Wednesday, March 7, 2007

La bella luna


A couple of friends and I tried to check out a big beer festival last weekend at Philadelphia's Naval Yard. But while waiting in a long line to park our car, we found out it was already sold-out.


Grrrr.


We decided to go to dinner, but Saturday night in Philly without restaurant reservations can be a real gamble. My first choice was Osteria, but even I knew that trying to score a table at Marc Vetri's hot new Broad Street venue was going to be nearly impossible.


My friend mentioned Ristorante Mezza Luna, a Roman-style restaurant at Eighth and Catherine streets. After a quick phone call and a little pleading, the owner said he had a place for my party of four. (I'll admit it, I think having an Italian surname helped get us a table.) It was an absolute delight. My favorite dish was one of the day's specials - fettuccine in a porcini mushroom broth with baby clams and drizzles of truffle oil. The wine list was reasonable - I considered the Tocai, a racy $28 white wine from Italy's northwestern Fruili region, but instead went with a fruity $34 red from Tuscany's Montepulicano.

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