Setting:
Garces Trading Company for a quick dinner.
First Impressions:
Busy, packed, crowded. Looks like a market place/cafeteria/restaurant, which I think is the look they are going for. In the store you can buy, inter alia, wines and cheeses. It's a b.y.o. that keeps in mind the tourist, who might not realize he should bring his own, or the forgetful diner.
Food:
We ordered the chef's cheese selections, and then had quick bites (we had our tax appointment to get to). The chef's cheeses were all good except for the last one, described as a "pungent" cheese and coupled with nutella. It required being caked in nutella, or else each bite of this very special selection tasted like I was eating right out of the barn. Or from the fertilized field. That, my friends, is not a desired feeling to have when eating anything. Especially not when the dollop of nutella is what takes away the pungency of the cheese. I went there last month and can still taste the cheese. After that, I had a Lyonnaise duck salad. This was pretty tasty and fun to eat. About 3/4 of the way through, I declared I could hardly finish my plate. Somehow, I found the strength. Not because it was so good but really because the fun outweighed the yumminess. This dish is made of shredded duck, a poached egg, and a salad mixture all together.
Service:
So, the team mentality is the theme of a Garces restaurant, but all hands were not on deck in this place. We sat right next to the server's station, so lots of servers walked by us, but at one point our water glasses were empty for so long that we had to ask someone at the service station to fill them up. Growing pains? Getting out the kinks of being a fairly new restaurant? Either way, there are some big shoes to fill in the service area.
Maybe you should go, but after the restaurant has had time to settle. Also, make sure you drink a glass of wine. That might help in case the chef selects pungent cheese for you to taste. And if you get thirsty while waiting for water.
Food mmm
Service mmm
Decor mmm
Je ne sais quoi mmm
Overall mmm
1111 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
About the ratings:
mmmmm would eat there again tomorrow
mmmm looking forward to eating there again
mmm not in a hurry to eat there again
mm likely not going to eat there again
m would try my best never to eat there again. ever.
I reserve the right to grade on a curve for the overall score, despite the average.
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