Dream Cuisine Come True

Nothing delights quite as much as an unexpected dining discovery: a place that you find almost by accident and wonder how you could have missed it in the first place when it was there right under your nose all along.

Such a place is Dream Cuisine, where restaurant managers Elizabeth and Melissa Malesich and chef extraordinaire (and owner) Vincent Fanari have brought a touch of the South of France to South Jersey.

We dined at Dream Cuisine on Route 70 in the Village Walk Shopping Center on Saturday evening and found this intimate eatery to be enchanting, dreamy and romantic.

At this low-key, 40-seat restaurant the focus is on civilized dining, fine food, enjoyable conversation and personal service. And you'll be pleasantly surprised at the entree prices which range from $19.00 to $28.00 with a wonderful four-course, prix-fixe dinner available from $30.00 to $40.00.

This is rustic Provencal cooking at its best with all the delights and fragrances of an open kitchen. We enjoyed roast chicken breast, broiled scallops, shrimp scampi and beef Burgoyne. We also added fresh, tasty salads (with cranberries, apples, pears and goat cheese, depending on the choice) and warm apple pie with French vanilla ice cream for dessert. And by the way, the coffee was excellent as well.

This is a BYOB and you will have to make reservations.

What a delight it is to have a cozy French bistro in the middle of Cherry Hill! And the friendly managers and personable chef-owner are on hand to guarantee your complete satisfaction.

Dream Cuisine is open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 to 11 PM. Lunch is served on Saturday from 11:30 till 2 PM with Sunday brunch from 11 AM till 3 PM.

Make a reservation (856-751-2800) pronto!

Bravo, Seasons 52!

The new Seasons 52 Restaurant at the Cherry Hill Mall doesn't officially open till Monday (March 23) but we've already been inside this beautiful eatery where we met with General Manager Shannon Early and sampled many of the dishes.

And we can report to you that Seasons 52 is a fresh food/fresh eating delight!

From the minute you approach Seasons 52 you will feel special since the restaurant provides free valet parking and welcomes you with an entranceway that is inviting and soothing.

Inside, a spacious, airy feeling prevails with teak-toned wood, open fireplace, natural stone, gentle golden lighting and teal and earth tones. Both the main dining room and the bar room feature many booths and banquettes for comfortable seating and the chef's table up front is perfect for a small, intimate party. Even though the open kitchen runs along one entire wall of the dining room, the room is not noisy or shrill. Private party rooms are also available.

Live music is featured every night at Seasons 52 in the bar room. The bar is a large free-form pool shape with the music and the bartenders in the middle. Along the walls of the bar room are many cozy booths. It's a natural hub of activity and just perfect regardless of whether you're arriving alone or with friends.

The menu at Seasons 52 changes with the season and the chef features special dishes every week.

Dinner entrees (with sides) range from $16.00 to 27.00. Dinner salads are available in small ($5.00 - $7.00) or entree sizes ($12.00 - $15.00).

Flatbreads are among the best appetizers. These exceptionally thin crispy breads are extraordinary.

We sampled the gulf shrimp cocktail (large and firm), garlic chicken flatbread, baby spinach salad and mixed greens salad. Salads were beautifully prepared with a light vinaigrette dressing.

For entrees we tried the tiger shrimp penne pasta (like a pasta primavera with nice-sized shrimp) and the char crusted filet mignon (perfectly prepared).

To top it all off Seasons 52 offers a tempting selection of mini indulgences ($2.50 each) that include chocolate, mocha, cheesecake, pecan and key lime treats, among others.

The wine selection is outstanding and throughout the evening service was superb.

And here's one of the best parts: Every entree at Seasons 52 is 475 calories or less. Every entree!

The restaurant uses no cream or butter in cooking and nothing is fried.

Plus, the place is also open for lunch at equally attractive prices and once the weather gets a bit warmer outdoor seating will be available as well.

For South Jersey, Florida's Seasons 52 represents a whole new approach to dining.

You're gonna love it!

BTW: Our thanks to GM Shannon Early; our server Brett; and Rachel Summers, Cathy Schwartz and Michael Cianfrone of The Star Group for their kindness and attentiveness. Bravo!

Don't Miss Chifa!

Jose Garces is touted as Philadelphia's next (or newest) Steven Starr - a restaurant impresario who seems to have the golden touch with all things culinary.

Garce's latest creation is Chifa at 707 Chestnut along Philly's new restaurant row.

Chifa is a term used in Peru to refer to a style of food produced by the fusion of creole Limean food with Chinese food brought by Chinese immigrants mainly from the province of Canton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also used to define a restaurant where this type of food is served.

So, Chifa is a fusion of Peruvian and Cantonese food served tapas style.

Now, ordinarily I don't like small plates. And ordinarily, I don't like to share.

But last night we found ourselves with lifelong friends at the chef's table at Chifa and we had a wonderful meal served in a leisurely fashion with lots of tasting, sharing, laughing and discovering. The dishes were fresh, fragrant and beautifully presented and the service was first-rate.

The intimate atmosphere shimmers with red lacquer, a gleaming gold communal table, twinkling votive candles and a ceviche bar sitting atop an intriguing Chinese apothecary cabinet. And the seats are exceptionally comfortable.

Among the dishes we tasted were a large number of sea food treats including scallops, shrimp, crabs, salt crusted bronzino and lobster with noodles. We also sampled stir fried rice, yuca fries and barbecued ribs.

Thank goodness, our host Jeremy Trinidad (who called us together to celebrate a Very Significant Birthday) did the ordering for us and the chef complied with an unforgettable tasting menu.

We topped it all off with chocolate mouse cake.

The Garces Restaurant Group just seems to keep growing and growing under the tutelage of one of the nation's hottest superstar chefs. The whole thing began with Amada and now includes Distrito, Tinto, Mercat (Chicago) and Chifa.

Called the “Latin Emeril” by one food critic for his wide smile and his educational approach to food, Jose Garces, who the prestigious James Beard Foundation recently nominated for its “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic” award, has long been an ambassador of contemporary Latin cuisine, appearing regularly in the New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Esquire, Cooking Light, Restaurant Hospitality, Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, Philadelphia Magazine and Travel Channel’s Epicurious TV.

His newest creation is a solid winner. Don't miss it!

Rouge 'Sit-In' Ended

From Philly's King of Gossip, Dan Gross in today's Philadelphia Daily News:
Political pundit Flavia Colgan, a Daily News editorial board associate, has been banned from Rouge (205 S. 18th).
Colgan, who also blogs for the Daily News at citizenhunter.com, got into an argument with a restaurant manager about 5 p.m. Friday about vacating a table she had occupied at the Rittenhouse Square staple since noon.
An eyewitness says Colgan, who had been there with some friends who left money behind for their portion of a bill, tried to pay $60 with an ATM card that had not been activated, and was also not in her name. When the restaurant provided a phone, Colgan tried but failed to activate the card. Colgan reportedly took offense at the suggestion that she was having trouble paying her bill and began arguing with the female manager, during which Colgan, we're told, shamefully threatened to trash Rouge in the Daily News.
To her credit, during the altercation Colgan walked outside to give the remainder of a burger to a homeless man, but then returned and continued fighting with the manager, who ultimately told her to forget about the $60 and please just leave and never come back to Rouge.
Colgan, who formerly worked for the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll and has been seen discussing politics and cultural affairs on Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN, told us yesterday that the inactive card was in her father's name as he handles her finances. In an e-mail she said Rouge has "a lack of understanding of the law, their job, and what is polite." Colgan admits that she told the restaurant that "if I had the time I would be making calls about their behavior to both law enforcement, since they have no understanding of civil liberties, and to the press," but that she decided she would rather spend her time on her charitable efforts.
Rouge owner Rob Wasserman yesterday confirmed there had been an altercation and stated that Colgan was not welcome back at Rouge. Wasserman said that he provided a $40 tip to the server who had been shorted on the bill.
After we communicated with Colgan, a man called us from New York identifying himself as her friend and offering to help.
The man claimed to be present at Rouge and said Colgan "acted appropriately," declining to provide details about the argument.
Asked what time he was at Rouge with Colgan he replied "late, around 11." When we said that Colgan had been there hours earlier and that we doubted he had been there at all, he got angry, tongue-tied and defensive.
Hey, Flavia, next time you're going to enlist a friend to call and lie to us, you should really prep him a little better.

CH Mall: Big Times Near!

Big times are near at the Cherry Hill Mall.
The dream of a totally new, totally re-invented Mall is upon us and the excitement of a new "Main Street" for Cherry Hill is so close we can touch it.
The big new Nordstrom store and Nordstrom wing of the Mall will open on March 27. Nordstrom will launch the store with a benefit gala just prior to the official opening.
We hear that at least ten new stores will probably be ready to open with Nordstrom and these will include J. Crew and Urban Outfitters.
Maggiano's Little Italy will swing open its doors on Monday (3/2) and the new Seasons 52 reataurant will follow close behind on March 23.
The new Capital Grille free-standing, upscale restaurant will open later in the spring and July will bring the opening of California Pizza Kitchen.
Hurry over to the Mall now to check out the new interior environment complete with an all-new bright, airy promenade featuring lovely living-room ensemble sitting areas with new, soft furniture. And, many of the Mall's stores are expanded and/or completely redesigned.
We're not even at the Grand Launch Moment yet and already the place is breathtaking!

Living Large

From the New York Post:
After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway.
Obama arrived at his home in Chicago on Friday, and treated wife Michelle to a Valentine's Day dinner downtown last night. The couple was spotted leaving upscale Table Fifty-Two, which specializes in Southern cuisine, with the first lady toting what appeared to be a doggie bag.
The president plans to spend the Presidents' Day weekend in the Windy City, and is not expected to sign the bill until Tuesday, when he travels to Denver to discuss his economic plan.
Both the House and Senate passed the bill Friday night.
The push to get the bill through before the holiday weekend was so frantic, members of Congress didn't have a chance to read all 1,071 pages of the document before they could vote.
"In a perfect world it would have been nice to have had more time to process it," said Ilan Kayatsky, a spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).
Well, the world is always "perfect" inside Table Fifty-Two where dinner can run as much as $120 per person price fixe, plus appetizer and drinks. Yes, the chef/owner at Fifty-Two has been Oprah's personal chef. He's very well connected. And yes, it's almost impossible to get reservations at Fifty-Two - unless you're one of the elites or a FOO (Friend Of Oprah). This place is beyond exclusive.
One reviewer at Zagat described Table Fifty-Two as "snooty" and said "the people here are very pleased with themselves."
Are you surprised?

Bravo, Bridget Foy's!

We joined in the celebration of a Very Significant Birthday last night at one of our favorite places, Bridget Foy's American Grill, a landmark on Philadelphia's most happening street, South Street at Second.

We've known proprietors John and Bernadette Foy for more years than we care to remember and last night we delighted in seeing our old friends again along with their daughter, Bridget and son, Adam. Bridget now manages the restaurant which bears her name and last night we noticed many new touches at this cozy, multi-level bistro. In fact, we were the first to occupy a new long table which runs down the center of the main room facing South Street and we were surrounded by a houseful of other patrons at new tables and chairs featuring a cutout of Bridget Foy's distinct star logo. A new cooper ceiling and new colors also adorn Bridget Foy's and the intimate lighting gives the place a magnificent golden glow. Bernadette told us that the lighting was designed by the same person who recently lit Philadelphia's Osteria restaurant.

More changes will soon be coming to Bidget Foy's including a new building facade.

The food at Bridget Foy's is always fresh, imaginative, tasty and reasonably priced and none of that has changed. John and Bernadette travel around the world to scout out new dishes and the menu is frequently updated but always includes reliable standbys. Last night our large party enjoyed stir fries, strip steak, striped bass, penne chicken, southwestern crab cakes, pork tenderloin, steak salad and calamari. And if you're looking for something as simple as a burger, Bridget Foy's has one of the best burgers in the city and one of the finest martinis as well.

It's no surprise that this lively, friendly spot has outlasted many other restaurants and become a Philadelphia favorite. The owners and the staff at Bridget Foy's are personally dedicated to a fun, first-rate dining experience. Stop by and say hello to John, Bernadette and Bridget. They'll be happy to see you.

Color It Rouge

Is there any better place to be on a nearly-balmy, almost-spring day than Rouge?

Rouge, on Rittenhouse Square, is Philadelphia's most seductive hangout. The people watching (both inside and outside the restaurant) is great. The drinks are plentiful. The burgers and omelets are absolutely dreamy. And with a helpful hostess like Renee and attentive servers like Jen what more could you ask for?

I suppose you could call Rouge a bistro, a boite or a brasserie. I call it an unpretentious jewel box filled with interesting people, fresh, simple dishes and tempting drinks. And all of this comes with admirable intimacy and an extraordinary view.