I had the pleasure of dining at Cochon this week. It’s a French restaurant tucked in the queen’s village section of south Philly. It is relatively new and under the knife of Chef Gene Giuffi, the head chef and owner—who happens to be the husband of a friend’s friend (if you can follow that). We picked a great night to go, because the weather was terrible and were not only able to secure a table, but also got in some face time with the chef as the dinner service wore down.

 

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the food at Cochen is hearty. Cochen bills itself as peasant food, and while it may fit that bill, it is so much more. For a snowy night in February this was actually the perfect meal for me. We started with an escargot hors d’oeuvre in a Pernod and butter sauce, seared scallops, and crispy chicken livers in a balsamic reduction.  The stand out dish for me was the chicken livers. The sweetness of the raisins and the balsamic balance the livers flavors well, and the crunchy outside of the liver was a superb texture. Beware of the portion size of this dish, after finishing it I was worried I would not need an entrée. This is definitely best shared with friends.

 

For my entrée I had a Free-Range Duck breast with white bean ragout. After such a large hors d’oeuvre this was an excellent second course for me as it was light and refreshing—not terms I usually associate with duck, but following the livers it was just right. The duck had a fantastic skin, but was still very tender inside. The white beans ragout soaked up all of the sauce. My companion had a monkfish osso buco. If you read my site, you will know that I absolutely adore the liver of the monkfish (as served in Japanese cuisine), but I have not had much opportunity to try the actual meat of the fish. Although the fish was delicious, my favorite part of this dish was the saffron sauce it was in, and using the included muscle shells to scoop it out.

 

March 1st, 2008 by John (Cho-Tabetai)