Best Restaurants: Past, present and future of Philadelphia eating

With this, our first-ever Best Restaurants issue, we’re taking a seasonally appropriate cue from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and visiting the past, present and future of dining in Philadelphia. No creepy ghosts, kids on crutches or miserly bosses here, just all-time, well-established favorites; best newcomers in 2014 and a look at what’s to come. Restaurant critic Adam Erace and food editor Caroline Russock weigh in with their opinions.

Past: Favorites

Go-to restaurant — affordable

Caroline Russock: If you’re ever wondering where to find me on a Friday night, chances are Everyday Good House in Olney is a good bet. Hidden away in the parking lot of a complex with virtual golf and private karaoke rooms is a cozy, wood-panelled room where the Korean barbecue is killer. A couple of beers, a bottle of sochu, a generous spread of banchan and one pork belly-short ribs combo is, well, it’s the stuff that dreams are made of. Or mine are, at least. 5501 N. Front St., 215-276-7942.

Adam Erace: My love affair with Santucci’s pizza and stromboli is well-chronicled. Sometimes I stray (Gennaro’s, Oogie’s, Francoluigi’s), but nine times out of 10,  pizza night at my house is catered by the Santucci family. And as someone who needs something green on the side of his pizza, I really appreciate their Granny Smith apple salad with butterhead lettuce, pickled red onions, crunchy celery (an under utilized salad ingredient), candied  walnuts  and a come-back cider vinaigrette I want to pour on everything. Credit chef Bobby Saritsoglou as the reason Santucci’s accomplishes more than your average pizzeria. 901 S. 10th St., 215-825-5304, santuccispizza.com.

Go-to restaurant — splurge  

CR: In a perfect world, fresh pasta would make an appearance at least once a day in my life, specifically Osteria’s francobolli filled with robiola and tossed with paper-thin slices of royal trumpet mushrooms and thyme. I actually spend a lot more time thinking about Osteria’s francobolli than I do eating it: For me, going there is a relative rarity. Start as I usually do with some salumi and vegetable antipasti and duck liver pate with polenta beignets, a few glasses of a lesser-known Italian varietal, definitely the rigatoni with chicken liver ragu and a few (and always too many) of Osteria’s gorgeous desserts and you have a meal that’s suitable for any and all special occasions. 640 N. Broad St., 215-763-0920, osteriaphilly.com. 

AE: Little brother High Street may be the more progressive place, but in my book Fork is the one that can do no wrong. I think Ellen Yin and Eli Kulp deliver such a mature but thrilling experience, from amuse to mignardises, and the service is sterling. Even as they’ve ventured into other projects with High Street and a.kitchen, the mother ship has stayed consistent and innovative. 306 Market St., 215-625-9425, forkrestaurant.com.

Best bar

CR: You can get a Beefeater martini at pretty much any bar in the city, but it’ll never taste as crisp as it does at The Lounge at The Four Seasons. It won’t be delivered by a smartly suited server, on a tray with an icy shaker on the side like it is here, and you won’t be able to enjoy it sitting on an overstuffed couch in a timeless hotel lobby. 1 Logan Square, 215-963-1500, fourseasons.com. 

AE: An always interesting tap list paired with well-seasoned food that never boasts of its conscientious sourcing makes South Philly Tap Room my favorite bar. Plus the chance to be called out on social media by Scott Schroeder. 1509 Mifflin St., 215-271-7787, southphiladelphiataproom.com. 

Local gem  

CR: In a part of town where bakeries make their names with cannoli and pignoli, finding crisp-crusted baguettes and souffle-like slices of quiche at Artisan Boulangerie Patissier is an unexpected treat. Even more unlikely is that these French pastries are baked at a  family-run Vietnamese bakery in South Philly. The hours are short and the array of pastries varies from day to day, but it’s worth setting an alarm for Artisan’s pistachio croissant. 1218 Mifflin St., 215-271-4688. 

AE: Across from Termini’s Bakery, the family’s old-timey luncheonette, Mr. Joe’s Café, is the perfect neighborhood spot. They’ve got the same ladies working there since it opened, and crabs and macaroni like my grandpop used to make. 1514 S. Eighth St., 215-334-1414.

Great Dessert

CR: When trying to convey the feeling of what it’s like to walk into Capogiro: Christmas morning and a kid entering a candy store come to mind. It’s more like walking into a Roman gelateria, but that’s a little too on the nose. Regardless, I’m pretty sure that cream cheese gelato doesn’t exist in the old country and Italian gelato enthusiasts are the ones missing out. Multiple locations, capogirogelato.com.

AE: You can only have Artisan Boulanger Patissier’s gold-standard pistachio croissant for dessert if you pick it up in the morning and save it till later. This is why I buy them two at a time. 1218 Mifflin St., 215-271-4688. 

Present: Best of  2014

Best restaurant — affordable

CR: Full disclosure: I was not a fan of hummus before I tried Michael Solomonov’s at Zahav. In my mind, hummus lived in the same place as breakfast cereal — something you eat when you have to eat something, but not something to be enjoyed. But his hummus is a game changer. With the opening of Dizengoff, that hummus went fast casual earlier this year, topped with everything from warm ground lamb to pickled cabbage served with fresh-baked pita. Mike Solo should get a Nobel Prize for bringing his singular hummus to the masses. 1625 Sansom St., 215-867-0088, dizengoffphilly.com. 

AE: I’ve probably been to Café Ynez two dozen times since it opened. It’s such a joyful-looking place, and the staff is always super nice. They’ve got my go-to breakfast sandwich (the enormous cemita with eggs, springy Oaxaca cheese, pickled jalapeños and refried beans on a perfect sesame bun) as well as the dinner I pick up when I don’t feel like cooking: a Latin-spiced rotisserie chicken with three sides for $15. 2025 Washington Ave., 215-278-7579. cafeynez.com. 

Best restaurant — splurge

CR: Halfway through a recent dinner at Petruce et al, my date put down his fork and said, “I want to do whatever drugs these guys are doing.” With unlikely and entirely thrilling flavor combinations — such as sweet potatoes and tomatillos — Jonathan and Justin Petruce are killing it at their eponymous Midtown Village spot. Add a few glasses from Tim Kweeder’s carefully concocted by-the-glass list and whatever is churning in the soft-serve machine. It doesn’t get any better. 1121 Walnut St., 267-225-8232, petrucephilly.com.

AE: Calling it a splurge makes it sound like it’s expensive, but I think Townsend delivers great value for the price. Pound for pound, it’s the most complete restaurant I’ve eaten at in 2014 — from Tod Wentz’s surgically executed French-anchored food to the friendly service to Keith Raimondi’s cocktails to Lauren Harris’ offbeat wines to desserts. It’s great to see that address finally has a tenant with staying power. 1623 E. Passyunk Ave., 267-639-3203, townsendrestaurant.com.

Best bar 

CR: Choosing Townsend for my favorite bar of the year might be cheating, but hear me out. Sometimes the bar is the best seat in the house and at Townsend that’s absolutely the case. While enjoying chef Tod Wentz’s gorgeous interpretations of French classics you can chat with manager Lauren Harris about the lesser-known varietals on the list or get an amaro tutorial from bartender Keith Raimondi. 1623 E. Passyunk Ave., 267-639-3203, townsendrestaurant.com.

AE: Not that I do a ton of hanging out in the Navy Yard, but the cocktails at Lo Spiedo are worth a detour. I’m totally in love with the labor-of-love drink program Steve Wildy and Stephen Warner have put together in the Navy’s old guardhouse, especially the silky green tea milk punch infused with cotechino sausage spices. 4503 S. Broad St., 215-282-3184, lo-spiedo.com. 

Best food person 

CR: With respect to all the seeded sandwich loaves that are the building blocks of so many roast porks and Italian hoagies, before Alex Bois started baking at High Street on Market, Philadelphia’s rustic bread game was pretty weak. Using locally milled flours, Bois has created a line of breads that have won national nods and a fierce fan base. 308 Market St., 215-625-0988, highstreetonmarket.com. 

AE: Ben Miller and Christina Martinez, whose terrific South Philly Barbacoa truck sits outside Las Rosas bakery on Eighth and Watkins, are just the kind of people you want to root for. They were there building their amazing tacos on sweltering mornings in July, and they’ll be there when it snows in February. I respect that kind of dedication. Sundays, Eighth and Watkins streets.

Best new local product  

CR: Another vote for South Philly Barbacoa, the husband-and-wife pop up that serves the best tacos in Philadelphia, hands down. Sundays, Eighth and Watkins streets.

AE: I don’t know if it’s a new product, but this year was the first time I had Dad’s Hat Port Finish rye. The whiskey is aged in old port barrels, where it takes on a rich, fruit-forward complexity. I love it in an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan at the Fat Ham, which stocks it reliably. 

Future: What's Next

What’s on the menu for 2015?

CR: I’d love to see more places like Knead Bagels and Cheu Noodle Bar opening and specializing in affordable but totally inspired fare. I’m also big into what appears to be the beginning of a dim sum wave sneaking up on the city. 

AE: Desserts! I’ve had a string of fantastic desserts toward the end of this year: the shattering strawberry pavlova at Townsend, multilayered halo-halo at V Street, crunchy-cornered cast-iron apple pie at Lo Spiedo, tropical banana panna cotta at Petruce. I think (I hope) we’re entering a golden age of sweets — and no disrespect to pastry chefs, but all but one of the above were prepared by savory chefs.

What’s missing from the Philadelphia food scene?

CR: Philadelphia is sorely missing the raw fish and citrus magic that is the Peruvian cevicheria. And with respect to Rosa Blanca, a real-deal Cuban diner with plates of pernil and yuca con mojo would be a welcome addition to the scene.

AE: If somebody doesn’t start baking kouign amann on a daily basis, I’m going to. I tried the laborious, laminated pastry (traditional to Brittany, France) for the first time in San Francisco last year — B. Patisserie is the standard-bearer there — and have been thinking about it ever since. Sounds like a job for Sam Kincaid.  

What are you totally over? 

CR: Mediocre “imaginative” bar food or whatever gastropub fare has devolved into. Philadelphia does not need another place doing Thai riffs on wings, soggy sweet potato fries or cheesesteak nachos.

AE: “Salted caramel.” Any respectable caramel should be salted. Can we stop saying it like it’s a talking point?

Which chefs do you think are going to
make it big in 2015?

CR: Anyone who’s ever had a leaden matzo ball or bland and stringy slice of brisket knows that Jewish food isn’t the easiest cuisine to get excited about. That makes what Yehuda Sichel is doing at Abe Fisher (hello, borscht tartare) a pretty incredible feat that’s certainly not going unnoticed.

AE: I’ve really enjoyed Luke Palladino’s restaurants at the Shore, so I’m hopeful he’s going to come correct on Passyunk Avenue.