Spring in Talula's Garden

We had the good fortune to dine at one of our favorites last week--Talula's is firmly embracing spring and the gastronomic bounty that it offers....


The fresh pea--goat butter ravioli topped with pea shoots was a lovely start...

Ditto the gnocchi, which was seared to a crisp, laden with buffalo Taleggio and topped with baby spinach.

Our mains were equally delectable:

Halibut "Rockefeller"--with sherry bacon vinaigrette, spinach, new potatoes, nettles and chives;

Hanger Steak with candied onions, pureed potatoes and marrow bordelaise;

Farro Risotto with ramps, peas, baby carrots, garden herbs and walnuts;

and the Florida Pink Snapper with warm lettuces, grapefruit, and fingerling potatoes.

Being fans of stinky cheese, we opted for the wonderful assortment called "Bring on the Funk", which was enjoyed by all.    We followed that with the irresistible  sweet ricotta filled donuts with apricot dipping sauce, and the bacon s'mores, which were a lot better than they sound.

So the love affair with Talula's continues.

THE Perfect Cheese Plate

An oasis on Washington Square East

Talula's Garden is a vibrant new restaurant on Washington Square West in Center City, Philadelphia.  Its owner Aimee Olexy is a cheese devotee. At Talula’s Garden, cheese is a well nigh a religion, because it is Aimee’s enduring passion,  While she may have spent her formative years in Chester County, and sources many of her cheeses from the surrounding farms, she also draws deeply from her first hand experience traveling in Europe and California.  Aimee confesses: "I was studying in Provence and Toulouse and cheese crept into my life then.."

On a recent trip to Talula's, Keri and I experienced an oh-so-perfect "flight" of cheeses - a master course comprising eight artisanal cheeses.  I decided to try and emulate this cheese plate, assembling cheese and complementary condiments and nibblies that replicate our restaurant experience, by calling on the services of the cheese experts at Reading Terminal Market.

Aimee Olexy owner and Maitre d' at Talula's Garden

According to Aimee, nothing beats a good artisanal cheese plate:  " It really is 'Art' on a plate both in terms of the talent that goes into cheese production and the care in the execution," she says.  "I love to see people just sit there and chat over the cheese course and appreciate the craft that's gone into the making of cheese."

We asked Aimee to share how best to prepare an awesome cheese flight and she made the following suggestions:

1. "It's important to handle cheese correctly - you need to treat it properly," she confides.  To this end, it is imperative to serve cheese at the right temperature, i.e. it needs to rest for about an hour out of the fridge so that the fats in the cheese have time relax - only then can the full flavor come through.

2. "Consider the visual aspect," Aimee advises.  We enjoy food through all our senses, not just our taste buds.  Smell and taste are important but we also enjoy food visually - so think about how the food appears on the plate; you're looking for contrasting textures and colors. 

3. "Include a wide selection of interesting and varied cheeses," says Aimee. You want to arrange a cheese plate starting with the lightest, softest cheese ending with the most intense or pungent so your palate isn't overwhelmed.  Also consider textures, she recommends, include soft squidgy, crumbly, moist, firm, hard cheeses and maybe for variety include cheeses with nuts or fruits added.

4. Turn cheese into an experience and encourage people to linger of their cheese course.  According to Aimee: "Cheese is a great talking point."  At Talula's they suggest diners graze on a cheese plate even before the appetizers.  This is all part of Aimee's food philosophy, namely that great food deserves to be enjoyed slowly and savored. 

Armed with these pointers from Aimee, we ran along to Reading Terminal Market to catch up with Downtown Cheese and Salumeria to assemble our own perfect cheese flight for a weekend at the Jersey shore...

Talula's Garden, Urban Eden

Living in a city, as we do, you may have a tiny back yard--or none at all--and it's easy to blame one's lack of horticultural creativity on space constraints.  The upscale restaurant, Talula's Garden, a newbie to the Philadelphia dining scene, instead celebrates urban gardening.  Owner Aimee Olexy (formerly of the late, lamented Django) takes the concept of 'Garden to Table' Dining quite literally, creating a vibrant green oasis on Washington Square.

Starting the meal off right--cheers!

Peek through the birdhouses and nasturtiums lining the decorative railings to glimpse the secret garden within:   planters are crammed with fennel, basil, tomato plants, edible flowers and even salad greens.  We spotted dandelion, butter lettuce, and mizuna leaves growing sprouting on our visit - these later morphed into a house salad.

With the doors thrown open, the restaurant at Talula's Garden feels like you are dining at a friend's house - well, that is, if you had friends with amazing taste, a beautiful garden courtyard, a world-class cook, and award winning designers.   (We need to find some friend like that.)  The restaurant feels casual, yet special.  But there's nothing casual about the food--the ingredients, the preparation, the flavor medleys or the presentation are all top-notch without being overly fussy.

Lobster and pork belly by Chef Michael Santoro

Prepare to be surprised by some of the combinations.  Highlights of our meal were the roasted goat stuffed ravioli with fresh peas, scallops with kohlrabi puree and watercress salad, spiced lamb shoulder with polenta, a sublime baby beet and almond salad, and a to-die-for "flight" of cheeses.

Talula's cheese course--a highlight of our epic meal.

Our cheese server cooed over the cheese board, as did we.   We picked the "Master Selection" - eight cheeses drawn from European and local farms.  Our cheese expert explained the reasoning behind each selection and recommended wine pairings; the wine list is extensive and spotlights organic wines.  At Talula's, cheese is a religion, in part because it is Aimee's enduring passion, having traveled extensively, researching French and Californian wine and cheese before settling in Philly.  Says Aimee:  "Our menu is most influenced by the restaurants of Northern California, where the emphasis is on the purity of food and chefs showcase the seasons."

Aimee is passionate about both the art and craft behind the making of food and also the dining experience.  She describes herself as a Maitre d' rather than a chef (Michael Santoro is the inspired Executive Chef at Talula's).  Aimee's attested aim is "to slow the whole experience down.  We want people to linger and enjoy the food - whether they come in early for appetizers at the bar, drop in for dessert and drinks to round out their evening, or are here for the full four courses.  I have an old world approach to dining - like New York's Le Cirque restaurant in the old days when you had a meticulous Maitre d' in the front of the house and an avid chef in the kitchen.  I want to encourage the slow enjoyment of food.  I want people to savor their experience."

Rhubarb Gateau, a fine finish!

The menu at Talula's is designed to encourage this leisurely approach.  It features appetizers that hover around $12 and main courses ranging from $25 to $35, with sides all priced at $6.  At  around $15, the cheese course, though pricey,  is not to be missed.   The cheese is prepped and served from a special cheese station, reminiscent of a food 'altar' surrounded by more herb filled window boxes; it makes for a dramatic focal point in the restaurant.

We interviewed other friends and patrons about their dining experiences at Talula's.  Here are some of the choice quotes:

• "Everything was perfect; the food was perfectly cooked, seasoned and presented.  It was just perfect.  The menu was really interesting, each item was surprising."
• "I would trade my firstborn for a steady supply of these chocolate salted caramel bars." 
• "This is the type of place where you can just as easily bring your biggest New York client or your mom to dinner.  The client will be impressed and your mom will be comfortable and happy."  
• "Top to bottom, this place beautiful--all five senses are positively engaged." 

Needless to say, the Philly Food Lovers are in love.

The A-B-C's of Fresh Produce

Instead of wasting multitudinous words extolling our admiration for the latest seasonal early Summer produce hitting the stands at Reading Terminal Market, we've run around visiting the Merchants and snapped what's in season NOW.  We also recently fell in love--with Talula's Garden. So brace yourselves for frequent references to this glorious new addition to the restaurant scene--more on Talula's in the coming weeks.

In order to avoid biting off more than we can chew, we are breaking the alphabet up into thirds.  Today, we'll tackle A-I.

Starting with A...

Arugula--We love it tossed with a simple balsamic vinaigrette--salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

B..Beets (divine as a side at Talula's Garden - why did their beets taste so good?  Perhaps it was the sprinkling of fresh herbs grown  right in the courtyard garden.)

C..We spotted cherries on the shelves last week!

D..Dandelion.  Hmmm.  Aimee Olexy, the owner of Talula's Garden, swears by both Dandelion and Mizuna leaves which she grows onsite and combines in a fresh spring salad.  Are we bold enough to try to recreate it..?

E..Eggplant.  We've said it before Iovine's Sicilian (football-shaped) eggplant runs rings round the conventional variety.

F..Fresas.  That's Spanish for strawberries, and there's nothing better right now.  Try Talula's Garden Chef Michael Santoro's simple preparation for a staggeringly impressive and very unique dessert:  2 cups strawberries, quartered.  Set aside an additional 1/2 cup of the damaged berries, and mash them with 1/4 cup Minus 8 Vinegar (a sweet vinegar made from post-frost grapes--hence the name--when the sugars are uber concentrated in the late-harvest fruit).    Serve the strawberry-vinegar mixture topped with crumbled meringue and sprinkled with chopped fresh mint .    Or, you could keep it really simple and buy a beautifully baked strawberry something from one of the Market's bakers.

Termini's Strawberry Shortcake

G..Greens, glorious greens.   Remember, Jack McDavid gave us his secret to cooking them--don't miss it!

H..Haricots Verts--these lovely baby string beans are divine roasted briefly with rock salt, olive oil and cracked pepper or sauteed in garlic and tossed with cashews.

I...I give up.  Can't think of any fresh produce that begins with an "I".  Can we count Iceberg lettuce?  Let's!   True confession, this crunchy head is great in a chopped salad or served retro as a wedge slathered with blue cheese dressing, but it's a bit of a guilty admission in terms of fresh, authentic, local produce consumption.  Maybe our "I" should be anything from Iovines.