The Other Critics

Stateside Represents the ‘Refining’ of the Gastropub Movement; Ela Shows a ‘Sense of Maturity’

• At East Passyunk’s Stateside, Craig LaBan surveys chef George Sabatino’s “small-plate study of great American (mostly local) ingredients,” and has mostly enthusiastic things to say. With “wonderfully rustic pork liver terrine spiked with applejack,” “truffled sausage with molten rich marrow,” and the “luxuriously silky texture of minced beef tartare, truffled, cool, and glossed with raw quail egg,” he writes that four month old restaurant in the heart of “this red-hot South Philly neighborhood,” “represents in many ways another refining step for the gastropub movement.” [Inquirer]

• Brain Freedman takes in some of what Queen Village’s Ela has to offer, and praises chef Jason Cichonski’s “deeply creative mind that’s willing to take risks.” From the “ingenious scatter of pretzel spaetzle” that comes with the duck magret, to the sherry vinegar and root beer marinated foie gras, dishes served represent “a sense of maturity far beyond Cichonski’s years.” [PW]

• After indulging in Lemon Hill’s “brined, smoked, slow-cooked, floured and fried crisp” chicken wings, Adam Erace declares “no one else’s flappers are this buttery.” House-baked flatbread that’s served so hot that “it’s still moving,” “killer collards” and “the best chocolate-chip pound cake” he’s ever had are all highlights. But the “doughy and under-salted” pretzels that accompany the “gurgling fondue of Gruyère, cheddar and something on tap” disappointed. [Citypaper]

Stateside Represents the ‘Refining’ of the Gastropub Movement; Ela