Varga Bar: Truffled Mac and Cheese

Whoa! This is weird. I actually like pinup girl themed Varga Bar's restaurant-style creamy mac and cheese. And it even has fancy add-ins.Overused and overbearing are how I describe black truffles in the dining scene, yet, somehow, Varga Bar managed to walk the line between whisper and punch-you-in-the-face with their truffled mac and cheese, a baked casserole with black truffle, Guyere, Fontina, and Marscapone (no bacon for me!). As always, I'd prefer a mix of sharper cheeses, but I did truly enjoyed Varga Bar's mac and cheese.

Full disclosure: the four or so Miss Marches (Sailor Jerry rum and Victory root beer) I imbibed may have contributed to the casserole crush.

Varga Bar
941 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-627-5200

Garces Trading Company

Garces-branded coffee, olive oils, and vinegars; artisanal cheeses; house-made and imported charcuterie; on-site baked breads and pastries; and boil-in-bag take-home entrees are not the only for-purchase goods lining the outside of Garces Trading Company's sit-down dining area. A small, 200 label boutique Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board wine store walled off by glass sits off to one side of the open dining room and gourmet food shop. Purchase a bottle of wine (or liquor in the cabinet behind the register) to go, or bring it over to your table to sip with lunch or dinner.

The sit-down restaurant commands most of the indoor space, though. Garces Trading Company's menu is heavy on the cheese and charcuterie plates, which are perfect for pairing with your bottle of wine. You'll also find anipasti, soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, pizzas, and a daily entree special on the menu.

With Garces being such a badass and hailing from Chicago, we had our eye on the prize all along — a Chicago-style deep dish pizza. The deep dish pizza takes about 30 minutes to prepare, so we had a couple starters while we waited.
Hearing good things about the artichoke antipasti, I gave it a go, and, oh boy, am I glad I did! These sliced baby artichokes topped with chewy dates and drizzled with preserved lemon olive oil and honey-ginger balsamic vinegar might be the best artichoke dish I've had to date. Even being a pool-of-olive-oil hater, these delicate artichokes were not weighed down by the light and sweet lemony olive oil and vinegar that dressed the dish. I even scraped the oil slick off the plate to lick the fork.
A salad of baby greens bathed in blood orange vinaigrette is topped with winter's red jewels, pomegranate seeds and blood oranges, along with a round of pistachio-dusted goat cheese and rectangular Parmesan crisps. As fine a salad as any, but it paled next to artichoke appetizer. A few forked salad greens may have been dipped in the artichoke's dressing before landing in the mouth.
At $24 before the addition of your choice of veggies or meat at $5-$8 per item, the deep dish pizza is not cheap. We didn't mind the $24 price tag because the pizza can easily feed three or four (OK, it did hurt a little), but did mind the pricey add-ons. I understand meat being pricey, but we felt a little ripped off paying $5 for the addition of cippoline onions. Yes, cippoline are fancy little onions, but, really? $5? Spinach ain't fancy and it's a $5 add-on, too.

Keep in mind that this 6-slice pizza pie (because that's really what it is) corrals so much Mozzarella (surely a factor in it's price) that one or two slices are all any sane person can handle. I stopped at one piece, unable and unwilling to ingest more cheese than I normally eat in one or two weeks.The ultra crispy crust holds up to all the gooey Mozzarella and fresh-tasting San Marzano tomatoes, but you still must tame this pizza with cutlery.

As always, pizza opinions are divided. The boy thought the sauce could use more spice, but, agreeing, I appreciated the fresh clean taste of the tomatoes. The boy loved the so-crispy-it's-hard-to-cut crust, but I preferred the crust as a left over after it had softened a little. The boy could eat pounds of cheese all day long, but I can not.
What I can eat all day long are pastries. At $8 for a dozen, I picked up a mixed box of little pastries. Grapefruit macarons with grapefruit curd? I am so there! Heated a bit at home to warm the custardy insides of the canelés, I traded off with the delicate hard-shelled macarons to see which one I preferred, and, before I knew it, I went through them all with the two coming out a draw. The lemon ricotta cookies with a lemon glaze were top notch as well, but came in last place in the race to my belly.

Aaaand...Garces is solid again! I'll have to get back soon for a cheese plate and a bottle wine. And more pastries.

Garces Trading Company
1111 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-574-1099
Breakfast: Mon-Fri, 7am-11am; Sat-Sun, 8am-11am
Lunch and Dinner: Mon-Sun, 11am-10pm

Citi MarketPlace

I heard Citi MarketPlace, the super clean and organized Center City grocer and deli, had a bajillion vegetarian lunch sandwiches — 13, actually, not counting breakfast sandwiches, specials, and the random ones hidden under other headings. And, of course, there are the usual real-deal meat sandwiches. Bread comes from Metropolitan Bakery, but if you want, they have some major brand sliced bread, too.
Just beyond the casual seating area that greets you when you enter is the deli case where you place your order. And beyond the deli case is a well stocked (for a small) grocery carrying produce, refrigerated and frozen goods, basics and higher end products.
The veggie grilled beef hoagie is filled with warm soy strips, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, fried mushrooms, and roasted peppers, and your choice of sauce. We'll know not to go with the sweet and tangy sauce next time — too sweet.
Vegetarian chicken salad sandwich lacked the little bits of zip I prefer in chicken salad (usually provided by grapes or pickles), but the generous portion and whole grain Metropolitan bread made up for it.
Don't know why, but Philly doesn't like faux meat breakfast products — I rarely see them at restaurants — but Citi MarketPlace will hit you up if that's what you want. This veggie sausage (tasted like a Morningstar product), egg and cheese sandwich on a Metropolitan multi-grain roll hit the spot, and is just the sort of geez-this-is-such-an-easy-substitution thing I'd love to see around town more often.

While we weren't blown away by either of the two lunch sandwiches we tried, with many more sandwiches to chomp through, there might be another favorite in the bunch besides the breakfast sausage sandwich.

Citi MarketPlace
1318 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-545-4085
Mon-Fri:7am-11pm
Sat: 8am-11pm
Sun: 9am-8pm

Maru Global

Specializing in takoyaki, a popular Japanese street food of bite-sized dumpling balls fried in special molds and topped with various sauces, Maru Global should be open for business in about a week. (Feb. 1st opening got pushed back.) is open today!

Even without ever tasting takoyaki, I was poised to pounce when they opened, so was pleased when Maru Global offered a focus group taste test this weekend to get feedback from the public. I signed up for the vegan seating.

Takoyaki batter is traditionally made with egg, but the owners of Maru Global make a slightly costlier vegan batter upon request (this is clearly printed on the menu). Tofu is a protein choice for many dishes, and baked goods from Vegan Treats are also available. Maru Global is clearly vegan and vegetarian friendly.

The vegan takoyaki pizza balls filled with vegan Mozarella and topped with tomato sauce and basil coulis taste like a grown-up version of Pizza Rolls. Soft, warm dough encases melted vegan Mozzarella, while sweet tomato sauce and vibrant basil coulis steals the show.
A steaming bowl of shiitake soup studded with onions, mushrooms, and vegetables swimming in a delicious and complex broth flirting with the edge of sweetness was simple, but outstanding.
Red bean rice is a simple side consisting of nothing more than sweet sticky rice and azuki beans. The sweetness of the rice may throw Westerners, as the dish is almost dessert-like. A rice bowl with firm fried tofu, shirataki noodles, and carrots with a thin, non-salt-assaulting soy sauce is a perfect meal in a cup. I could eat this everyday and be happy. If you are a rice lover like I am, you'll appreciate the short-grain glutinous rice used in the rice bowls and elsewhere on the menu.

Most people will flock to Maru Global for the takoyaki, but don't discount the rest of the menu which also includes yakisoba, salads, and fries. Dishes are well under $10, and bento boxes and meal combinations will only set you back $8-$12. Very reasonable.

Reflecting their concentration on take-out and delivery, Maru Global's atmosphere is extremely casual. There are about six or so two-top tables for dining in, if you so please.

Maru Global
255 S. 10th St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
267-273-0567

Jones Brunch

This past weekend when my boyfriend's parents were in town, we had to come up with a weekend brunch spot to accommodate a mini family reunion for ten plus one infant. The long-wait, popular brunch spots were out, as well as the tiny spots. Also, ethnic spots were out. We wanted a regular old brunch that would please just about everyone.

Jones came to mind. It's Stephen Starr, so you know it's pretty basic and pleases most, and the sunken center dining area at Jones would fit eleven. Jones isn't keen on making reservations unless you have a party of twelve or more, and then it goes to the event planner, and you're stuck with a prix fixe menu. Not cool. We just decided to get there when the doors opened at 10 a.m., and that worked out well.

I've already blogged Jones, so this will be a brief show and tell of just my brunch plate and my boyfriend's (not subjecting the entire family to picture time!).This stack of three monstrously large pancakes is just obscene in size. You can't complain about being skimped. If you ate half you'd be beyond stuffed. While just fine, the boy wanted more bananas and less walnuts. He also wanted pecans instead of walnuts. I was going to order the portobello sandwich, but had an inkling that we were grilling up some mushroom caps for dinner, so went with the egg and cheese biscuit sans ham. Fitting with the mid-America comfort food theme of Jones, the biscuit reminded me of a light, fluffy, greasy, fast food biscuit from Bojangles (I haven't eaten a fast food biscuit in many years, so this Southeastern fried chicken and biscuit chain is the only thing I have to compare the biscuit to. Man, did I eat the hell out of some BoBerry biscuits -- a biscuit studded with blueberry-like pellets [yeah, it's not real food] and topped with a cinnamon roll-type icing -- on weekend nights during high school! So wrong, and sooo good. OMG, there's one PA location in Reading! Field trip! Did this just become a post on Bojangles?).

I subbed a salad for the fries. Or was it tater tots? Everyone else got tater tots with their more traditional breakfast items. I swear our server said fries came with the sandwiches...and maybe they did. I would have gotten the tater tots if I had known. The salad was mixed greens and a few cherry tomato halves and raw red onion dressed in a vinaigrette. Basic.

Jones
700 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-223-5663

Brunch at Palace at the Ben

While I was hanging around Palace at the Ben for cooking classes, I, of course, checked out their lunch and dinner menu featuring Northern Indian cuisine. I also spied their weekend brunch menu, which happens to feature Southern Indian foods.

Southern Indian food, a rice based cuisine that doesn't rely as heavily on dairy as Northern Indian cuisine, is what I prefer. I used to eat at a Southern Indian brunch almost every Sunday in my hometown. My hometown Southern Indian restaurant is the restaurant that I miss the most now that I live elsewhere.

When I saw dosas on Palace at the Ben's brunch menu I got excited. When I saw dahi puri (my most favorite Southern Indian chaat) also on the brunch menu, I knew what we were doing that weekend for eats.I was beyond excited when I saw dahi puri on the menu. I have yet to find this little chaat on any Indian menu I've encountered since I moved away from home six years ago. Dahi puri are hollow, crispy fried puris shells filled with potato and topped with yogurt, sweet tamarind chutney, chili powder, sev, and cilantro. I could pop these little guys all day long. All night long, too.We also ordered sev puri, fried flat puris topped with a slice of cooked potato, onions, green chutney, tamarind chutney, and sev. Very good, but with such generous appetizer portions, I tried to save more room for my beloved dahi puri.Palace at the Ben offers a few different kinds of dosas on their brunch menu. I went with my favorite, mysore masala dosa, a thin rice and lentil crepe filled with spiced potatoes and spicy chili/garlic/ginger chutney. The dosa was accompanied by coconut chutney and sambar.

This crepe was soft, and I prefer my dosa crispy, but I'm sure I could request it to be made crispy next time. With my first bite, I encountered a large smear of chili paste that caused me to tear up a little (kudos to them). After the first bite, all was good with my mysore masala dosa.potatoes and spices inside the dosa

I cannot tell you how happy I am to have found an Indian restaurant in downtown Philly that serves dosas and dahi puri. These foods are only offered on the weekend, but that's when I'm in Philly anyway. If they would offer curried cabbage (my favorite main dish), I'd tear up from complete and utter happiness.

*Delawarians and New Jerseyans, note that the owners of Palace at the Ben also own Palace of Asia in Wilmington, DE, and Palace of Asian in Lawrenceville, NJ . Same menu, same food.

Palace at the Ben
834 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
267-232-5600
Sun.-Thurs, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri-Sat., 11 a.m.-12 a.m.
Brunch: Sat. & Sun., 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Jones - Comfort Food

Photo by City Life Philadelphia

I have heard of Jones - it’s comfort food served with 70’s décor - but never desired to dine there. If I have a hankering for home cooked food, I’ll cook it at home. One of the reasons I go out to eat is to have food that I can’t replicate in my own kitchen.

Unwilling to wait an hour and a half at another restaurant, I found myself around the corner from Jones and now ready to give it a try. We waited about fifteen minutes for a table – not bad for a busy Friday evening at a Stephen Starr or any other popular restaurant.

While waiting I gazed around at the space – a large open floor plan with a sunken middle dining area, an overlooking upstairs dining room, a bar with a large backing image of a famous NJ shore, rough stone walls, a transparent fireplace, mod chairs and light fixtures, and shag carpet. I feel sorry for the person that has to vacuum! The décor is not your grandmothers house, but rather sophisticated and sleek with obvious allusion to the 70’s.

The drink menu has wine, beer, champagne and many froofy, sweet cocktails and martinis. I’m a froofy, sweet drinker so I order something with a ridiculous name – pink elephant revenge, maybe? It had champagne, vodka, and cranberry juice with a pink sugared rim. Perfectly unserious for my evening at hand.

The menu was comfy and familiar with Thanksgiving dinner, grilled cheese and tomato soup, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, and fried chicken with waffles, and other food typically served by moms. They also have fancier dishes that mom may have never served or only served on Sundays such as pistachio crusted tilapia, beef brisket, and fillet mignon.

For the vegetarian, they offer vegetarian Shepard’s pie, veggie burger, ALT sandwich – avocado, lettuce and tomato, and a portabello sandwich. A few of the salads and appetizers are vegetarian, as well as all of the sides. They had a surprisingly large vegetarian menu for an upscale and mainstream restaurant.

To start, I ordered mac and cheese. I had heard good things about the mac and cheese, but found it bland and creamy in a Velveeta sort of way. I’m sure many moms made Velveeta, so maybe they’re right on the mark. This wasn’t my mom or my mark.

I loooove deviled eggs and give them props for putting this maligned appetizer on the menu. I was hesitant to order due to my quirky fear of eggs that have not been prepared im-me-di-ate-ly before consumption. Still, I had to try them.

Four egg halves came out with beautifully piped filling sprinkled with the traditional paprika. The filling was perfectly creamy and tangy. They nailed the filling. Unfortunately, the egg whites were overcooked making them a little rubbery. Perhaps they’re not always so and the cooks just left them in the hot water too long that night.

I opted for the veggie hamburger with cheese in hopes of a nice bun – seeded, thick buns can elevate a mundane burger. The burger came out with a very nice bun, but what I liked most about the burger was that they caramelized the onions. You would not believe how rare it is to get a burger or sandwich served with caramelized onions. They always come out with large, honking slices of raw onions that are much too pungent to consume. It really is one of my bigger food pet peeves. The burger at Jones was one of the best veggie burger’s I’ve had out. Kudos.

I had to pass on dessert, due to a full belly – I ended up taking half of my sandwich home with me. Again they played up the comfort food theme by offering desserts like Duncan Hines chocolate cake with a glass of milk and apple pie. The Jones-wich – peanut butter ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies – looked like fun in the summer time. The butterscotch and banana cake with caramel sauce looked like a family reunion star.

The service was excellent. We were seated in a timely manner and our server was there at all the right moments. My only complaint would be the noise level. I had to shout to talk to my companion, but that’s generally the case at packed restaurants on the weekend.

I think the comfort food gimmick is great for those with an occasional hankering or for those who don’t like to step out of their familiar box yet want the procession of fine dining.

I’m sorry I dismissed Jones. I hear they have a good brunch. Maybe I’ll give it a try.

Jones, 700 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106, (215-223-5663)
Mon.-Thu. 11:30AM-midnight
Fri. 11:30-1AM
Sat. 10:30AM-3PM, 5PM-1AM
Sun. 10:30AM-3PM, 4-11PM
Bar until 2AM Mon.-Sat., 1AM Sun.
No Reservations accepted