From a sushi counter doling out sublime slices of dry-aged toro to a rogue noodle shop producing only-in-South-Philly fusions, here is restaurant critic Craig LaBan's Top 10 for the year.
From a sushi counter doling out sublime slices of dry-aged toro to a rogue noodle shop producing only-in-South-Philly fusions, here is restaurant critic Craig LaBan's Top 10 for the year.
Of course, you must also make room for favorites that show his affinity for special ingredients, like the crispy head-on shrimp in fish sauce caramel, or his finesse in recasting a classic, like the crispy banh chow crepe with “Sunday fish sauce,” without losing its homey soul — or any number of Mawn’s distinctive noodle bowls .
Graye challenges preconceived notions, for instance, by reimagining “tahini” as a nutty brown butter of dark pumpkin seeds and porcini oil that provides an earthy anchor for a sublime roasted honeynut squash filled with the electric brightness of pureed ground cherries and chilies topped with a seedy crust of puffed quinoa and rice. Another dish, a lusciously soft chunk of fruit wood-smoked eggplant sparked with caraway-scented fresh harissa, showcases contrasting aromas and textures at play.
A return visit in November has me thinking harvest season is a particularly special time to go. There were bay scallops whose sugar-sweetness was accented simply by rolling them raw in crushed chile peppers and finger limes. Wood-roasted capon breasts came atop a leg meat terrine marbled with thyme-scented capon mousse — a rustic master class in whole animal cookery.
That final Becherovka variation had such complexity it worked with a sublime smoked herring spaghetti as well a juicy N.Y. strip.
I always crave a taste of Kalaya’s classics: shaw muang flower dumplings, mustard chive gui chai cakes, and whole branzino basking in fish sauce and lime. Nok’s irrepressible drive to keep pushing to create new dishes continually amazes, though, incorporating ideas from visits to Thailand, her own staff, and the deep repertoire of her mother, Kalaya Suntaranon, for whom the restaurant is named. There’s a new satay of pork tenderloin, inspired by a renowned stall in Bangkok’s Or Tor Kor market.
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