Go big and go home!
That’s one way we like to deal with Philadelphia, a destination that’s close enough for a day trip or even just a dinner trip.
Less than two hours by car from the Zipcar garage next to our Brooklyn apartment building, Philly’s dining scene has become great for both noshing and gorging, with family-style feasts culminating in large-format dishes that might make you ponder walking home to New York after you finish. (Advice: There’s no shame that comes with leftovers — so save something for the next day, or even later that night, when you get back.) Here are three spots to eat large:
Zahav (237 St. James Place, zahavrestaurant.com) in Society Hill is an always-evolving modern Israeli restaurant that deserves all the hype and accolades that James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Solomonov gets. It’s been our favorite restaurant in the city for years now, and the barrage of small salads that crackle with bold spices are still surprising every time. You could also have a spectacular meal just ordering every offal dish on the menu. But the most crowd-pleasing play here is the mesibah (“party time”) tasting menu, a $48-per-person bargain that includes a whole roasted lamb shoulder with pomegranate and chickpeas, on a crispy bed of yellow rice.
Vernick Food & Drink (2031 Walnut St., vernickphilly.com) in Rittenhouse Square is the type of neighborhood restaurant that should be in every neighborhood. It promises “simple but refined cooking,” and chef Greg Vernick delivers with dishes that are all flavor without fuss, even when he’s using expensive ingredients. It’s everyday food for people who buy their groceries at Eataly. Vernick’s sea urchin with scrambled eggs is delicate elegance, and even the perfectly cooked side order of sauteed greens here dazzles. But that’s just a warm-up for the big dish: Get the $62 seafood and shellfish roast, big enough for more than two to share, overflowing with head-on shrimp, clams, fish, green-chile sausage and peppers that pack just the right amount of heat.
At Fork (306 Market St., forkrestaurant.com) in Old City, new chef Eli Kulp, formerly of NYC’s Torrisi Italian Specialties and Del Posto, is riffing on American and Italian food in both classical and ultra-modern ways. The “burnt grains” pappardelle with wild-boar ragu, which does indeed taste charred, is a pretty neat trick. And the black-and-white pici with seafood is an even better pasta dish. We were jealous, though, of all the diners around us who had ordered the large-format dishes before the kitchen ran out. (Maybe this was for the best, given that Fork was our fourth meal in eight hours, and we were about to head to our fifth.) The whole Muscovy duck ($44 per person), including duck meatballs, duck prosciutto and duck confit, and the grilled Wagyu short rib ($55 per person) served with beef jerky, crispy pickled onion rings and more, both looked tremendous in every sense of the word. This might even be enough to make the New Jersey Turnpike palatable on your ride home.
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