Philadelphia Restaurant Week: Planning A Killer Friday


Okay, folks. So we’re coming the end of stage one of Philadelphia Restaurant Week. For most places, Friday marks a brief respite before things pick up again on Sunday, and in celebration of that, we figured why not make a day of it tomorrow–hitting both a lunch and a dinner spot for the deals offered.

First stop? 10Arts, where chef Nathan Volz has been getting plenty of practice knocking out those plates of tagliatelle pomodoro with fresh mozzarella pictured above. He’s offering a creamy seafood chowder as one of the first-course lunch options (putting it up against a Honeycrisp apple salad), then the tagliatelle (which, when stacked up against a croque monsieur, is an easy choice), with either a carrot-hazelnut cake with carrot sauce and cream cheese sorbet or a pina colada sundae with rum gel and coconut foam as dessert.

Both of those sound weirdly compelling. Wonder what it’d cost me to double-up on dessert? And honestly, with the lunch price coming in at just $20, would it really matter?

And for dinner? Amada, baby. No doubt. They’re doing what amounts to a 5-course dinner menu there, offering multiple options for the first and second courses, still for the same $35 price tag. And as of right now, there are still reservations available for Friday (though you’re going to have to be willing to eat early).

Go for the caldo Gallego (Galician white bean stew with ham) and the gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) or the ham croquetas for the first course–depending on how much ham your body can handle. For the second round, try the costillas de ternera coca (beef shortrib with horseradish and bacon on a flatbread) or the calamari a la plancha, then follow it with the lubina al pescador–because its fish (sea bass) with potatoes and olives which, I swear, is one of the greatest flavor combinations out there, and one that’s not represented in restaurants often enough.

And for dessert? There’s crema Catalana (a Spanish custard) with pistachio, cranberry and a pumpkin semifredo or arroz con leche (rice pudding). You can go with whichever of these sounds better to you, but the fact that I don’t like flan, semifredo or rice pudding is just all the more reason to double-up on desserts at lunch. No offense to Amada, but I’d just as soon have the aged manchego with truffled lavender honey from the first course board to finish off my meal.

Philadelphia Restaurant Week Guide [Foobooz]