Hell Is Frozen, Pigs Are Flying

And we had a Restaurant Week meal that was actually really good! I know, we could scarcely believe it either! Since we restaurant critics live in a strange Phantom Tollbooth realm, Restaurant Week usually means a blessed break from eating out for us. Yet, these are the weeks our fam and friends are clamoring to dine out. Since we’re not one to miss a party, we invariably suck it up and tag along. The problem with Restaurant Week is that the food is usually shitty, the portions paltry, the service atrocious. (If you were a waiter running your ass for a $35 per person check, you’d be miserable too.) In the past we’ve had exactly two above-average RW dinners in probably five years. But we promise not to rant. This post brings happy tidings of a four-course feast at Salento, the airy blue-and-white BYOB from the peeps behind South Philly’s beloved L’Angolo. It’s like dining in heaven, cloud-like and serene with gilt mirrors, brick masonry and a ceilingful of arboreal crystal chandeliers. Here, they specialize in recipes of the Salentine Peninsula on the stiletto heel of Italy’s boot. The huge four-course Restaurant Week menu included pan-toasted gnocchi no bigger than gumdrops, lamb sausage on rosemary spiedini and one luscious, lemony roasted artichoke heart. Our fave: the Pugliese antipasto. Three crisp crostini—cherry tomato; white anchovies and arugula; swordfish carpaccio topped with shaved Grana Padana—lined up alongside a cup of thick, hearty, fava bean puree fortified with tender dandelion greens. Out-freaking-standing. Check the pics here. Best of all, Salento wasn’t crazy busy and service didn’t have the usual RW lags. Cancel you rezzies and re-book here.

Photo: blogalicious