i'll start right off catching up where we left off and that was a holiday dinner at marsha brown in lovely new hope, pennsylvania. a friend's mom was visiting on a december weekend and we decided that after a day of traipsing around in the cold, we needed some yummy creole food 2 warm our bones. enter marsha brown. the restaurant is housed in a century old de-sanctified old church on the same beautiful strip of main street that houses all those boutiques in the town. we settled in for some pre-dinner cocktails and took in the menu.
the first few standouts were the salads. we each chose a different one, my favorite being the hail caesar, even though i'd ordered the sexy dried fig with goat's cheese and walnuts. the caesar was garlicky, crisp, lightly dressed and opened the appetite perfectly. another friend ordered the chopped salad and never spoke one word, so it must have been exquisite. the other chose the beet salad, but i refused a taste rather than anger myself over another salad i hadnt ordered.
as a starter, two 
of us decided to split a rather large crabcake. as you can see from the photograph, it was so fragrant and tantalising that we couldnt wait to properly photograph it before digging in to taste. it was seasoned aggressively with black pepper, barely there breadcrumbs, and hints of herbs to just complement the jumbo lump. having grown up on the northwest coast of florida, i like to think i know a thing or two about crabcakes. this one was baked under the broiler, it seemed rather than pan fried and it made the difference. this one was crispy and flaky and moist all at the same time.
of us decided to split a rather large crabcake. as you can see from the photograph, it was so fragrant and tantalising that we couldnt wait to properly photograph it before digging in to taste. it was seasoned aggressively with black pepper, barely there breadcrumbs, and hints of herbs to just complement the jumbo lump. having grown up on the northwest coast of florida, i like to think i know a thing or two about crabcakes. this one was baked under the broiler, it seemed rather than pan fried and it made the difference. this one was crispy and flaky and moist all at the same time.being a southern girl myself, i opted for the eggplant ophelia, a dish that seemed very f
amiliar to me, according to it's menu description. it was described as a bit of a crabmeat, shrimp and eggplant casserole. it arrived at the table, elegant and stately, atop a creamy sauce and like the crabcake, it was delicate while being spicy and the slices of eggplant were oooked (baked? sauteed? i'm willing to experiment a few times trying to find out...) to tender perfection. the vegetable yielded to the fork without resistance, and the balance between the spice of the seafood and spices to the smoky quality of the eggplant and it's creaminess was mindblowing.
amiliar to me, according to it's menu description. it was described as a bit of a crabmeat, shrimp and eggplant casserole. it arrived at the table, elegant and stately, atop a creamy sauce and like the crabcake, it was delicate while being spicy and the slices of eggplant were oooked (baked? sauteed? i'm willing to experiment a few times trying to find out...) to tender perfection. the vegetable yielded to the fork without resistance, and the balance between the spice of the seafood and spices to the smoky quality of the eggplant and it's creaminess was mindblowing. the girls ordered a mix
ed grill of beef tenderloin and split a whopping three pound lobster between them and the tiny taste i had of those convinced me that whoever the chef is at marsha brown definitely had a lot of love 4 the south. the steak was tender, cooked to temperature and surprisingly simply salted and peppered (a rarity in a lot of non-steakhouses) and the lobster was superior, served up with clarified butter, laced with a bit of garlic for good measure. the properietors of marsha brown are to be commended and lauded for bringing the authenticity of good creole food to the northeast in such an elegant environment, with such care. i think it's safe 2 say, i love the place. it gets an A. even without dessert.
ed grill of beef tenderloin and split a whopping three pound lobster between them and the tiny taste i had of those convinced me that whoever the chef is at marsha brown definitely had a lot of love 4 the south. the steak was tender, cooked to temperature and surprisingly simply salted and peppered (a rarity in a lot of non-steakhouses) and the lobster was superior, served up with clarified butter, laced with a bit of garlic for good measure. the properietors of marsha brown are to be commended and lauded for bringing the authenticity of good creole food to the northeast in such an elegant environment, with such care. i think it's safe 2 say, i love the place. it gets an A. even without dessert.
perfect crisp veggies, gravlax better than any i've had in scandinavia. 
