Tucked away in the Curtis Center, the recently opened Cooperage, 601 Walnut St. , is a pleasant little slice of Southern decadence in this Yankee town.
The new wine and whisky bar wastes no time letting you know what the new school of Southern cuisine is about with its selection of appetizers. But before you can even get to them, you are greeted with a welcoming portion of sweet corn bread, peanuts marinated in saltwater brine and a carafe of iced water with cucumber. All three are a nice touch.
The most adventurous and most satisfying offering on the appetizer menu is the Florida gator bites ($10), which may sound intimidating but you probably wouldn’t know you were eating a large reptile unless someone told you. The tender fried pieces of gator are tasty and the spicy tomato and red-pepper remoulade that comes with it is no slouch either. The spicy pork nachos ($9) were a savory treat as well with juicy pulled pork, sriracha and pineapple salsa.
Cooperage’s appetizers can also go sweet very early, thanks to the hush puppies with Mississippi blueberry jam ($6) and sweet-potato tots with maple chutney ($6). Both are ripe with warm, fried goodness, but the blueberry jam and the maple chutney deliver a serious — but not unwelcome — kick to the sweet tooth.
Cooperage’s salads are just as bold as the appetizers that preceded them. The Southern chopped salad ($9) is a nice blend of veggies, including jicama, charred corn and avocado on a bed of romaine and blackened-citrus vinaigrette. For something more robust, the duck cobb salad ($10) definitely has presence. The combination of cured duck pastrami, deviled eggs, pancetta, watercress, grape tomatoes and blue-cheese vinaigrette brings some uncertainty about how to best pair the components (which are served separate on the plate), but don’t despair: any combination of the ingredients makes for some damn fine salad eating.
If you plan to order an entrée at Cooperage, do yourself a favor and skip the appetizers and/or the salads, especially if you plan on ordering the Hippie chop ($19), one of the house favorites. This granola-crusted massive slab of pork borders on intimidating, like something out of “The Flintstones.” But do yourself a favor and save room for the leek bread pudding it comes with — it’s dangerously close to being the best thing on the plate. Another side dish that should not be missed under any circumstances is the creamy grits ($3).
For something a little less taxing on your stomach cavity, the pan-seared diver scallops ($19) are a more prudent choice, served with an interesting crisp fingerling potato salad and spring pea sauce.
Cooperage’s dessert selections ($7 each) include the expected Southern delights like a fresh fruit cobbler and pecan pie tartlet. But how anyone can choose those when bourbon-spiked chocolate beignets are on the menu is beyond us, especially when they come with coffee ice cream. As expected, three of our favorite vices — bourbon, chocolate and coffee — work very well together to create a hot, cold, rich and sinfully good dessert.
We still might venture to Atlanta or New Orleans from time to time, but with Cooperage taking residence in Philadelphia, we may never have to head south again.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].