10 Arts

Food club again this week! I was super excited about our restaurant choice this time around. We had a reservation at 10 Arts in the Ritz Carlton, which is Philadelphia's Eric Ripert restaurant with Jennifer Carroll as Chef de Cuisine. If you're a Top Chef watcher you'll remember her from last season. Top Chef is one of my top shows so I was really looking forward to it. I dug out a dress I haven't worn since I became pregnant. There was absolutely no way I could have nursed in it so it was a real treat! I felt cute as I walked out the door and thankfully even realized I had forgotten to zip it up all the way before I walked into the restaurant. I was only mildly embarrassed to ask a stranger on the street to help me out.

I met Laura at the hotel bar and we sat down to dinner with a champagne cocktail and dug into some great conversation. I should have known something was amiss when I took note of how salty the butter for the bread was. We started out with an order of grilled octopus and corn chowder. The octopus was very good, though a little salty for my taste, and turned out to be the best dish of the night in my opinion. The chowder was OK but didn't impress me much. For entrees Laura ordered the lobster and shrimp ravioli (good but salty) and I ordered the salmon. The waitress threw me for a loop when she asked me how I wanted it done. I wasn't sure how to respond since I've never been asked this for salmon before and felt kind of like an idiot. Thanks to my friend Mary, next time I will just respond 'Chef's choice.' I found the salmon to be just 'eh' surrounded by a broth that was, you guessed it, too salty. We also ordered a side of mash potatoes (obviously) that turned out to be way too salty! I should have sent them back, but I didn't have the nerve.

Nothing on the dessert menu caught our eye so we decided to head out to Max Brenner's a few blocks over. I had never been there and was met by a delightful chocolate aroma upon entering. As we sat down Laura said there are so many yummy deserts that it's overwhelming. True that! It was hard to pick but we settled on a play on smores and some coffee. A choice we did not regret.

So overall dinner was a disappointment, but the night finished on a high note. However, I consider any night out with such a good friend as true success!