27018772
Bella
2000 Lombard St.
215-985-3222
American Express accepted
Not wheelchair-accessible
www.BellaEpicura.com
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"What’s in a name?" wrote the great Bard of Avon. Juliet’s musings sprung to mind when Edward and I drove past a new restaurant called Bella at 20th and Lombard. I immediately thought Bella was going to be another run-of-the mill Italian restaurant that serves fried calamari, Caesar salad, crab cakes, sliced tomatoes with mozzarella, and mussels red or white. The second time we drove by, I looked carefully and noticed the sign also read, "An American Bistro."
Bella, which is feminine — or the masculine version Bela, as in Bartok — is a Hungarian name. Bella is also an old-fashioned Yiddish name. Edward had an aunt Bella, my mother had a cousin Bella. So I was not surprised when I met Ali Waks and she told me she named her restaurant after her grandmother.
Bella is housed in the former Waldorf Cafe. If you ever dined there, you won’t recognize the place. Gone are the funky atmosphere and the black-and-white photos of old Hollywood stars. Waks, who moved to Philadelphia from Manhattan five years ago, always wanted to own a restaurant and figured Philly was a good place to start. The walls are soft pastel with tracings of anjou pears on them. The bar area has comfortable upholstered club chairs.
My friend Ilene and I sipped jumbo Bombay Sapphire martinis ($8.50) and chatted with the bartender. Waks arrived and joined in. (She did not know my identity as a restaurant reviewer, by the way.) I noticed an unusual Jewish cookbook that had been published in England and Australia near the bar. "The author is a friend of mine," said Waks. "I’m from New York, I miss Russ & Daughters and would like to add some Jewish dishes to the menu."
We followed her into the dining room, a cozy, warm place with more pastel touches and tables covered with white linen cloths and napkins. The woman in charge of the kitchen is chef Amanda MacWilliams, who came to Bella from The Inn Philadelphia and Striped Bass. MacWilliams purchases all her immaculately fresh ingredients — from the free-range chickens to cheese and produce — from local farmers.
An appetizer of smoked trout ($10) was a delicious winner. When our server placed it in front of me, Ilene said, "That looks so good, I’ll have one, too." Smoked trout is a delicious Jewish deli favorite. Called "chubbies," they were always sold whole and you de-boned them at home. MacWilliams removed the bones and formed a good-sized timbale of flaked smoked trout in the center of a cool plate. She topped it with frisee. After roasting and cooling red beets, she sliced them and placed them around the fish. Pretty rosettes of horseradish cream dotted the plate. A concasse of sweet red onion and cucumber enhanced all the ingredients. A dish such as this shows the chef’s care and creativity. We both cleared our plates.
MacWilliams’ mussels ($10) were prepared in an unusually tasty way. After the mussels were steamed, they were nestled in a sauce made with caramelized fennel, a touch of Pernod and saffron broth. The fennel added a buttery richness to the sauce, which was an attractive light-peach color. Pernod is a licorice-flavor French liqueur that marries well with fennel for all the obvious reasons. The mussels could have been more plump — a few were scrawny — but they were not a bit overcooked.
Salmon has been the fish of choice in America for nearly 20 years. Because of its innate rich flavor, citrus and Asian ingredients do well when preparing a sauce. Bella’s version ($18) consisted of a meaty fillet that was grilled and topped with a light vinaigrette-like sauce prepared with fried chilis and ginger. MacWilliams used lime as the acid here and it worked beautifully. The plate contained a timbale fashioned from rice noodles. The salmon was properly cooked, a little translucent as it should be.
Now that once-exotic wild mushrooms have been raised in Kennett Square for some time, chefs are inventing new ways to make delicious use of them. MacWilliams took shiitakes, chanterelles, creminis and white-button mushrooms, sliced them and cooked them down into a thick, rich, delicious buttery ragout studded with heady garlic and snipped chives ($12). The chef used butterfly pasta in this dish.
Seasonal vegetables are served with entr�es. We enjoyed a puree of sweet potatoes, another one of turnips and a saffron flan. Such a welcome change from roast potatoes and green beans.
Bella has only been open for three months. MacWilliams arrived two weeks ago and after speaking with her, I had the feeling she is going to make more of a personal imprint on the menu, which lists just 13 items.
Waks talked about her interest in Jewish food — her matzoh brei or fried matzoh is on the menu for Sunday brunch — especially the heady, rich flavors of Sephardic cooking, which has its origin in Spain but found its way to many countries, including France, Italy and Greece — particularly the eastern Mediterranean — and the Middle East.
As we left the restaurant, I thought about the lack of Sephardic dishes on restaurant menus. Sure we have hummus, grape leaves, chopped salads — dishes aimed at the American palate. But if Waks and MacWilliams add a few unusual dishes to the menu, perhaps even an Ashkenazic (European-Jewish origin) offering along with the fried matzoh, they just might be on to a way to enhance the flavor of this delightful new restaurant.
Two-and-a-half tips of the toque to Bella.
