Susanna Foo

A briefer post than the last, sort of. More photos - food ahoy! - but less text save for descriptions.

I have to thank Chris and Ronnie for treating me to dinner. We had a quiet window nook table, and that gave us ample opportunity to catch up. Now if only we can get them to come back to Chicago so we can treat them to a dinner or two there!

Susanna Foo was our choice for Saturday night. I'd heard about it on my last trip to Philadelphia, and given that the owner has a Library Science degree as well, I rather wanted to go. Ronnie owns a Foo cookbook, too, so that made her especially interested. Chris? He has come to like a wide variety of good food, so he was quite willing.

I wasn't disappointed, though I had the curious feeling of wishing I'd had some of the other dishes I saw. No, mine was very tasty, I can promise, but I was torn between 4 or five regular menu entrees plus one of the specials, and fine as mine was, I wish I'd been able to taste some of the other things I saw on the menu or at other tables. Ah well.

Unusually for me, I opted for a cocktail at first, the Renoir, a concoction of elderflower cordial, Sauvignon Blanc, and soda water. Fun, and good, though I switched to a glass of a Shiraz with my main course.

The menu on the Web site is not up to date, so I don't have detailed descriptions for everything, alas.

My caramelized foie gras with pineapple foam.

Ronnie and her spring rolls.

Chris and his shrimp and Granny Smith apple potstickers.

My WuXi Beef Shortrib.

Chris' Szechwan Seafood.

A blurry shot of Ronnie's duck.

Ronnie's trio of citrus desserts.I didn't have dessert either - wow, what is wrong with me - but just sipped my wine slowly.

Philadelphia story so far

I couldn't resist the title, sorry. I'm corny, and there's an oh-so-tenuous connection to the movie for me.

I've not blogged in several days. Last week was a very busy one in Chicago leading up to my trip here to Philadelphia on Friday. Conrad is not with me - he's in Honolulu right now, and I am busy with events at the ALA Midwinter Meetings. Back to Chicago on Wednesday, but still more to do.

I'll separately blog the dinner on Saturday with Chris and Ronnie, but to otherwise give you a sense of what I've been doing:

• Task force meetings, vendor presentations, visiting exhibits, two candidates' forums, and attendance at a Round Table social.
• Swim practice with the Philadelphia Fins - the swimmers I met were all very very welcoming, and I delighted by that and sorry I couldn't go for dim sum with them.
• Dinner last night at Amada with my roomie, Martin, and David from Houston. I forgot to bring the camera, but it's just as well as sometimes it's nicer just to be able to go and dine. Funnily enough, the host was one of the Fins, and he recognized me from the practice earlier that day. The food, I should add, was outstanding. We all settled on the chef's selection of tapas, and there were multiple highs like the piquillos rellenos (crab stuffed peppers), the garbanzos con spinacas (chickpeas with spinach - marvelously garlicky!), albondigas (lamb meatballs with shaved manchego), and the madre e hijo (chicken breast cooked sous-vide style with fried egg, fingerling potatoes, and black truffle). We all had the wine pairings with it (including a Portuguese red that had a delicious scent of violets) and shared two desserts of which the Manchego (sheep cheese)Mousse with Pistachio Shortdough, Apple Crumb, and Apple Cider Sorbet was my favourite.

Above all, though, I want to highlight Saturday's visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Good gosh but that's a magnificent building with a remarkable collection.

I had the opportunity on Saturday morning to attend an early morning lecture by the author and photographer of a book called Rocky Stories. The Museum steps, you see, are featured in the Rocky movies thanks to the iconic scene in the first film where Rocky runs up the steps and celebrates with a solitary jig at dawn at the top. Tourists and others come to Philadelphia to see the steps and do the same run/jig. Okay, I get it. It sounds hokey to me in so far as I've never seen the movie, but you know what? The two men speaking put together what sounded like a fascinating book about everyday people and celebrations of their personal triumphs. I fell for it and bought the book and got it signed.

A handful of hours later, and I was meeting Chris and Ronnie on the steps, admiring the city view before heading inside.
The weather was quite fine - sunny and around 12 Celsius - and the view is terrific. I hadn't seen them since they visited Chicago the year after their wedding, so it was great to catch up as we wandered through the galleries.Afterwards, it was a nice stroll back to the city center and on to the restaurant for dinner. But that will keep for the next posting, I think.