In October The Spotted Pig crew, chef/co-owner April Bloomfield and co-owner Ken Friedman, unveiled The Breslin Bar & Dining Room in the ultra hipster Ace Hotel. Head chef is Peter Cho, recently sous chef at The Spotted Pig. Pastry chef Katzie Guy Hamilton was formerly working with Sherry Yard at Spago Beverly Hills. An exposed century-old ceiling gives the 130 seat gastropub a well-worn feel. The large room is broken down into smaller spaces, and white leather-clad booths are curtained off to foster intimacy. The menu is a meat-heavy nose-to-toes affair, loaded with house-made terrines, sausages, and the like.
APPS ($12 to $16): tomato soup with crisp pork fat; curried lamb terrine with carrots.
MAINS ($17 to $32): vinegared poussin with roasted pumpkin; crispy fried rabbit with aïoli and lemon.
DESSERTS ($8): stuffed chocolate beignets with cinnamon sugar and cocoa; beet cake with cream cheese frosting.
Kaz Okochi, chef/owner of Kaz Sushi Bistro, and Richard Sandoval of Modern Mexican Restaurants teamed up in October to create an Asian-Latin hybrid, Masa 14 (1825 14th Street, N.W.), where handrolls are served alongside tacos, and the ambitious bar offers both sake and more than 100 different Tequilas. The 240 seater, whose industrial design is warmed by exposed original brick and timber, boasts a separate Tequila lounge with a 65-foot bar. Chef de cuisine Antonio Burrell, who comes by way of CommonWealth, encourages grazing and sharing with his small plates menu.
COLD PLATES ($6 to $10): handroll of barbecued eel, pickled jalapeño, mint, and eel sauce; hijiki seaweed/jicama salad with sesame, chayote, and daikon sprouts.
HOT PLATES ($5 to $14): Kobe beef/pork meatballs with cotija cheese, scallions, and smoked tomato/yuzu sauce; black cod with chipotle/miso sauce and pickled onion.
DESSERTS ($4): Green tea tres leches with passion fruit sauce; Mexican chocolate tart with whipped cream and cacao nibs.
After shuttering Cafe Mozu, the Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C. refashioned the space in September into the moderately priced, regionally accented Sou'Wester, with new kitchen leadership and a redesigned interior. The talented team from the hotel's CityZen is running Sou'Wester's kitchen. Executive chef Eric Ziebold and Amanda Cook are now executive chef and pastry chef, respectively, at both venues. Rachael Harriman, recently CityZen sous chef, is now Sou'Wester chef de cuisine. The light-drenched interior, with a color palette running the lighter side of earthy, accommodates 125 in an urban farmhouse setting. Tables are stained a rich cherry. Mason jars of house-pickled vegetables add splashes of color throughout.
APPS ($7 to $14): shoat rillettes with pickled green tomatoes; sautéed pork belly with pickled watermelon rind.
MAINS ($13 to $24): sautéed perch with Old Bay chowder; braised rabbit leg with rabbit sausage and creamed grits.
DESSERTS ($5): pear crisp; fried apple pie.
Kaz Okochi, chef/owner of Kaz Sushi Bistro, and Richard Sandoval of Modern Mexican Restaurants teamed up in October to create an Asian-Latin hybrid, Masa 14 (1825 14th Street, N.W.), where handrolls are served alongside tacos, and the ambitious bar offers both sake and more than 100 different Tequilas. The 240 seater, whose industrial design is warmed by exposed original brick and timber, boasts a separate Tequila lounge with a 65-foot bar. Chef de cuisine Antonio Burrell, who comes by way of CommonWealth, encourages grazing and sharing with his small plates menu.
COLD PLATES ($6 to $10): handroll of barbecued eel, pickled jalapeño, mint, and eel sauce; hijiki seaweed/jicama salad with sesame, chayote, and daikon sprouts.
HOT PLATES ($5 to $14): Kobe beef/pork meatballs with cotija cheese, scallions, and smoked tomato/yuzu sauce; black cod with chipotle/miso sauce and pickled onion.
DESSERTS ($4): Green tea tres leches with passion fruit sauce; Mexican chocolate tart with whipped cream and cacao nibs.
In October San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants unveiled their first Philly property, the Hotel Palomar (117 South 17th Street) and Square 1682 (the number honors Philly's founding year), a high-energy restaurant that takes a global look at new American cuisine. Executive chef is Guillermo Tellez, a disciple of Charlie Trotter who most recently joined the Starr Restaurant Organization and was, among other things, executive chef at Striped Bass. The 90 seat bi-level interior plays up the original Art Deco details, adding orange, purple, and mustard hues and high-end materials such as marble, rich woods, terrazzo tiles, and polished aluminum. An exhibition kitchen and chalkboard wall with drawings by local artists ground the space squarely in the 21st century.
APPS ($7 to $18): yellowfin tuna tostadas with marinated red onions, avocado, and lime cream; seared mini scallops with soy caramelized pearl onions and warm wasabi-spiked potato puree.
MAINS ($16 to $35): black cod in porchetta with creamy polenta, leek confit, and caramelized fennel; roasted squab with Port braised cabbage, crispy noodles, caramelized endive, and chanterelle mushrooms.
DESSERTS ($6 to $9): apple cider fritters with Madagascar vanilla bean ice cream and apple cider caramel; pumpkin cream tart with crème fraîche ice cream.
John Besh (August, etc.) tries his hand at Italian at his newest endeavor, Domenica ("Sunday" in Italian), which opened in September in the historic Roosevelt Hotel. Inspired by the warmth of a family Sunday supper, the 150 seat dining room uses long communal tables to promote easy conviviality. Besh and partner/executive chef Alon Shaya, who decamped from Besh Steak, focus on hearty Italian flavors, cure their own salumi, and make ample use of a wood-burning pizza oven (tricked out with a rotating stone deck).
APPS ($6 to $16): octopus carpaccio with fregula and citrus; chanterelle mushroom pizza with fontina, bacon, and a fried egg.
MAINS ($11 to $23): stracci pasta with oxtail ragù and fried chicken livers; Berkshire pork coppa with barlotti beans, basil, and honey.
DESSERTS ($8): fig and ricotta fritters with moscato zabaione; rum soaked polenta cake layered with chocolate mousse and apricot marmellata.
Tom Condron and Matthew Pera, who met in the kitchen trenches of Harper's Restaurant Group's critically acclaimed Upstream, teamed up in October to open The Liberty at 1812 South Boulevard (formerly McIntosh's Steakhouse). Condron, who tapped his British roots, and Pera are doing an American riff on the United Kingdom's gastropub paradigm. The 206 seat space integrates wooden pallets (used to transport materials) in the walls and ceilings, while spent kegs enclose the dining room. Condron and Pera divvy up the labors of day-to-day operations, with Condron overseeing the kitchen while Pera mans the front of the house.
APPS ($4 to $9): deviled eggs with crisp pork belly toasts and cornichons; pickled beet/citrus salad with candied pecans, avocado, micro basil, and poppy seed vinaigrette.
MAINS ($16 to $20): braised pork shoulder pot-au-feu with fall vegetable pistou; wild mushroom/chicken fricassée with local figs, guanciale, lemon, arugula, and Carolina Gold rice pilaf.
DESSERTS ($6): warm chocolate flourless cake with raspberry beer and milk chocolate ice cream; cupcake and ice cream tasting.
