Fork... Why is it so popular again?

Of all the restaurants in Philly where it is difficult to get a reservation, Fork is the one that we can never figure out why.  My wife and I have been to fork separately before we met each other and although we enjoyed the meal it wasn't anything where we said to ourselves you had to go back.  The combination of taste, and value just wasn't really there.  So it was not our first choice to return there but we needed a nice place to eat after First Friday and we had heard that there was a new chef so we said to ourselves, oh what the heck.

We were sat at 9:30 and the restaurant was still very much busy.  Our server was friendly but it did take a little long than I would have liked for our water and bread to arrive.  With that said, the bread was served with home made cream cheese and was surprisingly light.

Our group had only 2 apps, the CRISPY CHICKEN NUGGETS 10 with spicy mustard, agrodolce and the “VITELLO TONNATO” 18 veal carpaccio, raw tuna, tonnato sauce.  the chicken nugget was deep fried with tempura batter so it was not heavy and it was also very good about keeping the oiliness down.  However the meet itself was kind of bland and slightly on the underdone side.  No one at the table got sick so I guess it was OK, but I think the taste was a little lacking. 

The star of the appetizer course and perhaps the whole meal I have to say was the veal carpaccio with tuna and tonnato sauce.  The tuna was topped with fresh herbs, and lemon zest which when taken together with the veal and tonnato sauce made for just a super complex taste.  It was as if each time I chewed a different part of that combo will hit a different part of my pallet and that sense that within one bite you get such a myriad of flavors is something truly worth savoring.  Oh before I forget the green bits you see in the photo are not honeydew but rather pickled cucumber!!  I was so weary of it before I had a bite since we all know what dill pickles tastes like.  I was afraid it might overwhelm the dish, but it was so gentle in its flavor that you almost forgot you were eating a pickle.  To put it simply this is the best thing on the menu I had.

 For the entree there one lamb dish and there pastas.  PASTRAMI LAMB 38 (house menu supp. 8) rye bread salad, sauerkraut, caraway.  The lamb was very well seasoned and cooked to perfection as you can see from the photo.  It was served three different ways, loin, rib, and sausage accompanied by Swiss Chard.  It was a well presented dish and very flavorful.

 

 Moving on to the pastas,  I had the AGNOLOTTI 19/29 sicilian pistachios, jersey rabbit.  Now I have to confess I picked this dish because it had rabbit.  It just sounds funny, i think we all had the image of spray tanned bunny with a large bouffant when we read that.  But the jersey shore reference aside, how was the dish?  Well, to me it was a little underwhelming.  After that excellent veal tonnato I found my pasta to be a little underdone, and although the pistachio sauce was good, the addition of the amaretti cookie crumbles on top I felt was just too much and clashed with the flavor of the rest of the dish.  The rabbit on the other hand was very good, not too salty as I've found some other restaurants tend to over salt this meat. 

 

 The next two pastas were very interesting, let’s start with the BLACK & WHITE PICI 18/28 fruits of the sea, pickle chili.  This was a pasta made with squid ink and a variety of seafood suck as muscles, shrimp, and squid.  The pasta itself really resemble a small eel, and had a tart flavor.  I didn't too much of a taste cause my dinner companion did not want to try my dish so I felt bad if I took too much.  But from the one taste I can say the squid ink black and white pasta is very technically impressive and the flavor is not too overpowering.  

The last pasta was the BURNT GRAINS PAPPARDELLE 18/28 wild boar ragu, olives, preserved lemon.  This dish at first did not look very appetizing.  The pasta itself was very black which I believe was probably also squid ink.  There are very few foods in nature that are that black.  and the ragu was very much muted in color.  I was expecting a brighter more tomato colored red sauce.  However the most surprising thing about this dish was the taste.  When you take the first bite, you can instantly understand why they call this "burnt gains".  Your first bite will immediately fill your mouth with smokiness, and earthiness, there is even a little anise flavor floating in the background.  This is not a bad thing by any means, but it is quiet different and unexpected and I liked that very much.  The Ragu was also very well done and not too tomato-ee which I appreciate.

So final verdict?  Well I have to say I was very impressed with the velleto tonnato, and the burnt grains pappardelle.  What the chef was able to do to the pickled cucumbers and how he injected the right amount of smokiness into the pappardelle was very impressive.  However even with those interesting dishes, the thought we had before we went remains unchanged.  There were no serious missteps in execution but in terms of flavor and value it was hit or miss.  We still just can't imagine why this place was so popular.  Based on the meal and experience, I'd give this place a 7/10.  Great for a 2nd date but there are plenty of restaurants where you can spend the same amount and get much better food.