Sneak peek at Philly dining

I'm working on an upcoming story for our 55 Hours section on Philly dining which will run later this month, but I'll give you a sneak peek on one place that really got my tastebuds going. It's worth a hike up I-95:

Osteria at 640 N. Broad St., (215) 763-0920; is chef/owner Marc Vetri's new Italian style eatery. (It's several blocks past Hahnemann Hospital.) Osteria is more casual and less expensive than his flagship restaurant, the outstanding Vetri, but just as exciting.

Seriously. I was so afraid the restaurant wouldn't live up to the hype - but it did and more. I'm in love with food here, so forgive me if I gush. Vetri is a tiny, cozy restaurant - that Mario Batali told me one was one of his favorite restaurants in the country - and somehow owners Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin took that same coziness and introduce it to a bigger room without losing the warmth. There are wood tables, tile floors, sexy lighting, piped in Italian music .

But let's get to the food. If you're expecting Italian-American red gravy offerings - go somewhere else. Osteria has dishes you would actually see in Italy. Entrees are $30 and under.

For antipasti, there's wood baked manilla clams with guanciale (unsmoked Italian bacon made from pig's cheeks) and scallions. ($12) or the salumi plate with proscuitto, lardo,porchetta and salamae ($14.) You can get candele with wild boar bolognese ($16) - candele is a candle-shaped pasta - and rabbit casalinga with pancetta sage, brown buter and soft polenta. I was so psyched to see - and eat - the house aged rib-eye fiorentina for two with Tuscan bean salad ($60) - this is a staple of Florence restaurants. And it was cooked perfectly.

The artichokes alla romana ($10) are lovely, crisp, little nuggets and an appetizer special during my visit was burrata, an oozy type of mozzarella that was dressed lightly with olive oil, pine nuts and a confetti of zucchini.
I never got to the pizzas - there are eight which cost between $15 to $24 - but I'm going for the polpo - octopus, tomato, red chili flakes and smoked mozzarella, on my next visit. That's right. My next. This is one restaurant I plan to visit often.

Ezio Reynaud, a co-owner of Culinaria in Brandywine Hundred, told me he's already made several trips to Osteria. He says the tripe alla parmigiana ($10) is out of this world and he loved the candele with wild boar bolognese.

The wine list is reasonable - glass are about $8 each. The sommelier is excellent. We were going to order a $36 bottle of Montepulciano and the sommelier steered us toward a $32 off the menu item, a bottle of 2004 Torre Quatro "Don Marcello" Rosso, an earthy, yet fruity bottle of red from Puglia. It was ideal marriage with the burrata and the steak.

Weekend reservations can be tough to get - but pick up the phone and plead your case or visit opentable.com and see what's available during the week. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Buon appetito!