Parc, Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. July 2010
Kelle H. BEGGED me to go to Philly for Valentine's weekend one February during the Milford years. She laid a major guilt trip on me about how awful it was to be a single woman on Valentine's Day and that we might as well make the best of it. ("we"?? I was not particularly suffering, but I needed a break from Milford). We booked a hotel in Philly and, overall, had a nice weekend. The best discovery for me that trip was Parc.
Even if I grew up near Philadelphia, I ashamedly didn't know much about the city. In fact, the only times I visited was as a tourist and I could count visits on the fingers of one hand. "Rittenhouse Square" was a place name I knew (and I knew it was posh), but I had never visited. While looking for a brunch restaurant near the hotel, the restaurant, Parc, came up and we thought we'd give it go. I just fell in love with the place.
The location on the square was scenic and the interior was retro trying to recreate something turn-of-the-20th-century Paris in Philadelphia. The menu had charcuterie (before that was a "thing") and more importantly they had bloody mary's. My bar for a bloody mary was quite high as my bartender bestie in Milford, Bob G., made one of the best bloody mary's I had ever tasted (having learned how to make them in an upscale club on Long Island in his youth). The drink arrived and I pronounced it "wonderful". In fact, so wonderful that on two return trips to Philly, I made SURE a brunch stop at Parc was on the itinerary.
A few years later, Adrian FVdR was visiting from London and we traveled to Philly for sightseeing. It happened to be my birthday and I quite happily drank some bloody mary's while snacking on a charcuterie board down by Rittenhouse Square in Parc. The photo above is from that visit. Happiness doesn't have to be that difficult to find - a favorite drink in a classic restaurant in a lovely location can suffice. I was happier, by the way, than my photo above indicates.
Some restaurants made cities even more memorable on my travels. The little Japanese place in Mabolo, Cebu City gave stopovers in that city an extra bonus with its authentic bento boxes. The Peruvian restaurant in Malasaña, Madrid had such welcoming ceviche and pisco sours every time I passed through. I swear the Lisboa Patisserie on Golborne Road in London had the best pastel de nata outside of Portugal. WineCafè Da Mario made my time in Naples that much better. And that French bistro on Rittenhouse Square with the good bloody mary's? It was worth a drive to Philly just for that first sip.