Philadelphia

When we got back to our place, we had to get ready for our fanciest dinner of the trip. We were off to Laurel, which is owned and run by a Top Chef winner. We took an Uber to get there and we went through a lot of different neighbourhoods. It seems that every block has a menagerie of places that are old and worn looking and then a few new places stuck in here and there. It’s obviously an old city, but it has this great charm that we all noticed in the afternoon when we first set out. It’s very different than all the suits wearing lanyards and tourists that abound in DC!

We arrived at the 20 seat, tasting menu only restaurant for 8:30. We were seated and obviously Evan was the only kid there! They showed him the non-spirit cocktails list and we were on our way through the seven courses.

Our amuse bouche was a little round sphere of rhubarb soup. You had to take it all at once because it exploded in your mouth! Our first course was cured kampachi with green peaches and sea buckthorn. It was a light and refreshing course. Next was one of my favourites and one of Evan’s least favourites, Burgundy snails with Pennsylvania polenta and a truffle foam. It was delicious! We had a small bite before our next course which was a tart filled with frozen foie gras and a blueberry vinegar.

The third course was a table favourite: shaved asparagus with confit frog leg and herb butter. The asparagus ate like pasta and tasted hearty even though it was largely vegetables. At first we told Evan the frog was chicken and he loved it! Then we told him it was frog and he was a bit surprised, but said he still loved it! I think the staff was pretty impressed with Evan at this point- even the chef, Nick Elmi, came out to plate something for us and asked if Evan ate the foie gras (which he did).

Next up was wild striped bass with fava beans and pistachios, another table favourite! Course number five was roasted lamb with daylily kimchi and ground ivy jus. The lamb was perfect! We were getting pretty full by the time course six emerged, and it was probably our least favourite course. It was braised pork cheek with fermented radishes. And finally, dessert was macerated Delaware strawberries with strawberries sorbet and champagne foam. However, we also got petit fours with our bill, so we also got one last sweet treat!

The dinner was beautifully done and we left feeling quite full and happy!Read more