search citypaper.net
  


Room for More
The food’s still good, but a refurbished Living Room is not quite the full Monte.
-Maxine Keyser

April 3- 9, 2003

food

Book and Cook Hits and Misses

After my first delicious appetizer at Chez Colette -- a dynamite salt-cured wild salmon with a heart of palm salad, napped with a horseradish crème fraîche and a stone crab claw for garnish -- I felt that I was finished for the week. But a truffle broth, frothed like cappuccino, cradling baby conch slivers and baby clams appeared, and somehow I was able to eat that as well. The chef, Dominique Macquet, has an eponymous restaurant in New Orleans, but since he was born on the island of Mauritius (in the Indian Ocean off the African coast) and then schooled in France, he has a slightly exotic approach to French cooking. He and the executive chef, Sylvain Harribey, worked out a menu to showcase some tropical ingredients, and integrated four wines to go with each ($55 for dinner, $35 for the wines). Chez Colette is a little jewel among the town’s French restaurants.

By the following evening I was set to go to Rouge 2003 for Matthew Kenney's fine cooking. He's a charming guy, and I love his slightly North African cuisine, but the restaurant itself was a madhouse, and I felt that it could not do him justice. It was the only restaurant that didn't incorporate wines with the meal, so we had to find a wine ourselves that would complement the dishes. At $65 plus wine, this was not the bargain that the first had been.

March 17 found me down on food again, but Edouard Loubet was at Brasserie Perrier, and his two-star restaurant, Le Moulin, is one of the best in Provence. M. Perrier was a splendid host who made sure that Loubet met and spoke with everyone.

At Vetri the following evening, we did not do as well. Joseph Bastianich, a wine expert, devised a rustic menu to suit his wines. This was not in Marc Vetri's style, and though the meal was excellent, we felt that $125 was too much to charge for such simple fare.

By the time we arrived at ¡Pasion! for Norman Van Aken's dinner, my appetite was beginning to desert me. The meal was lovely, with the Nicaraguan and Brazilian touches that we expected, and at $100 including wine, they gave a great deal for the money.

The Book and The Cook was more successful than I had predicted, even though some of the books were on their second and a third go-around. I still think the event is getting tired, but you would never know from the enthusiastic diners at all the places I visited. Except at Rouge 2003, there was symbiosis between the visiting chef and the chef de cuisine, and some of the food was most imaginative.

-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
Recent Comments
Web Exclusives
Daedelus
Mon., Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $10, with Nosaj Thing and Jogger, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.
Fever Pitch
One Philly dance troupe lets imagination carry it to the farthest corners of reality.


search restaurants by name
search by neighborhood
Search
search by cuisine
title
theater

Search
search for:
within:   of  
more jobs
(use zip or city, state)
Search
"Great vision without great people is irrelevant."
—Jim Collins, Author,
"Good to Great"
In Partnership with JobCircle
start date / /  select date
end date / /  select date
category
keyword
Search Buy Concert Tickets
Category:
Keywords: Search

Search Real Estate

ALL | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN

or

LOCATION:

ADVERTISEMENT
GODMAN ENZO ferrari, WE SAY JEWS ARE FRIENDS OF MUSLIMSBECAUSE HASRATH ALI WORKED WITH JEWS the holy quran with out rasool a khuda and his family, the book is only worth a car magzine on
SURPRISE!: Urban artists love Obama
`MY JIHAD IS FOR HUMANITY, ITS A JIHAD ON THE FAKE JIHADIS WHO HAVE NO RELIGION, HUMANITY IS THE FIRST RELIGION BECAUSE ADAM WAS EQUAL TO ANY PROPHET SO ` »
Jay Gaultieri on
The Fall Guy
`From Anika, "Jay, you're a racist" People like Anika are why this sort of event has been going on for 40 years in the public schools. Rather than ` »
GODMAN ENZO ferrari, WE SAY JEWS ARE FRIENDS OF MUSLIMSBECAUSE HASRATH ALI WORKED WITH JEWS the holy quran with out rasool a khuda and his family, the book is only worth a car magzine on
SURPRISE!: Urban artists love Obama
`THE ATTACKS ON INDIANS BY THE PEOPLE OF 'OZ' IS NOT TRUE, ITS AN ATTACK ON CIA BY THE IRAN, THE IRANS DIRTY MAFIA PAYS GANGSTERS IN OZ, TO HIT INDIANS, ` »
alex on
Metropolitan Bakery adds hand-crafted pizza
`Wow. That pizza really looks delicious! I will definitely take my wife here in our Philadelphia dating getaway. Actually, she's kinda a pizza addict. ` »
Alex Feign on
The Art of The Art of the Steal
`Dante, You are a maniac. I have read your rants on a bunch of other posts, it's like you're obsessed. Maybe you should go down to the new site and ` »
JH on
The Fall Guy
`Wow - what a bunch of racist district administrators. Can someone forward this to the White House, this needs national attention or else it’ll be swept ` »
JH on
Update: School District clears S. Philly High student Hao Luu
`Wow - what a bunch of racist district administrators. Can someone forward this to the White House, this needs national attention or else it'll be swept ` »
Brandon Wagner on
MUSIC MADNESS: Win The Runaways soundtrack
`1. Jodie Foster and Scott Baio in Bugsy Malone (1976) 2. Writer/Director Floria Sigismondi directed two of David Bowie's music videos: "Little Wonder" ` »
Rick Wiese on
The Ghost Writer
`First, Ewan McGregor did not play a journalist in this film. In fact, at one point, his character specifically says he is not a journalist. He plays a ` »
Asian American on
The Fall Guy
`What we have here is truly sad but real. I was born and raised in South Philly for 21 years. The schools I went to were diverse and to think that its ` »