Summer Food 2005: BYOBs

In the beginning, there was a trendlet of little neighborhood joints. Now, ambitious, stylish bring-your-own spots open on a seemingly daily basis, from Kennett Square to Rittenhouse Square. Our guide to which ones merit a $9 syrah, and which beg for a Super Tuscan in your wine tote

MATYSON
37 South 19th Street, 215-564-2925; matyson.com
Worth noting: Prix-fixe menus highlighting
a single ingredient.
Dinner for two: About $100.

All summer long, Matt Spector augments his contemporary American menu with four-course tasting menus that explore the flexibility of a single ingredient. Crab, tomatoes, mushrooms and corn are among the foodstuffs scheduled for starring roles, which means that Sonjia Spector, the accomplished pastry chef married to Matt, will reprise her sweet, subtle corn and black pepper ice cream. The regular menu here is suitably summery, featuring grilled whole red snapper or pompano with fresh herbs; seared tomatoes splashed with sherry vinaigrette; and sweet-savory watermelon salad with feta and red onion.

The Newest
ARNIE’S GOURMET STEAKHOUSE
Village Shops, 8021 Centennial Boulevard, Voorhees;
856-424-7774
Worth noting: Attention, early birds: Dinner service starts at 4:30 p.m.
Dinner for two: About $135.

BYOB steakhouses are rare, and Arnie’s has some distinct advantages: an experienced retail butcher, Arnie Madrigale, as its owner, and a well-stocked wine shop, Traino’s, just steps away from its front door. Madrigale is a customer-oriented proprietor, cheerfully making the rounds in his handsome, contemporary-styled sage and white room, more upscale than its strip-shopping-center location suggests. An eight-ounce filet and a bone-in 14-ounce veal chop were cooked perfectly; béarnaise sauce, fried onion rings and al dente zucchini and carrots were fine. And a tall, fluffy slice of Jewish apple cake, made by our server, Carlene, was outstanding.

BISTRO 7
7 North 3rd Street; 215-931-1560
Worth noting: Spotlights local produce and meats.
Dinner for two: About $100.

With more seasoning, on the plate and in general, Bistro 7 will fulfill its potential. Like many other new-wave BYOBs, it has a small, open kitchen, an eager-to-please staff, and minimalist-modern decor, relying on pea-green-painted walls and flickering votive candles to energize a long, narrow room. Chef-owner Michael O’Halloran’s ingredients-first approach, learned at Fork and the White Dog Cafe, brings good things to the table. It won’t take much more than an extra pinch of grated cheese, or fresh herbs, or a drizzle of flavored oil to perk up the fish and pasta dishes.

MANDOLINE
213 Chestnut Street; 215-238-9403 Worth noting: Open Mondays, when many BYOBs are closed.
Dinner for two: About $100.

Mandoline got off to a smooth start when it opened in March, because husband-wife owners Todd and Carrie Lean hired a sous-chef and two servers from their former place of employment, the lively BYOB in Dresher called Carambola. Their easygoing dining room follows the well-worked cute-couple, open-kitchen, bright-and-modern formula of other BYOBs, but Lean’s menu is ambitious for a neighborhood restaurant, and he delivers. His goat cheese pistachio cake, a thick, panko-crusted patty with plenty of texture interest, rests on mission fig/port wine/balsamic glaze enriched with veal stock. The arugula salad looks just-picked. The remarkable roast chicken, basted with butter and herbs, gets an added dimension from preserved lemons made in-house.