Philly Neighborhood Food Week: Paradiso

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Philly Neighborhood Food Week: Paradiso

POSTED: Friday, October 15, 2010, 6:54 PM

Filed Under: Dealage | Food Events

Photo | Jim Stem

Paradiso's swordfish spaghettini puttanesca

Located in the midst of the hustle and bustle of East Passyunk Avenue, Paradiso is an Italian restaurant with giant open windows and seating right one the sidewalk. Six friends and I went there for the four courses-for-$30 deals served up for Philly Neighborhood Restaurant Week. We were seated immediately and given bread and olive oil while we waited for our bottle of wine to arrive. For the first course, we were given three options: fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and roasted peppers; a salad consisting of baby spinach, pancetta, roasted peppers and cider vinaigrette; and chicken livers, which I opted for. The microarugula-topped offal arrived fried over a bed of sauteed onions. Chicken livers are not my thing, but I'm glad I tried them for the first time the way Paradiso chose to cook them. The second course consisted of two pasta options: a fettuccine pomodoro, which was great in its simplicity, and a spaghettini swordfish puttanesca, also a good, solid dish. For the third course, I feel like I picked the most boring dish out of the bunch, skate Milanese with arugula and lemon aioli, and upon its arrival immediately regretted it. That's not saying it was bad (it was actually quite good), but compared to all of the other dishes mine was just bland. Had I known, I would've ordered anything else, like the short rib braciola, served with soft polenta and smoked tomato cream. It was delicious, as was the slow-roasted porchetta served with yukon potatoes. The two dessert options were simple ways to end a great meal: a warm chocolate bread pudding with a dollop of vanilla cream and a rice pudding with grappa soaked cherries and a sprig of a mint. I would like to go back to Paradiso to try their regular menu, and I have the Philly Neighborhood Food Week to thank for trying out a new restaurant that I probably wouldn't have visited otherwise. PNFW runs until tomorrow; check out the full list of participating restaurants here.

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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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