March 16, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Le Jardin: Parisian bistro in an artistic setting
by LEN LEAR

Athmane Kabir, who also owns the acclaimed BYOB, La Bohème, relaxes in the dining room at Le Jardin, the city’s only upscale restaurant located in an art gallery. (Photo by Len Lear)

I have never been to La Bohème, a BYOB at 246 S. 11th St. (modern French with influences of North African cuisine), which was once just a neighborhood restaurant, but I have met foodies who have an almost religious allegiance to it. I have been told, for example, that their shrimp and crab galette with tomato and cucumber salsa is an other-worldly dish. Like so many successful businesspeople, La Bohème’s owner, Algerian native Athmane Kabir, used his first venture as a trampoline to bounce into an even bigger and more sophisticated enterprise.

Thus, a little more than a year ago Kabir opened Le Jardin Restaurant, located in the historic Philadelphia Art Alliance building, 251 S. 18th St. on Rittenhouse Square (formerly Opus 251), which serves fine French/Mediterranean cuisine in one of the Delaware Valley’s prettiest dining venues. (La Bohème is still in business as well.)

Resembling a classic Parisian bistro, Le Jardin features mocha-hued Venetian plaster, hardwood floors and warm red leather banquettes. The candlelit bar/lounge and two dining rooms overlook a romantic outdoor garden with gilded murals of birds and flowers. (I am writing this article on March 10, which is setting a record as the warmest March 10 in a century — at 76 degrees — which makes the Le Jardin garden one of the most attractive dining venues in the Delaware Valley. How long the weather remains so delightful is another story.) The fact that the restaurant is on the same floor as an art gallery makes it a very appealing site for catered affairs combining impressive artwork, food and wine. (Le Jardin is the exclusive caterer for the Art Alliance.)

Dinner appetizers at Le Jardin range from $6 to $14 and entrees from $15 to $28. Some of the can’t-miss dishes are the classic French onion soup with Gruyère cheese crostini; escargots with walnut garlic butter, muscular shiitake mushrooms and tomato concasse (it would be a waste not to mop up every drop of the savory sauce with crusty bread); crab cocktail with avocado mousse and hearts of palm; pan-seared dijon-crusted salmon with braised cabbage and a hefty Bordelaise sauce; and the pan-seared skate meuniere with brown butter, capers, potato puree and green beans. And there is a luscious chocolate soufflé for dessert.

As of the beginning of this month, Le Jardin is also now offering live jazz every Friday from 8 to 11 p.m. There is no cover charge. From 10 p.m. to midnight, there are also significantly reduced prices for wine, beer and appetizers. For more information or reservations, call 215-545-0821 or visit www.lejardinsquare.com

Lax on Leftovers

Nowadays, since most restaurants serve such big portions, many diners routinely ask for the leftovers to be wrapped for later consumption at home. One rarely even hears the term “doggy bag” anymore because no one is fooling anyone by pretending that the leftovers are for Fido and not for us.

One of my all-time pet peeves, however, is when we ask for the leftovers at the end of the dinner, and the server sheepishly admits that the food had been inadvertently thrown out in the kitchen.

This is precisely what happened to us during Restaurant Week last month at Roy’s, a superb pan-Asian restaurant at 124-34 S. 15th St. However, for the first time in our experience with discarded leftovers, something happened that I think is worthy of acknowledgement. Our server, Leila Ely, a Rosemont resident and graduate of Radnor High School who had been very friendly and efficient throughout the meal, said, “This was totally my fault, so I will ask the chef to make a complete new entree, and I will wrap that up for you to take home.” She proceeded to do just that, and it provided a great dinner the following night. Is that a class act, or what?

Toto’s terrific

Toto’s Pizza is a terrific little restaurant that recently opened in a small strip mall at 6555 Greene St. (at Hortter) in Mt. Airy, across the street from the Mt. Airy Learning Tree headquarters. Last week they ran an ad in the Local with a coupon offering an extra-large (18 inches) pizza and a large Caesar salad for $12.75. We tried it Saturday night, and it was a great deal. The huge pizza seemed to have extra cheese although we did not order extra cheese, and the homemade Caesar salad dressing was as good as we’ve had in fine dining restaurants. The $12.75 dinner was more than enough for two people; in fact, we had food left over.

Toto’s is an eat-in as well as take-out restaurant, and they offer a huge variety of burgers, hoagies, hot sandwiches, calzones, strombolis, salads and side orders all at reasonable prices in addition to pizzas. They are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Delivery is available all day. For more information, call 215-848-4550.