Pitchers & Platters at Square 1682

Fresh and local: Two buzzwords that hum like a swarm of (locally kept) bees in the modern American discourse of informed and healthy eating.

At Square 1682, Executive Chef Guillermo Tellez has figured out a way to chime in. First he involved himself with the pop-up garden raised this summer by members of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) at 20th and Market Streets. And now, chef Tellez brings his coming-together-of-the-continents cuisine back on home in a lighter way, using his pop-up vegetables to assemble dishes on the new Pitchers & Platters  summertime menu at Square 1682. Dare we say, you can’t get more local than that? (Suppose you could with a backyard or roof garden, but this is damn close.)

His grilled vegetable plate features asparagus, baby zucchini and bell peppers picked fresh in the City of Brotherly Love. Other plates include  colorful lemon-scented hummus with tomatoes, feta, ground lamb, crudité, herb and garlic naan bread. There’s also a pickle plate, with PHS garden veggies and your classic fried cauliflower, calamari and garlic parmesan fries.

“We wanted to do something fun,” said general manager Anna Schneider. “We attract larger groups on our patio and lounge. Chef Guillermo came up with the Pitchers and Platters.”

And while you can order the Pitchers & Platters in the dining room, Schneider said they haven’t yet had such a request.

The “Pitchers” half of the menu includes original Square 1682 recipes like the Nectar Margarita (spiked with tequila, agave nectar and fresh lime juice), and the Persephone, made with rum, pomegranate, fresh lime juice, organic agave nectar, muddled jalapeños and mint. They’ve also gone old school with the Philadelphia Fish House Punch–America’s oldest known cocktail recipe. Order a pitcher and you’ll be drinking like Benji Franklin and the fellows did, getting all revolutionary on a triple-threat blend of peach brandy, cognac and rum.

Square 1682 [Official website]