P.S. & CO., a business built on treats, opens a vegan eatery in Rittenhouse
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.
via puresweets.com
A curious brindle-pit mix named Tuffy lifted her head from a patch of sunshine on the red wooden floor and trotted over to the counter to welcome me. I scratched her ears and ordered a round of cold-pressed, organic, jewel-toned juices.
Tuffy is owner Andrea Kyan’s rescue pup and the unofficial mascot of this light-washed Rittenhouse café, whose gleaming glass cases are filled with organic, local, vegan, gluten-free, kosher parve, Asian-inspired foods. I loved her dog, if not her juices — alternately watery and acidic, they would have worked better as vodka mixers at a pool party.
P.S.’s Locust Street digs are all stripped brick, worn wood and apothecary jars. Attractively styled piles of fruit tempt your inner Adam or Eve. Pouring in from the windows is the kind of natural light artists and photographers (and dogs) swoon over.
The initials stand for Pure Sweets, Kyan’s original online business, but they could also mean Punishingly Saltless in the case of the summer roll’s tuft of clover sprouts, oranges, mint, and roasted chile tofu and weak ginger-pickled carrots wrapped in a double layer of brown rice paper that was like chewing through rubber cement. While local vegan restaurants have been striving for crossover appeal, P.S. takes a more hardcore stance — the tea party Republican of vegan eateries.
Simmered with spices in house-juiced turmeric root, the creamy Burmese chickpeas couldn’t rescue a joyless kale salad topped with a scoop of brown rice, a few frizzled onions and no dressing. That’s not a salad by any eater’s standards. Another, better (but still incomplete-feeling) salad did have dressing, a sprightly carrot-ginger-miso that coated a mix of more kale and house-fermented krauts and avocado with black sesame seeds and the same tofu.
Sweets are P.S.’s strongest angle, from the gumdrop-sized macaroons to lush house-made young coconut pudding crowned with mango. Ask about the “tart cups,” too; mine featured layers of pistachio cookie crumbs, cardamom-spiced coconut cream and dairy-free Askinosie chocolate ganache. Kyan built a business on these treats, but healthy cookies and an adorable dog don’t pay the rent.
P.S. & CO. | 1706 Locust St., 215-985-1706, puresweets.com. Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 9 a.m.-7 p.m. $2-$12.50
