With its bright lights emanating out of the corner of a beautiful fountain right in the heart of Philadelphia's financial district, Twenty21 provides exquisite dining with a more subdued, peaceful atmosphere unlike the pretentiousness of many Stephen Starr establishments.
The high ceiling and elegant dining rooms immediately gave the notion that important people are served here. (Later on, my intuition would prove to be correct, as I would find out that the CEO of Citizens Bank was sitting a few tables away.) At first, I was almost afraid to sit down.
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Before we even ordered our meals, a wine specialist who also worked at the Restaurant School came to inform us of the vast wine selection -- which totals over 170 options both by the bottle and by the glass. Twenty21 received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2002 and 2003, and its wine list was as necessary to every table as the silverware.
For an appetizer, I ordered grilled shrimp rolls wrapped in yuba, a wanton-like Asian soy wrap, with a sweet lobster vermouth sauce ($12). My companion went with the soup du jour ($6), an Americanized French onion soup without cheese that was, according to her, surprisingly sweet.
We both chose the most complex salad on the menu, the apple raisin and arugula salad ($7), a concoction of spinach leaves, stilton, walnuts and raisins, with a slice of dried apple on top and lightly soaked in a honey tarragon vinaigrette.
For our entrees, I went with chef Rainer Floeter's special of the day, an herb crusted lamb tenderloin served on a bed of risotto with a veal demiglaze and caramelized beets ($26). The meat, tender and juicy and easy to cut (a big plus in my book), was perfectly supplemented with the lightly sweetening sauce.
My companion chose the crab cakes, which were two huge cakes surrounded by a vegetable confetti, doused in a lobster butter sauce ($25). Our waiter also put the jalapeno salsa with roasted corn on the side, so she might try the stronger flavor as she desired.
While I made sure our waiter explained all the various ingredients that went into the preparation of our meal, I noticed that he provided the same information to all of the tables he serviced.
"I try to make it entertaining, so it's informative and fun. ... The most important job of any service person is to be very knowledgeable," he said.
After such a large meal, my companion and I barely had enough room for dessert, but the selection looked too good to pass over. My companion ordered a warm apple pie with dried cranberries, walnuts and a caramel cinnamon ice cream topping ($8). Being the chocolate lover, I went with the chocolate truffle cake, with wafers sticking out of the cake and dots of raspberry and passion fruit sauce around the edges ($9).
While the prices of the plates we ordered might raise a red flag for many, let alone a college student, Twenty21 provides a sensational deal on Friday nights that would tempt even the most frugal spender.
Mirroring the options of Philadelphia's Restaurant Week, patrons can choose any three courses for $30. But get your reservations at least a week in advance; the 240-seat restaurant always gets filled to capacity on Friday nights.
"Friday night, you want to go on an elegant date, come to Twenty21 for a great deal and a really nice dinner, you're styling," co-owner Mick Houston said. "And on Saturday night, when your parents are in town, tell them to take you out here and make them pay full price."
Twenty21 used to be known as Cutters, and will be celebrating its second anniversary in April. It also contains a lively bar adjacent to the lower dining room, where customers can have a cocktail before sitting down to dinner.
