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.