ChriSteven's

One of the most recent additions to the BYO landscape points in a distressing direction.

by Trey Popp

A few short years ago, all the chatter among Philadelphia foodies revolved around identifying the best new BYO — an honor that seemed to change on a monthly basis. If you were looking for creativity in the kitchen, ruling out any place with a liquor license was the easiest way to focus your search. Nowadays, that strategy may set you up for a sucker punch. Many of the newer standouts — Ansill and James leap immediately to mind — have embraced their inner sommelier, but one of the most recent additions to the BYO landscape points in a distressing direction.

ChriSteven's is an attempt to extend Christine Fischer's Main Line catering business of the same name into the bricks-and-mortar realm by piggybacking on the high regard BYOs command in our town. Like some of its predecessors, ChriSteven's occupies a minimally decorated space and exudes a casual atmosphere. When I phoned for reservations, the woman who took them trumpeted the restaurant's housemade pastas and dedication to daily specials. But that's where the similarities to Philly's best BYOs ended.

There were a couple of daily additions to the regular menu on a recent evening, but the one we tried hardly qualified as "special." A generous mound of spaghetti tossed with bland tomato sauce sat in the middle of a ring of mussels, several of which had not been de-bearded. What does this particular failure dishonor more: the person eating it or the ocean that yielded it? Not the kind of philosophical question I want to contemplate while scooting a hairballed mussel to the side of my plate.

There were no such defects dragging down the other dishes we ordered, but not much to distinguish them, either. An appetizer of baked calamari had a pleasant texture, but a slightly fishy taste that marred its accompanying tomato sauce. Our server's top recommendation, orecchiette tossed with broccoli rabe and sundried tomatoes, had the right interplay of bitterness and concentrated tomato flavor, but lacked the originality that might have made it memorable. (Incidentally, neither pasta we ordered looked or tasted housemade.)

By and large, the fare was nothing that a competent cook couldn't make just as well at home. The only dish for which that wasn't true was an appetizer of ground beef and pork meatballs, which were surprisingly light and set off by a savory tomato sauce that was markedly more flavorful than those accompanying our other dishes.

Ordinary food served in generous portions has its proper place in any restaurant landscape, but not at the prices ChriSteven's charges. Sadly, the only real value here is the ability to dodge wine markups. If that's the direction the BYO scene is headed, the debate over which new one is the best won't be worth having.

(t_popp@citypaper.net)

ChriSteven's | 901 S. Ninth St.215-238-0144 | Appetizers, $5-$10.50; entrees, $12-$28 | Credit cards and reservations accepted. | Wheelchair accessible.