in King of Prussia, about a mile north of the mall, changed hands and became KOP Diner. He’s now guiding its transition to bar-restaurant as KOP Grill & Tavern. Out went many of the booths, and in went pool tables and games. The hours shifted slightly later, though brunch starts at 9 a.m. on weekends.

Waller’s menu morphed accordingly. It’s straight-ahead American bar food; pay attention to the beef-on-weck, the vegan black-bean burger, the chicken club (shown above), and the full-on dinner menu that starts at 4 p.m. and includes a New York strip steak (top-priced item at $38 with roasted broccoli, buttermilk mash, herb garlic butter), crab-stuffed flounder, pork chops, and sauteed shrimp penne.

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Waller, 32, who grew up in nearby Norristown, learned to cook in his grandmother’s kitchen. She and he collaborated on a rum cake shortly after Thanksgiving one year when he was a teenager. They put it in the refrigerator, and she warned: “Don’t anybody cut my cake!” After she passed on Dec. 22, the family took that as a sign to start eating. “It was amazing,” Waller said. He later worked in Atlanta and more recently at Founding Farmers nearby.

KOP extends a 10% restaurant-industry after 10 p.m.

KOP Grill & Tavern, 128 Town Center Rd., King of Prussia: Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-midnight Saturday and Sunday (brunch till 2 p.m.).

What you’ve been eating this week

Instagram

Dessert for breakfast? That’s what @keengreen experienced at the Sabrina’s location at 21st and South Streets in the form of carrot cake-stuffed French toast. (Ooh. A vegetable, too.) The prospect of hot flautas and halal Mexican cooking from Don Panchito at 3180 Grant Ave. in Northeast Philly (aka @halal_mexican) intrigued @na_rothschild, who came back with an Instagram reel.

That quiz I promised you

Wine writer Marnie Old praises the malbecs from this country for their stellar quality-to-price ratio. Which country?

A.) Argentina

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B.) Chile

C.) Canada

D.) Greenland

Get the answer and a tip about a primo $10 bottle.

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The 15 tastiest tasting menus in the suburbs | Let's Eat - The Philadelphia Inquirer
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