Recently voted the second most romantic place in Philly, Privé, 246 Market St. in Old City, is not only good for your love life, it’s good for your health.
Chef Peter Karapanagiotis (from The Food Network’s “Chopped”) was raised on traditional Greek dishes and brings unadulterated Mediterranean foods to the table with a nouveau sensibility. It’s also a fun place with an open kitchen and a hip lounge/restaurant on the second floor.
We dined in the White Room, which was so pristine, I was afraid to order the red wine in case I had a lapse in my natural grace and coordination and spilled it, turning the White Room into the White Room with Red Splotches. But I digress: The White Room was wonderfully comfortable with roomy banquettes and padded chairs.
Before we had a chance to order, our affable server brought us fresh bread with a trio comprised of kalamata olives, dressed olive oil and homemade tarragon hummus. The room was a little noisy due to the women two tables away, who were so impressed by their food, they couldn’t stop squealing. It was a little like the scene from “When Harry Met Sally,” but I assumed it was a good sign that they were practically orgasmic over the risotto du jour.
I started with the watermelon “village style” ($6), feta with housemade lavender honey and candied walnuts atop a tower of yellow and pink watermelon. I once took a scooter ride across the mountains of Greece and stopped by a roadside restaurant overlooking the hills to have a dessert of feta, yogurt and walnuts. The freshness of the ingredients at Privé made me feel as though I was back there with the wind blowing in my hair.
My dining companion opted for the octopus ($14). It was magnificently laid out, dressed with a deconstructed salad of roasted peppers, kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers, and drizzled with a wild-berry balsamic vinaigrette. And all those succulent little suction cups staring at you. It looked pretty, but I was too wimpy to try it. However, my companion dove into it like he was Jacques Cousteau and said it was perfectly prepared, tender with a delicate flavoring.
The dishes at Privé are served as prepared so they don’t sit under heat lamps as you savor your first dish. My next choice was the frozen roasted beet marmalade ($6). The preparation was interesting: Frozen beet purée is mixed with simple syrup, put in the bottom of a bowl and placed in the freezer. Then a ball of goat cheese is rolled in sesame seeds and fried. The hot goat cheese is placed on top of the beets, melting them. This was pretty good, though the goat cheese slightly overpowered the beets.
My friend ordered the haloumi ($8), a traditional Cypriot cheese, flash-fried and topped with spicy pepper relish. The interesting thing about haloumi is that it doesn’t melt, no matter how hot it gets, so it’s sliced and fried for 15 seconds until it crisps and then put on a fried wonton with a little pepper relish. For you tennis fans, Cyprus is the birthplace of the ever-smiling Marcos Baghdatis.
In between dishes, we tried a few of the specialty drinks on the menu. I had the Privé Passion ($13) and it was fantastic. I’m not really a drinker, but this could change things: Ketel One vodka with Pama liquer, pomma berries and pear juice. My friend had the top-shelf Long Island iced tea ($14), with Ketel One with Cabo Blanco, Tanqueray, Cointreau, Bacardi, peach nectar and peach-infused tea. After one sip, he began to moan like the ladies at the table near us.
For an entrée, I had the yellow-fin tuna ($25), small squares of fresh tuna served over rice topped with a honeydew-mango salsa and dressed with spring spices. It was kind of like a large appetizer served as an entrée, but it was very good. I actually couldn’t finish it, and took it home for my 1 a.m. snack.
My ally in food had the chimichurri chicken ($17). This is a restaurant favorite and one of the dishes making the ladies near us swoon. For this, free-range chicken was cooked with whole-grain mustard and presented on a bed of butternut-squash puree, with a tower of fresh micro greens and asparagus. It was a lovely combination of textures and tastes.
I spoke to one of the three owners, Augustine Riginos, about Privé and the brand-spanking-new menu.
PGN: How did you get in the business? AR: I come from a Greek family with a long line of restaurant experience. Well, mostly diners, but I’ve managed to work my way up to fine dining. Peter Karapanagiotis is our new chef and he’s young, but what’s great about that is that he’s not afraid to bring flavors to the table that no one else is trying instead of following old-school styles of cuisine.
PGN: I notice a lot of Greek ingredients on the menu but not the usual dishes. AR: There’s a lot of Greek influence on the menu, but we wanted to change it up. Peter is good at taking old island recipes and twisting them. In Greece, you eat what comes from the earth. Whatever is in season, you eat; if it’s not in season, you gotta wait. Also, if you notice, the plates are not drowning in sauces. The Greek style is very simple: olive oils and fresh ingredients. Of course, we have some things on the menu that are heavier, but mostly it’s very light.
PGN: I see you go out of your way to use organic foods. AR: Peter was raised that way — we all were. When you eat something that was raised naturally, you can taste the difference. When it’s been force-fed cornstarch and sugars and other junk, it’s just not the same. We have a whole bunch of small farmers and butchers we’ve developed relationships with and it’s great. Same goes for the produce: The organic stuff holds its flavor and color much better.
After a quick tour upstairs, we finished up our meal with selections from the dessert menu. My dining companion had the trio of chocolates: a flourless chocolate torte; Spanish hot chocolate, thick and served in an espresso cup with a dash of cayenne pepper to give it a little kick (with a piece of biscotti on the side for dipping); and a coffee crème brûlée, made with toasted marshmallows. All three were good but we liked the brûlée best. It was a little like camping with really fancy s’mores.
I had the housemade panacotta with fresh sliced strawberries drizzled with wild berry balsamic and garnished with fried basil. Beautifully defying gravity, it came with a strawberry high atop the panacotta, balancing a heaping spoonful of fried basil. The panacotta was surrounded by fresh blackberries and sprinkled with citrus dust.
Privé is open Tuesday through Sunday with a special prix-fixe menu on Sundays, $25 for a three-course meal. Sundays are also industry night, with half-priced drinks for those in the biz.
And for those of you suffering from seasonal affective disorder, they have a “Lousy Weather” extended happy hour to counteract these dreary days we’ve been experiencing. You can come and complain about the weather over discount drinks until 9 p.m.