Getting Beyond the Scene at Dandelion

Underneath all the glitz and theater Adam Erace finds that Dandelion is a “pretty good restaurant.”

Foie gras fared even better. It came as a generous pad seared and served with crisp bacon, balsamic-shallot jus and a sunny-side-up duck egg basted in foie fat — something Aikens used to do at his twin brother Tom’s Michelin-starred restaurant in London. He’s convinced me ham hocks are a good idea for ultra-rich mac and cheese, and he’s gotten Rittenhouse princesses to try black pudding when they’d likelier go for the ladylike (and flavorful!) butter lettuce salad dappled with honey vinaigrette. Aikens imports his blood sausage, but I’d only want it housemade if he could replicate this version’s haunting clove scent. The perfume carried through the scallops that the inky sausage hid beneath, a modern surf-and-turf rising from a carpet of wilted Brussels and fruity apple purée.

This Old House [City Paper]
Dandelion [Official Site]