Before it became cool to call the French "cheese-eating surrender monkeys," they ran a pretty hardcore empire -- they were the greatest culinary imperialists the world has known.
Just six blocks east of the river Seine (Schuylkill) between Ave. des Champs Elysees (Chestnut Street) and Rue du Rivoli (Sansom), Parisian expatriates in search of beloved homemade sweets find heaven in Yann Patisserie & Cafe.
Loie is exciting. I almost refused to promote it because I feel possessive, and restaurant love has not happened to me for a while.
As it turns out, Loie forgoes American stereotypes of French dining for authenticity.
"Fill every beaker up, my men, pour forth the cheering wine: There's life and strength in every drop -- thanksgiving to the vine!" As a solo diner while the feast of lovers relentlessly approaches, I find solace reading these words printed on the inside cover of the menu at Bliss.
Everyone knows that alcohol and cannabis are two sure-fire ways to get people in the mood for loving, but there's a whole store of mood-setting foods that have been putting the SEX in sexy since the dawn of man.
Founded in 1987 in the swinging district between South Street and Society Hill by the petite Madame Saito, Le Champignon de Tokio serves reasonably priced Japanese, Thai and French food in an authentic setting.
Only a few blocks south of the heart of Center City lies a cozy eatery called the Warsaw Cafe. Since 1979, when Brezhnev's Communist regime controlled the Soviet Bloc, proprietor Marion Jarzemski and his mother Marie have been doling out traditional Eastern European dishes that would make even the most staunch commies consider immigrating to Philadelphia.
It's here: the cold, bleak Philadelphia mid-winter, and who knows when it's going to leave. As you sit eating Greek Lady in Rosengarten, don't you crave something else?
Too often at good restaurants, pomp and circumstance ruin pleasant meals. Kevin Klause's Farmicia is just the opposite kind of place, in the best possible way.
First off: just know we're happy that we never have to go to Monte Carlo again. We salute the maiden voyage of Noche -- the newest player on the Tabard date party block.
Young Urban Professionals may have had their day in the '90s, but they still reign in Philadelphia. Emerge from Huntsman Hall and embrace the city that calls you, that coddles you and that feeds you $150 Morimoto omakase menu.
Pros
1. Limitless martinis. Sorry baby, there aren't enough hours in the day to be both wined and dined, but if you have a taste for Zima, Cosmopolitans or cappucinos and/or you like your men in pleated pants and a Banana Republic button-down, then you may have found your type.
Are you a victim of the Man and his corporate coffee machine? Do you feel ridiculously uncomfortable when Starbucks baristas insist on addressing you by name?
1. Artsy:
Chances are, you don't live in a garret or make your living as a starving artist, but in the spirit of 19th century France, built-in creative outlets are necessary for the non-traditional lifestyle.