Tucked away in the heart of Queen Village, Kennett offers an appealing menu from dinner delicacies to Sunday brunch.
Last year during the restaurant wars segment of “Top Chef,” chef Anthony Bourdain told the winning team he wished their restaurant would pop up in his neighborhood.
After dinner and Sunday brunch at the delightful Kennett, I wish it would leave Queen Village and pop up in Logan Square. I would be a regular.
Kennett opened Dec. 4 under the expert direction of executive chef Brian Ricci. He honed his culinary skills at Django, Supper and Pub & Kitchen. Ricci sources his ingredients from local farms, creating tasty dishes with in-season produce.
Edward and I settled into the backroom next to the wood-burning pizza oven. A perfect Rob Roy made with Johnny Walker Black ($11.50) was garnished with a sour cherry. Edward’s Bluecoat martini ($11) also was expertly made.
We began dinner with beets and feta ($8.50), an eye-appealing mix of tender red beets preserved in red wine vinegar and napped with chopped fresh mint, parsley, dill and chives. It was a cool and refreshing way to begin dinner.
Nothing is finer than an heirloom tomato salad ($9.50) when tomatoes are ripe and sweet. All they required was a sprinkling of salt. Lightly dressed and dusted with herbs, the tomatoes spoke for themselves.
I took a trip to Greece with the succulent lamb burger ($15). Ricci had the proper hand in using smoked paprika and tossing a cucumber slaw in yogurt with slightly salty capers, some shaved onion and purple cabbage redolent of cumin. I loved the pickle spear and homemade potato salad.
Edward went all-American with Kennett’s burger. Ricci used bone marrow in the ground beef mix and topped it with pickled onions, lettuce and a homemade anchovy mayonnaise. Edward opted for the spicy cucumber slaw.
I sipped a Victory Summer Love ($4.50)while Edward opted for the darker Dock Street Saison ($4.50).
If I see sticky toffee pudding ($8) on a dessert menu, I had to have it. It rated a 10. This satisfying dish was made with dates, a hint of sherry, caramel and cream. It was not too sweet and was deliciously satisfying. We also sampled blueberry pound cake ($7). A slab of slightly dry cake was topped with sweet blueberries and served with vanilla ice cream.
We returned to Kennett for Sunday brunch. I slid onto a high stool while Edward parked the car.
“Would you care for a glass of beer or wine?,” asked the friendly barkeep.
“I’ll have a bloody Mary,” I answered.
“That’s a great idea,” he said as he took a large jug of V8 juice from the fridge.
‘It’s a bit spicy, so I’ll give you a taste,’ he said.
I sipped the mix and said “that’s dreadful.”
But once he mixed the drink and served it over ice, garnished with a pickled string bean, giant green olives and wedges of lemon and lime the drink was perfect. It just needed some ice to settle down the heat.
I ordered the omelet ($14) prepared with house cured steelhead salmon. This is the French version of nova, eggs and onions. Small bits of salmon were mixed with sweet onions and nestled inside the omelet. It could have been puffier and there was a bit of brown on the outside, but the dish was creamy inside. I adored the roasted potatoes and crisp toast. My brunch arrived piping hot.
Edward’s English breakfast ($12.50) consisted of two fried eggs, locally raised roasted pork loin, butter beans, blood pudding and roasted tomatoes. The choice of pork loin in place of bacon, ham or sausages was unusual. The pork was tender, Edward was iffy on the pudding, but I liked it and the beans were light and creamy inside. His brunch came with honey wheat toast.
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1. Anonymous said... on Jul 21, 2011 at 09:54AM
“"After dinner and Sunday brunch at the delightful Kennett, I wish it would leave Queen Village and pop up in Logan Square. I would be a regular. "
Wait, you write for the SOUTH PHILLY Review, and wish a restaurant would leave a neighborhood in SOUTH PHILLY and appear where you live, which is NOT SOUTH PHILLY.”
2. Anonymous said... on Jul 21, 2011 at 10:17AM
“Meanwhile, Queen Village and Logan Square are oh, about 3 miles from each other ... pathetic.”
3. MG said... on Jul 21, 2011 at 10:57AM
“Good point about writing for the South Philly Review - I often wonder why some of the restaurants that are reviewed are in here - they aren't in my neighborhood. There are so many places in South Philly to cover - give those restaurants a shot, you might help out their businesses. Even sandwich and pizza places!”
4. Phyllis Stein-Novack said... on Jul 21, 2011 at 11:26AM
“Since I began as restaurant critic for the paper in October, 1996, the great majority of restaurants I featured are in South Philadelphia. I covered all of them the first 2 or 3 years or so. But the city is a big place. People in Bella Vista and all over South Philadelphia want to know about the latest pub, seafood house, steak house, American bistro regardless of the neighborhood. Obviously a responder did not get my point. There are no restaurants in my neighborhood. NONE. There is a small coffee shop, bad pizza joints but that's it. What I mean is it would be so great if a fine restaurant like Kennett would pop up in my neighborhood. All I would have to do is walk out my door. I am envious of those who live at or near 2nd & Christian. They just walk out their door or down the block and voila, a fine place at moderate prices. I will continue to review South Philly restaurants. I rely on Twitter to find out about the new places, especcially in South Philly.”
5. Victor said... on Jul 21, 2011 at 03:19PM
“She doesn't go to restaurants in S. Philly because many, if they know her, won't LET HER IN!
I know one place she gave 3 Toques to touting their soup. Friends of mine. Guess what? Cans of Campbell's heated in a crock.
Just like her reviews.”
6. Phyllis Stein-Novack said... on Jul 21, 2011 at 03:32PM
“Dear Mr. or Ms. Smash:
I do not know what brought on a Proustian/Joyceian moment. I suggest you comfort yourself with "The Automat: The History and Allure of Horn & Hardart's masterpiece by Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart. It's a marvelous book with the original recipes. Enjoy. I loved H & H.”
7. pete said... on Jul 22, 2011 at 12:06AM
“Looks like the Lyon's Den closed up, the
bar that was there before?
I wonder if their clientele will eat at the
new place...even more funny would be
seeing the clientele from Strike 2, which
was there for years before the Lyons Den,
eat in a decent restaurant.”
8. Anonymous said... on Jul 22, 2011 at 11:34AM
“Phyllis,
Move to QV, there are some nice houses for sale. You can be my neighbor.
I like their chicken!!
Eric”
9. Phyllis Stein-Novack said... on Jul 22, 2011 at 12:49PM
“Dear #13:
The housing market is dreadful as you know. We bought our home in 1989 six years before I became the paper's restaurant critic. As I reviewed so many South Philly restaurants in my early days at the paper, I often said had we not bought our home in Logan Square I would live in either Queen Village or Bella Vista. I have many friends in South Philly. For Now I am enjoying the wonderfully South Philly restaurants I have discovered.”
10. Jenny said... on Jul 28, 2011 at 02:54PM
“Wow, it looks like one person has been making up different names and posting similarly-written comments week after week. All I can say is, get up, step away from the computer and get a life. There should be a way to stop this kind of crap from getting posted -- nobody wants to read this stuff except for the one person who is doing this.”