LifeStyle Magazine - Pistachio Grille

Pistachio Grille

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Written by Brian Freedman

Culinary Achievement hits the ‘Burbs I grew up less than two blocks from where Pistachio Grille is located. Back then, the space was occupied by Hayek’s Café II, a luncheonette whose parking lot was rarely full and whose ability to stay in business was as shrouded in mystery as the sudden departure of a certain middle-school teacher I had back in the early 1990s.

So last year, when remodeling had finally come to an end and this strip-center charmer was revealed, it was big news in the neighborhood. It was lucky for everyone who lives in or around the Maple Glen area— historically a restaurant wasteland—the food being served there more than justifies the excitement its mere physical presence elicited.

The menu categorizes Pistachio’s food as “world fusion with a Mediterranean flair,” a claim that, I have to admit, sent a certain shiver down my spine and over my palate. Though globalization has provided countless opportunities for humanity around the globe, the food that has resulted from haphazard cross-cultural exchanges can occasionally verge on the terrifying.

Fortunately—Pistachio’s fusion claims notwithstanding—it is more in the mold of that most beloved of Philadelphia restaurants: the Italian BYOB.

This is no red-gravy joint, mind you, and it does find a good bit of inspiration from outside the confines of the boot. But at the end of the day, its overall ethos, in terms of both food and service, is as rooted in the classics as anything else.

Tomato Napoleon ($10), for example, was a relatively straightforward riff on the Italian primi of tomatoes, mozzarella and prosciutto. The twist here was in the kitchen’s use of a fried tomato in addition to a fresh one, the better to showcase the range of flavors and textures possible with such a humble ingredient. The other components of the dish were also mostly successful additions: Smoky, warm-scented grilled zucchini and eggplant, a clever addition of nutty pistachio oil, slices of parmesan. The only problem with the dish was the mozzarella, which was dry and not a little bit mealy.

Asparagus tempura with a homemade lemon caper garlic mayonnaise ($9) made fine use of the season’s thick-stalked vegetables, and in the flaky beer batter-parmesan crust they became even heartier than they otherwise would have been. The frying did, of course, render them a bit on the oily side, but the presentation implicitly addressed that issue. They were brought to the table in a folded-over, oil-absorbing brown paper bag, a wink in the direction of Belgian cones of frites and British servings of fish and chips wrapped in yesterday’s “Times of London.”

Occasionally, one component in an otherwise successful preparation held a dish back from achieving the rousing success it could have. The spinach salad ($8.50), an exceptionally fresh mound of baby greens, was judiciously moistened with a sherry vinaigrette and tossed with a smart, well-balanced combination of raw portobellos, candied pistachios, and dried figs. But the grilled goat cheese crouton, typically the linchpin element in a salad like this one, was little more than a silver dollar-sized coin of chalky cheese that showed scant sign of having been anywhere near a grill’s heat.

Other dishes, however, were far more than their descriptions let on. A standard-sounding preparation of penne with sausage and chicken ($16.50) was more focused than it typically is: Sweet sausage had been removed from its casing and sautéed to release all its heady juices; peppers had been roasted to the point of an almost pointed sweetness; and mushrooms and wilted spinach provided the earthy and bitter components so needed to balance it all out. This was pasta in 360 degrees, despite its rather humble pedigree.

A tilapia special was also notable for its sense of balance. Top-crusted in crabmeat and browned under the broiler, this fish managed to avoid being overwhelmed by its cap of crustacean and maintained a surprising sense of delicacy almost despite this. And the sherry broth achieved a real sense of lightness without sacrificing flavor.

Even the service was well-considered. Upon finishing dessert (a pistachio gelato nearly the texture of marzipan, and an apple-berry crumble whose sweetness was judiciously offset by a lemon-lime marinade), we asked the waitress for extra glasses for the bottle of Port we had brought along. The hostess arrived a few minutes later with two small-bowled wine stems and an apology—these were the smallest ones she had, and therefore the most appropriate to the beverage, though she realized that they weren’t perfect.

Little did she know that they were, not because they were Port glasses, of course, but because she knew enough to address the fact that they weren’t. It’s the kind of detail—among so many others—that makes Pistachio Grille such a beacon of restaurant hope in neighborhood. With Pistachio’s arrival on the scene, it seems like Maple Glen is finally coming of culinary age, and not a moment too soon.

Pistachio Grille is located at 521 Limekiln Pike in Maple Glen and can be reached by telephone at (215) 643-7400. Visit online at www.thepistachiogrille.com.

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