Hey, it’s an Inquirer review of a restaurant not in Center City, Bella Vista or the Main Line! We kid, of course. Craig LaBan traveled up to the reborn Cresheim Cottage Cafe, which he admits had a longstanding reputation for the “charm of period ambience and a lovely garden terrace served with a side of dull food.” As for the current restaurant, operated by Donna Fitzgerald Robb and Joan Gigliotti, both ex-of late Queen Village favorite Judy’s Cafe? The consensus is that the lunches are great and the dinners, well, a bit less so.
You can also find some vestiges of the Judy’s culinary comfort canon on Cresheim’s menu: a strong focus on salads, a regular meatloaf twist. But it’s clear that Robb, also a veteran of Sam’s Morning Glory Diner and Penne, has grown since her Judy’s days and worked to modernize and broaden her eclectic palette, from ancho wing rubs to African tea marinades.If only the kitchen’s finishing touch were more careful, a meal at the Cottage would at last be a sure bet. My experiences, though, were frustratingly inconsistent.The Cresheim first caught my eye with an impressive lunch. No, I didn’t love the fact that I was seated as the only diner in the empty back room while the main room next door bustled with a lively crowd and the crackle of the fireplace. And it’s true, the service was sporadic and stern. […] The loaflike house pate, though, was a mess of shabby charcuterie, the soggy puree of liver and meat reeking of cheap brandy.Entrees were equally unpredictable. I enjoyed the neat muffin-shaped chicken meatloaf, its lean meat enriched with molten blue cheese. But the onion rings on top were the highlight, their billowy beer-batter crisps focusing the onion’s sweetness. A simple lamb stew with chickpeas was satisfying (even if the meat was a little dry), its gravy scented with North African spice. I also appreciated the homier flavors of the roasted chicken breast with gnocchi and roasted mushrooms, though more tender, housemade dumplings would have been preferred.
Hey, it’s an Inquirer review of a restaurant not in Center City, Bella Vista or the Main Line! We kid, of course. Craig LaBan traveled up to the reborn Cresheim Cottage Cafe, which he admits had a longstanding reputation for the “charm of period ambience and a lovely garden terrace served with a side of dull food.” As for the current restaurant, operated by Donna Fitzgerald Robb and Joan Gigliotti, both ex-of late Queen Village favorite Judy’s Cafe? The consensus is that the lunches are great and the dinners, well, a bit less so.
