Restaurant Review: Gayle in Philadelphia, PA

Gayle's small space in Queen Village only seats 28 people, but are they ever a lucky 28. Chef Daniel Stern's restaurant has a mix of industrial and cozy, with soothing green walls, exposed duct work, and waiters and tables in crisp whites. The décor matches the menu, a mixture of modern and whimsy-familiar food with fierce twist. Before I ramble on about the architecture and eats, I'll be garish and say that the wait staff is handsome. HANDSOME. Wow. Yes, and ummm, like I said, the joint is pleasant and relaxing. Mom's dining room, if Mom was a 5 star chef. With cute courtesans serving the food. Okay, I'll stop...

Gayle's menu is select and seasonal, so don't expect to find everything we blab about when you visit. Do trust the (again...WOW) wait staff to help guide you through an exemplary experience; their suggestions proved to be on the mark. Our (oh wow...) waiter started us off with some sparkling wine, and two steaming bowls of the clams chowder and casino ($8). A sophisticated union of the traditional clams casino and chowder, the velvety soup is poured directly onto the clams casino at the table. My companion and I also shared the crisp truffle and soy risotto ($11), a dish Mom might have identified as a mature tater tot. Unlike the spuds of your youth, this lightly fried bundle of risotto rice was paired with a divine truffle soy sauce that had just a hint of Dijon.

Taking our waiter's (sigh, WOW...) suggestion, we shared the Black Sea Bass ($24) and the Smoked Rib Eye Shepherd's Pie ($30) as our entrees. The sea bass was a stunning plate of roasted eggplant, quince paste, and 2 diamond pieces of bass garnished with a side of pesto. We are always a sucker for a beefy Brit, and the cylinder of beef was perfectly cooked and married with gruyere croquettes, along with bacon-draped short ribs and whipped potatoes-a remarkable adaptation of ye ole classic.

The perfectly proportioned dishes had us almost stuffed, but we agreed to dessert selections just to appease our waiter (wow...he said we looked too skinny!). The gold medalist in the yumathalon was the endive parfait ($9); a sweet pyramid of endive cooked in beer, cream and sugar, and then caramelized with some zesty orange to lose the bitterness. Endive, for those of you who aren't Rachel Ray fans, is basically lettuce. Yes, lettuce for dessert. We thought at first it would be a bit avant-garde, but it ended up being deliciously memorable. Our second choice was a fantastic modernization of the classic ice cream sandwich, this time with Pistachio and Rosewater. After finishing up, our waiter surprised us with two miniature chocolate soufflés ($9). The moist brown heaven was adorned with a fantastic hazelnut butter, an incredible pairing.

Pairings is the point at Gayle. Old and new, unexpected and familiar, dessert and lettuce, me and the waiter...errr..well you get the picture.

Gayle, $$$ 617 S Third St, 215-922-3850, gaylephiladelphia.com.