PREVIEW: Kitchen at Penn

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PREVIEW: Kitchen at Penn

POSTED: Friday, February 11, 2011, 4:19 PM

Filed Under: Openings

Courtesy of Kitchen at Penn

Not many restaurants are born by way of an undergraduate independent study, but that's exactly what happened in the case of Kitchen at Penn (4529 Springfield Ave.). Penn senior Nate Adler was working on a project with Operations and Information Management professor Eric Clemens when he drew up a business model and realized that his far-flung concept had serious potential. The idea: a service â delivery and pick-up only â that traffics in healthy, affordable, locally sourced comfort foods. After securing funding, a location and a chef, Kitchen was born. The service is run entirely out of a kitchen space on 45th and Springfield, where Jersey Shore native Jordan Miller has taken the reins. (Adler and a rotating cast of assistant chefs will be helping out most of the time, too.) The menu is full of staples that any college kid in want of Mom's cooking can lean on â or, as Adler puts it, "Mom's cooking kicked up a notch." Their website will be updated daily with specials and is a good source of info on the minds behind the meals.

Courtesy of Kitchen at Penn

I was treated to a comprehensive cross-section of their menu, which, while still in the development stages, seems well on its way. Even though some items were still being perfected (they were working on upping the crispiness of schnitzel when I stopped by; lots of kosher/vegetarian options are in the works), but others were damn near perfect, especially considering the delivery format. There's a turkey burger on housemade foccaccia with lettuce, gouda (or cheddar) cheese, avocado, tomato, and a honey mustard aioli â a lighter alternative to a traditional beef cheeseburger, it's satisfying and non-greasy. The signature side item, though, are the tater tots. They kill: The center is mashed potato, bound together by a layer of shredded potato, which is then fried (very quickly). The end result is one of the airiest potato-based treats I've tried, and would recommend that any takers eat them with the requisite sriracha aioli.

Courtesy of Kitchen at Penn

Chicken pot pies are made on a small scale, in muffin tins, so as to accommodate easy delivery. Tastewise, they're modeled after those of Standard Tap (901 N. Second St.). In other poultry news, Adler says he foresees the brick chicken (a pressed half chicken butchered in-house) as his biggest seller, outstripping the perennially popular chicken platter at Penn mainstay Greek Lady (224 S. 40th St.). Elsewhere, they're doing a solid breadcrumb-topped mac 'n' cheese, as well as other pastas made in-house. The most unreal delicious Kitchen item I tasted: banana bread pudding. Like banana pudding interspersed with delicious chunks of banana bread, it's light and fluffy in ways that you'd never expect. Sweetened only with condensed milk! Eff it's good. Delivery will be outsourced to a new bicycle delivery service started by a former employee of Milk and Honey Market (4425 Baltimore Ave.). It'll run from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, starting on Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Foobooz » The Agenda

Posted 2011-02-14 16:45:29

[...] Kitchen at Penn is scheduled to start delivering this Wednesday, Meal Ticket has some [...]

Notes from the Weekend: Feb. 14 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-02-14 21:58:32

[...] library, but when hunger pangs started setting in, I ran home and made an inaugural order at the (now soft-opened) Kitchen (4529 Springfield Ave.). I got the West Philly Banh Mi, punched up with house-pickled vegetables [...]

Posted by Adrian Pelliccia @ 4:19 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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