Russet

This farm to table BYO is my favorite restaurant in Philly. The romantic layout of the restaurant has somewhat of a «rural renewal» feel to the décor. Even when busy, my partner and I felt like we were separate enough to enjoy each others company. We started with a smoked blue cheese plate that had a cracker, special sauce, and radishes and a pasta that was to die for. The first dish left a fantastic impression. For the entrees, we had an Atlantic char and a chicken dish, both of which we declared to be the best meal we’d ever had. The char came with beets and potatoes that were seasoned to perfection. I talked about how wonderful the beets were for at least a month after going. For desert, we shared the mint ice cream and chocolate tart and neither disappointed. Russet truly is a hidden gem.

I wanted to give this BYOB 5 stars for the bursting-​with-​flavor food. The escabeche trout was delectable, crispy skin and tender fleshy meat. Wife loved the vegetable potage. And the rutabaga in vegetarian «butcher-​blood» sauce was spicy and savory and amazing.
Unfortunately the service was below par through most of the night. Nobody greeted us for about 10 minutes when we arrived on time for our reservation. One of the servers told us that a dish was within our dietary restrictions, only to learn later from another server that it contained bacon (thankfully we learned before it was too late). They couldn’t make a small amount of change to pay in cash, and seemed to alternate between ignoring us and then two separate servers who would ask us within 30 seconds whether everything was OK. I get it, maybe their regular servers called in sick, will definitely give them another chance to show this was just an off-​day.

Without hesitation, the service was very accommodating and what I did get to experience was mostly tasty… but my first and only experience was in a group of twelve so I want to go back when I can actually try the food rather than fighting for the forkfuls that would make their way to me. I think I will pass on dessert though.

I had a meal at Russet restaurant yesterday after attending the Philadelphia Theater Company. I had enjoyed this restaurant in the past and thought I would try it again. I brought a bottle of cider since this is a BYOB establishment. The waiter came over with a bottle opener for my cider and I I requested, at least 2 times, that he open it without the opener. It has a cage. The bottle is pressurized like champagne.
He proceeded to say «I always do it like this.» He then proceeded to bring the bottle in the back, out of view. When I turned around I saw him using the opener. I spike up but too late. He opened my cider with the opener. Now maybe It was ok but I am the customer and I made a request multiple times. After that I requested another server.
The meal just never ended. We waited 30 minutes for bread. I finally had to ask our original server for bread! Everything was extremely slow. It was a Tuesday night!
No apologies about slowness either.
The food was very good but these service issues makes me cross Russet off my restaurant choices in Philadelphia. What a pity. They could be a great stop after the Kimmel. 0 stars for customer service. Hopefully someone in management will see this review.

Eh… this place could’ve definitely been better. And I so badly wished it to be!
We went here for a spur-​of-​the-​moment brunch with friends. The place is real cute in a great location in town. Ambiance, thumbs up. BYOB, even better! The fact that you can pick up alcohol from the little convenience store next store, can’t be beat! But after we got seated in the back, we found the smallest menu placed on our plates. I’m thinking, hey, maybe it’s small but it’s filled with quality choices that will make it hard to choose. Alas. An average omelet here, a skate there, some pancakes, and small appetizers. Where’s the token eggs benedict, the farm to table omelet pizzaz-​ed concoction, the choice of something hefty or something light? We were left unfortunately in wanting. But beyond the minimal choices and the small portions, I think the prices are what got us. Small stuff for big dough – for brunch! The most redeeming factor was the service – what great staff, very friendly and they really did make our dining experience the cherry on our teensy ice cream. I had ordered their pancakes, which was a pretty good serving out of all the things our 7-​person table and was actually quite tasty. The general census on everybody’s food could be best described as a «Meh.» (I should mention that I think the price greatly affected everyone’s opinion on degree of tastiness.)
All in all, I can’t say I would recommend this place for brunch especially if you’re starving and want more of a menu to choose from than a few items that didn’t seem quite appetizing, but who knows, you could try your luck for dinner!

Russet was a restaurant I wanted to try for a very long time. The menu is small with lots of inventive offerings. The dining room was cozy and warm. It’s BYOB too which is always good.
My friend and I started with the house cured pitina and toasted farro crespelle. The pitina was topped with some kind of spring mix and a tangelo mostarda. The citrus flavor in the mostarda was overwhelming and didn’t mesh well with the pitina. I was wishing it was more mostarda than tangelo (if that makes any sense). The toasted farro crespelle was like a crêpe wrapped around pork liver ragu. It had a very rich and buttery flavor. It was probably the best choice we made that night.
For the main course I had the woodlot pork sausage. The sausage was flavored well but very dry. As I cut it, it just fell apart. I was hoping for more fat to bind it together like you would typically expect in sausage. The bed of turnips, onions, and bacon that it sat on top of was absolutely delicious. I found myself mixing the dry bits of sausage with it which made the sausage more palatable. I ended up eating all of the turnip and onion mixture and only one of the pork sausages. My friend had the veal torchon. It looked almost like a dessert when the server brought it out. The veal was baked into this little cake with some mustard on top. I had a taste and it was very dry just like my pork sausage. It tasted like it was pre-​baked and then warmed up just before serving.
We skipped dessert. At the end of our meal our server brought us our check which my friend and I split. We decided to sit around and finish our bottle of wine before heading out into the cold. 20 minutes later the server came back and apologized that she had given us the wrong check and that she needed our credit cards again.
Maybe my expectations were a little high because I wanted to eat there for so long but my experience at Russet left a lot to be desired.

Came here for lunch and it was delicious! Had the cheese plate (a bit pricey but really yummy especially the kunik). Followed by possibly the best apple oat muffin I’ve ever had (hubs even liked the raisins in them — a first!) The omelet was perfectly cooked with a nice herby salad on the side. My branzino had a lovely flaky skin and scrumptious vegetables covered in the juices of the fish. Friend had the duck egg with rave reviews.
A cute place with friendly service, will definitely come again

After Mary Kate R. raved about Russet, it went to the top of my «Places to try» list. When I realized they were participating in restaurant week, I booked a table for myself and a friend right away.
This place might be easily missed from outside — it blends in to the historic row homes on either side, and the sign is a bit understated (though lovely). Once inside, you can tell it’s a pretty nice place, but they’re not overdoing it — it almost feels like you’re stepping into someone’s classy home, which I love. Though the place is small and they fit quite a few tables in there, I didn’t feel like I was sitting on top of the people next to us, a problem oft encountered in Center City.
We were treated to bread to start, which was good, though not amazing — it’s only served with butter, and I’d really prefer oil. However, our appetizers arrived quickly — we both went for the ravioli, which were excellent. I found myself almost wishing they were offered as an entrée. My entrée — the winter squash gratin — was tasty. Everything tasted fresh and the sauce had a yummy, apple-​y taste to it. Finally, dessert was an apricot tart that was super delicious — might have been a tad better warm, but I still devoured it quickly.
Service waxed and waned, but I honestly prefer that to the rush in, rush out, that some places force during restaurant week. We had time to linger and breathe a bit between courses. Big bonus, of course, is that it’s BYOB, and they accept cards — we both nervously checked the website several times thinking it might be a cash-​only type of place!
I would like to definitely be back — it’s a great atmosphere with unique, carefully thought out food, and thanks to the BYO status it can be budget-​friendly!

I am going to preface this review by saying that the amount of money I spend per month on dining experiences is someone’s high end car note. Having said that because I do dine at high end restaurants, I expect a particular kind of service. I have never been a waiter, but I do understand that they do work and live off of tips and so I always give 20%. You have to really be crappy for me to reduce your tip and that almost happened last night at Russet.
I absolutely love the fact that this cozy, quaint restaurant is located in a renovated brownstone. What I found a little troubling was that we had reservations for 8:15. We arrived right on time and our table had not been set. As a matter of fact, there were 3 tables just sitting and waiting to be set, so we stood and waited. No big, except there is not a bench available, so we hovered near another table and if I had been dining at that particular table, I would have been very upset because as the night went on, there were groups arriving and congregating near said table. Not cute.
We were seated and a waiter named Lauren opened our bottles. I thought she was our waiter, until 15 minutes later Kris S. showed up at our table. He did not welcome us, offer any specials of the day, just pulled out his pad and pen and wanted to take our orders. After placing our orders he asked if we had any questions and before I could ask a question about the meal, he turned to leave. I was able to get his attention and after answering my question, he promised to bring bread and butter. Every single table that arrived after us received bread and butter, except us. So after 25 minutes, I flagged another waiter down as Kris S. was nowhere to be seen, and equested a manager. Lauren approached and when I explained to her what had happened, she immediately apologized, offered to comp the table a dessert and promptly brought us our bread and butter. We asked Kris S. for extra plates to share food and he said yes. When our food arrived, he did not have the extra plates and then had the nerve to tell me that they were swamped and he would see what he could do. Really?! Because that request had been made 20 minutes prior to other guests arriving, so he should have set the plates aside or produced them earlier. We did receive our plates and the cauliflower steak, potato gnocci, duck breast, herbed tortellini, and beef shoulder was simply divine.
Kris was about to get 15% until I asked Lauren if they tipped shared and she told me yes. Because we wanted to take care of her, we gave 20%. Regardless of the sub par service, the experience was amazing and I so love B.Y.O.B. concepts.

I had a great dinner at Russet about a year ago and unfortunately it has taken me a long time to wore this review do the details are a bit fuzzy.
We made a reservation for 10 for restaurant week. Russet looks like a small restaurant from the exterior, but it was much larger inside. We were seated right away in a smaller room in the back of the restaurant and promptly greeted by our server to pour us water and open our bottles of wine (BYOB).
Since we had a large party, everyone ordered different things off of the Restaurant Week menu and tried each others. Everything that I had was wonderful; beautiful presentation, fresh (farm to table), flavorful, savory and sweet in the right proportions!
They cleared all plates and silverware between each course as it was served in a timely fashion, with a little bit of time in-​between to digest. Our server was great and our group was able to enjoy our dinner together in a relaxing atmosphere.
I would definitely like to dine at Russet again!

Really enjoyed our meal here last night. Our server was very nice and gave great recommendations. We had the cheese plate, gnocchi, and tuna tartare as appetizers — all very good. Entrees included lamb for him, tuna for me — the tuna was perfect, and although lamb isn’t typically my favorite, I tried a bit and it was very tender and flavorful. Full disclosure: we ate a lot more than we usually do last night, as we also enjoyed the apple dessert and the chocolate raspberry dessert. Every single dish was uniquely flavorful, and very fresh. We enjoyed all courses of this dining experience — we came very hungry, and left satisfied and happy. I very much look forward to returning to Russet.

Russet is a perfect little BYOB. Farm to table style is my favorite.
My friend and I split the fall salad. We didn’t like it very much there was not enough vegetables or flavor.
We are both gluten free and the menu was very accommodating to finding options to fit our diet.
She had the beef shoulder and I had the duck breast. Both of the dishes were cooked to perfection.
Food– 4
Service –4.5
Ambience– 4
Overall rating 4.2. I cannot wait to come back!

Yummy!
I love the quiet ambience here. Came on a Sunday and got their Potato Gnocchi, Seared Cape May Fluke, and Bittersweet Chocolate Semifreddo. Gnocchi and fish were cooked perfectly. Although the gnocchi was kind of plain, the eggplant and squash blossom sauce for the fish were really really good. Semifreddo was kind of grainy?
Good for a nice and quiet dinner, with simple and fresh flavors.

Dining at Russet was a truly incredible experience. The décor is understated and simple, the waitress was friendly, knowledgable and attentive, and the ambiance was ideal. Everything we had was exquisite. The freshness of the ingredients really shined through. I highly recommend the fluke for dinner; it was one of the best fish dishes I have ever had at a restaurant. The creamy squash blossom and fried shallots on the dish were dreamy… I could eat that dish every other night and be happy. I had the mascarpone panna cotta for dessert and it was so light and refreshing. My boyfriend got a dark chocolate tart with blackberries and it was absurdly good. I would not think twice about returning here… Russet, you have my vote.

Great food in an intimate ambience. And it is BYOB!
We were a group of four sharing 2 first courses and 4 mains for each. Only downside was that, being a very hot day, there was no air conditioned on and it got a bit uncomfortable. Anyway, we will definitely repeat.

Came here for dinner on Saturday night. It’s a cute, small restaurant with an interesting décor.
We ordered the pea gnocchi as an appetizer and I ordered the seared sea bass… Mouthwatering, deliciousness. I could eat that fish everyday. It was cooked perfectly.
The window we were sitting next to had a boar hoof and horns which were butchered in their kitchen… so interesting. BYOB — bring a bottle!
Service was a little slow though and there were maybe 10 other guests.

Had dinner here the other night before a show at the Kimmel Center. Wonderful, friendly service… attentive but not intrusive.
The food was fabulous. My husband got Beet Gazpacho that was a real treat. I don’t care for beets… but this soup was amazing. I would have been happy with it. I got a Spring Mix salad. Light, refreshing, flavorful.
I ordered the Barnegat Light Scallops as an entrée. They were perfectly cooked. So many places overcook scallops. Came with carrots, pea shoots and sunchokes. I didn’t know what sunchokes were. They are the root of the sunflower, had the consistency of potato, but a bit sweeter. Really, really good.
My husband had a mushroom lasagnetta with pine nuts. Earthy and just bursting with flavor.
Our only disappointment was that we didn’t have time for dessert. I understand that their desserts are outstanding.
Gee…we’ll just have to go back!

Such a romantic dinner spot. I love the ambient lighting and décor. The tables are just far enough away to hear distant conversation so you dont feel like you have to whisper or worry about someone overhearing your conversation.
Came here for supper Sunday and got the 4 items offered that day, in addition rabbit liver pâté and the duck entrée. Everything was delicious, and the price point was appropriate.
I really enjoyed dinner, but russet doesn’t get a 5 because it’s missing a «wow» factor — but overall solid spot.

I came here for the first time for a restaurant week dinner. While this is more of a 4.5 for me, I still think the food was very, very good, and I would recommend Russet to anyone, especially for a date or more intimate dinner.
While the menu seems to change depending on the season, I can still describe my meal. To start, I had a black bean soup topped with a mint yogurt. It was very good — tasted a little like an Indian daal — but I really enjoyed it. My boyfriend got a pappardelle dish which was also very good.
For my main course, I got a Wild Striped Bass dish served which mushrooms and brussels sprouts. The fish was cooked to perfection, very soft and tasty. The addition of the vegetables was perfect as well. My boyfriend got a roasted squash dish which was also very tasty, and a nice vegetarian entrée.
I got a salted butter semifreddo for my dessert, which was served which baked apples. I really enjoyed it, especially the salted butter flavor. I also think semifreddo is literally a fancy name for soft/​melty ice cream, haha. My boyfriend got a poached pear tart which was delicious as well.

TLDR: Food itself was between 3 and a 4, but due to a gaffes in execution, closer to a 3.
— — –
For New Year’s Eve 2014, the GF and I decided to relax and have a late dinner around Rittenhouse. We’ve been meaning to try Russet and figured that this was the perfect time to try the dishes offered by the husband-​wife team of Chef Andrew Wood and Pastry Chef Kristin Wood. Russet’s a BYO and one of the few that takes credit cards. And in the spirit of NYE, we decided to bring a bottle of our favorite champagne.
NYE Menu [$ 75 pp]
Bread Service
The rustic bread was nice, but served cold — perhaps it’s because we had a 10PM reservation. The pat of butter was at room temp, which I appreciated.
Heirloom Squash Turnover
Caramelized onions, pumpkin seed-​arugula pesto, black walnut
The GF started off with the squash turnover, which was buttery and delicious. The crisp texture of the turnover and the black walnuts contrasted nicely with the rich caramelized onions and squash. The pumpkin seed-​arugula helped to brighten up each bite.
Oyster and Scallop Gratin
Celery, chervil, shallot
I went with the oyster-​scallop gratin, which was served on a bed of salt. The mix of shallots, cooked celery, chopped oysters, and scallop was nice — briny and oceanic, with the bread crumbs providing some texture. The chervil helped to add some herbaceousness.
House-​Cured Prosciutto
Local quince, grissini, pickled mustard seeds
I appreciate that Chef Wood house-​cures his own ham and the prosciutto here was luscious and teeming with the porcine goodness you’re looking for. The balance of the local quince and the pickled mustard seeds provided some brightness against the heft of the prosciutto.
Seared Foie Gras [+ $ 10 supplement]
Blood orange, thyme, buckwheat-​meyer lemon madeleine
The foie gras was prototypically buttery and rich, with the blood orange providing the proper foil. But the real star? The buckwheat meyer lemon madeleines churned out from Chef Kristin Wood. They were buttery, subtly sweet, and had a wonderfully crumbly texture.
Woodland Jewel Mushroom Raviolo
Ricotta, Loc Tran’s egg
The GF and I were looking forward to an oozing egg in the middle of her raviolo, but alas — it was only filled with ricotta, without much seasoning. The pasta itself could have used another minute in the water — more starchy than al dente. The sauce had some depth, but overall, each bite lacked seasoning.
Hand-​Rolled Pici with Perigord Black Truffle [+ $ 18 supplement]
Roasted langoustines, leeks, pistachio, sauce Americaine
Russet was offering a Perigord black truffle supplement for the pasta dishes so I opted to top off my pici pasta. A generous portion of earthy truffles was provided and though I prefer black truffles to be cooked to release more of that intense aroma, this added some nice depth.
The deliciously, buttery veloute coated the pasta well. However, while the langoustine claw was meaty and well-​cooked, there were more than a few pieces of shell found interspersed in the pasta. I normally don’t bring much attention to gaffes such as this, but it was so egregious, I did cordially mention it to the server. Alas, either the server didn’t understand that I was pointing at about 4 pieces of shell on my bread plate or he couldn’t care less …
Seared Branzino
Caramelized parsnips, grilled vidalia onions, kale, parsley jus
For her main, the GF went with the fish. Online, the offering appeared to be halibut with uni, but for actual dinner service, branzino was on offer sans uni. Regardless, the fish was moist, delicate, and flavorful. The caramelized parsnips and grilled vidalia onions added some texture and sweet, butteriness to each bite.
Slow-​Roasted Border Springs Lamb
Floriani corn polenta, romanesco, green coriander, tomato fondue
I don’t know if it’s because it was 11PM on NYE or it was a NYE menu, but unfortunately my main was a disaster. I was really looking forward to the «slow roasted» lamb, which was incinerated beyond belief. About half of it seemed fried and the meat was not tender at all. The romanesco was bright and the corn polenta cake was decent however. But momma didn’t raise a vegetarian — disappointing.
Bittersweet Chocolate Budino
Cranberry compote, cassis cream
Luckily though, pastry chef Kristin Wood salvaged the rest of the meal. The GF ordered the budino based on her infatuation with Chef Turney’s salted caramel budino. This iteration was in cake form, with a nicely bittersweet chocolate ganache within. The cranberry compote provided acidity to balance the richness of the cake and the chocolate, with the currant cream providing some lightness.
Mascarpone Panna Cotta
Blood orange, Grand Marnier syrup, oat crisp
My mascarpone panna cotta had the proper jiggle and was light and subtly sweet. The caramelized sugar oat crisp had nice texture and the Grand Marnier syrup wasn’t overpowering or cloyingly sweet. The blood orange provided a bright tartness that was an appropriate end to the mea