The chain has hired an entirely local crew, including Fountain Room veteran Ettore Ceraso as manager and former Morton's chef Shawn Sollberger to run the kitchen. The staff has even gone out of its way to seat PNC's nostalgic private bankers next to windows where their cubicles used to be.
But does Philly need another expensive Italian restaurant? Perhaps not. The Italian specialties here were very good, but hardly spectacular when compared with Vetri, Monte Carlo Living Room, La Famiglia, or many of the best outposts in South Philadelphia.
But whether Center City needs a good steakhouse is another question. This Davio's, unlike its Boston and Providence, R.I., counterparts, has decided to place quality steak and chops at the center of its menu. And with an experienced steak jockey such as Sollberger riding behind the grill, why not?
There is a horde of steak chains poised to enter the city in the forthcoming months, so the answer to my second question might be different come 2001. But of the existing upscale steakhouses that cluster around Center City, few have delivered delicious meat specialties with the consistency I experienced at Davio's.
A thick cut of dry-aged New York strip that came shaped like the state of New Jersey (and just about as big) was nearly as good as it gets. Its crunchy caramelized edges gave way to rosy moist meat inside, enlivened by a cool dollop of whipped cream braced with grated horseradish. The grilled rib eye was almost as good, splashed in a dark sauce that was toasty with garlic. And the grilled veal chop was simple perfection. Browned, yet superbly juicy inside, the butter-soft meat needed little embellishment. Even so, a silky bearnaise on the side added an old-fashioned decadence that I won't regret indulging.
