Impromptu Fine Dining

Last night I had the best meal of my life.

It was a 2-part win.

In the first place, the food was sublime.

In the second, I got to eat said meal, sitting at a bar, which is superior to eating at a table in every way.

Usually when one thinks Le Bec Fin, they think formal, big deal, classic French dining…and well they should because this is EXACTLY what you get in the main dining room. It’s all silk wallpaper, fine silver, orchids and course after course of the most exactingly prepared cuisine you can eat in Philadelphia.

While delicious it’s all oh so very VERY formal.

But walk downstairs after you enter the lobby, and you will find a whole other world.

Oh Le Bar Lyonnais, how do I love thee?

The menu is a la carte. (and a BARGAIN I tell you!)

The gentlemen aren’t wearing coats (well, not all of them anyway.)

And you can pop in on a whim without reservations!

Bernard (not sure his exact job, perhaps professional charmer?) is my favorite person on earth at the moment.

It’s worth visiting for his delicious French kisses alone. (My god that sounds risque, but they were relegated exclusively to the cheek, OBVIOUSLY) Alas, now my eyelids are sprained from all of that coy batting they were doing at him.

Oh, and you still get the whole silver dome theatrics at the bar…the whole experience is delightfully contrived!