Bar 210's green granite counter holds your answer in artful cocktails spun with house-infused liquor. The designer drinks are joined by Sommelier Eric Simonis' wine list and chef Matthew Levin's upscale bar menu, which rides a playful wave of classed up finger-friendly potato chips and ranch dip to shiitake tempura by way of Coca Cola. Other winks come in the shrimp à la plancha kicked with tabasco syrup and the giant buttermilk chicken nugget. A chicken nugget at Lacroix? That's haute cuisine.
Big-spending classicists should lean towards the Bar 210 burger slapped with pickled pepper ketchup, salami and provolone. There are no tricks here. Sink into one of the stone tables overlooking Rittenhouse Square. It sure beats a bench. You could eye up a strawberry blonde being yanked by her purebred outside, or you could sip one. Bar 210's strawberry blonde is a champagne and strawberry-cardamom blend that's just as energetic, with lively strawberry pearls that make it a visual stunner. The bi-sexual bourbon takes the night either way with Makers Mark, peach nectar, and both muscavado sugar syrup and smoked maple syrup. The selection of wines and liquors are as eclectic as the park itself, watched over by the $175 Rémy Martin Louis XIII.
You're not here to celebrate. You're here to ruminate and pay attention to your carefully-crafted drinks, to soak in the glow of your evening. It's here that you'll take in the details of your date's sparkling features, her suspenseful retelling of her trip to Spain. Or perhaps you'll slip away to Bar 210 for good times with your best mate, where you'll both defer to single batch bourbon before carrying on with the business of life.
Bar 210 at Lacroix
210 West Rittenhouse Square
(215) 790-2533
www.lacroixrestaurant.com
