Modo Mio is a beloved BYOB in fishtown. I don’t really know anyone who hasn’t liked the place. It’s been open for a few years, and I have no idea why I waited so long to go. It was worth all the hype. [Apologies in advance for the worse than usual photos, but the lighting in there is terrible for non-flash photos!]

Since it was a BYOB, M made us some pre-dinner gin cocktails. We b’d plenty of our own b’s. We even offered a drink to one of the waitresses, but she refused! We all decided to do the turista menu, which allows you to pick anything from the antipasti, pasta, secondi, and dessert menus.

The bread was unbelievable. It’s served with a porcini olio, which was also beyond delicious. The bread is incredibly dense and wet and chewy on the inside. Things were starting off well.

Before the food started coming out, we got a little amuse bouche, which was a bruschetta with tuna puree. The bread was a bit too salty on the crust, but overall, it was a great little taste.

For the antipasti, a few of us got the cervello, the fried calves’ brains with walnuts and pickled fennel. Who knew fried brains would be so good?

I ordered the Polpo, the balsamic grilled octopus, crispy potato cake, with arugula pesto. Wow. Just wow. The octopus was tender and delicious, and the crispy potato cake, although not crispy, was so surprisingly good. People are afraid that octopus could possibly be rubbery. This octopus was the furthest from rubbery as anything possibly could be.

For the pasta, M got the Caramelli, fresh pasta candies (look how cute they are!) stuffed with buffalo milk Taleggio and hazelnut brown butter. The cheese was super creamy and delicious in here. So rich!

R and I both picked the Mlinzi, toasted fresh pasta with a rustic rabbit ragu. So good! The pasta was extremely firm, I guess that comes from the toasting. The ragu was made with sweet peppers so it had a surprising sweetness.

F’s lamb dish, the Agnello. It’s typically a braised lamb chops dish, but this night, it was a giant lamb ball, served with porcini and apple fritters.

Three of us got the Guancè, the veal cheek served chef’s choice style. The menu says “trust him”. It’s a good idea to do so. Delicious! Again, this is a bit on the sweet side. I think E would have preferred that it was less sweet. The cheek itself was nice and tender.

I was in the mood for something on the lighter side for my entree, so I went with a fish dish and picked the Razze, seared skate wing with apricot brown butter, almonds, capers, and lemon. It was exactly what I wanted! The fish was perfectly cooked and the whole dish was light. I don’t like capers so I ate around them, but I loved everything else. The apricot chunks were a really nice touch.

For desserts, the options included tiramisu, a flourless chocolate something, an italian style crepe with nutella, and I forget what else. A few went with just cappuccino or espresso. Because I’m into fruits in my desserts, I got the apple pastry. It was somewhat like an apple pie, but one that had shavings of cheese on top. It was nice and light and a perfect way to end this meal. Really, the entire meal and experience exceeded all of my expectations. The service was also good, provided by our very actorly waiter, Steve. The place is small, and you’re all definitely squeezed in. It’s also quite loud, so don’t expect a quiet and serene place that is romantic. It’s boisterous! But the food is some of the best I’ve ever had. I implore everyone to visit! I’ll definitely be back!

Even though there were feets and feets of the cold white stuff still outside (see, it’s in the back of the photo!), this wasn’t going to stop me from sticking some cold white stuff inside. I’ve walked past Sweet Ending way too many times and never gone in. With giant piles of snow outside, for whatever reason, I was compelled. The name is bad. And you know why. It’s a completely self serve frozen yogurt joint. There are multiple flavors of the stuff, and you serve it yourself. And you put on whatever toppings you want. And you pay by the ounce. Simple enough. I tried a bit of pomegranate flavor, cream cheese flavor, and original. The pomegranate wasn’t all that. The cream cheese was strange but good. But I enjoyed original the most. What can I say, I’m a purist this way. I’m not a cereal or candy topping person, I stick purely with fruit. I went with a bit of kiwi, but it wasn’t the most ripe kiwi in the world, so it ended up being too much on the sour side.

They also sells smoothies and waffles. I also love smoothies and waffles so I’m a fan of these ideas. It’s got an excellent center city location. Stop by! Even when it’s cold out, it’s still delicious and refreshing!

Every major city has some sort of restaurant week, and Philadelphia is no exception. It happens several times a year, and enclaves within the city even have their own versions of it. I don’t participate in it too often as the menus can be very limiting and not worth the value. But sometimes, once in awhile, I partake. So for this last go-round, we went to Mercato. I’ve always wanted to go here. It’s a teeny little byob in midtown village that is always packed. And there’s certainly many reasons why.
The place is so small and the tables are densely packed in. You literally have to squeeze yourself into your seat. But it’s not a big deal. Since it was restaurant week, we pretty much got our pick of the menu and got to select one app, one entree, and one dessert.  Only the cioppino was excluded from the menu and the antipasti had to be shared between two as the app. Otherwise, it was all fair game. I appreciated that. Some complimentary bread with a flavored butter. Just wonderful.
M’s roasted portabella and arugula puff pastry with pecorino, pine nuts, and thyme citronette. Delicious!

Whole grilled artichoke with a extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and a zesty citrus aioli. Again, delicious! And I don’t even like artichokes. It looked so good that I had to try it. Even if I don’t traditionally like artichokes. I’m trying actively to expand my horizons. It was so smoky and great. And we fell in love with this aioli. I could have drank it.
The crispy skin striped bass with caramelized cipollini onions, artichokes and pancetta crisp, in a chianti reduction aioli.  Ooh baby. If I wasn’t such a scallop freak, I would have ordered this. In fact, next time, I will!
So as for me, with very little surprise, I ordered the pan seared diver scallops with a wild mushroom and english pea risotto, parmesan crisp, and drizzled with truffle oil. I’m a sucker for scallops and I’m a sucker for this dish. So perfect. The risotto was creamy and dreamy and super flavorful. I love anything with peas in it! I could have licked the plate. And were it not for all the other patrons within an eyelash of me, I would have.
For dessert I got the panna cotta with cinnamon apples. Loved this too. Loved every damn thing about this place. I can see why this place is packed all the time and gets rave reviews. It deserves all of its lauds. Service was pretty good considering there were only 3 servers for the whole joint and the place was mobbed. It’s cozy but not quiet. Because you’re so tightly packed together it’s busy and loud and bustling. But it’s still adorable. And the food is lovely. I want to taste every dish!