Top Restaurant Dishes of 2010

This past year, Mr Minx and I dined out quite a bit and tried out many new-to-us places. For the most part, our dining excursions were largely rewarding, but some meals were more successful than others. Here are some of the highlights, in order of consumption. :)

Back in March, we had a fantastic multi-course meal celebrating the Chinese New Year at Grace Garden with the Charm City Chowhounds. While most dishes were amazing, my very favorite was the lemongrass lamb chops, a dish I got them to recreate for me in September. (They'll do it for you, too, if you call and request it three or so days in advance. Be prepared for sticker shock when you get your bill.) They were big (the spoon is oversized) and meaty and redolent of lemongrass, with just enough fat to make them juicy. Heavenly.

Lemongrass Lamb Chops

On my one lonely trip to New York this April, I had the pleasure of dining at Momofuku Ssam Bar for the first time. The much-lauded pork belly buns definitely deserve a spot on this list.

June was a bumper month for dining out. First, we tried Talara, where everything was uniformly delicious. However, I would have to say that my favorite dishes were the "Fire & Ice" seviche with prickly pear granita, and the tres leches cake.

Also in June came the Chef for a Day dinner prepared by fellow blogger Liz Stambaugh at Sotto Sopra. Her foie gras gnocchi were both feather light and super rich at the same time - perfection!

Foie gras gnocchi

We went on another Charm City Chowhound excursion, this time to Columbia, where we were introduced to the authentic Thai menu at Bangkok Garden. The salad of smoky grilled eggplant and especially the sour red curry and acacia omelette hotpot were the standout dishes of the meal for me.

Acacia omelette hot pot

Finally, at the end of the month, a very generous friend treated me to a wine dinner at Top Cheftestant and All-Star Jennifer Carroll's restaurant, 10 Arts by Eric Ripert in Philly. I wasn't bowled over by the majority of the dishes, but the pork belly-stuffed ravioli with morels was quite delicious, making me want get back and try more of Chef Carroll's cuisine when she's not trying to feed 80 people the same thing simultaneously.

Our first trip to the B&O American Brasserie, in August, yielded another dish for this list - the pork belly with bananas and lentils. The pork belly had all of the right textures - toothsome meat, melting fat, and crisp skin - and the lentil/banana combo was shockingly tasty (considering how bizarre it sounded).

Pork belly with bananas and lentils

I can't mention the top dishes of 2010 without a comment or ten about the amazing dinner we had at Volt this past September. After nearly a year of waiting, we were finally able to experience Table 21 and I have to say it met all of my (very high) expectations. One of my favorite courses, one that I still fantasize about (yes, I fantasize about food - probably no big surprise there), was the sublime, meltingly-tender tuna tartare and its many accompaniments. Another was the goat cheese ravioli. And the scallop with pea purée, the chicken parmesan, the lobster.... Everything.

The charcuterie plate we enjoyed at Clementine in September sure doesn't look like much, but that chicken liver mousse with rye whiskey and honey was some of the best chicken guts I have ever ingested.

Clementine charcuterie

Finally, to round out the year of pretty terrific restaurant dining, I'm going to say that the Low Country Louie seafood cocktail that I had at Langermann's on my birthday in November was one of my favorite appetizers of the year: perfectly cooked seafood in an interesting mustard-and-cilantro mayonnaise that I would love to recreate at home sometime soon.

I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to dine in so many good restaurants in 2010 and hope to continue the streak in 2011.

Garces Trading Company

A couple of years ago, when Mr Minx and I went to Philly with our friends Andree and Kate, we ate at a pan-Asian small-plates restaurant called Cebu. While we enjoyed our meal, I wished we had gone to Amada - a well-reviewed tapas restaurant owned by new Iron Chef Jose Garces - instead.

I don't get to go to Philly very often, so when I contacted my friend Diane with news that I would be in town, she immediately suggested Garces' new restaurant, Garces Trading Company. I thought the lunch menu sounded terrific and we made a date to dine there.

The place looks a bit like Dean and Deluca, with cold cases featuring cheeses and meats, plus a selection of condiments - mustards, honeys, jams - and a pastry case. There's also a controversial wine store at the back Tempting as that all was, we were there to eat lunch at one of the too-close-together wooden tables in the middle of the store.

Everything on the menu sounded like something I wanted to sink my teeth into. There's a large selection of cheese and charcuterie available, plus the usual soups, salads, and sandwiches.

I decided I couldn't resist the baby artichokes with preserved lemon, honey, dates, and walnuts ($7).

Not sure if those slices together equaled a whole artichoke heart, but apart from the portion size, I liked the dish. The preserved lemon and honey came together in the dressing, which begged to be mopped up by the slices of good bread that were brought to the table at the beginning of our meal.

I followed this with "The Moroccan," a sandwich of roasted lamb loin, roasted pepper, eggplant, bacon, harissa aioli, and comté ($11)

The roll was terrific - crusty without being gum-tearing - but the filling was scant. I couldn't tell if there was eggplant or roasted pepper inside, and it was short on lamb. You can tell by the photo that the sandwich was more bread than filling. But there was a generous spread of harissa mayonnaise inside, which became the main flavor component. This sandwich had the potential to be really great, insead it was slightly disappointing.

My friend Diane hemmed and hawed over a selection of cheeses, but ultimately went for one of the six pizzas on the menu, Pizza de Prosciutto with oven roasted tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto, and olive oil ($15).

It looked and smelled great and she made happy noises while consuming it. The crust was more like a flatbread than traditional pizza crust; the toppings seemed pretty generous.

Garces Trading Company
1111 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-574-1099