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Avance
1523 Walnut Street
@avancephilly
(215) 405-0700
Price: $$$$$
Don't Miss: The prime strip of beef
Skip: Pigging out on the delicious artisan breads
When something new replaces a well–established entity, there’s a strong tendency to make comparisons between the two. It happens with presidents, it happens with girlfriends and now it’s happening with Avance. While its sleek, effortlessly elegant dining room is a far cry from the gilded chandeliers and pressed white tablecloths of Le Bec Fin, the most dramatic difference is in the culinary spirit of Avance. Instead of the firmly–rooted, continental philosophy of 1523’s previous tenents, Avance captures the very American attitude of continual progression and growth, embracing a sort of culinary manifest destiny.
A strong component of executive chef and co–owner Justin Bogle’s continuing efforts to keep the dining experience fresh is the ever–changing menu. Right now, it draws heavily on late fall and winter ingredients and flavors. However, like the seasons inspiring it, the menu at Avance will be changing every three months or so.
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We chose the five course tasting menu ($87), which was a collection of five items from the a la carte menu, interspersed with complimentary bread tastings from the in–house master baker. Our first course, the arctic char tartare, made it clear from the get–go that Chef Bogle has masterful control over taste combinations and texture. The cold, chip–like disk of apple and pear juice (frozen using an anti–griddle), clashed pleasantly with the soft, delicate morsels of raw arctic char. The second course, the cauliflower chawanmushi, was similarly adventurous with texture. A lemon–infused foam broke up the richness of the scallops and creamy cauliflower base, while the occasional clump of trout roe added flavorful pops of texture. Our third course, the black truffle–crusted striped bass, was a painter’s palette of fall and winter flavors. Each ingredient, from the rich cabbage heart to the robust sweet potato to the delicately flavorful bass, spoke for itself with its exquisite freshness.
My favorite course was our fourth: the prime strip of beef. Hedged on one side by a brilliant green puree of spinach and crowded on the other by a handful of roasted marble potatoes, the square of rare beef on my plate looked deceptively simple. But, from the first bite, the beef sprinkled with the foie gras and red wine sauce the waiters lovingly ladled on our plates, it was clear this was a special piece of cow. Even with the waiters and other well–dressed patrons within earshot, I couldn’t help but whisper, “oh fuck, that is good.”
The meal was rounded out by a plate of assorted chocolate mousses, powders and icicles, a kind of tour de force of texture and temperature. The standout, though, was a teardrop of pureed beet chocolate, which was such a deep and rich magenta that I felt I was tasting color.
Though a meal at Avance may be outside the average Penn student’s budget, the intentionality and care that Chef Bogle and his team put into their work makes a meal here one to be shared with friends and family, especially when there’s a need to punctuate a special occasion with a memorable dining experience.
