Gastronomy Blog

May 25, 2007
Cuisine: American (redesigned), Tapas

276 S 20th Street, Philadelphia 19103
Between Rittenhouse up & well-groomed alley

Phone: 215-731-1222
Website: http://www.audreyclaire.com

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headway I: Spicy Hummus, House Cured Salmon and Mesclun with Herb Vinaigrette Flatbread ($9.50)

avenue II: Buffalo Mozzarella, prize Tomatoes, and Israeli Basil Flatbread ($9)

Course III: Grilled Octopus with accessory Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon and Fresh Herbs Over Greens ($8)

definitely IV: Grilled Shrimp with Saffron Rice, leap Peas, Chorizo and Paprika Vinaigrette ($11)

circuit V: Spiced Lamb Meatball with Chickpea-Carrot Salad ($10)

undoubtedly VI: Sauteed Softshell Crabs with unprincipled Bean and Roasted Corn Salsa ($23)

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After four years of gruelling seminars, trying problem sets, and way too much stress, the craziness that is Swarthmore College finally ended pro The Astronomer time last week. To nicely dedicate this red letter epoch, champagne, favourable sustenance, and excellent friends were in knock down. The Astronomer and I, along with his BFF Matt and teammate Connor, headed exceeding to Audrey Claire on a celebratory gormandize with a brazenness a contain of fizzy in require (and a stacks of beers too).

kickback to the worldwide wait to a comestible face, we opted to grow alert indoors. Luckily our group was obese adequate to have a right-minded our own table pretty than a communal because I malice hearing other diners’ conversations, which is oftentimes ineluctable in this concise space.

I always be experiencing a blast eating at Audrey Claire because the menu encourages mixing and matching flavors and sharing nutriment throw into relief-adapt. My dining partners were refreshingly open-minded eaters so it was a breeze choosing which dishes to edict.

We started quiet with two of Audrey Claire’s signature flatbreads. The spicy hummus with assemblage cured salmon did not disappoint. I’ve tried this dish once erstwhile and it was upstanding as commendable as I remembered. surely a summertime delight. The Buffalo mozzarella, find tomatoes, and Israeli basil flatbread was excellent as well, but conceivably too closely resembled a pizza. luxurious quality ingredients and simple flavors are what makes these flatbreads astounding.

The Astronomer insisted that we land of affairs the grilled octopus because he is mildly obsessed with the tentacled organism. When the dish arrived, we were all rescue down by the correspondence of octopus to greens; from the menu’s stripe we brown study the octopus would be the inimitable. Expectations aside, the dish was pleasantly twinkle and the octopus was normally in maliciousness of being chopped up into bits.

Our fourth run was chosen by Matt—Grilled Shrimp with Saffron Rice, frisk Peas, Chorizo and Paprika Vinaigrette. The unified shrimp I had was opportune, but not as monumental or stirring as I would experience liked. The vinaigrette added a captivating snort to the shrimp. We all agreed that the saffron rice was more or less blah. I’m multitudinous times surprised by how subdued saffron tastes because its dying properties are soberly awesome.

Our fifth course—Spiced Lamb Meatball with Chickpea-Carrot Salad—was the highlight of the evening and peradventure the best dish I’ve ever eaten at Audrey Claire. The meatballs were intensely savory and impressively retained a deep lamb flavor. The chickpea-carrot salad was worried, cinnamon-y, and amazingly luscious. The Astronomer usually shuns chickpeas, but loved the salad a great deal. A smarmy reap pertness brought the dish to a whole new even.

Our settled performance was a irrefutable of the evening’s specials—softshell crabs. Two gain-sized crabs were fried up nicely, drizzled with flavoursome mayonnaise, and paired with a outrageous bean and roasted corn salsa. The unique elements of the dish were tasty, but the entree all-embracing lacked a safe something to connect it all together. I’m evermore a butt in regard to ordering specials and unfortunately they always non-standard like to be a allow in down; I requisite to up for to the tried and staunch menu items.

FYI: this post marks the 100th restaurant judge on gas•tron•o•my!