October 12–19, 2000

eats|dish

Stayin’ Alive

Romance, romance: The eclectic interior of The Astral Plane.

Restaurants that have stood the taste of time.

by Maxine Keyser

Do you remember The Embassy, Benny the Bum’s, Lew Tendler’s, Mitchell’s, Frankie Bradley’s? (If you do, you shouldn’t be wearing capri pants, but that’s another story.) They were, all of them, terrific restaurants, all of them, closed. The only restaurants of note that remain from the post-war glory days are The Blue Bell Inn, in Blue Bell, and Old Original Bookbinder’s. Both are family-owned and operated (Bluebell by the Lamprecht family and Bookbinder’s by the Taxins), and both have developed a formula of keeping their original thrust — steaks and chops for Bluebell, seafood for Bookbinder’s — and embellishing it regularly with new touches and techniques. These are both large, successful restaurants, visited by tourists and celebrities as well as locals.

But what of the little guys, who toil on year after year dependent mainly on their neighborhood popularity? So many have folded. But here we visit four that have weathered the years with relative calm, including three that opened during the Restaurant Renaissance of the ’70s, and one of slightly newer vintage. Though they vary in quality, all of these restaurants have one thing in common: that mysterious thing called staying power.

The Astral Plane

It’s 1973. Nixon is president. The Vietnam War rages. Carly Simon is singing "You’re So Vain." And Reid Apaghian opens a quirky little spot called The Astral Plane at 1708 Lombard Street.

The decor is right from grandmother’s attic, sprinkled liberally with celebrity glossies on the walls; the food is Aquarian-Eclectic. It is an instant success, filled daily with same-sex couples, neighborhood kids and old-marrieds.

That is one of its charms that holds true today as well — the whole family can go there, separately or together, and all are welcome. Guys like George Clooney and Peter Fonda have dropped by for Sunday brunch. Students from Penn, Temple and Drexel come in for first dates and return for anniversaries.

The Astral Plane has a romantic air, born of that loss-of-innocence era, that remains just as palpable today. The swagged blue and white tent of a ceiling ripples over deep red walls, the lights are very dim. Nothing matches — neither the chairs nor the table settings — but everything works.

Would that I could say the same about the food.

A recent evening of the "Astral Experience" (menu quote) had friendly but slow service, and far too many shredded carrots and beets showered over heavily sauced dishes. The unquestionably fresh Solar Salad ($6), with the aforementioned veggies plus chunks of cucumber, green pepper, tomato, etc., would be a feast for rabbits. I prefer the stellar Caesar salad ($6) with bits of radicchio added for color and crunch. A daily special spinach soup ($3.50) is dark, dark green, true to its name, but a bit bland.

The wine list is decent and fairly priced, ranging from a Louis Latour Beaujolais-Villages at $23 to a Trefethen Chardonnay for $50, with the exception of some high-priced Champagnes (a $120 bottle of Moët & Chandon — for all those anniversary celebrations, no doubt). We drink the crisp, Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc ($23), and enjoy it with massive crabcakes ($18) slicked with lime aioli. Good aioli, but too much filler in the crabcakes. The pork chop with apple chutney ($14.50) has too much time on the grill; the duck breast ($15) has just enough, but no subtlety to the mango sauce; the filet ($23) is perfect, but drowned in an herbal demi-glace. For dessert, pineapple and coconut sorbets ($6) in their own frozen shells are sweetly flavorful. The menu says, "Welcome to the land of imagination," and I am imagining myself, 27 years ago, when all of this was truly exciting.

Most popular dish: Reid, the affable owner, claims it’s Maxfield Parrish’s salad ($7) — crisp cold spinach with blue cheese, apples, walnuts and raisins.

The secret of their success: A loyal following who depend on the "one big happy family" welcome, entirely predictable and plentiful food, prices that are still in early-’70s range, and a romantic aura full of yesterday’s dreams.

Friday Saturday Sunday

1973’s a busy year. A few blocks away from Astral Plane, at 21st and Spruce Streets, seven people have gotten together and decided to open a restaurant on a dare. They are: Jay Gubin, concept person; Arnie Roberts, ad designer; Weaver Lilley, photographer; Tommy Hunter, chef; Jeanine Autret, journalist; Bud Bretschneider, carpenter; and Annie Perrier, then-wife of Georges Perrier. The restaurant is Friday Saturday Sunday, and today only Weaver Lilley remains on board, running one of the most quietly popular, "in step" restaurants in town.

The ceiling, once tented in vaguely Moorish fashion, has been opened to reveal the duct work and painted midnight blue. The tapestry banquettes, mirrored surrounds and candlelight invite dinner à deux as they always have, and the service is utterly relaxed, but efficient.

	Lasting appeal: Friday Saturday Sunday’s familiar storefront.

There is an obvious desire to please, and one of the most pleasing things about FSS is the wine list. It is well-chosen and descriptive, categorized by countries of origin, with stars beside Weaver’s favorites. He even offers 10 half-bottles, and best of all, every bottle on the list is just $10 over cost. This policy has resulted in increased wine sales, as oenophiles, ever mindful of a bargain, order madly.

We are no exception, and start off with a Macon-Vergisson ($24) that has all the austere cleanliness expected in a Burgundy. It stands up very well with a daily special soup, carrot ginger ($6), a deep bowl of steaming, orange delight, piquant and thick but not creamy. Companions are exclaiming over the salad ($7.50) of five crisp lettuces, gleaming under a honey, walnut-oil vinaigrette and topped with toasted walnuts and goat cheese. It’s nothing unusual, but well-executed. Someone must always have the traditional cream of mushroom soup ($6), a specialty of late, great chef Billy Weaver. It is the quintessential soup for a chilly fall evening, a swarthy, bosky potion.

One of FSS’s strong points is that you can still get old favorites like the mushroom soup or the Chicken Dijon ($15.50 — a lightly breaded chicken breast in a creamy mustard sauce), but there are nods to the changing face of cooking. Seared tuna ($18) comes with a tangy citrus and caper vinaigrette, and sautéed tilapia ($18) boasts a vigorous horseradish and breadcrumb crust, and a light film of sauce, tequila and lime, freshened with cilantro. Plump, meaty crabcakes sport a pepper coulis, plus a garlic aioli. Even the vegetables, crunchy cabbage and carrots, a moist rice brightened with diced peppers, or roasted potatoes, have a more modern caste.

By now, I’ve abandoned my wish for a bottle of Flowers Pinot Noir ($56), and turned to dessert, always a treat at FSS. The comforting blackboard, done in Day-Glo chalk as usual, shows lots of goodies — banana cake with cream cheese icing, Jewish apple cake, coconut cream pie (all $6) — all delicious. I wish that the years had been as kind to me as they have to FSS.

Most popular dish: Years ago, I came around to the kitchen door and Billy Weaver gave me the recipe for chocolate cheesecake, one of my most treasured desserts. Now, Weaver Lilley shares Billy’s recipe for FSS’s legendary cream of mushroom soup. (See sidebar.)

The secret of their success: Neighborhood folks and suburbanites alike appreciate the ever-evolving menu that continues to feature old favorites as well. Of course, the opportunity to sample exciting wines at the same reasonable prices as the food, in the same comfortable atmosphere, is a big factor.

The Knave of Hearts

the right place: South Street’s Knave of Hearts.

It’s two years later, St. Valentine’s Day, 1975, to be exact. One of Astral Plane’s alumni, Ty Bailey, opens The Knave of Hearts at 2nd and South. This is a friendly departure — Astral Plane even helps Ty out by sending their overflow to him. With Bruce Springsteen singing "Born to Run" on the stereo, Ty creates a restaurant in the same genre as Astral Plane — kitschy atmosphere, interesting food at low prices and an "everybody knows your name" kind of welcome.

Today the restaurant, with new French windows thrown open to the warm evening, is just as charming. There are the same dark red and dark blue faux-painted walls, the same truly wonderful Maxfield Parrish prints on those walls, and floral tablecloths with the same mismatched look (albeit more calculated now).

When the Knave first opened, a lot of the kitchen workers were Thai. They imparted their knowledge to create some dishes that are still on the menu, particularly the always popular Chicken Coco Loco ($14), chunks of chicken breast in a creamy peanut and coconut sauce, served over cous-cous. It’s a huge serving, augmented by a dash of curry in its golden depths, and topped off with shredded coconut. The Yom Salad ($7), too, has Thai notes: a citrus-y dressing tossed with watercress and romaine, sieved egg yolk and red onions, with the surprise of smoked oysters contributing a smoky undertone.

With a bottle of Hugel Gentil ($27) from the understated and affordable wine list, we’ve gotten down to business, trying the black bean cake appetizer ($5), definitely Southwestern with the mango-mint salsa and sour cream. It’s a bit bland but creamy-centered, and needs these accoutrements. I don’t know the provenance of the venerable King’s casserole ($5) of artichoke hearts baked with Swiss cheese, but it’s still good and gooey after all these years.

There are pretty young waitresses here, and they bring more huge plates (who can finish all this food?) of pork tenderloin stuffed with a savory blend of nuts, leeks and currants ($16) bearing a too-sweet-for-me sauce of varied fruits — apricot, pear, cherries and currants. A daily special kabob of tuna with artichoke hearts, peppers and onions ($17) is also astonishingly large, and has a good grilled flavor. Unfortunately, the tuna comes out too well-done this way.

Desserts are rather an afterthought for us — they’re all very rich and large. We try a dense Linzer torte ($5) that I like, and Britta’s (Ty’s adorable wife) bread pudding — a toothache-inducing mix of challah, bananas, caramel and pecans that I like as well.

With its friendly amalgam of tourists and locals, it looks like the Knave could go on forever. Through the years, the Baileys have seen children come in with their parents and return with their own children. The food is sort of quaint and plentiful, and so reliable that Britta cites one couple who come in weekly and always order the same thing: Mexican chicken soup ($3.50) and the Decadent Dinner Salad ($13). And when they try to remove a dish from the menu, for example, the Chicken Cozumel ($14), the regulars won’t hear of it.

Most popular dish: Chicken Coco Loco.

Secret of their success: Certainly the relaxed, chummy atmosphere, low prices and consistency of preparation. Britta does mention two things that we hadn’t heard before — first, they own their building, which means no raised rents to raise the prices; and secondly, Ty’s almost constant presence in the kitchen, overseeing everything. It shows.

Mustard Greens

Here’s a relative newcomer to the honor roll. A mere 13 years old, Mustard Greens is the little-Chinese-restaurant-that-could at Second and Bainbridge. We mention it here because Chinese restaurants often come and go, and this one is a constant in the neighborhood. It’s not a glitzy neighborhood either, no punks or long-stemmed Buddakan rejects, but families and old marrieds. Tonight, in this spare white room, hung with utilitarian prints and decorated with Chinese teapots, there may be five children at various tables.

When Bill Wong and Pom Sui left Hong Kong and came to cook at other area restaurants, namely Tang’s on South Street, they did not even dream of their future success. Bill says the night they opened Mustard Greens, people were lining up around the block and then coming in and helping out with the tables — such was the camaraderie in the neighborhood.

Their "contemporary Chinese cuisine" caught on, and we are still here, enjoying the crunch of the fresh bean sprouts in the light, Shanghai style spring rolls ($3). I adore all things done with eggplant, especially stuffing it with a light pork mixture and napping it in a garlic-tinged plum sauce ($6). "General" shrimp ($11), a spicy, tender/crisp sauté, is not even on the menu half the time, but people ask for it anyway. The menu is as spare as the room, but everything on it seems attractive, as does the fact that they have a bar and small wine list.

	Hearts in HILL O’ BEANS: Mustard Greens’ beloved vegetable, plus dishes featuring chicken (top) and softshell crabs.

We like as well the shrimp with shittake mushrooms sautéed with fragrant sauce ($12). The fragrance comes from star anise and other exotics, and ginger and garlic barely kissing the crisp shrimp and slippery shittakes. Shredded pork with ginger and scallions Fire Cracker style ($11), with its melange of vegetables and juicy pork, has a subtle heat that takes you unawares.

That’s really what the food here is all about — delicacy of touch. They never hit you over the head with their seasonings, and, of course, all ingredients are impeccably fresh. The stir-fried green beans ($6) are a fine example — jade green cylinders both crunchy and judiciously spiced.

We just have melon for dessert, and a little more wine. Very nice, this Mustard Greens.

Most popular dish: The sautéed beans, which Bill says are made with fresh whole string beans, quickly sautéed in a little oil with lots of salt, pepper, garlic and a splash of sherry. He adds that there is a secret ingredient — I think it’s dried shrimp. He doesn’t say no, but he doesn’t say yes either.

Secret of their success: Bill grins, "People tell you what they want, you bring it out to them."

With space limitations, I know I have skipped over some other restaurants that have impressed us with their longevity. Certainly, Judy’s, at 3rd and Bainbridge, continues to draw them in. It also has that great, "I never left home" feeling, and the liver and onions are always a hit. And Kathleen Mulhern’s wonderful Garden has been serving world-class food for over 20 years, but it’s hardly a little neighborhood place. Nor is Le Bec-Fin, our No. 1 restaurant since the ’70s. Their common denominator is consistency, both in the food they serve and the welcome they extend. The blue-plate special at the Diner, or the Thursday cassoulet at that little bistro, all have that reliable appeal. They know the secret (although the Bee Gees didn’t sing it till 1977) of stayin’ alive.

The Astral Plane, 1708 Lombard Street, 215-546-6230

Friday Saturday Sunday, 261 S. 21st Street, 215-546-4232

Knave of Hearts, 230 South Street, 215-922-3956

Mustard Greens, 622 South 2nd Street, 215-627-0833

Judy’s Café, 3rd and Bainbridge Streets, 215-928-1968

The Garden, 1617 Spruce Street, 215-546-4455

Le Bec Fin, 1523 Walnut Street, 215-567-1000