Good Taste is the Worst Vice

Vetri, Philadelphia

My visits to Philadelphia are relatively frequent, but always too rushed for me to do everything I’d like.  Of my three favorite Philly activities (tax-free shopping, eating gelato at Capogiro, or having a fantastic meal somewhere), I can manage just one or two in the average trip.


On the rare occasions when my schedule allows a dinner, there are so many great restaurants in Philadelphia that it’s tough to decide which one I’ll go to.  Should I head to one of my favorites, like Tinto or the Fountain, or someplace I’ve always wanted to go but never tried?

This time, I settled on Vetri, an Italian restaurant tucked into a beautiful, classic townhouse on Spruce Street.  Since opening in 1998, Vetri has collected all sorts of accolades from everyone from Mario Batali to Gourmet magazine – yet somehow, despite my boundless love for pasta, I never ate there when I lived in Philly.  I can only assume that this is because Vetri’s location put it just outside the southern boundary of my walkable comfort zone; I don’t think I was aware of anything south of Locust when living there.  Boy, did I miss out…

After being seated in the cozy, 35 seat dining room, I was presented with a glass of prosecco and two platters: one of hors d’oeuvres and the other of fresh vegetable crudites.  The hors d’oeuvres included some cured meats, marinated pears, a delicious cube of vegetable torte, and a truly fantastic piece of pastrami-style foie gras on toast, with the bracing bite of crushed black peppercorn.  The vegetables (batons of beets and zucchini, sliced fennel, and halved miniature carrots) were pristine and lovely, especially the crisp, sweet carrots. 

Vetri offers just one option for dinner, a tasting menu of seven courses or so that are drawn from a long menu of dishes.  You look over the menu and then specify your dietary preferences, favorite dishes, or ingredients to avoid, but the choice ultimately falls to the kitchen, making it a sort of Italian omakase.  I mentioned that I’d be happy to try a few different pastas and that I really enjoy goat (the latter being something they don’t often hear, according to my waiter), and then sat back to enjoy.

For my first course: zuppa di parre, a vegetable soup with fingers of grilled polenta and a petit, perfect quail egg.  The flavors were rich and yet light – a great way to begin.

Next, two Vetri classics, the onion crepe and the spinach gnocchi.  If you read about the restaurant, these will undoubtedly stand out as favorite dishes; I found them very good, though not the true stars of the dinner.  I also had almond tortellini with truffle butter, a nice combination of sweet and savory, with a contrast between the tender pasta and crisp garnish (crushed amaretti cookies, I think?).

The most memorable dish of the evening was the malloreddus pasta with bone marrow, fennel, and orange – unusual and masterful.  The pasta was a shape I’d never seen before, freshly made and reminding me of tiny ridged shells; the sauce of bone marrow was lush and wonderfully flavored, and complemented by the fresh tang of thinly sliced orange peel.


I would fly back to Philadelphia just for this dish, it was that good.

As promised, I received the goat for my entree – roasted capretto with polenta.  This was rich, very tender, fall-apart meat; the highlight was a piece of crispy-skinned rib that yielded a couple of smokily delectable bites.

Before moving to dessert, I had a palate cleanser of grapefruit sorbet with pistachios and a bit of fresh grapefruit.  The sorbet was excellent, rivaling Capogiro’s in its intense fruit flavor.

I hadn’t looked too closely at the dessert choices on the menu, figuring that whatever I received would be a nice surprise.  What arrived was the pistachio flan with white chocolate gelato, which proved to be far better than just “nice” – this is definitely one of the best desserts I’ve had in recent memory.  The flan is more like a molten pistachio cake, and the warm pistachio center melded wonderfully with the cold gelato for an unexpected and delicious combination.

I had the grand wine pairing with my meal, which was a lot of fun.  Alas, even with the list beside me I can’t recall my assessments of each glass (to my chagrin), but suffice it to say they ranged from good to fantastic. 


Vetri has definitely jumped to the top of the list for my next trip to Philadelphia – even if I have to sacrifice both Capogiro and shopping.  Well, shopping at least.


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