Meritage Restaurant and Wine Bar News

Meritage Specials

2013-06-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Crab Tasting Menu Wednesday June 19th - Friday June 21 $39 per person

Amuse Bouche Jonah Crab, yuzu emulsion, chili crisp

1st course Peeky Toe Crab salad, champagne mango, Thai Basil, vinaigrette, cucumber mint granita, avocado mousse

2nd course Pan Seared Crab Cake, roasted local asparagus, black truffle emulsion, five minute egg

3rd course Corn and Crab custard, crab and shrimp mousseline, branzino, sauce americaine, shanghai bok choy

4th course Flourless Chocolate Torte, raspberry sorbet, swiss marshmallow

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KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT!
http://blog.zagat.com/2013/04/korean-fried-chicken-thursdays-start.html

"Meritage's may actually be the best KFC in town right now"
Craig LaBan Inquirer Restaurant Critic
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Vegan Tasting Menu 35.

Every Tuesday Night!

Amuse

Spring Pea hummus, house made cracker

1st Course

Wild Mushroom Soup, herb oil

2nd Course

Crispy Tofu, bibb lettuce, slaw, kimchi, gochujang

3rd Course

Crispy Polenta, roasted local mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns, tomato chutney

4th Course

Coconut Sorbet, coconut caramel, toasted coconut
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MERITAGE HAPPY HOUR

5-7pm Tues-Fri

Bucket of Pony Corona’s 10

Can of Sly Fox Beer 3.

June Bug:
Cucumber Vodka, St. Germain, club soda over ice with
a cucumber garnish 6.

Summer Jam:
Tequilla, fresh Lime juice, splash of chambord,
club soda & mint over ice 6.

Chardonnay Douglass Hill 2011 California 6.
Alai Cabernet 2012 Spain 6.
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SNACKS 5.

Korean Pork Taco

Grilled
Kobe Grape Leaves

Corn & Crab Fritters

Inquirer's Craig LaBan reviews Meritage

2009-11-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

From stuffy to the right stuff: A bold makeover, lowered prices, and a new chef cooking exciting Asian fusion signal welcome maturation.

Original article at Philly.com by Craig LaBan

Buying a successful business sounds like a solid idea in most realms. But in the quirky universe of Philly restaurants, where hands-on owners and chef talent often matter more than brand names, there can be unexpected baggage changing hands along with the walk-in fridge, wine glasses, and range.

In some cases, it's simply hard for the new crew to live up to a lofty reputation. It's a story that's played out from foodie favorites like Django (now closed) to down-home standbys like the Country Club Diner (now just generic).

But Michele DiPietro and Irene Landy have faced the contrary conundrum since buying Meritage Philadelphia at 20th and Lombard 31/2 years ago. They've spent much of their energy trying to undo the restaurant's previous reputation for being stiflingly stuffy and expensive. And for the most part, at least until recently, they had failed.

A bold decor revamp this summer was clearly a stroke in the right casual direction - ripping out the carpet in favor of hardwood, ditching the linen for bare butcher-block tables, painting the walls a cheery yellow, and relocating the bar to the front vestibule window. Entree prices have come down from around $27 to $21 max.

And yet, I sensed serious reluctance when I asked some friends from the neighborhood to join me for a meal at Meritage. Even though I saw the virtues of the former incarnation, my friends vividly recalled a long-ago experience there smudged by hovering service, wine snobbery, and steep bills. They were unaware a major transformation had occurred.

But after a dinner that soared from smoky little bacon-taro cakes to duck consomme bobbing with decadent foie gras wontons, amazingly braised pork cheeks over banana leaf-steamed coconut rice, and an apple bread pudding served alongside a hot shot glass of mulled, freshly pressed cider, they say they'll be coming back often. And so will I.

Because after two stellar meals, it's clear that DiPietro and Landy - longtime front-of-the-house veterans with stops at Tony Clark, Buddakan, and the Happy Rooster - have not simply remade Meritage into their own. They have also uncovered a chef talent in Anne Coll whose dazzling Asian fusion palate and knack for affordable gastronomy should reestablish Meritage as one of the more relevant kitchens in town.

Her emergence adds another promising debut to a year that's already been notable for unsung talent stepping out from behind the broad aprons of Philly's marquee chefs (like chef Pierre Calmels at Bibou, who left Georges Perrier's Le Bec-Fin). And while Coll may not be a household name quite yet, she's certainly earned her place in the spotlight after several years as Susanna Foo's executive chef on Walnut Street, following formative experiences at Le Bec-Fin and Savona.

The influence of her six Foo years (and the Media-raised Coll's long-standing interest in Asian cooking) is obvious in the menu's many fusion accents. There is an array of stunning dumplings - half-moons filled with foie gras and chicken mousse glistening in truffled brown butter; crispy potstickers with gingery pork and shiitake mushrooms; some round beauties plumped with delicate shrimp and streaked with chive oil - as exquisite as any I've tasted since, well, my last meal at Susanna Foo.

In the menu's tapaslike "Snack" section (entirely $6 or less), there are grilled Vietnamese-style grape leaves stuffed with ground kobe beef, tempura-fried jalapeños filled with gingery pork and cellophane noodles, and a dollop of cool tomato chutney scented with star anise that elevates a warm puck of panko-crusted Shellbark Hollow goat cheese to a level far beyond the usual bar food.

But what separates Coll from so many other fusion pretenders is the command of Asian ingredients that allows her to draw an uncommon depth and elegance of flavors. I've had Thai curried mussels a hundred times, but rarely have the Kaffir lime, basil, and lemongrass popped through the richness of coconut broth like hers.

A confident use of Three Crabs fish sauce is one secret that lends these dishes a snappy backbone, whether it's the pristine dice of tuna tartare, shined with sesame and chile oil next to a tingly froth of wasabi-soy foam, or the cilantro-ginger marinade that gives the hanger steak a subtle tang.

Her use of house-made salts and oils infused with various spices (fragrant with Szechuan peppercorns, chiles, or five spice) helps layer the exotic seasonings deep into a dish, like the slow-roasted pulled-pork sliders, or the pork tenderloin that gets smoked over tea and jasmine rice for a memorable "duo of pork" alongside a morsel of tender belly braised in palm sugar and Xiao-shing wine. The chile oil adds an earthy but subtle spark to a gorgeous seared cod swathed in the light richness of lemongrass emulsion. A simple bistro dish of chicken with brussels sprouts and mashed parsnips is transformed with a Vietnamese pho-spiced brine, and chewy little bits of Chinese sausage studding the sauteed sprouts.

I'd like to interrupt this lovefest for a moment to say Meritage isn't quite perfect yet. Coll's menu is unwieldily large and harbors a few weak spots. The truffled mushroom risotto was overly rich and uncharacteristically one-dimensional. The salmon with lentils was a bore (a point of agreement, since it's already been replaced). The sesame-crusted crab lollipops were eye-catching, but rubbery. And there was an unfortunate pair of bones in the roasted black cod - the only flaw in an otherwise standout five-course tasting menu that was a relative bargain at $39.

Meritage's lightened look is an overall improvement, with a lively bistro feel that better suits its new mission as a neighborhood hang. If only those four-seat butcher-block tables weren't so knee-knockingly small, and the dim lighting had a slightly brighter, sharper focus.

Those who appreciated the old Meritage's emphasis on fine wine will still find some high-end vintages anchoring the reserve cellar. But DiPietro, who worked with wine at Buddakan, K.C. Prime, and Smith & Wollensky, has focused her efforts on finding some worthy international table wines, with 50 bottles around $50 or less, and glasses at $8. In general, these are food-friendly values, not great bottles, but the best include a well-balanced Spanish monastrell blend (Altos del Cuco) and a CMS blended white from Hedges in Washington that was full of fresh, exotic fruit. (Avoid the Capestrano passerina, which was a bit too funky the night we tried it.)

If the wines have been scaled back for affordability, there seem to be no quality compromises coming from Coll, which is impressive at these prices.

Even the desserts, a frequent cut-corner in local kitchens, had memorable flavors, from the silky five-spice pumpkin creme brulee to an intense chocolate-espresso pot de creme with pistachio biscotti and the irresistibly fudgy dark chocolate torte with house-made mint ice cream (and dried-cherry compote) that was like eating a peppermint patty for grown-ups.
For a restaurant that's finally come of age under its new owners, this sweet finish is only the start.

Contact restaurant critic Craig LaBan at 215-854-2682 or claban@phillynews.com.

New Meritage Website

2009-11-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new Meritage! Our new website is here to showcase the recent renovations to our dining area and bar, while introducing Executive Chef Anne Coll and her fantastic new Fall Menu.

Meritage is now featuring a News page, which highlights upcoming events like our Fall Chef's Tasting Event. We will be featuring up to date information about our wine list, specials and menu additions. Subscribe to our RSS feed for automatic updates. We hope to see you at Meritage soon!

Philadelphia Weekly Reviews Meritage

2009-11-01T06:46:00.000-08:00

Look out, Pub & Kitchen. After a makeover, Meritage is poised to dominate 20th and Lombard.

Original article by Adam Erace

Go-go-Gadget-neck, went the head of the secretarial blonde craning to see out the windows of the womb-like wine bar where she and I sat, separately. Across the street, a hip crowd curled out the front door of Pub & Kitchen onto the table-and-tree-lined sidewalk like the tail of a relaxed leopard.

“What’s that place,” she asked in the way a character might intone, “who’s that guy?” in a straight-to-DVD Bring It On sequel. I felt annoyed for the bartender, a cool, capable chick that must suffer that question a thousand times a night. Here on the corner of 20th and Lombard, there’s Pub & Kitchen and that other restaurant with the name no one is ever quite sure how to pronounce.

So meet Meritage, which rhymes with heritage. Fresh off an August facelift that coincided with the arrival of new chef Anne Coll, this is the first time in the restaurant’s five years that it’s on the lips of more than just neighborhood regulars. 

The lounge and dining room now sport Dijon-yellow walls and butcher block tables, while Coll sports a resume with “Executive Chef, Susanna Foo” as the latest entry. Her collection of tidy house-made dumplings and gingered snacks has Foo written all over it, sure as the tingly floral overtones of hua jiao yan, the roasted Szechuan peppercorn salt that finds its way into everything here. But there are also flavors inspired by the Southeast Asian dudes that worked on Coll’s line during her six-year term on Walnut Street, like Thai kaffir lime in the mussels and tradewinds of Vietnamese star anise drifting through the spiced tomato chutney she serves with creamy panko-crusted local goat cheese. 

Show me someone who doesn’t love fried cheese, and I’ll show you a liar. Coll’s interpretation of mozzarella sticks with marinara charmed, both for its execution (perfectly crispy outside and gooey inside) and subtle, smart hints of the Orient. Clearly this is fusion, but it’s done so well I don’t even want to cheapen it with that label.  

This is also damn good drankin’ food, certainly not by accident considering Meritage is, and always has been, about wine. (The name references a controlled designation for American blends.) Since owners, life and business partners Michele DiPietro and Irene Landy, took over in 2006, Meritage’s wine program has become more approachable and affordable, with 14 by the glass (all $8), fun flights and 50 bottles under $50. 

So bring on the alcohol sponges, fair bartender! Fat, tempura-fried jalapenos, like addictive poppers filled with hoisin-kissed house-ground pork and cellophane noodles in a ginger-soy glaze. Tight, pan-fried Hudson Valley foie gras dumplings tossed in butter browned with Burgundy truffles, cilantro and scallion. Silky Lancaster chicken liver pâté crowned with black plums macerated in brandy and five spice. All $6 or less, all tasty.

After “Snacks,” the menu progresses with “Small Plates,” an ironic heading for the giant U10 Cape May scallops seared med-rare and posed over an autumnal apple-cauliflower puree and vivid Thai basil-lemongrass emulsion. I loved the cute-as-a-Mini Cooper pulled pork sliders too; after a five spice massage and eight hours in the oven, Coll shreds the succulent pig butts and coats them in snappy ginger beer barbecue sauce. I dream of the five spice-dusted frites that might one day accompany, a perfect marriage of France and China if there ever was and one preferable to the crunchy (but clichéd) Asian cabbage slaw in overwhelming sesame vinaigrette. 

Nothing clichéd about the desserts, though, not even the flourless chocolate cake. Coll boosted the dark ganache batter with pureed bananas, crowned the cake with roasted sliced ones arrayed like the petals of an exotic Asian flower, to elegant, scrumptious results. Made with robust Rome apples and Le Bus brioche soaked in coconut milk custard, her bread pudding had one foot in Thailand and another in the American heartland. This was the first of many bread puddings I’ll eat this fall, so good luck to everyone else trying to best Coll’s tender pouf topped with vanilla ice cream and apple-cinnamon bubbles. 

Know where else you can get insanely good bread pudding? Look out the window. But rest assured, with Coll in Meritage’s kitchen, the Pub & Kitchen crowd is lookin’ right back atcha, wondering what’s going on across the street.