Hit the Road, Jack

I spent most of this past week on the road dreaming of recipes, but really only able to eat out. My only decent chance at a meal was at a spot in Philly called Alfa.

While the chef's credentials seemed impressive enough (he worked underneath Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto), my first impression of the restaurant was that of one that was simply trying too hard. A glance at their website, which reads more like that of the city's newest club hotspot, should give you an idea of why I agree.

For instance, the "Bruschetta Trio of tomato onion marmalade and cambozola cheese, spiced walnuts and fig jam, and wild mushroom and herbed cheese" tasted just as confusing as it sounded. And by "confusing" I mean "bad."

I had a pepper crusted scallop with truffled mashed potato, a saffron infused orange jus, crisped mixed cheese, and a sauteed baby carrot. The only of those adjectives that happenned to be accurate were "crisped" and "sauteed." I know truffled and I know saffron and I can tell you that neither of those showed up in any substantive way on this plate. While the scallop was indeed cooked perfectly, the cheese was overpowering, and the mashed potato was nothing I couldn't have made at home. The orange jus was the only thing that made the plate edible from beginning to end.

And since I only got three scallops with mild additions, I wasn't nearly full at the end of my $17 entree. So I ordered some $6 sweet potato and russet potato french fries. These were actually pretty good, although inconsistent from fry to fry.

I will say, the martini (or three) I had was absolutely fantastic. Vodka, apple pucker, pomegranate juice, and a touch of cinnamon. Why do all my favorite martinis always end up pink??