Restaurant: Keep
Location: 417 York Rd, Jenkintown, PA 19046. (215) 277-7947
Date: November 27, 2019
Cuisine: New American
Rating: solid New American
The first official event of ThanksGavin 2019 is Wed night, and this year my cousin (the reigning TG Poobah) chose:
Keep, a casual bistro-style New American in Jenkintown PA.
Cute little interior.
And our gang table of 20 or so.
Our special menu for the night.
From my cellar: NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. RJ 92. Light yellow color with abundant, steady, tiny bubbles; autolytic, almond cream nose; tasty, autolytic, almond cream, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 92+ points
Pickles. Really zesty and delicious.
Olives. Awesome olives actually, with great EVOO and a bit of zest. I ate about 2 containers of these.
From my cellar: 2014 Jean-Claude Ramonet Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly. BH 90. A soft trace of wood frames pretty and cool but ripe yeast, apple and pear scents that slide gracefully into the nicely detail, rich and relatively generously proportioned middle weight flavors that possess a lovely salinity that surfaces on the focused and persistent finale where a touch of bitter lemon appears. This is already sufficiently forward that it could be enjoyed now but I would be inclined to allow it at least 2 to 3 years of cellar time and 5 will probably prove to be ideal. (Drink starting 2019)
Brussels Sprouts with hummus and Parmesan.
Cassoulet. Gusty!
Lentil Fritters. Third appetizer filled with gas inducing carbohydrates!
From my cellar: 1999 Dominique Laurent Mazis-Chambertin. RJ 93+. Medium red violet color; smoky, earthy, mushroom, barbecue sauce nose; lovely, complex, sous bois, shitake mushroom, mineral, raspberry, baked cherry palate; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.
Pelmeni. Shrimp dumpling, dill beurre blanc, creme fraiche, vmochanka. Sweet, and very Russian tasting.
Chickpea Tofu. Roasted eggplant, broccoli rabe, caponata, crispy garlic.
Salmon. Jail island Salmon, potato tart, bacon-celery escabeche, horseradish cream.
Big red for those who can’t handle the good stuff.
The burger. Beef patty, caramelized onions, egg yolk jam, fried fingerlings.
Shortrib Steak. 6oz shortrib steak, potato soubise, pearl onion, charred red onion, beef salt, jus.
More big red for the white haters.
Pastel Melodia. Orange scented cake, poached pear, membrillo, chantilly.
Chocolate tart, dark chocolate, cherry, creme fraiche.
Lemon sorbet.
Overall, not a bad dinner at all — particularly given our party size. They are very nice and have a good — if not particularly groundbreaking — kitchen.