Bon Anniversaire BP

At Blogalicious, we're unapologetically addicted to American Idol, but we TiVo-ed the girls last night and headed to Brasserie Perrier for a dinner celebrating the restaurant's 10th anniversary. (Sorry, Antonella, we know you really needed our vote.) We've never been one to fawn over the art deco meat market on Walnut Street, but we think we're coming around. Hors d'oeuvres were really excellent: sweet oysters, goat cheese crostini with caramelized onions, phyllo dough cigars of asparagus and prosciutto, pineapple and beet salad that was both earthy and tart. Delicate gnocchi gumdrops in pesto and Gorgonzola got a luxurious boost with tender escargots, and a potato crust kept snowy halibut supremely moist. Like the slender administrative ingenues sipping cosmos at the bar, a studly rib eye had been trimmed into a pretty, Brasserie-correct filet. Crusty and charred on the outside and blood-rare inside, the steak was a study in textural contrast, and perfect match for a reserve Solaris cab from Napa. Dessert came tapas-style. Standouts included a lip-puckering passionfruit sorbet and a mini crock of creme brulee. A decade in this industry definitely speaks volumes about a restaurant and a chef, in this case Chris Scarduzio. Look for Chris and Georges to drop Table 31 in the Comcast Center on us sometime in early '08.