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Also this issue: offthemenu |
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August 1- 7, 2002
food
 Northern comfort: Grilled eggplant parmigiana at North by Northwest. : Michael T. Regan |
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North by Northwest7165 Germantown Ave., 215-248-1000
Appetizers, $5-$11; entrees $8-$20
Dinner, Tue.-Sun., 5:30-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., late-night menu, 10 p.m.-midnight
Wheelchair accessible. Smoking permitted after 10 p.m. Reservations recommended for parties of six or more. All major credit cards.
North by Northwest -- Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint cuddling in an upper berth, Grant being chased across fields by a crop duster, Grant and Saint scaling Mount Rushmore -- probably Hitchcock’s best suspense film. The restaurant by the same name has nothing to do with the flick, but it also appears to have a long run ahead of it. In a former furniture store on Germantown Avenue, Peter Kelly, of the old North Star Bar in Fairmount, has fashioned a large space dedicated to live music and down-home food. A handsome wood-and-glass art deco bar dominates the room, with a stage at one end and a small terrace with a piano at the other.
A wait at the bar (they only take reservations for parties of six and more, and it was a Saturday night), with Guinness on draft, revealed a very mixed crowd, all seemingly having a wonderful time.
When we sat down, I viewed the menu suspiciously, for after all, how could a place dedicated to music concern itself with food? First, there was the NXNW (the logo the restaurant goes by) Chowder, which was absolutely delicious, well-seasoned and full of clams in their shells and potatoes. One of my companions was intrigued by the fried chicken salad that included tomato, onion and bacon, tossed with Russian dressing and garnished with deviled eggs. Why didn't someone think of it sooner? It was like an entire picnic on a plate and, except for the absence of shrimp, resembled the old favorite Milan salad. The staff is young and can get a bit harried by the hordes of people, but they are casually good-natured. In any other restaurant, I would be annoyed if my waitress leaned on the table, but somehow here it seemed exactly the way to be.
Naturally, when it comes to entrees, meatloaf is a feature here, and what a good one at that. A huge slab came, with an almost smoky flavor, as if it had been put under the grill before being doused with wild mushroom gravy. All entrees come with two sides, and the meatloaf eater chose beets and creamed spinach, both fresh tasting and flavorful. In a Southern vein, we then tried a bun heaped with sweet and tender home-smoked pulled pork that came, as is the custom, with creamy slaw and exceptional pickle chips, semisweet and quite crisp. It was mighty good.
The only dessert that we could manage was an apple crisp -- warm, cinnamon-y and a fitting ending for this sort of meal. By then the noise level had truly risen, as the crowds were arriving for the music. That night it was a group from New York, with a $7 charge before showtime at 10 p.m., $10 after 10. It was the kind of evening I hadn't had in a long time -- jazz and a plethora of robust food. What could be better? In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we returned a few months later.
This time, it was a Wednesday evening, and the charming, hidden patio was open, and they had a new chef, Ed Hepner, formerly of Dock Street Brasserie, Montgomery Grill and the Main Street Restaurant Group in Manayunk. He's retained the chowder and the other dishes we had before, but there are a number of classy changes. One thing that doesn't change is the amount of time it takes to get the bread. When the three Le Bus varieties do arrive, they have foil-wrapped pats of butter, and that's not classy. Concentrate instead on the crispy calamari that almost floats off the plate and gains a new dimension from slivers of preserved lemon. Focus on the NXNW chopped salad, which consists of iceberg lettuce, tomato, celery, blue cheese and croutons, with its large garnish of crisp fried onions to dress it up a bit. Here lemon is a factor as well, for the vinaigrette that dresses the salad is very lemony. The buffalo wings are classic, arriving with the usual blue cheese dip and raw vegetables, but the wings are perfectly spicy and very meaty.
Checking out the entrees, we almost fall for the pulled pork again, but we're seduced by a slab of yellowfin tuna, black and blue, and accompanied by broccoli rabe, red peppers and shoestring potatoes. We also try the seared sea scallops, quivering in a pool of pureed spinach, punctuated by red globes of roasted tomatoes. The catfish comes "blackened" on the menu, and I ask if I can have it simply done in cornmeal. They comply, and I am happy with the sweet flesh melting under a light crisp coating, dotted with a spicy aioli to add some heat. Garlic fries come with the fish, which is definitely our most underrated finny friend. They may not be very pretty, but catfish are soooo good. Next time, I'm going to give in and have the ribs, which were being devoured all around us and looked great. Chef Hepner also has two vegetarian items listed -- eggplant parmesan and macaroni and cheese -- and both sound terrific.
Desserts have gone up a notch with the appearance of a warm chocolate cake, which was more pudding than cake, floating in a berry sauce and crowned with an orchid. I do wish someone would come up with another kind of puddle on which to sail their desserts away.
Strawberry shortcake was a layer cake and not the classic biscuit that I prefer, but the lemon meringue cheesecake was a revelation. Light as a feather and as tart as an under-ripe persimmon. Well, Wednesday night is Latin night with Flaco, who gives salsa lessons from 9 to 10, and then we can mambo the night away until 1 a.m. There is so much going on at NXNW that I can't keep track of it all, but they do have different music just about every night and an early bird special (5:30-6:30 at 25 percent off), and lots of other specials, too. They're working on a new wine list (this time we had martinis), so if you want a casual evening or one with a little more style, this is the place. Wear your dancing shoes.
