Dining in the garden at Rittenhouse Tavern

Rittenhouse Tavern is the latest restaurant to claim the gracious dining space in the stunning Philadelphia Art Alliance, a mixed used art and event space built on Rittenhouse Square in 1906 as the historic Wetherill mansion.   Besides the chance to dine in the newly landscaped secret garden, reason enough to pay a visit, the Tavern dishes creative and gorgeously composed modern cuisine from chef Nicholas Elmi, formerly of Le Bec-Fin.  Chef Nick, working with consulting chef Ed Brown of Restaurant Associates, pays homage to his classical French roots while bringing seasonal sensibilities to every plate, starting with spring asparagus with wild ramps and preserved lemon and a paired rhubarb reduction with English peas and seared dayboat scallops.   Sassy bar snacks deconstruct a deviled egg over scrapple and hop to with frog legs crisped atop a watercress smear and a dab of Philly cream cheese.   The fried chicken Sunday supper is served family style for $18 per person, including sides and buttermilk biscuits.  For dessert, the brown butter cake with lavender crème fraiche sorbet is a must.  A tidy menu of craft beer, artisinal cocktails (love the Betsy Ross with gin and St. Germain) and a well balanced wine list offered by the glass, bottle and quartino, round out the menu.  While chef Nick was certainly adept at classic French cuisine, he’s having fun here, and the change is delicious.

Beet salad as art from chef Nicholas Elmi

Any college student will tell you, the best way to keep cash in your pocket and still eat well is to go ethnic. Authentic ethnic eateries are the tastiest of bargains, like New Delhi  where a daily lunch ($8.95) and dinner ($12.95) buffet groans with real deal chicken tikka masala, tandoori, dal makhni and other Indian specialties. For Southeast Asian delights, try Le Viet, a stylish year-old newcomer not far from the Italian market.  Fill up on a bowl of hearty Pho noodle soup and an order of fresh spring rolls and you’ll still get change back from your $10. Near the convention center, Dim Sum Garden may look nondescript on the outside, but inside, it’s a dumpling lover’s dream. Try an order (or two) of authentic Shanghai soup dumplings, tricky to eat because the soup is on the inside, but once mastered, positively addictive.  The family owned Kebab House  is a cozy Ottoman oasis specializing in Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine.   Besides kebabs of every stripe (the organic lamb doner is a house specialty), there’s sautéed and baked vegetarian options and an especially creamy hummus for dipping.

Waikiki is to O’ahu’s beaches what the waltz is to the tango. Where Waikiki is a beautiful slice of sandy civilization, the wild and wooly surfing beaches on the Northern Coast are completely untamed. Just an hour or so from Honolulu, spots like Waimea Bay, the Bonzai Pipeline and Sunset Beach along Kamehameha Highway offer nonstop action, as surfers battle waves as high as 40 feet. If watching all that exercise makes you hungry, belly up to one of the many shrimp trucks along the beach. Two of the most popular are Giovanni’s Aloha Shrimp and Romy’s– both serve sweet, spicy and garlicky shrimp caught fresh, every day. For dessert, stop by Ted’s Bakery, home of the famous Chocolate Haupia Cream Pie, or share a shave ice, the local answer to mainlander’s snow cones.  To learn more about the history of surfing, visit the North Shore Surf and Cultural Museum with its collection of antique surfboards and artifacts.

Enjoying a shave ice off the beaten path

A morsel from the vegan tasting menu at Meritage

Although vegetarian-friendly menus are common these days, vegans sometimes get a shorter shrift. Not at Meritage where meat free dining rules every Tuesday, with a $35, four course tasting of seasonal delights. Think roasted baby beets with rhubarb, mint, and citrus or a nutty chickpea cake served with olive tapenade, smoky tomato chutney.

In the Reading Terminal Market, Basic Four Vegetarian Snack Bar  bests the “just salad” option with housemade veggie burgers, tofu turkey sandwiches and a faux tuna fish salad that will knock your organic cotton socks off.

Fans of smoky barbecue should head directly to Khyber Pass Pub where the vegan pulled pork is just delish, topped with a zippy vinegar based sauce and a pile of cole slaw.

And for upscale vegan, can’t wait for Vedge to open later this month, a classy spot from Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby, last of Horizon, in the old Deux Cheminees spot on Locust.

At Barbuzzo, the delectable modern-Medi in Midtown Village, chef/co-owner Marcie Turney doesn’t just proclaim a locavore bent. A chalkboard is updated daily with specific veg, fruit and dairy sourced from farms in Chester and Lancaster Counties, verdant spots including Green Meadow and Blue Moon Acres. Even carnivores will swoon over the daily farm-fresh vegetable board, which might hold thyme-scented coins of sweet carrot, fig and goat cheese crostini and green beans in a pistachio pesto.

In a town full of taqueiras, Tacos Sinaloa rides alone.

The East Oakland taco truck, usually parked at 2138 International, literally on the other side of the tracks from downtown, delivers downhome Mexican street food right across the street from Van’s Tire & Auto Service.

Ok, so it’s not in a fancy ‘hood. But taste one of owner Lupe Bueno’s veggie tacos, piled high with beans, pickled jalapenos, radishes, lime, cilantro and hot sauce, and you’ll be back for more.  Priced at a bargain $1.75, tacos also come in asada (beef) and pollo (chicken),  marinated tongue (lengua), crispy tripe (tripas) and cow’s cheek (cabeza). Definitely worth a stop.

Tacos Sinaloa in East Oakland

Delicious!

Brass and sass at the Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street

On any night of the week, within a two-block stretch of Frenchmen Street in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, you can follow a brass band down the street, catch a reggae groove at Cafe Negril, and swing dance at Mimi’s and the Spotted Cat. Just across the street, get down with rootsy rock and brass at d.b.a. and at the corner, grunge out at Check Point Charlie’s, a serious rock ’n’ roll dive where you can also do your laundry. A few doors up, you might catch some excellent funk at Blue Nile with Big Sam’s Funky Nation, and support local talent at the Apple Barrel Inn. Hungry? Frenchmen is also a great spot for cheap ethnic eats, like Italian at Adolfo’s and Middle Eastern from Mona’s, along with assorted food trucks that keep things cooking. Window shop for a tattoo at Electric Ladyland before finishing the night at Snug Harbor, a straight ahead jazz club.

Chef/owner Adolfo Garcia at a Mano

Standing out from the crowd in America’s best restaurant city is a feat.

Which is why a Mano, which means by hand, is such a New Orleans gem.  Owned by chef Adolfo Garcia (Rio Mar, La Boca), with chef de cuisine Josh Smith in the kitchen,  a Mano is, along with John Besh and Alon Shaya’s Domenica,  at the forefront of the Big Easy’s new Italian wave.

House cured salumi and bresaola, a seasonal salad of heirloom tomatoes and clouds of burrata, the fresh cheese made with mozzarella and heavy cream and lump crab meat in a squid ink cavatelli were highlights of a recent meal.

Burrata, the fresh cheese made with mozzarella and cream, and heirloom tomatoes at a Mano.

Then there was the amazing seafood salad, a bellwether of Southern Italian cuisine from the region of Campania. Chilled calamari and shrimp, along with paper-thin coins of octopus,  tender potatoes and bits of celery leaf elevated this appetizer to hall of fame status. Delicate, to the point of being ethereal, was what one diner swooned.

At a Mano, the wine service is stellar, the ambiance sparely elegant.  Although the chef is relocating come fall, here’s hoping that his replacement, sous chef Nick Martin, will be equally adept at letting seasonal ingredients tell the story, in a style that is both simple and sophisticated.

Definitely put a Mano on your must dine list the next time you visit New Orleans. It’s wonderful.

Sara Howard, co-founder of Kayak-iti-yat

A snowy egret is watching us cagily from the banks of the Bayou St. John, strutting with his over sized yellow feet like a clown on parade.

Maybe he’s not used to seeing humans kayaking in his urban waterway, a sight that’s becoming increasingly common, thanks to Kayak-iti-yat, a fledgling touring business owned by local partners Sara Howard and Sonny Averett.

Founded last year, Kayak-iti-yat (a paddling riff on the local query, where y’at?) sheds new light on the city’s charming Mid-City neighborhood bounded by the historic canal, once a vibrant transportation waterway connecting to Lake Ponchartrain.  Sara and Sonny take turns leading the tours, which are geared mostly to novices, unless a wind whips chop into the usually placid canal.

Bits of history and lore are shouted into the breeze, historic homes are identified and a growing confluence of birds remarked upon, from great blue herons to beady eyed pelicans.   Special tours can include lunch at Liuzza’s at the Track (don’t even think about getting anything besides the barbecued shrimp po’boy) and admission to the racetrack during the season, a fun chance to see what happens there when Jazzfest isn’t the main event. If you’re feeling lucky, and since you’re in New Orleans, that’s a given, the night is still young, and anything can happen.

Paddling along Bayou St. John in Mid-City

Mercato chef Mackenzie Hilton

When it comes to a BYOB restaurant scene, Philadelphia is a real corker.

With more than 230 bring your own bottle eateries around town, diners can save big bucks – and drink their favorite vintages without paying a restaurant mark-up. Sticker shocked by the high price of liquor licenses, more chefs, like Ian Moroney, who owns the 28-seat Pumpkin on South Street, opt to do what they do best. “I got into this business to cook, not run a bar. BYOB works for us, and our customers love it.” Moroney, like most BYOB owners, doesn’t charge a corkage fee, another reason to wine and dine, Philadelphia style.

Three to Try …

Mercato: Chef Mackenzie Hilton infuses the slow cooking of Old World Italy with a bold take on new Italian American cuisine at this airy cash only BYOB. Large floor-to-ceiling windows open out onto a lively street scene. 1216 Spruce St, (215) 985.BYOB

Mercato in Midtown VIllage

Pumpkin: Artful New American cuisine, locally sourced produce and a great deal on Sundays: five courses for $35, including dishes like seared scallops over lentils spiked with a beet vinaigrette and braised branzino with fennel, preserved lemons and olive tapenade. 1713 South St. (215) 545-4448

Kanella: Cyprus meets Greece at Kanella’s table, where chef/owner Konstantinos Pitsillides coaxes wonderful flavors out of slowly braised rabbit with butter beans and the daily whole fish, simply roasted with seasonal greens. Or come for the Cyprus breakfast, eggs fried in olive oil with tangy houlami cheese. 1001 Spruce St. (215) 922-1773

BYOB Bits: Reservation policies vary, so call ahead. Ask in advance about credits cards – cash only is not uncommon. And if you don’t have your favorite Super Tuscan handy, not to worry, here’s an interactive map of the city by neighborhood, complete with the locations of the nearest liquor store.

Langenstein's in the early days

When New Orleanians “make groceries” in the Big Easy, chances are they’ll be patronizing one of many locally owned, independent grocery stores.  Langenstein’s, Robert Fresh Market,  Dorignacs and Rouses are four great options, each with its own signature style and claim to fame.

Marc and Darlene Robért are newcomers to the party, opening their first Robert Fresh Market in the suburb of Metaire in 1994, now with multiple locations around town, each with an emphasis on local and organic  product.  Rouses is the go-to spot in the Quarter, with a fancy new location in the burgeoning Central Business District. The store has its roots as the City Produce Company, founded by J.P. Rouse in Thibodaux, Louisiana, in 1923. Dorignac’s, opened in 1947 in Metairie, is known for its terrific wine selection and outstanding customer service.

When Michael Langenstein and his sons George and Richard opened Langenstein’s supermarket in the early 1920’s, their goal was to carry the best meat and seafood in New Orleans. Locals love this place for its amazing quality meats and gourmet prepared Louisiana specialties.

Making groceries N’Awlins style means it stays in the family.

Two Langenstein's specialties, The Original Better Cheddar and The Original Le Popeye Dip