Casual, neighborhood dining on South St. at Michael Lynch's Miles Table
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
If you belong to the Bala Golf Club, Lombard Swim Club, Merchantville Country Club and any of the region’s other elite zoos, 1) Can I get a guest pass? and 2) You might be familiar with Michael Lynch. The chef came up via the country-club circuit and was formerly a partner in Iovine Brothers catering before going solo in 2007 with Catering by Miles. Miles is Lynch’s 6-year-old son — and the namesake of the casual spot, Miles Table, which Lynch opened on South Street last February. He lives a block away.
Remember Apamate? The restaurant closed in 2010 and sat vacant until Lynch recast the space as Miles Table. It’s a bright terra-cotta-tiled runway of a room, flanked by simple, white tables and topped with pendant lights and exposed ventilation ducts. Claustrophobic? Grab a roomy church pew booth in the back, by the counter, where you can order cafeteria-style from Lynch’s blackboard menu and ogle Saran-wrapped slices of Metropolitan raspberry crumb cake and the terrifically bittersweet house-baked brownies.
Personal-sized grilled pizza is a thing here, the white version of which was gobbed up in mild fior di latte cheese inlaid with bits of grilled chicken, while pesto lent an extra layer of greasiness. The cobb salad proved a better start, a big bowl loaded with the standard accoutrements and crisp romaine: fresh avocado, crispy bacon, Gorgonzola with bite and a creamy ranch dressing that earned its tang from buttermilk. Not a mold-breaker, but nicely done.
That last sentence is a good way to sum up Miles, though Lynch’s specials do depart from the standards a bit at brunch. His crab Benedict isn’t content with just throwing some jumbo lump on a traditional eggs Benny; instead Lynch makes and fries panko-crusted crab cakes (crispy and moist) and tops them with poached eggs (yolks slightly overcooked) and silky horseradish hollandaise. The buttermilk johnnycakes were on the spongy side — crunchy, buttery perimeters encircle my ideal flapjacks — but their juicy, inky-blue topping of blackberry, mango, mint and Thai basil struck a fresh note. And no tennis whites to worry about staining.
Miles Table | 1620 South St., 267-318-7337, milestable.com. Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Breakfast, $2.50-$11; lunch and dinner, $6-$12.50.
