No Reservation
Posted By: Aaron Van Gossen | February 16, 2010 | No comments
by: Aaron Van Gossen
Sometimes the best nights out happen by accident. Like many couples on Valentine’s Day my wife and I planned out our day. A nice homemade breakfast with mimosas before heading out for a matinee performance of “Any Given Monday” by Theatre Exile at Plays and Players Theatre (for tix go to theatreexile.org), and then off to Ruth’s Chris for dinner. We made reservations at Ruth’s Chris six months ago knowing they would be packed on such a day.
Well, we heard that Monk’s Tavern was just around the corner from Plays and Players Theatre and we had wanted to eat there for months. So, forgoing my dream of eating fine Omaha Steak in the city of brotherly love (I’ve never been to Ruth’s Chris and have been dying to go), we cancelled those reservations and decided to go to Monk’s instead. After three and a half years of training I have become a good husband and called Monk’s to make a reservation. I was politely told by the young lady on the phone that Monk’s does not take reservations, but that on Valentine’s Day they are rarely busy as most people go to the more ‘fine dining’ establishments. That’s fine, if we don’t need them, we don’t need them. Our day was set, a play and dinner for Valentine’s Day, what could be better?
First off let me say that the play was fantastic! A world premiere by Philadelphia playwright Bruce Graham, but I wont go into details here, this is a restaurant review, no really, it is, I’m getting to it, I promise. Second, we took an extra long walk to Monk’s because a friend of mine from the theatre gave us wrong directions (thanks Bryan, Monk’s is on 16th, not 17th). And lastly, when we arrived at Monk’s the nice girl on the phone must have given everyone the same message because the place was FUCKING PACKED! A 40-minute wait for a table for two and standing room only in the bar, my wife and I aren’t in our 20’s anymore (OK my wife’s only 31 and I’m…well, over 31, but still, we’re past long waits for tables). So we left Monk’s without a real clue as to where to go for dinner without reservations. The walk began back to the car with the hopes of finding a place not packed with people that doesn’t serve food on paper plates, wit wiz. Well low and behold we rounded the corner and discovered La Fontana Della Citta! An Italian Restaurant on Valentine’s Day, what could be better? Well, Monk’s or Ruth’s Chris as planned but that’s neither here nor there. First off, my wife doesn’t like to eat at Italian restaurants, she’s of the opinion that if you can make it yourself at home why go out for it. And let’s face it, Italian is kind of easy to make at home. But we were hungry and really wanted a nice Valentine’s Day… Dammit!
So here it is, my long awaited restaurant review, and for all you gimmethisandthat readers you are privy to my very first restaurant review ever! Couldn’t tell, huh? I will preface this with I am not a professional food critic. I am not some fat asshole with a lot of adjectives and a plethora of culinary knowledge (although I am overweight and I can be temperamental at times). I have, however, worked as a waiter for many years so my food knowledge is not pedestrian. I know foie gras from flambé, although I don’t know if you can flambé foie gras. So here we go!
We walked in and were greeted by a lovely young girl with what I can only assume was a genuine Italian accent. I love it when they’re actually Italians. After confessing we had no reservations we were seated at a small table near the door. Not the best seat in the house but that’s what’s to be expected when you show up sans reservation and are not Frank Sinatra (that’s right, I made a Sinatra joke, what are you gonna do about it?). But we had a table and a friendly waiter so all was well. La Fontana Della Citta is BYOB, since this was unplanned we did not BYOB, but have no fear my friends, they sometimes have bottles left behind and offer free glasses of wine to those who come empty handed. We were fortunate enough to get a nice glass of Chardonnay, but they couldn’t tell me what kind it was. Hey, free booze is free booze; don’t bitch.
Their menu was impressive with all the Italian stand by’s looking succulent. (Hey, that’s a food critic adjective, succulent, nice huh?) We went with the price fix menu put together for the holiday, appetizer (sorry, antipasti), Entrée and dessert with coffee for $35. My wife started with a caprese salad and I had the calamari. The caprese was fresh, ripe crunchy tomato with nice whole pieces of mozzarella drizzled with olive oil and served with marinated red peppers. The calamari was lightly breaded, not too much like many places do, but just perfect, served with a rich marinara. I love appetizers that aren’t too heavy to ruin your meal and not too light to leave you starving waiting for your entrée. For our main course my wife went for eggplant parmesan, her favorite, and I went for the veal medallions in a rich sauce topped with mozzarella. I don’t know that I’ve ever had veal before but I have always wanted to try it. It was spectacular! The meat was tender and juicy with a flavor unlike any other I’ve experienced. I had no idea veal was so rich and flavorful, and the chef at La Fontana Della Citta definitely knows what to do with it. For dessert my wife went with cannoli and I had the Tartuffe with decaf (hey we’re getting old and she’s gotta work in the morning). At the serving of dessert we noticed that the night’s reservations were coming in, but we never felt pressured to leave, the staff was friendly and professional, and our server, Entela, treated us as though she never wanted us to leave. Which she did, but she never acted that way and that’s what matters.
All in all we had a wonderful spontaneous time on Valentine’s Day. A great show followed by a wonderful dinner. We really couldn’t have asked for more and I doubt we would have had a better time for twice the price with a reservation. We have friends visiting in April and we’re definitely taking them there, with reservations and our own wine, of course.
La Fontana Della Citta is located at 1701 Spruce Street between 16th and 17th streets. Call 215-875-9990 for reservations, unlike we did. Or go to http://www.lafontanadellacitta.com/mainPage.html to get a look at their menu.
Eat well and be healthy!
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