Our final dinner in Philly was at one of our favorite places, Vernick Food & Drink, where we’ve been going since they opened 13 years ago.
I had a dry AF Ford’s martini, my PIC their excellent Manhattan. The greeting from the kitchen was a butternut squash soup with thyme oil and a gougères. Their soups are always wonderful, even those I least prefer — i.e. winter squash or carrot.
We shared a Vernick classic & must-order every time we’re there: the blue crab toast with lemon aioli and tarragon — it’s been on the menu from the beginning, and it’s absolutely amazeballz.
I’ve made versions of it at home, but I rarely achieve the nice char on their fabulous grilled sourdough.
We also shared the hiramasa with carrot and brown butter: the fish was a buttery delight, and the carrot & brown butter worked strangely well.
Next was maitake with leek escabeche, tarragon & orange, also very good.
For our main we split the Thai-spiced lamb chops with tomato shiitake chutney. The Thai flavors were there, the ‘spice’ not so much. The chops were a perfect med-rare, very meaty and juicy, thanks to a decent amount of fat, and the tomato shiitake chutney was wonderful.
“Dessert” was a Night Night, Josephine (a digestif I’ve enjoyed before with banana liqueur & other stuff I forget now) for me, and a wonderfully viscous Meletti for my PIC.
Soon we’re off to food-shop, sausage-retrieve, and drive home to our kitties! 
