Ask any Philadelphia foodie what she thinks of Stephen Starr, and you're likely to get an earful. Lots of people love what he's brought to their city, but there's a whole other segment that thinks his restaurants are all totally formulaic, and that this "Starrification" has killed the inventiveness and individuality in the city's fine-dining scene.
I went to two Starr restaurants while I was in Philly last week, and while I can see that the thumping bass, gorgeous and uber-hip servers, and excruciatingly precious interior design features might get boring after a while, I had two really lovely meals and think that Mr. Starr must be doing something right.
In the interest of integrity, I am going to mention here that one of C's best friends is the sous chef at Pod, arguably the youngest and funkiest of the Starr restaurants. So it might go without saying that the meal we had there was out of this world. I'm not going to write about it in depth, since we never even had a chance to order -- we just put ourselves in R's capable hands, and were not even momentarily disappointed. The highlights, however, might include:
- Toro and chu-toro that literally melted away as soon as they touched your tongue
- Szechuan lamb chops with a depth of flavor that never once hid the beautiful lamb flavor
- Crab spring rolls, incredibly decadent
- A chocolate toffee bread pudding that not only wasn't too sweet, but carried through the bitterness of the dark chocolate beautifully
- Passion fruit creme brulee, so pure and tart-sweet that I wished my part-time lover could have been there to taste it
Pod doesn't have what I would call "ambiance". Instead, it's a place that you'd go if you wanted to feel unbearably hip, and beautiful, and sexy. The space is DEFINITELY on the very loud side, but conversation isn't out of the question.
In the next couple of days, I'm going to write about my second Starr experience, this time at Striped Bass. This was a wholly different meal, from the menu to the environment to the service. Let's just say that Mr. Starr doesn't seem to have a problem creating very different restaurants for very different patrons.
Tags: Philadelphia, Stephen Starr, Pod, San Francisco, Restaurant Review, Food & Drink
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