Tiny Bubbles

In the ever changing landscape of the Philadelphia restaurant industry, any place that has lasted for more than a few years is considered old school. I had never dined at the restaurant when Chef Stephen Cook first opened Marigold’s Kitchen. I enjoyed Chef Michael Solomonov’s innovation and fine skill when he took over the kitchen a few years later and kept going back when Chef Erin O’Shea gave the restaurant a completely new personality with her southern-centric cooking.


The restaurant has gone another changeover with new owner/chef Robert Halpern.

Fried Parsnip Twizzles

The basket of fried thinly stripped parsnips sprinkled with Mexican chocolate, chili, and salt was brought to the table while we deliberated over the interesting but slightly cryptic menu that hints Chef Halpern’s experience at Alinea.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

White Bean Bisque with Bay Leaf Bubbles


We started with an amuse bouche of bean bisque. The bisque was as thick as a puree and topped with a foam made with bay leaf. The bay leaf essence was not as prominent to me as my friend Mister C said, “I got all the taste.”

 
 
 
 
 
 

3 Hour Egg

I was intrigued by an egg sous vide for 3 hour. Our waiter explained to me as mysteriously as the description on the menu, “…it’s special…very unusual!” Sorry to disappoint, I didn’t find the egg special at all even with the tiny dab of Osetra caviar on top. I found it no different from a 4 minute egg. The yoke wasn’t runny but it wasn’t solid either. The Canadian bacon which the egg rested on was crispy like a thick piece of chip. That was more interesting to me. The fried hollandaise turned out to be the more special and unusual item. The whole idea of a crunchy shell with a semi-liquidly sauce inside was just exciting. Along with the house made crouton, Tourist Tree called this dish “an egg benedict deconstructed”.

Beets, in Various Forms and Textures


Foam, sorbet, gelatin, roasted, chip, wrapped around a sprig of beet leaf…all made with beets as the name has suggested. This is pretty unique that the chef can come up with so many different forms and textures with one main ingredient.

Each component was very simulating to eat. I liked the gelatin and the foam as the most excellent entity; although I found the whole dish to be less filling than expected.

 

Baked Crab “Mac & Cheese”


This is not your father’s mac n’ cheese. It is made with orzo, two year aged Grafton cheddar, pickled jalapenos, shitake mushrooms, and topped with panko crust.

It was everything a wonderful mac n’ cheese should be; tasty, gooey, and comfortingly satisfying. The use of orzo instead of a more traditional pasta was very unique. This was a nice curve ball on mac n’ cheese thrown by the kitchen.

The Focaccia in the bread bowl for the table was very nice. The bread itself had a good crust and was not greasy which made it ideal for dipping, like in the mac n’ chesse
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pan Fried Sweet Breads


The sweet bread was finished with a Pedro Ximenez jus and served mixed with crispy fried dehydrated cauliflower. It’s plated on top of a bad of cauliflower-saffron puree. In our madness of trying everybody else’s dishes and with the distraction of Mr. Beach Volley Ball opening a bottle of 2006 Enkidu Humbarba from Sonoma (delicious); I totally missed tasting this dish.

Skate Wing


The skate wing arrived with a nicely crisp crust and de-boned. It sat on top of a small mount of potato salad with an artichoke done Escabeche style on the side. I found it intriguing about how the artichoke was prepared and would have loved to taste it if I not had forgotten to do so. Regardless, my friend iGwen who had this dish was totally delighted with it.

Wild Striped Bass


A piece of pan seared striped bass on a bad of broccolini, topped with a salad of kohlrabi, blood oranges, and toasted pepitas. The fish was overcooked at the edges but decent inside. The strong citrus aroma dressing gave the salad a nice flavor and its slight sweet touch balanced the acidity of the citrus quite well. The oolong flavored broth was excellent. It added more dynamic to the broccolini after it had been soaked in the liquid for a while. This dish had a very good combination of flavors.

Rabbit in Multiple Preparations


Left: Buffalo fried “wing”, pickled bubbles. Middle: Black trumpet stuffed loin. Right: Milk braised leg.

As the name implies, the Buffalo “wing” is a small rabbit leg done in the way of the infamous bar snack. This tenderly done piece of “wing” was not as spicy or extreme as I had expected (as I do expect a lot because of my anal-ness). It had just the right amount of flavor and subtleness for most people, and it had a good balance compared to the other components in the dish without overpowering them. I liked the slaw that sat underneath the wing which also had a subtle balance of zest and sweetness. As for the pickled bubbles that sat on top, it just totally blew my mind! It had all the pickled creaminess of…… Well, it really wasn’t anything but air….or was it?

If you like maki rolls, you would like the black trumpet stuffed loin. The loin was cooked perfectly. By rolling it with the trumpet mushrooms, the chef had created an interesting study of textural combinations. It had the same size and feel of a maki roll and it was tempting me to eat it with my fingers. The mashed yam underneath the lamb loin was delicious with its creaminess and delicate sweetness.

I had never seen such a big rabbit leg as this one that had been braised in milk. I had also never had such a rabbit meat awesomeness until this piece of super-sized leg braised in milk. I cannot convey the tenderness, the full taste of milky softness, and the presence of the essence from the rabbit meat in words. May be it was the braising in the milk that had made this meat tender; may be it was the braising in milk that had brought the flavor out of the meat; may be it was the braising in milk that had made this piece grow large like a sponge; may be it was the best rabbit meat I have ever had. No, that was the best rabbit meat that I had ever had! (I only wish there weren’t any lentils sitting underneath it since I don’t like lentils).

Loin of Lamb


Mister C was disappointed with this dish since it wasn’t what he had expected.

That was unfortunate for him. On the contrary, I found the dish intriguingly engaging. The lamb was tender and cooked perfectly delicious. The lightly flavored yellow curry sauce did not have that punch you in the face character but it gave a slight spicy kick after a few seconds in the mouth. I also preferred this restaurant’s interpretation of the Samosa with potato and peas in a flaky shell over the more traditional deep fried doughy version. Of course, this dish would not come out of the kitchen without the chef’s touch of some bubbles which on this dish was a fittingly one made with tamarind.

Pan Seared Scallops


Scallops are the kind of meat that becomes tough and rubbery if overcooked. This was not the case with these four crisply seared juicy scallops. The dish normally comes with a parmesan broth with wild morel mushrooms, English peas and Bershire Farm bacon. However, because of the Tourist Tree’s new found food allergy, the chef prepared the broth especially for her without the parmesan. We do not know what the original broth would have tasted but the modified (and more moderated) version was totally delicious.

Chicken Stuffed Chicken

There are times I would try a dish not because of the ingredients being particularly exciting but because the process of transforming that ingredient from the raw to finish was compelling.

The chicken stuffed chicken is a mousse made with chicken meat, truffle, seasoning, then stuffed back into a empty carcass of chicken skin with asparagus and carrots(? ). The piece is topped with an apricot bubbles and comes with baby carrots, pickled fiddleheads, plumped pistachios and fava bean puree on the side.

I do not usually enjoy chicken but I enjoyed this highly mutated version of the chicken protein very much. Each bite was delicate and delectable with stuffed vegetables and the outer layer of crispy chicken skin providing textual contrast.




 
 
 
 
 

Apple Oatmeal Crisp with cinnamon Ice Cream


I enjoyed everything in this dish. I loved the crispy green apple chip. The ice cream was decent. The crisp itself was good and not too sweet. There was nothing wrong with the dish but that was nothing more than that either.

With the innovation and fresh presentation of our dinners, I was disappointed to see that the dessert was just…a dessert. After our brains being poked with different interpretations of mundane ingredients all night, the mundane-ness of the dessert certainly needs some fresh interpretation.

New friends at an old place


With several chef changes throughout the life of Marigold’s Kitchen and with each chef bringing a totally new personality to the restaurant; should we consider it a new restaurant under each chef or is it just the same restaurant with the same four walls and same decor?

Chef Halpern has, in no doubt, taken the restaurant in a totally different direction from the previous kitchen masters. It is interesting to see that he has decided to showcase his talent at a corner townhouse in a quiet bohemian West Philly residential neighborhood instead of the more visible Center City. Is he ready for the downtown competitive dining scene or is he carving a little notch out for himself in West Philly? May be we should also ask if the main stream dining crowd is ready for his creation? With his talent and background, I wish to see him go further with his food experiment and wow us with more bubbles.

Hyeholde

Amid the tranquility of the suburban neighborhood sits an English Tudor style country castle, a house that was first built in 1937 and operated as a restaurant and living quarters for the owners. Several expansions and many years later, the Hyeholde is still being operated as a restaurant, now by the daughter of the original owners.


This is one of those places that only the locals would know about and be able to find. We drove up and down the curvy quiet streets of the residential neighborhood; we just couldn’t find this place on our own.

Walking into Hyeholde is like walking into a mid-century country house. High ceilings, exposed beams, and large tapestries on the wall. You would expect to see one of Henry VIII’s wives having tea with her ladies-in-waiting in one of the cozy dining rooms.

Sherry Bisque


This traditional Hyeholde soup is made from a base of tomato and peas, with a few carrots, celery, onions thrown in and a little bit of pork and ham hock for flavoring. It is pureed, strained, then mixed with butter, cream, sherry; and served with a layer of whisked cream on top.

The soup had a medium consistency with lots of sherry (minus the alcohol) taste on the initial sip followed by the tomato flavor coming along behind. It was not a heavy soup and was very easy eating.

Cervena Elk


Two pieces of generously cut elk loin resting on top of rapini and smashed potatoes, served with Rossini sauce and decorated with large turnip pieces.

That was the best elk I have ever had! The meat was tender, juicy, and cooked to a perfect medium-rare. This rareness and tenderness of the meat was like eating steak tartare and allowed me to taste the natural and not overly gamely taste of the elk. Absolutely delicious!

I am not sure if there was any actual foie gras or truffle in the Rossini sauce but its rich earthy flavor suggested that some blood might have been used in the recipe. The sauce served as a nice complement to the grainy textured smashed potatoes that had a good kick from the black pepper seasoning.

The Spill


Two bites into my elk heaven, the waiter accidentally spilled the water glass on the table and drowned my dinner. With profound apology, he immediately removed the plate and promised me a replacement in five minutes. As I was looking at him walking toward the kitchen with my spoiled dinner, the thought of a replacement getting to the table just in time for everybody finishing their desserts flashed in front of me. My thought was further reinforced when he returned with a big glass of blood orange sorbet and apologized further indicating I could have this intermezzo as I “wait” for the dinner.

I am never a big fan of sorbet. To me, it is just frozen fruit juice with lots of sugar added. Since I had nothing else to do at the table while everybody was eating, I took a bite of this blood orange sorbet.

I was pleasantly surprised by the natural blood orange flavor in this granitas-like concoction. Maybe it was the grainy texture, maybe it was the not too sugary ice crystals, maybe it was the zing from the blood orange; I did enjoy this sorbet until surprise number two appeared in front of me.

As the waiter had promised, elk number two did arrive within five minutes! It was just as well made and delicious as my first plate. The efficiency and prompt action of our waiter and the kitchen totally impressed me.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart


Warm chocolate mousse in a medium light pastry shell sprinkled with crushed toasted hazelnuts and topped with a scoop of coffee ice cream. The chocolate mousse was not particularly heavy or sweet. It had a lighter melty consistency that made it delightful to eat, especially with the textural contrast of the crushed hazelnuts. Separately, the coffee ice cream was wonderfully full of coffee essence yet creamy and light. The whole dessert was a treat to enjoy.

When I walked into Hyeholde at the beginning of the evening, I did not know what to expect. With a name that means “house” (I think) in Olde English and decorated as such, I would not be surprised if the food was still in the Middle Ages as the restaurant’s theme suggests and with the same standard to match.

Never expected the un-expected. For a place putting such emphasis on its history (the original owner had written a book on the history of the Hyeholde), the food and service certainly weren’t stuck in time. It was a very pleasent modern day experience.

Too bad I live so far away.

http://www.hyeholde.com/

Date Night

The Tourist Tree and I went on a date night with our first stop at Mango Moon, a restaurant which takes a modern twist to the traditional Thai street food.

The Mango Moon

The Tourist Tree started out with the restaurant's namesake cocktail made with Three Olives Mango Vodka, pomegranate liquor, mango puree, and champagne.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Tiger


Aiiyah chose the Tiger beer, a pale lager from Singapore which would pair quite well with the Thai spices.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sticky Rice and Tiny Fish


We ordered the Sticky Rice and the Salty Tiny Fish as side dishes but they arrived first. The Tiny Fish was a small bowl of very tiny dried fish seasoned with salt, sugar and spices. The fish was very crunchy with a strong taste of salt and seasoned sweetness. It could be eaten as a finger food or sprinkled on other food. We kept munching on it until the saltiness was getting to us; then we discovered a unique combination of the tiny fish with the sticky rice. Crunchiness, softness, saltiness, blandness.

Papaya Salad


A collection of shredded green papaya, vegetable, grape tomato, chopped peanuts, marinated in fish sauce and lime juice, topped with grilled shrimp.

We loved this salad. It had three of the four dominant flavors of Thai cuisine: sweet, sour, salt (creamy being the fourth), plus a bit of heat. Although we did not find any string beans (as stated in the menu) we did find some what we believed to be turnips in the salad which we enjoyed.

 

Spicy Glass Noodles Salad with Seafood

Glass noodles mixed with shrimps, baby octopus, scallops, mussels, cilantro, celery, chili and peanuts. The salad came in a similar dressing as the papaya salad but it was a little bit sweeter. We liked the warm peanuts in the salad but the seafood was lacking in everything from texture to taste. If you could get seafood from a can, this is probably where it came from.

Sai Auh

A northern Thai sausage of minced pork with galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, scallions, shrimp paste and red curry. It has a nice sweet and salty taste on the sturdy casting and a grainy texture with the filling. The sausage was very juicy and reminded me a lot of the great sausages in Texas BBQ, minus the BBQ taste.

 
 
 
 

Spicy Baby Octopus


It is steamed and mixed with celery, garlic, onions, grape tomatoes, cilantro, basil, lemongrass, and mixed with a chili-lime dressing. The best part of this dish was the grape tomatoes. The baby octopus tasted just about the same as the seafood in the glass noodle salad. It had no taste and had a strange texture. I tried but could not tackle the chewiness and had to spit out my octopus.

Grilled Duck in Red Curry Sauce


Duck breast coated with a delicious rub grilled to medium, served with red peppers, pineapple, onion, basil, and peppercorn in red curry sauce. The breast was wonderful. It was moist, tender, juicy, and grilled perfectly. I loved the rub on the outside of the breast which had a slight sweetness and spiciness. The red curry was among the best we have had lately. It had just the right consistency and mild taste plus a slight heat that came later after the bite.

 
 

We absolutely enjoyed the duo playing on the other side of the dining room during our dinner. With just a guitar and hand drum, they played acoustic songs from the Dave Matthews Band to Pink Floyd. We asked for their card on our way out but they told us that they were not professional musicians and were just doing this for fun.


We enjoyed everything at Mango Moon, except the seafood. The meat dishes were the apparently winners; the juicy sausages and the perfectly grilled duck breast in red curry sauce. We liked the papaya salad too, and would only hope the kitchen could have done a better job with the seafood.




 
 

In lieu of desserts, we stopped by the Flat Rook Tavern which always seems to have interesting brews on its beer list.

Tourist Tree found one of her favorites, Hop Slam. The little hairs behind the back of my neck stood up as she drank this bottle of hoppiness and bitterness down her mouth. Yikes!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

One the other hand, I found black gold in my bottle of Harviestoun Old Engine Oil. So delic after my Thai dinner!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We ended our date night with an appropriately named movie.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The BRGR Joint

“It’s been here for months, where have you been?” The Tourist Tree said to me as I noticed this place for the first time while we drove by it during our regular Saturday morning errand run. I must have blinked every time I passed this place, situated along Lancaster Avenue sandwiched tightly between a pizza place and a mattress store.

We were greeted by a giant wall mural of tattoo art as we walked through the front door. The mural is a reflection of the owners’ favorite things, hamburger, tattoo, and pirates.


We ordered our meal at the counter at the back of the store then took a table by the front window while it was being cooked.

I was delighted to see a Purell dispenser mounted on the wall by the front door. I am a true believer of cleaning my hands before touching my food.


Although being in a college town, the owners’ do not believe I in skimping on the quality of the ingredients. All the patties, including the turkey and the bean patties, are fresh and not of the frozen variety.

I had the bacon cheese burger with jalapeño, grilled onions, and an egg on top. The burger was not particular big, nor the patty particularly thick. The meat was tasty and moist to a degree despite the fact that it was cooked all the way through. I enjoy a burger topped with an egg with the yoke running down the meat when I bite into it. Unfortunately, the egg on this burger was cooked all the way as well. Despite a few short comings, this $5.99 (extra 99cents for the egg) burger was delicious. It reminded me a lot of a slightly upscaled version of an In-N-Out burger.

 

The chili cheese fries are supersized decadence in a tin bowl. The fries were hand cut and double fried, and topped with cheese and chili. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if the fries were crispy since they were covered with the chili and cheese, but I loved the chili. It was not spicy hot but instead had a very flavorful taste with a slight sweetness. The consistency was not grainy which had made this an ideal as a topping. At one point of the meal, I decided to put some chili on the burger and it transformed the burger into a totally different dimension.
 

Like the potato fries, the sweet potato fries were hand cut and double fried. They were of the right size and shape and were crisp, however they did not wow us. We found that they did not have that deeper flavor that sweet potato fries should have. They were just kind of bland.


Besides burgers, BRGR also serves salads, hot dogs, grilled cheese BLT and the not so real burgers of the turkey and vegetarian varieties. And for the frat brothers looking to break in a freshman plebe, get the OMG BRGR which can stack up to 11 patties.

With its late hours ‘til 3:00AM on the weekends, the BRGR Joint is a small oasis that also provides some relief to the late night hungry crowd in the culinary desert of the Main Line. Its burger is decent and will satisfy any hungry soul that walks through the door. However, the item that had me is the totally unhealthy, unnecessary chili cheese fries. I don’t think the chili would be that outrageous in a bowl on its own (it’s on the menu as a separate item) but it was just great in that chili cheese fries or on my burger.

Mini-Me

The Rouge Burger is as much an iconic entity among burger geeks in this city as soft pretzels and water ice. From the couple who own and operate Rouge, now comes a shoe-box size store front that sells a smaller burgers, fries, and shakes fast food style, except you can specify the temperature and the toppings for the burger. It has been hyped that the new burger place, 500 Degrees, would use the same mix of meat for the burger and the buns would be sourced from the same baker, Wild Flour Bakery.

A huge menu board above the counter greeted us when we walked thorough the front door. We both ordered the Classic (sans buns for the Tourist Tree), a black and white shake, and one order of spicy fries from the casher. The place wasn’t busy, so our number was called in a few minutes for pick up at the counter.

 
 
 
 
 
 

We were handed a big paper bag with everything wrapped in butcher’s paper inside. The burger came in at 5.5oz of meat with a generous piece of Bibb lecture, 2 slices of tomato and our choices of topping. Thin slices of pickles and a pink’ish seasoned mayo “special sauce” were packed separately in small clear plastic containers in the bag as well.
 
 
 
 
 
 

The choices for toppings are bacon, mushrooms, jalapenos, and grilled onions. I asked for all plus cheddar cheese. We were impressed that the restaurant did not skimp on the toppings and put a nice amount on the burger. My first bite was very satisfying. The meat was nicely packed, had a good thickness, moist, and quite tasty, despite being overcooked to medium-well instead of the medium-rare that I had requested. I had some trouble tasting the cheddar in the burger. I knew it was in there somewhere; maybe there just was not enough in the burger to balance with the meat. Since Tourist Tree had requested no bun for her burger; hers was wrapped neatly in paper as well, except after a while, the paper was coming apart from the juice and the grease soaking through it. She thought it would be good if the restaurant could provide a plate for non-bun burgers; while I was thinking that she just wasn’t eating fast enough. Speaking of grease, the skinny and almost useless napkins from the dispenser were totally inadequate. At the end of our meal, there were so many napkins on our counter that somebody would have thought that we were doing paper maché.
 

We chose the spicy fries instead of the plain or truffle fries. The fries were very good; crispy, firm, just the right size, and none got soggy throughout our meal, although we would like the spiciness being on the more spicy side.


The black and white shake was made fresh with Bassetts ice cream per order. I thoroughly enjoyed mine with the excellent thick consistency and the perfect mix of vanilla and chocolate. I did had some trouble sucking it through the thinner soda straw which was the only type of straw available and I couldn’t find a spoon for scooping.

At $4.75, the basic burger (just beef) is a relatively inexpensive burger for the quality of the meat and the roll. It’s much better than eating frozen meat from a chain restaurant especially considering this restaurant will be opening late to accommodate the bar crowd from the many bars in the area.


One couldn’t help but to compare the real deal Rouge Burger with the “mini-me” from 500 Degrees. The Classic with cheese and onion comes in at $5.75 while the Rouge Burger is at $16.00. However, the Classic only weights in at 5.5oz of meat vs the 12oz at Rouge; and that’s before the $2.50 that you would have to pay extra for fries at 500. Nevertheless, one of the most qualitative factors not measured in dollar or weight is the quality of preparation in making the two different burgers. At Rouge, it is grilled then baked to the desired temperature while at 500, it is just grilled, fast food style, then wrapped in paper, and eaten fast food style. Both the Tourist Tree’s and my burger were overcooked while I have not had a bad burger at Rouge yet.

Some may argue that the 500 is a far better burger regardless of any of the aforementioned factors just for the mere fact that one do not have to endure the self-sanctimonious Rittenhouse Square crowd and all the wanna-be’s drama. That’s for each to determine what’s more important.

Zavino

It was an eyesore. Among Capagiro, El Vez, Doggie Style, Bindi, Vintage, upscale stores, and the rest of the gentrification in the Mid-Town Village; the check-cashing store at the corner of 13th and Samson was an eyesore. Finally, the store was boarded up and a new restaurant is taking its place.


After months of constructions, Zavino seemed to be ready for business…soon. Friends and Family night was held, then nothing happened. There was sometimes one or two people milling around inside the restaurant, but it never opened its door. Seemed like chef Steve Gonzalez’s wine bar / pizzeria was missing one key ingredient for his restaurant: the liquor license. So being tired of waiting around for the PLCB, the door was thrown opened for business as a byo. The restaurant was even giving away wine and beer to every dinner as a good will gesture while its liquor license was swimming its way through the bureaucratic red tape.

If you have anthropophobic or claustrophobic, this restaurant is not for you. The space is very small. It is made even smaller with a counter dividing the room lengthwise with one side being the bar/pizzas making area with the oven/ the cured meat slicer station; with the other side being the dinning room with tables packed tightly.

The phone call finally came to tell us the table was ready while we were spend the time waiting at Time a few doors down with a few beers. We squeezed through the dinning room and were brought to the communal table. Usually, there is some ample room between seats at communal tables due to its nature, but the seating were pretty tight at this one. It reminded me of those in Hong Kong which aim is to pack as many in as possible. The couple that was brought to the table after us refused to take their seats. Guess they needed their personal space and some privacy.

Calamari


Snappy yet tender, the calamari was served swimming in a [good for dipping] fish base stock loaded with herbs and topped with celery leaves.

We weren’t expecting much from the complimentary wine and beer, however, we were surprised that they weren’t Coors Lite or some box wine. Tourist Tree chose the Troegs Rugged Trail while I took a glass of very decent Spanish red.

Gnocchi with Pork Shoulder Regu


The gnocchi was pillow soft and had just the right elasticity. The pork shoulder regu was simply awesome. I could easily just eat that by itself. The sauce was a bit salty but I did like the slight anchovy hint that it was carrying.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Sopressata


Every pizza maker has his own version of the sopressata pie. We liked this one. Thinly sliced sporessata spread out on red sauce mingling with pieces of mozzarella, with olives, pickled red onion and pecorino, sprinkled over it.

We couldn’t help but was comparing this pie with other sopressata we had lately (Stella, Pizzeria Bianco); but there’s no comparison. Every place was different with its own characteristics. This particular one had a crispy bottom with a uniform pattern of brunt spots yet a doughy dough with good elasticity and the right amount of chewiness. The pie was further accented by a few big burnt bobbles along the edge which gave it some personalities. The meat was very nice with a bit of sweetness. I liked the thinly sliced pickled onion pieces which gave the pizza a unique character but I am not sure about olive.

Kennett.

This is basically a mushroom pizza with oyster, cremini and shitake mushrooms, roasted onions, mozzarella, and béchamel sauce (Kennet as of Kennet Sqaure, the mushroom capital of the US; got it?).

I loved the béchamel sauce on this pie. Its creamy consistency and the presence of the mushrooms was like eating a cream of mushroom soup with pizza bread for dipping, except there weren’t that much mushroom in this soup. The crust reminded snappy and did not sag after a time period but the pie could definitely use more mushrooms on it to make it spectacular.

We are loving the sudden proliferation of Neo-Neapolitan pizza restaurants in the city. As much as a pizzeria (and a wine bar), Zavino also has outstanding non-pizza dishes. I could easily just have those as a meal even though they are on the smaller side. And speaking of small, have I mentioned that this place is really small. It’s so small that Tourist Tree’s chair got kicked every time somebody walked past her.

Post script: Zavino has seen gotten its liquor license. It is serving a variety of moderately priced wines.