I really wanted to like Emilia.
Philly has an incredible Italian food scene, from the red sauce institutions of South Philly to the Abruzzo cuisine specialists to the many BYOBs with Albanian roots, so I was excited when I learned that Vernick, who helms my favorite restaurant in Philadelphia, was throwing his hat into the ring with a modern "Italian restaurant made for the neighborhood".
Unfortunately, our experience fell short.
First, the good: our pastas were all sauced with the appropriate amount of the sauce, and the texture of the pasta really allowed the sauce to cling to every surface. The flavors of all of the sauces were delicious. The sweet corn agnolotti was the best bite of the night. The chocolate sorbet was a surprise hit: intensely chocolatey and creamy, even without any dairy. The drinks were all very good, and the wine list was well-curated.
Now, the areas of improvement: throughout the meal, as we moved from pastas to mains, I couldn't help but feel like I was at the end of some assembly line, where the sauces had all been made in large batches long ahead of time, then tossed for a few minutes with pasta, then served. Part of this feeling came from the lack of components in each dish; everything we ordered was pasta + sauce or protein + sauce. The culinary team is clearly talented, but the final product felt simplistic and financially-motivated.
Also, in terms of diner experience, the restaurant was FREEZING (we heard multiple tables complain about this), and our server was not well-versed in the menu. We asked her how many pieces were in the agnolotti and explained that we wanted to know because we wanted to share it as our appetizer. She told us 9 pieces, which would give everyone 2 bites. It ended up being 7, which doesn't feel like a big deal if it was one person's order, but it made sharing the dish awkward. We also asked for a few recommendations and came away without a clear idea of what the staff really liked on the menu. I will say that our server did know the drinks well and we were happy with our choices there.
In general, the dishes were all so small that it made sharing challenging, which is just radically different from the typical Italian restaurant experience, even at more upscale restaurants in the city. This was surprising to us because our server had told us that each dish was "made for sharing". For the pesto dish, there were probably 4-5 bites of pasta total, and the ragu had maybe 6-7 bites. All of the dishes felt undersized for the price charged.
Finally, the olive oil cake was really bad. It was overbaked, or had been left out too long, or was overmixed, or something, because it was SO dry that I got crumbs stuck in my throat and had to excuse myself to the bathroom to deal with it. Considering the very strong pastry program at Vernick Fish/Vernick Coffee Bar, serving such a mediocre final bite was shocking and confusing.
I think this place has potential, and with a little more soul and creativity, it could become very special, but based on my experience, I would not return. read more