Philadelphia’s
Best BYOBs
by Alison Lapp
Philadelphia is not exactly a party planner’s
paradise. Grocery stores cannot sell beer, beer stores
cannot sell liquor, and many smaller restaurants choose
not to serve cocktails at all rather than jump through
the hoops required for a liquor license. The regulations
may be a source of frustration to hosts around the city,
but luckily when the city is hosting you, it offers more
than 200 quaint eateries that encourage you to BYOB (bring
your own bottle).
BYOBs are every neighborhood’s favorite secret. Perfect
places to impress a date with a personalized choice of
libation, they’ve become a city institution so prevalent
that a street looks bare without them. In a town where
diners are twice as likely to take their wine to dinner
than in other U.S. cities, toting a bottle is all part
of the fun.
EFFIE’S
Best BYOB for Remembering Your Grandma’s Secret
Sauce
Modeled after a Greek taverna, this former townhouse
seems to have channeled the centuries of cuisine developed
in kitchens up and down the shores of the Aegean when
putting together its hearty and homey menu. The narrow
front room opens onto a courtyard that could have been
plucked from an ouzo-fueled gathering in Crete or Corfu.
For more private dining, cross the open-air yard to
a brick-and-stucco hideaway heated by a cheery wood
stove. The menu is crafted for multisyllabic ordering
and multifaceted tastes. A meal can start with Greek
caviar and whipped potatoes in the taramosalata, continue
on to the mousaka’s tried and true layers of roasted
eggplant, potatoes, ground beef, and bechamel topped
with tomato sauce, and finish with galaktoboureko, a
crispy phyllo dough filled with custard. Recommended
beverage: French Chenin Blanc. 1127 Pine St. Tel: 215-592-8333,
http://www.effiesrestaurant.com
JAMAICAN JERK HUT
Best BYOB for Being Transported to the Tropics
African, Asian, and European influences have combined
to give Caribbean cooking its one-of-a-kind taste, and
the cuisine blossoms in this lively eatery on trendy
South Street. The booming reggae music and shack-style
counter for ordering indoors lends to the island feel,
and crayons on every table allow you draw out your own
seaside getaway, but to be truly carried away, take
a seat on the outdoor patio. Candlelit pathways take
you to a covered veranda or to under-the-stars lawn
tables where guests can watch film screenings on some
summer nights. Runaway slaves in the West Indies perfected
the process of jerk cooking—coating meat with spices
and cooking it over an open fire—and the charcoal
pit in the Jerk Hut’s kitchen gives the same smoky
flavor. Buyers beware, the jerk platters come with a
tasty but spicy kick. Those who prefer their meals on
the milder side might enjoy the rotis, curries wrapped
in a fluffy flat bread, or the ital, a mix of vegetables
whose name comes from the Rastafari movement and is
derived from the word “vital.” Recommended
beverage: Red Stripe beer or a Caribbean rum. 1436 South
St. Tel: 215-545-8644.
LITTLE FISH
Best BYOB for Fulfilling that Desert Island Fantasy
Located off the Philly foodie beaten path, Little
Fish stands out as an extremely tiny oasis island in
a sea where the culinary nets otherwise come up empty.
At only 21 seats, this life raft of a restaurant will
nonetheless have you cruising toward a whale of a dining
experience. A daily rotating menu on handwritten cards
keeps the fare fresh and the atmosphere exciting. The
open kitchen has its dishes’ flavorful flare competing
with bursts of actual flames, punctuating an evening
of stovetop antics that makes the sardine-tight seating
feel like front row seats to a dazzling show. The prize
catch of a recent visit was a red snapper entrée,
topped with sweet tomato marmalade and accompanied by
white beans and broccoli rabe. Other highlights include
tuna with a lobster-potato salad and pickled fennel,
and an oregano-accented octopus carpaccio appetizer.
Recommended beverage: Riesling. 600 Catherine St. Tel:
215-413-3464. http://www.littlefishphilly.com
LOLITA
Best BYOB for a Boys (or Girls) Night Out
Sitting in the heart of the "gayborhood,"
Lolita prepares its guests for a night out at the bars
and clubs that are literally steps away by billing itself
as the city’s only BYOT, as in bring your own tequila.
Mix the agave-derived drink with the traditional and
always refreshing lemon-lime margarita mix, or try one
of the establishment’s fresh-squeezed specialties,
like passion fruit purée, strawberry and basil,
or watermelon mint. As for the food, detractors often
complain that there is no real Mexican on the East Coast,
but rather than take the bait, the kitchen here has
turned south of the border for inspiration instead of
a strict recipe book, giving it the freedom to create
a list of offerings that are available nowhere else.
Being motivated by, but not tied to, Mexican fare has
opened Lolita up to dishes like its pistachio-crusted
duck breast with a side of pan fried plantains, and
the grilled Hawaiian waluu fish under green apple-grapefruit
salsa, paired with a chayote, jicama, and hearts of
palm salad. Recommended beverage: Herradura Anejo tequila.
106 S. 13th St. Tel: 215-546-7100. http://www.lolitabyob.com
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MARIGOLD KITCHEN
Best BYOB for Nerds, Jocks, and Coeds
Chef Michael Solomonov was born in Israel and raised
in Pittsburgh, and both the Mediterranean and new American
aspects of his upbringing make their way into his edgy
concoctions, prepared in a converted Victorian townhouse
in University City, the heady but gritty neighborhood
surrounding the University of Pennsylvania. The two
dining rooms feature pale, lime-painted walls and oak-trimmed
bay windows with stained glass, keeping the feel of
the home it once was. Suede maroon banquettes, contemporary
art, and a fireplace wrapped in blue steel give it a
look that is modern and chic, much like the food. Start
with morel mushroom bourekas with pickles and soft egg,
and barramundi crudo with kumquats and mint as hors
d’oeuvres. The olive oil poached salmon makes a
delightful entrée, and nothing culminates a meal
like the pineapple semolina cake. Recommended beverage:
Syrah. 501 S. 45th St. Tel: 215-222-3699. http://www.marigoldkitchenbyob.com
NAN
Best BYOB for Escaping the World for a While
Food takes center stage at this unpretentious restaurant
that proves that cuisines don’t have to fuse to
complement each other perfectly. Don’t let its
plain facade fool you, inside its somber doors, Nan
has been serving palate-pleasers to those in the know
for years. Chef Kamol Phutlek, who was at the forefront
of the first wave of Asian fusion nosheries during Philadelphia’s
Restaurant Renaissance in the 1970s, now presents Thai
and French cooking that works better side by side than
melded. Chicken satay in peanut sauce and sweetbreads
in puff pastry come out with equal delicacy, while the
sea bass in ginger miso sauce steals the show. For the
final act, try the ice cream, in either espresso or
ginger flavors. Recommended beverage: Malbec. 4000 Chestnut
St. Tel: 215-382-0818. http://www.nanrestaurant.com
PIF
Best BYOB for Charming Your Valentine
An intimate setting, where diners nibble to the
soft tones of mid-century French melodies, doesn’t
keep Pif from holding a daily surprise. Chef David Ansill
heads to the nearby Italian Market to see what’s
available each day, then makes his menu. Those sampling
that menu eat with the seasons but have the added pleasure
of imagining they are experiencing spring or fall in
the French countryside. Ansill consistently comes up
with treats that recall old France: escargots with roasted
garlic herb butter, for example, or duck two ways (pressed
and braised). He is not shy about venturing into traditional
French offal cooking, and crispy pigs’ feet and
elegantly prepared bone marrow are no strangers to his
repertoire. He also has no fear of putting a personal
twist on his deliberately crafted dishes, as the bee
pollen that has been known to dust his panna cotta confirms.
Recommended beverage: Anything bearing the Côtes
du Rhône appellation. 1009 S. 8th St. Tel: 215-625-2923.
[Published:
December, 2007]
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