After several failed attempts at going to the Bibou prix fixe, we finally got a reservation! I swear, every time we wanted to go, there was something stopping us. Either we tried to get a reservation too late, they were on vacation, or one of us wasn’t available on that said sunday. Then all the stars aligned and we finally went! Bibou is pocket-sized and adorably so. It’s warm and inviting.
Warm baguette, anyone? Yes, please! The butter was also delicious.
To start, we had the soup course, which was a bouillabase, with rouille toast. Oh, this was a cute bowl of seafoody goodness. It was hot, pungent, and a great start.
E got the foie gras duo. There was a foie gras creme brulee and a hunk of seared foie gras. For those of you who eat foie gras and like foie gras, this is the choice for you.
I decided to be bold and get the escargot. It’s a french place and I wanted to go as french as possible! Escargot is of course, snails, and these were in a ragout with fava beans, mousseron mushroom, and flavored with tarragon. I like escargot! I’d only had it once before, maybe nearly 10 years ago, but those were just pretty plain and buttered. These were succulent and savory and I even enjoyed the mushrooms. There’s nothing scary about snails at all. They’re delicious.
E wanted the octopus dish, but they had just run out. So instead, she got the striped bass prepared as the octopus had been. So here is the striped bass with with cauliflower couscous, tomatillo and red bell pepper, preserved lemon, in a caper brown butter. Yum!
I got the regular striped bass dish, which was served with artichoke barigoule, fava beans, butternut squash, and barigoule emulsion. What does all that mean? I don’t know, it just tasted good. Both of the fish dishes were perfectly cooked. The fish was tender but with a slightly crispy skin. The accompanying flavors and veggies were mild, yet perfect for how it was prepared. We both ate it up!
E is a chocolate girl, so she got the mimi’s chocolate cake with caramel sauce. Oh my word. This was an individual sized and baked cake. It was crazy good.
I prefer fruit in my desserts so I went with the crumble fresh cranberry pie. Jimminy cricket this was amazing too. The cranberry was fresh and tart and the accompanying berries were lovely and sweet. Really, every bite of this meal was superb.
Just when we thought we were done, they brought out some macaroons and other sweet treats. How cute is this! And if that wasn’t enough, Chef Pierre came out and said hello to us (and everyone else). We were both elated, stuffed, and a bit starstruck to say anything intelligible! We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal here, and the entire experience. I still don’t know jack about french food, but places like Bibou make me want to try it again and again.

The Capital Grille had introduced a three-dish fixed price lunch menu and invited me to sample some of their offerings. The Philly location is huge, classic, and fancy, with very romantic lighting. There’s a whole lotta leather, wood, and people in suits. You get a basket of complimentary bread and it’s got a nice mix of things like pumpernickel, rolls, flatbread type things… I loved the variety.
Mint lemonade and grapefruit sodas. The lemonade was good, but not very minty at all. The grapefruit soda was awesome! Everything is freshly made, even these drinks!
M’s salad, with particularly tasty cherry tomatoes.
I had the clam chowder as my appetizer. This was quite the respectable cup of soup! It was thick, clammy, and full of potato and clam chunks. M got the lobster roll. Whoa, this was a huge pile of lobster. I mean huge. They didn’t really put it in the roll, they just kind of plopped it on top. That made sense though, as there was no way that giant pile of lobster was going to fit into any kind of roll. Oh man, that lobster was sweet and fresh and succulent. I’m not even all that into lobster, but this roll was great. And the haricots verts? I could not stop eating them! I’m a big fan of green beans and these were some of the best I’ve had in awhile.
I got the wagyu cheeseburger with fried egg and crisp onions. It’s got seasoned japanese wagyu beef, which is pretty darn fancy. And fried egg happens to be one of my favorite toppings for a burger! This little burger was good!
M picked the cheesecake as his dessert, which has a vanilla wafer crust, is garnished with fresh sweet berries in a strawberry sauce, and topped with a burnt sugar crust. If you like cheesecake, you’ll like this one.
I’m a creme brulee junkie, so you know that’s what I picked. The creme brulee itself good, but it was the fruit that won me over. Capital Grille philly, I don’t know where you get you berries from, but damn, they were awesome.
Some coffee, anyone? After all that food, it’d be hard to! Since we’re moving into Spring now, they’ve just switched things up for this lunch deal. They’re offering new selections, such as asparagus soup, spring and piquillo peppers with crisp bomba rice, and grilled spring veggies. Once again, it’s a three-dish prix fixe. For the quality and quantity of food, and the extremely high level of service, this is a great lunch deal!

The Farm and Fisherman is an adorable BYOB in Washington Square West. When you walk in, you really feel like it’s someone’s living room, except it’s full of little dining tables, and a sofa is nowhere to be found. It’s small and intimate and warm. One thing we noticed on the Sunday night that we visited was how young we felt. I’m not sure if maybe it was just that it was Sunday night, but I definitely felt like a young’n. They have a very small menu and I’m a fan of places that do not give me too many things to choose from. It makes my indecisive self feel better.
A roll and homemade butter. The bread was warm, the butter was beyond fresh. It was delicious. We were off to a great start.We ordered one of the beet steak appetizers to share. Instead of one, they actually brought out two individual dishes. They said they found a few big pieces and just split it into two portions. Whoa. These beets must have been humongous, as our individual portions were ginormous! These bloody beet steaks were served with yogurt, shallots, pan drippings, aged balsamic vinegar, and pea leaves. Wow, this thing was like an entree! And it was beyond rich and delicious. I am a big fan of beets anyway, so for anyone that is not, try this to become a convert!
E got the pastured chicken baked in hay. It was served with blue corn grits and mushrooms. She couldn’t stop going on about how awesome it was.
I had the rhode island fluke served with a stew of fall vegetables, curry, almonds, and currants. I was so surprised by how big the portion sizes were! These were two large pieces of fluke, perfectly grilled and placed atop a nice mix of rooty veggies.
For dessert we got the apple strudel with freshly whipped cream. This was perfect. It wasn’t overly sweet and the dough was crispy and flaky. Service was absolutely top notch. The clientele also rocked. There was a big group there celebrating a birthday, and when they saw we didn’t b any of our own b, they offered us some of their wine. How sweet is that? We both thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our experience here. We’ll definitely be back! Note to people out there – this would be a lovely date spot!