Having Supper in Philly

Restaurant Name: Supper

Restaurant Location: 926 South Street (10th & South), Philadelphia

On a recent whirlwind trip to my old stomping ground of Philadelphia, I had the pleasure of eating at Supper. This warm and inviting spot has long been on my radar, since it literally opened around the corner from my old apartment just months after we moved away. I was therefore delighted at the opportunity to find out what I'd been missing these last few years.

Overall, I'm going to say that I've been missing a truly lovely restaurant that shares my adoration of the pig and it's many splendors as well as my appreciation of small plates. Supper is just the kind of place I'd eat all the time if I still lived in Philly.

To start, I enjoyed Roasted Marrow Bones with parsley garnish and shallot jam. This dish was rich and delicious and the jam on the side was a real win. Sadly, though, the plural marker on the menu was misleading as we were not even served one whole marrow bone...just a sad little half of a bone that we disconsolately scraped clean. This dish would have been much more satisfying it we'd been given just a little more. I am a fan of small dishes, but this was too small, even for me!

Next I polished off the Boston Bibb and Herb Salad with apples, bacon, cornbread and buttermilk dressing. The buttermilk dressing was great - creamy and tangy - and since this salad was rife with crumbled bacon, I was happy. The apples had been marinated and were dark and full of flavor. The cornbread seemed like a good idea but might have worked better as a cornbread crouton rather than served soft.

Still hungry...I also ordered the Slow Cooked Pork Belly with warm fingerling-and-green bean salad, bacon dressing & apple chutney. This was suitably rich and absurdly fatty. There was a great tang in the dressing and garnish to cut through the creamy fat (which was admittedly so plump and quivering that I couldn't finish it).

In addition to sharing the bone marrow and pork belly with me, my dinner companion also ordered the Strozzapreti Pasta with shaved brussels sprouts, leeks, hazelnuts and sage brown butter, which was complex, tender, and very Fall-like.

Overall, I was really pleased with the offerings at Supper. And, I saw plenty more on the menu that I would have liked to try, including a heaping (entree-sized) dish of seafood cioppino that looked amazing. The frankly very rich dishes were almost all balanced with fairly assertive acids, which helped cut through all that pork-goodness.

Well-conceived and reasonably priced, with a good wine list....Supper: why didn't you open before we moved away!!

Bon Apetit!