Le Chéri, an Offshoot of Bibou with Chef Waldemar "Val" Stryjewski, in the Philadelphia Art Alliance Building in SE Rittenhouse Square

[astrid]

We really liked Le Chéri, a new restaurant by Executive Chef Pierre Calmels of Bibou, who seems to be spending most of his at Le Chéri these days, and Chef de Cuisine Val Stryjewski. In a weekend that also included Vetri and Bibou, I definitely preferred Le Chéri.  The more updated and creative cuisine here appealed to me more than the more homey cooking at Vetri or Bibou.

The restaurant itself is located in the Philadelphia Art Alliance building.The dining room and bar areas are quite dark and atmospheric.  We were able to get seats at a high top in the bar area immediately, a little before prime Friday night dinner times. So the bar may be a good bet if they don't have space elsewhere in the dining room.

[astrid]

We really liked Le Chéri, a new restaurant by Executive Chef Pierre Calmels of Bibou, who seems to be spending most of his at Le Chéri these days, and Chef de Cuisine Val Stryjewski. In a weekend that also included Vetri and Bibou, I definitely preferred Le Chéri.  The more updated and creative cuisine here appealed to me more than the more homey cooking at Vetri or Bibou.

The restaurant itself is located in the Philadelphia Art Alliance building.The dining room and bar areas are quite dark and atmospheric.  We were able to get seats at a high top in the bar area immediately, a little before prime Friday night dinner times. So the bar may be a good bet if they don't have space elsewhere in the dining room.

A revisit to Le Cheri was less successful.  Lovely service and beautiful dining space, but the food was good rather than amazing.

[DonRocks]

A revisit to Le Cheri was less successful.  Lovely service and beautiful dining space, but the food was good rather than amazing.

You just made a *lot* of Philadelphia posts in a very short time, so I understand you were just trying to churn them out.

What was lesser about the food this time around? Can you cite any specifics, or was it an overall decline? Do you mind me asking what day and what time it was (that can mean a lot).

[astrid]

There were some little missteps like a foie gras ravioli special with thick skin and the foie gras torchon tasting a touch livery. But it was more a case of nothing standing out to me , not the flavors or the textures. It reminded me of our meal at Bibou two years ago "“ room full of very happy people really enjoying their meals, beautiful service and atmosphere, but the food didn't click with me. The saucing and seasoning seems too traditional, too subtle, too cooked tasting.

I don't think it's a decline, especially given how smoothly the overall restaurant is running and how popular it was at 9:30 PM on Friday. I suspect it was more that our first trip was when the restaurant was newly open and was more adventurous. This time it fell more in line with our experience at Bibou,

It's also possible that dinner #1 at Osteria really knocked our socks off and made dinner #2 pale in comparison.