The Triangle

Issue date: 12/5/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs

Hidden inside the Rittenhouse Hotel on the second floor is its culinary gem, Lacroix, named after its founding chef Jean-Marie Lacroix. Richly decorated, highly glamorous and gastronomically amazing, this is a place you should not miss - nor should your parents, who will hopefully pick up the tab.

Being my one of my favorite restaurants in the city, I have had a number of experiences at this establishment and not one time have I been let down. Most recently, I dined at Lacroix for lunch after receiving an e-mail advertising the "Appetite Stimulus Plan," which was offered through the reservation web site, Opentable.com. Similar to Restaurant Week, this promotion offered prix-fix lunches and dinners for $24 and $35, respectively, at Philadelphia-area eateries.

As Lacroix is a pricey restaurant, I jumped at the opportunity to eat there on the cheap and promptly invited some of my "in-the-biz" friends to join me. After some complications involving a broken cell phone and mixed up times, I wound up at a table for four-alone. Fortunately, a bar had just been built a few weeks ago-a new addition to the restaurant. So, unwilling to pass lunch up, I grabbed a seat and enjoyed my meal with the bartender, a character from South Philly who had just finished up a 20-year stint as a barback in Atlantic City.

The $24 menu was expectedly limited, with two salads and a soup to choose from for the first course, three entrées for the second and a chef's selection for dessert. I went with an organic spring mix salad and orzo macaroni-and-cheese.

The salad was nothing to write home about, but still fresh and enjoyable, especially with the generous breadbasket and a glass of Merlot, which I chose after the bartender let me try several of the reds.

Macaroni-and-cheese was a nostalgic choice, but a menu item I typically find hard to pass up even in the finest of restaurants. This dish was prepared with orzo pasta, smoked salmon, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes in a buttery cheese sauce. The components created a perfect balance as the acidity from the tomatoes cut into the creaminess of the cheese and the colors were very appetizing.

For dessert, I was presented with a two-tiered serving dish of half-a-dozen mini deserts including pumpkin mousse, lemon soufflé and layered chocolate cake. As I devoured every last one of them, I silently thanked my friends for standing me up.

Continued...

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