Fare

**drala** · 12-23-2011, 10:54 AM

This restaurant has definitely become among my current favorites in the neighborhood, along with Trio, Figs and Zorba's.
(I went to two other restaurants in Fairmount in the past week and had very bad meals - one a longtime established restaurant and the other a newbie).
Fare is a little pricey, but it's worth paying more to know you are getting quality no matter what you order, IMO. I'm hoping Hickory Lane (haven't tried it yet) doesn't intrude on their business, but adds to it instead.

**skullboy** · 12-23-2011, 11:27 AM

I have to agree with you. Some people on here bash the place which I feel is unwarranted but that keeps them out and provides more space for my friends and me. I also like the staff and the owners. They are all enthusiastic about what they serve and have great knowledge about the food and wine. The place is a gem. I think the prices are fair for the ingredients that they locally source and is inline with other offerings in the neighborhood.

**#1MetsFan** · 12-23-2011, 11:31 AM

There is already a Fare thread.

**RonMcNasty** · 12-23-2011, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by drala

(I went to two other restaurants in Fairmount in the past week and had very bad meals - one a longtime established restaurant and the other a newbie).

I'm going to take a stab at where your bad meals were:
Established restaurant: Bridgids
New restaurant: Isabel? (I hope not. I want to try it)

**drala** · 12-23-2011, 06:34 PM

Sorry, #1MetsFan, I thought there was a thread already on Fare too, and looked for it first but couldn't find it.

RonMcNasty, sigh, I am reluctant to name the new one because I hate to add to bad press for a restaurant I really want to make it. I'm really hoping it was a bad night, the main chef off that day or something like that. However, the established one I feel more comfortable saying - Rembrandt's. It was very disappointing because on the occasions I went over the summer, the food was terrific I ordered the exact same entree, and it was completely different - basically, a greasy salt lick. There were a lot of drunken "reindeer heads" there, but I don't think it was just an overwhelmed kitchen.

I totally agree with you about your comments, Skullboy, on Fare.

**Moonraker** · 12-23-2011, 08:54 PM

Looking back to the opening in May, I found the original thread
http://www.philadelphiaspeaks.com/fo...2786-fare.html

**lilacs** · 12-27-2011, 02:42 PM

drala, I can't stand Rembrandt's. Tiny portions and terrible service.

sorry you had a bad experience too. As a resident of Fairmount, I wish we had some better options.

**#1MetsFan** · 12-27-2011, 02:54 PM

I actually think Rembrandt's has been pretty good since they changed management a year or so ago. Before that, I hated the place.

**drala** · 12-27-2011, 03:26 PM

Yes, it was fantastic for a while after they changed management and added things like mussels, banh minh Vietnamese hoagie, shrimp tacos. It's still that same menu but the food is completely different, or at least it was that night.

**Nikko** · 12-27-2011, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by drala

Yes, it was fantastic for a while after they changed management and added things like mussels, banh minh Vietnamese hoagie, shrimp tacos. It's still that same menu but the food is completely different, or at least it was that night.

I'm at Rembrandt's at least once a week and while I've had the occasionally blip in meal quality (I'm guessing it has something to do with who is in the kitchen at that time), I haven't noticed a general decline of any kind. It's one of my favorite spots since the new chef and management took over.

**drala** · 12-27-2011, 06:17 PM

Good to know - I'll give it another try in the New Year

**Moonraker** · 12-29-2011, 12:10 AM

We had a very cosmopolitian day, lunch at FARE, Nutcracker matinee, and dinner at Lemon Hill.

As a lunch experience, our FARE experience was far better than our dinner experiences, in that my NYC expatriated neighbor and I loved the abundance of natural light with our meal. Evening dinning is fantastic in their ambient light, and we have learned to sort of ignore the headlights from Corinthian traffic. Food & service added to a very wonderful day.

Thank you FARE, Do not want to go back to work next week/month/year!

**MTEMPLE** · 01-01-2012, 03:46 PM

Fare didn't fare too well.

Fare | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/01/2012

**Earl J** · 01-01-2012, 11:05 PM

The sustainability efforts are questionable and I think more of a PR/Marketing thing. They won't even put in draft beer which is clearly more sustainable than recycling glass, often colored. I asked and it was more of an after thought for them. We will see. Hopefully they can turn things around and make it.

**Titus** · 01-02-2012, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by MTEMPLE

Fare didn't fare too well.

Fare | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/01/2012

Ouch.

**loveisnoise** · 01-02-2012, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by Titus

Ouch.

Obviously Fare isn't fare enough to waste the cab fare to get there.

Ha! No one thought of that fare yet!!!!

**guzzijason** · 01-02-2012, 03:10 PM

Fare's clearly not for everyone, but they seem to be doing OK. I generally like the place, but more-or-less expected the review from Laban to go the way that it did. I've been there several times, and am really a fan of the bison burger - I think it packs quite a bit of flavor, and satisfies that red meat burger craving, but I don't feel like a disgusting slob who needs a nap after eating it.

Originally Posted by Earl J

The sustainability efforts are questionable and I think more of a PR/Marketing thing. They won't even put in draft beer which is clearly more sustainable than recycling glass, often colored. I asked and it was more of an after thought for them. We will see. Hopefully they can turn things around and make it.

IMHO, I just don't think they wanted beer to be the focus of the bar at all, so "beer" in general may have been the afterthought. It's worth pointing out they they have been featuring good quality "Tetra Pak" boxed wines as their house wines from the beginning, which are much "greener" than bottles. Also, their flat/sparkling water filtration/carbonation system is fairly impressive too, and saves on recycling in exactly the same way as the keg beer you mention. I would wager they dispense *much* more water than beer, and they never have to toss out a water bottle. If you spend much time talking with Robert (the GM) you'll find that his thoughts on sustainability go much deeper than marketing. Many of the things he talks about are green technologies that wouldn't even be visible or apparent to the folks sitting out at the tables.

From what I can tell, they seem to be doing quite a bit of repeat business, so they must be doing something right. Out of all the folks that I personally know that have been there, I know only one who was disappointed. If you're the type of person who likes to sprinkle salt on your food before you've even tasted it, then Fare probably isn't for you. Everyone else should at least give it a shot and decide for themselves.

__Jason

**drala** · 01-12-2012, 03:36 PM

Wow - I'm surprised by that really bad review by LaBan ! Everything I have had there the four times I have gone have been great, though I guess I didn't overlap much with the things he writes about (other than the chicken meatballs and the crabcakes both of which I thoroughly enjoyed). And though I'm not the type to immediately add salt to my meals, I might add things like cilantro or red pepper, and was therefore initially trepidatious the first time I went there as they note that the food is not overly seasoned.

As a side note, the family made LaBan's self touted, quite complicated linguini and clam recipe published in the Inquirer over the summer. I purchased the two types of clams he recommended, bought fresh pasta, etc. It literally took hours, and in the end didn't taste like much. So maybe our palates are quite different !

**The Count** · 01-12-2012, 03:43 PM

You better go there a lot in the next few weeks because it's not doing well. They recently fired all their chefs and replaced them low-wage non-English speaking cooks. Many on the waitstaff have been let go.

It's on the ropes.