Friday, June 4, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
One Block of 18th Street to Become Outdoor Cafe June 5
One block of 18th Street – between Locust and Walnut – will be closed on Saturday, June 5 from 11 AM to 8 PM for the first Outdoor Café event, organized by and benefitting the Friends of Rittenhouse Square.
Said Wendy Rosen, president of the Friends, “Tables from Parc, Devon, and Rouge will be set up in the street, and music will be provided by Curtis Institute students. A percentage of all sales from these restaurants will go to the Friends of Rittenhouse Square to help us preserve, protect, and beautify the park.”
With artists’ booths already ringing the Square Friday through Sunday for the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, the tables in the street and the music of Curtis students will lend additional European flair to the neighborhood. Admission to the Fine Art Show is free. Lots of good reasons to visit the Square this weekend!
Cichetteria 19, Rittenhouse Square
Just south of the Square on 19th is this relatively new place, tried it for the first time this weekend. They have some of the usual Ital-American stuff, the pasta, the pizza, but where they really shine is on the small plates. (Cichetti).
These plates are really the way people in Italy eat, especially in Venice. These are small portions of GREAT food, prepared in an authentic, careful way. This is not what you will get in a typical "Italian" restaurant in America, which is what makes it so good!
They have 5 plates for $19, and 3 plates for $12. We ordered 8 plates together, which was a good thing, because we were stuffed sharing them. They look small, but they are very filling, and very satisfying! Everything was quite different, and quite wonderful. We had, among other plates, the Baccala, caponata, crudo scallops (raw), roasted shrimp, and the highlight for me was the Broccoli Rabe with canelloni beans. Had a really unusual, wonderful, pan seared flavor. Yum!
The owner is from Venice, he says he was a gondolier but I suspect that may be an "exaggeration". (Why would anyone leave such a lucrative occupation?) But whoever's doing the cooking in the back is a great talent.
It's a fun place, and the food is terrific and reasonable. Highly recommended.
http://www.cichetteria19.com/
Permalink | Reply
menton1 Jun 01, 2010 10:13AM
From: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/711442
These plates are really the way people in Italy eat, especially in Venice. These are small portions of GREAT food, prepared in an authentic, careful way. This is not what you will get in a typical "Italian" restaurant in America, which is what makes it so good!
They have 5 plates for $19, and 3 plates for $12. We ordered 8 plates together, which was a good thing, because we were stuffed sharing them. They look small, but they are very filling, and very satisfying! Everything was quite different, and quite wonderful. We had, among other plates, the Baccala, caponata, crudo scallops (raw), roasted shrimp, and the highlight for me was the Broccoli Rabe with canelloni beans. Had a really unusual, wonderful, pan seared flavor. Yum!
The owner is from Venice, he says he was a gondolier but I suspect that may be an "exaggeration". (Why would anyone leave such a lucrative occupation?) But whoever's doing the cooking in the back is a great talent.
It's a fun place, and the food is terrific and reasonable. Highly recommended.
http://www.cichetteria19.com/
Permalink | Reply
menton1 Jun 01, 2010 10:13AM
From: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/711442
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