Dining out Philly style...

Walk into any restaurant with good reviews and you will most likely find a new fangled menu with off the wall dishes that taste and look vaguely disturbing. Thankfully this was not the case with Dimitri's Mediterranean Seafood Restaurant in Philly. A cozy little BYOB tucked away in a relatively quiet neighborhood, it is often impossible to get into on a weekend, and even when you do, there isn't much elbow room at the little tables. Locals who know the drill put their names on the list and drift over the New Wave Bar across the road until their table is ready. Others like us get there before the dinner crowd pours in around 6:30.

Friend Kelli and I found ourselves at a corner table facing the open kitchen where 3 cooks worked away steadily getting our dinner going. Our bottle of Cab was opened and a basket with an assortment of crusty French bread and grilled pita served with an olive oil dip. We started with a beet salad followed by the grilled octopus that everyone is always raving about. It was a first for me and I didn't love it. Kelli and I agreed that it was fibrous and not very flavorful, but diners at the next table overheard us and disagreed heartily. We called it a truce by handing over the remainder of the octopus and they accepted willingly. The beets were crunchy and sweet with the slight tanginess of a reduced red wine dressing, but the best part of the meal was definitely the whole grilled Sea Bass which was cooked to perfection. Served on a platter dressed with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice and parsley, it was moist and simple enough to let the fresh flavors of the fish through. Overall, it was money well spent and I would go back there given a chance to try their baba ghanoush- I caught a glimpse of it on my way out and it sure looked good!

A great meal should always end with a satisfying dessert and a strong cup of coffee. So we headed out to Tinto, a Jose Garces establishment (another notoriously difficult place to get into). We were determined to sit at the bar and finally after considerable foot tapping and other impatient displays found a corner of the bar to ourselves. Kelli had been there before and she insisted that I try the Bananas Yazafran. Don't let the name scare you- it was a mound of, what tasted like good quality chocolate ganache with a couple slices of caramelized bananas and a saffron cream sauce. It was a well thought out dessert and I enjoyed it thoroughly but could it get any smaller?!