Dining Out in Philly

Chef's tasting menu

I can't say enough about my Friday night out with a great girlfriend of mine from DC.  She was in town for work so we took advantage of proximity and indulged ourselves at Amis Trattoria (412 S. 13th Street, Philadelphia).  Since we are both "foodies" I took the liberty of asking for the chef's tasting menu that evening since there was so much I wanted to try but didn't want to commit to some of the more adventurous offerings on the menu.  We pretty much had to roll ourselves out of the restaurant following the meal as the plates were more than generous and five courses were well worth the money ($85pp plus cost of wine).  To the right is the menu for the evening.

I'd say there were three categories of food for the evening: the most adventurous (lamb's tongue); the most unique (mortadella mousse) and the most tasty (eggplant Parmesan lasagna).

First the lamb's tongue... this was my first foray into this um, "cut" of meat.  Lori described it best when she said it tasted and had the consistency of fried corned beef.  I couldn't agree more.  Coupled with the pickled onions, it was better than I ever thought such a dish could be.  The mortadella mousse was outstanding.  Something I would never consider "moussing" it had the saltiness of the mortadella meat with exactly the right consistency to accompany the toasts.  This is something I'll likely try at home as it would be a great alternative to salmon mousse hors d'oeurves for the non-fish people out there.  The last category was certainly the hardest for me to consider since EVERYTHING tasted amazing.  The roasted lamb shoulder was beyond words - I just wish I wasn't so full by the time we hit the fourth course.  I chose the eggplant Parmesan lasagna for this category simply because it was the absolute lightest lasagna I've ever had and incorporated the taste of eggplant without the thick heftiness of the slabs you normally get.  Instead of slice of eggplant the chef pureed the eggplant into what I assume was the ricotta cheese mixture.  It was excellent. 

I also found a new favorite wine during this dining experience... Villa Calcinaia, Piegaia Rosato di Chianti, 2009.  Essentially this was a rose Chianti and what a wonderful wine.  With such hot weather this summer I've explored roses more than ever since even the lightest pinot grigio seemed heavy in the heat.  I really enjoyed this wine that presented a tart cherry taste keeping the taste nice and dry.  I enjoyed a glass pre-dinner and it paired well with our second course that included the charred prosciutto wrapped figs, lamb's tongue and braised squid.

If you're looking for a varied menu with an energetic atmosphere, Amis is a wonderful location to check out.  The staff were incredibly accommodating (doing the chef's menu for us on a Friday night) and very friendly.  I think the only challenge I had with the restaurant was the wood design of the table... I know this sounds odd but the "stripes" of the table tended to disorient me, especially after a couple of glasses of wine.  If you are easily disoriented with stripe patterns my recommendation is to keep your head up.  The food is well worth it.

Second Course: Braised squid (bottom left), charred prosciutto
figs (middle), lamb's tongue (right) and the risotto balls at the
top.