A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to try Marc Vetri’s take on rustic Italian food when I enjoyed several courses as we celebrated Slip’s birthday. This charming trattoria is quietly tucked away at 13th and Waverly, and a wonderful spot for a dinner or a drink and some small plates.

Amis offers small(er) plates, so you have the chance to try a lot of dishes. Here’s the rundown of what we shared as I sipped on Prosecco:

Bufala Ricotta with Fresh Pepper and Grilled Bread

This creamy fresh cheese was absolutely perfect on crusty smoky bread. A perfect way to start the meal as we pondered over the rest of our choices. Including…

Swordfish Meatballs with Creamy Polenta and Pinenuts

I might not have typically ordered this dish had I not heard of it on my new favorite app, Chefs Feed (I definitely have a mission to try many of the dishes listed by the city’s top chefs).  The swordfish meatballs are described perfectly as “providing a surprising explosion of flavor in such a small package” by Chef David Ansill. They surprisingly taste meaty, perfectly cooked, and bedded on slightly sweet polenta. Next up…

Pigs Trotter Arancini with Fennel Mayonnaise

Anything that tastes like bacon and includes risotto and cheese and is fried crisp… well, that’s a winner. The fennel underneath was a wonderful complement to the dish. This might have been my favorite dish of the night.

Slip ordered the Roasted Lamb with Potatoes:

This dish was simple meat and potatoes, and at the same time really unique. The top of the lamb was crispy, which is unusual but delightfully tasty, and the meat was very flavorful.

I had to have pasta. All of the pastas looked amazing, but after vacillating over the several I was choosing between I decided to go with the Pappardelle with Oxtail Ragu:

Handmade pasta is the best. The creamy meaty sauce was delicious. I could have eaten a MUCH larger plate of this delicious dish!

We shared a contorni— a side dish of braised kale with almonds and raisins. Sweet and crunchy with bitter kale— brilliant.

We ordered 2 desserts and on top of that the host sent over a third dessert for the birthday boy. Each one of them was incredibly tasty. We ordered the tiramisu because that’s an Italian staple. It was good but, because it’s an Italian staple, it wasn’t anything super special (but delicious nonetheless). Because we were so full from dinner and wanted to enjoy our other desserts, we boxed the tiramisu and enjoyed it the next night. What did we enjoy?

Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Ricotta Semifreddo:

Topped with pomegranate and a little powdered sugar this dish was not only sweet and delicious but also visually striking. The ricotta semifreddo was subtle and creamy. Next up, my favorite of the night…

Pizelle and Salted Butter Semifreddo Sandwich:

Topped with a cranberry compote and powdered sugar. Oh. My. God. This was so incredible. Who would have thought that salted butter made into ice cream would be so excellent? Pizelles are one of my favorite cookie, and their anise flavor mixed with the subtle sweetness of the semifreddo and tartness of cranberry was the best combination. Ever. We were both stuffed but slowly lingered over this dessert and it was worth it.

If you’re looking for a romantic evening for two, drinks and dessert with a friend, or even a bigger party, Amis should be on the list for a future dining destination.

Today seemed like the perfect day for dim sum. Sara and I made plans to get together, and I found out today she’d never had dim sum before. I’ve never gone before in Philadelphia, but finding ourselves in close proximity to Chinatown we headed to what was highly recommended to me, Joy Tsin Lau. With not too long of a wait, we sat excitedly at our table sipping on tea, eyeing up the carts making their way around the large colorful restaurant.

My favorite was the sizzling cart, full up with pork dumplings, chive and spinach dumplings, taro cake, and stuffed peppers, along with a few other items, crackling as they cooked in the portable kitchen.

(Taro cakes and pan seared pork dumplings)

I love seared dumplings so much— the crispy skin on the outside and the savory filling inside. The chive and spinach dumplings were really tasty and not exactly something I’ve had before. I think I could have an entirely dumpling lunch and be completely happy!

There are two tricks with dim sum: pace yourself and be adventurous.  There are so many carts coming around, it’s important not to jump too quickly at any one thing, but wait to find out what exactly is on the menu. I always prioritize dumplings, pork buns, and sweet sesame buns, but like to try something new, too. It’s also nice to go with an adventurous crowd. You’re not always exactly certain what is coming around, but it’s likely to be yummy (though I can’t lie— we zealously avoided the tripe dumplings and chicken feet). I’ve always tried something new when I’ve gone for dim sum, and it’s never disappointed (taro cakes were a new try and have become one of my favorites).

We feasted on several kinds of dumplings, pork buns, taro cakes, wonton soup, Chinese broccoli, and shrimp and pork shumai. A pretty focused sampling which left us all totally stuffed. We skipped the “dessert” dim sum, but if I was still hungry I would have had a sweet coconut bun. And the best part of dim sum? After relishing our afternoon dumpling feast, leaving us completely satiated, the bill totaled $25 for 3 of us.

I think my favorite part of Joy Tsin Lau, aside from the food, was the decor, leaving diners with a sense of over-stimulation due to the intense colors, music, and accompanying music videos. I kind of loved what appeared to be Asian boy bands getting down on the TV’s throughout the bustling restaurant, creating a mood that was light and fun.

Bottom line: friendly service, tasty food, the right price. Dim Sum until 4pm. I really enjoyed Joy Tsin Lau, and I would definitely return for another round of dumplings on a cozy Sunday afternoon.

Philadelphia is lucky enough to have a pretty great Chinatown, full of diverse delicious restaurants, waiting to be discovered. I have some favorites but this was my first dim sum venture in Philly, and I know there are plenty of good places to get a good dumpling. To my Philadelphian readers, where do you go for Dim Sum?

A few weeks ago after a trip to the movies (see The Artist, it was wonderful!) we stopped by Pizzeria Stella for a quick dinner. I’ve heard Stella can get pretty busy, but stopping in kind of late worked perfectly, as it was relatively empty. We first got seated in the bar area, which is pretty dark and kind of musty, but the hostess moved us into the main section with a smile. Sitting in a large open tile-floored space, with a big brick oven and long tables, we sat down to ponder the menu.

Everything looked great. We settled on sharing an appetizer, a salad, and a pizza. Our waitress told us the pizzas are individual sized, but our three dishes were the perfect amount of food— we left with full, happy tummies.

We started with the asparagus, topped with a sunny side up egg and a parmesan vinaigrette:

These three ingredients are matched perfectly together, and I was not disappointed.  We saved the plate to dip our pizza crusts in the mixture of egg yolk and parmesan vinaigrette. Next up was the Caesar salad:

Served up with large romaine hearts and the creamy dressing actually made with anchovies, this salad was a winner. Again, a great sharing plate, as we waited excitedly for our pizza to arrive…

We got the pancetta pizza, with wood roasted onion, tuscan kale, and mozzarella. This was really yummy— the crust was thin and crispy and the toppings were great. I especially loved the slight bitterness of the crispy kale. I was eyeing up a bunch of the pizzas and I think next time I definitely want to try the tartufo with black truffle, egg, and fontina.

We debated dessert, as we were both pretty full after our meal, but I’d had the gelato from Stella before, and knew their homemade recipe was not to be missed. We shared a scoop of the honey marscapone, topped with a small biscotti.

It was small and delightful, a heavenly scoop. The gelato is creamy and delicious, and the honey marscapone flavor was really amazing— highly recommended! I’ve had the blackberry before, another flavor I would recommend if it is there the night you are dining.

I really enjoyed Pizzeria Stella— the service wasn’t perfect (our server continually tried to up-sell us and no water refills), and the menu is a little pricey (expected at a Stephen Starr restaurant), but the food was definitely tasty. I will be back to try the Tartufo pizza for sure!

So while I’ve been totally neglecting my blog lately (as well as cleaning my apartment and running as much as I’d like to) I’ve been busy busy studying for finals, writing final papers, and creating final presentations. Ah, the life of a graduate student. But, luckily, almost everything is done, except for one final at 4:30pm today (wish me luck!) and one next Thursday. Woo.

So what have I been eating? I can honestly say I haven’t had as much time/energy to cook the past few weeks. But I’ve had a couple delicious breakfasts at a relatively new joint in Rittenhouse, Spread Bagelry. Spread is “Montreal style” bagels, meaning they’re baked in a wood fire oven, like what you see in a pizza place. They are softer than your traditional bagel, but really yummy just the same. Bonus— the spread toppings are amazing!

A few weeks ago I went with the wonderful Catie, and enjoyed this whole wheat everything bagel with nova cream cheese and tomatoes. I love that they have whole wheat with toppings, rather than your typical plain old whole wheat bagel. Slip stopped by on his way out and also picked up a bagel sandwich…

He got the frittata scramble, which includes eggs, bacon, cheddar cheese, and Amish country jam. A weird combination to have blueberry jam on bacon? It was delightful.

The atmosphere of Spread is cozy. We stuck ourselves into a corner, with some newspapers, and were spectators as the long lines started to form, and a live bluegrass band set up to play right outside (live music every weekend!)

The logs were set up along a wall near the oven and across from the big pots of La Colombe coffee, my favorite brew. We also caught notice of the fact that on the weekends Spread offers BYO vodka for $8 all you can drink Bloody Mary’s.

Spread is a sweet little spot for morning breakfast and chit chat with a friend, or a nice place to stop in for a quick bagel and coffee on the go. Add in the fact that it’s situated perfectly on 20th between Locust and Spruce, with the most cozy environment, and great tunes playing inside (and outside), and I think we’ve got ourselves a winner!