Cravings: Potpies

Forget those ho-hum microwaveable meals in your grocer’s freezer.
At Philly restaurants, potpies are good eats. Take Standard Tap’s
chicken pie (pictured), a year-round staple at the NoLibs gastropub: The filling, made with white and dark meat from a whole roasted bird, carrots, celery, onion and crimini mushrooms, is thickened with a homemade roux before it’s encased in a flaky, buttery, just-sweet-enough pastry. Rosemary is the secret to the savory chicken pies baked fresh every morning at Jones, Stephen Starr’s retro diner in Wash West. At Blackfish in Conshohocken, chef Chip Roman’s version, which is more of a velvety chicken-and-mushroom stew, is served in a crock and topped with a golden crown of puff pastry. And the takeaway lobster pies sold in individual tins at Talula’s Table in Kennett Square are the perfect no-fuss Sunday-night dinner. Just promise owner Aimee Olexy you’ll heat them up the old-fashioned way, in the oven.