Kennett Restaurant

Last night brother Mal and I met up at Kennett Restaurant to begin work on our nanobrewery business plan, and we made some good progress on that score. Mal's lovely bride joined us for brainstorming and along the way we did some barnstorming of the menu.

Apropos of today's Meal Ticket feature on the new wood-burning oven at Kennett, we sampled the "porchetta" pizza: pulled pork, farmer's cheese, whipped lardo and herbs. The crust was nicely blistered and the lardo disappeared into the other toppings, lending them a salty, piggy perfume.

Porchetta pizza

Business planning can give a man an appetite. So despite the pizza's richness, we sampled a few other items: the puy lentil salad, brussels sprouts, and roasted parsnips, in addition to the burger.

Puy lentil salad

Roasted brussels sprouts and sunchokes with bacon and crushed coriander

Roasted parsnips with parmesan

The burger is topped with bibb lettuce, pickled onion and anchovy mayonnaise. The latter lends a rich and savory counterpoint to the onion. Our specimen was cooked to a perfect medium-rare; the addition of bone marrow to the beef means that cheese isn't necessary.

Burger with bone marrow, pickled onion and anchovy mayonnaise

In addition to all the great food, the beer list is impressive. We sipped on Yards Love Stout (a fine choice when served on nitrogen), Left Hand Fade to Black Smoked Baltic Porter and Long Trail Hibernator Ale.

The nattily dressed staff was cheerful and attentive, the dining room cozy from Edison bulbs and the glow of the pizza oven. Kennett is one of those spots that make me wish I lived in the neighborhood. I look forward to returning soon to sample more of the menu.

Kennett Restaurant

848 S. 2nd St.

Philadelphia, PA 19147

267-687-1426