Metal Plate

NoLibs BYO Copper Bistro goes for the gold — and falls short.

by Elisa Ludwig

In the kitchen, copper is valued for its heat conductivity and consistency in cooking. It's also the motif and namesake of a new Northern Liberties BYO. Conceived in the contemporary American vein of its BYO forebears Matyson, Django and Chloe, Copper Bistro is ambitious and, at times, boldly inventive.

In the atmosphere department, Copper shines. It's located in the Second Street space once occupied by Aden, a restaurant rich in ambiance. Leaving Aden's exposed brick wall with its embedded votives intact, owners Jason Serock and Daniel Connelly have topped it with a collection of copper pots and pans. An open kitchen gleams with a copper exhaust hood. The remaining walls here and in the smaller back room are done up in shades of eggshell blue, showcasing a series of black-and-white woodcut prints. Even the restaurant's logo, the chemical symbol for copper, is a stark and stylish signature — cleanly modern but not clinical.

BREAKIN' THE CLAW: A half-shelled lobster claw rests on a pile of udon noodles in an orange vanilla butter sauce. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

In addition to the decor, I was immediately charmed on a weekday visit by the gracious but unobtrusive service, the piping hot pumpernickel rolls and the amuse bouche of homemade duck sausage. Yet these pleasures were not to be found on a recent Sunday visit. Our server told us they were out of two appetizers and two entrees and forgot to give us bread. After we asked, the rolls — challah knots this time around — arrived, half-stale and barely warm. The amuse bouche, duck confit on crostini, was cold, gelatinous and looked like what my dining companion described as "something from a Dickens novel."

The colorless duck had to have been an end-of-the-week aberration because on the whole, the food here is artfully and attractively presented. A carpaccio of turnip and beets appears as a cluster of red and white discs encircling a glistening dollop of gorgonzola dressing and a sprinkling of caramelized walnuts. The turnips are bitter, but the other elements make for a harmonious balance.

In another starter, a half-shelled lobster claw is curled across a bowl of puffy udon noodles in an orange vanilla butter sauce. With its soupçon of sugar cookie, the sauce is an interesting pairing for the delicate seafood, though I found that slurping noodles dripping in liquefied butter can be awkward.

My favorite of the first courses is the stacked vegetable napoleon, a meatless standby enlivened here by a base of grilled polenta with a crispy exterior. Layers of thinly sliced, griddle-smoky zucchini, eggplant and onion are crowned with tomato, arugula and a dab of creamy mascarpone, while the plate is sweetened with a ring of aged balsamic vinegar.

Many of the menu's boldest assertions are executed with a gentle touch, like the seared duck. Slices of breast meat, served medium-rare, are fanned around a mound of fregola sarda, pudgy dots of pasta that are the Italian cousin to Israeli couscous. The duck, mild and juicy, is flavored primarily by a reduction of caramelized cherries. Yet the star of this dish is actually the pasta, cooked to creaminess and embedded with salty, gooey duck confit. (In this instance, it was more Brillat-Savarin than Dickens.)

The pork osso bucco is similarly modest in seasoning, flavored by a thick brown reduction with hints of apples and sage. On the side is a square piece of torta, an eggy pie filled with swiss chard, and tangled strands of buttery spaghetti squash.

An appetizer, Prince Edward Island mussels in a broth of tomato, mustard and saffron, was intriguingly zingy but the shellfish were alternately plump and fresh or gritty and fishy. Homemade tagliatelle, tossed with arugula, fontina cheese, tomato and pine nuts, were leaden and gummy.

Another disappointment was that our meals were, quite literally, hot and cold. I have no complaints about the meaty roasted monkfish or its subtle sage cream sauce, but the accompanying wedges of butternut squash and cinnamon-dusted spaghetti squash served with it were completely chilly. Coffee and tea were also less than steamy.

Desserts, all house-made, are less original than the entrees but inconsistent all the same. You've got your flourless chocolate cake in a creamy, pucklike shape, richer in texture than in chocolatey flavor. You've got your extra-sweet vanilla creme brulee, which is dense rather than silky, with the yellow cast of excessive egg yolk. A round walnut tart topped with spiced mascarpone proved impenetrable to the fork, its thick crust crumbling instantly, its filling of caramelized nuts too dry.

The evenness and reliability of copper are, of course, the same qualities we crave in dining, so it's metaphorically ironic that our meals at Copper Bistro ran the gamut from quite good to mediocre. Here's hoping that the kitchen, which has so much potential, is just warming up.

(e_ludwig@citypaper.net)

Copper Bistro

614 N. Second St.,215-627-9844,www.copperbistro.net

Hours: Tue.-Thu., 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m.; Sun., 5-9 p.m.

Appetizers, $6-$12.50; entrees, $15.50-$23.

Credit cards accepted. BYO.