It's history lesson time, boys and girls! This week's subject: Philadelphia's Restaurant Renaissance
Long ago in this city, the dining scene was a plain and simple thing. Back then (circa the 1960's), there was but one steakhouse in town (Arthur's); haute cuisine was as cutting edge as what was being served on Julia Child's TV show; and Old Original Bookbinder's was our only nationally-known restaurant.
Then a little light flickered on along Spruce Street when a talented chef named Peter Von Stark opened a tiny French restaurant called La Panetiere, employing a young Frenchman named Georges Perrier. The illumination grew, igniting other bright lights that emanated from other notable newcomers throughout the late-60's and early '70s - The Happy Rooster, La Terrasse, The Astral Plane, White Dog Café- each offering eclectic fare and funky settings that borrowed partly from the creative fresh-ingredient laden menus blowing out of sunny Southern California with a Greenwich Village vibe.
Time passed and some of the lights faded, yet a few stalwarts continued on, such as Fitler Square's long-running Friday Saturday Sunday, still popular and ever the classic Philadelphia renaissance restaurant.
Weaver Lilley opened along 21st Street back in 1973, giving the place a name that was an ode to the three original nights it was open. Though times have changed (it's now a seven-nights-a-week dinner spot) since those hippy-dippy days, the beautiful thing about Lilley's restaurant is how it has remained so static yet so fresh after all these years.
The blackboard menu features the likes of those halcyon days gone by: cream of mushroom soup (earthy and rich - just as you like it), pate maison, and chicken Dijon, as enjoyable now as when it seemed so cutting edge back in the day.
Creating New American cuisine since before it was coined as such, Friday Saturday Sunday has always shared an appreciation for good wines. It provides a simple yet well-thought-out list of French and Californian offerings, each bottle priced at only $10 over cost.
Yet, as well-known and as popular as this culinary classic has become, it still quietly boasts one of this city's best-kept-secrets: the intimate and moody Tank Bar located upstairs from the small first-floor restaurant, a perfect place for romance and assignations.
Today, Philadelphia's gastronomic options are endless. But it should be known that the genesis of it all can be attributed to those renaissance restaurants from days of yore; hallmark operations like Friday Saturday Sunday - a true oldie but a goody...
