King James

A Vetri-trained chef declares open season in Bella Vista.

by Trey Popp

You won't find many Philly chefs willing to highlight turnips, cabbage, parsnips and kale on a menu that barely tops a dozen dishes. Seasonal fare is an easy sell when the trees are green and sweet corn is hitting the farmers markets, but winter dishes have usually worn out their welcome by the time February's winding up. Apparently no one told Jim Burke, though, and thank God for that.

THE JAMES VERSION: The wild striped bass is served with sauteed fennel, chickpeas and mussels in a citrus sauce. Photo By: Michael T. Regan (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

For the last two months, the head chef of Bella Vista's new James restaurant has been crafting the kind of food that makes you wish spring would never come. "I don't feel like eating zucchini blossoms and tomatoes," Burke declared on a recent chilly evening. Considering the meal his kitchen had just served up, no one at my table was yearning for those things, either. If there's any place in town executing a more delicious and inspired winter menu, its location is a mystery to me.

Situated in a surprisingly spacious Italian Market nook that has housed several restaurants in the past but has been empty for over a year, James exudes an atmosphere of comfort within the clean, modern lines of its minimalist interior design. The front room offers an ample bar in front of a whitewashed brick wall, and features a wonderfully conceived lounge area that can accommodate 10 or so. There's a handsome private room that can handle a dozen people, and the main dining area seats about 40 in plush leather chairs at well-spaced tables that are big enough to make passing dishes back and forth easy work. This is a boon — you're going to want to share.

Burke cut his culinary teeth working underneath Marc Vetri, whose eponymous restaurant is consistently regarded as one of Philadelphia's best. His training shows. Burke's cooking is richly creative but never pretentious, and boasts enough breadth to satisfy almost any palate. Even with a limited number of dishes, his winter menu offers a kaleidoscopic take on what cold-weather cuisine can encompass. An appetizer featuring foie gras and mushrooms stuffed in a rolled-up cabbage leaf has a warm, mouth-coating earthiness set off splendidly by a puree of rutabaga. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a scallop carpaccio paired with a blood orange granita whose icy freshness hits the tongue like snow. A soup made from flash-caramelized crimini mushrooms and an impressively deep dairy-free stock is topped with pine-scented steamed milk and shaved chestnuts in a kind of high-Alpine take on cappuccino.

Two handmade pastas are available in appetizer or entree size — with the former offering a very generous portion — and it's hard to pick a favorite. Paper-thin pappardelle comes loaded with a duck ragu and topped with chocolate shavings, suggesting a more genteel (but no less soothing) take on a classic winter stroganoff.

For those whose idea of comfort food runs exclusively in a beef-and-potatoes direction, a ragu of espresso-braised oxtail makes a meaty sauce for scrumptious little pillows of sweet potato agnolotti. Burke did a stint in Italy several years ago, and my only complaint about his pastas is that there are only two of them currently on the menu. (James' wine list, however, is arguably overfilled with Italian vintages — and rather short on good values at the low end of the price spectrum.)

A wild striped bass fillet served with a subtle citrus sauce atop a nest of thinly shaved sauteed fennel was exquisitely prepared, but something must've gone awry with the roasted turbot fillet, which had a rubbery texture. The lackluster white wine sauce may not have been enough to elevate that dish anyway; it was the only dud of the evening.

Just as the occasional sweet note graced the starters and the mains — no sweet/savory apartheid here — the final course allowed for more than just a one-dimensional treat. A thin, dense chocolate terrine was perched atop a slice of fried bread and sprinkled with kosher salt. Who knew chocolate could marry so well with a giant crouton? A flavorful chestnut cake was as springy as a pancake around the outside and runny in the middle, but wasn't sweet at all. For $2, a tiny scoop of cardamom ice cream was a revelation — not only for the clarity of its flavor but because its size caters to everyone who's ever reached the dessert course wanting a taste but nothing more.

There's no such thing as a perfect restaurant, but James comes awfully close for a chef making his first real step out on his own. And it is a credit to Burke's wife, Kristina, the general manager, that the service meshes so well with his cuisine: knowledgeable but not haughty; attentive but not intrusive.

Seasonal cooking inspired by locally sourced ingredients has become a routine sales pitch in Philadelphia, but there's nothing tired about the food at James. One can only hope that its promise will bear out as the seasons go through their cycle. Burke might not be ready for zucchini blossoms and tomatoes now, but when he is, the only way to go is up.

(t_popp@citypaper.net)

James

824 S. Eighth St, 215-629-4980, www.jameson8th.com

Mon.-Thu., 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m.

Appetizers, $8-$16; entrees, $20-$33

Reservations recommended.

Credit cards accepted.