It's Always Yummy in Philadelphia

I'm not sure if I mentioned this already, but we ate a lot of food in Philly. No, really - a lot. And it was all incredibly tasty.

I spent nearly a week researching restaurants in Philly (I take my food seriously!) and got great recommendations from colleagues and friends (thanks, guys!). What a challenge - so many places to eat and so little time! I finally narrowed it down to a few choices for brunch and dinner and we left the rest up to where our stomaches led us.

The highlights:

- the 100% vegan restaurant Vedge, which takes veggies to another level. Trust me, you will want to finish your vegetables. Plus, the atmosphere is upscale but comforting, kind of like dining in someone's really nice house.

- waiting an hour for a table at Tria to discover that it was completely worth the wait and more. Devoted to delicious beer, wine and cheese, this cafe covers basically the trifecta of any great diet, in my opinion.

- goat cheese, sundried tomato and pistachio guacamole at El Vez, with a salty Pink Cadillac margarita made the perfect Sunday morning brunch - part 1.

- washing down thick, golden brown slices of chocolate stuffed french toast with piping hot coffee while observing the Sunday morning scene unfold upon Rittenhouse Square, for Sunday morning brunch - part 2.

- the creamiest, lick-your-plate sheep's milk ricotta drizzled with balsamic, on a crusty piece of grilled bread as the start to an incredible dinner at Barbuzzo. We were so full we couldn't even fit in dessert - that night. We ordered their salted caramel budino to go and savoured it the next day (with spoon, below). This dessert has attained a cult-like following and I am now a believer.

- tapping our toes to a live band playing old school tunes and sipping on deftly mixed cocktails at the lively, atmospheric Farmers' Cabinet.

As you can see, I wasn't joking - these are only the highlights! We hopped into the car Monday morning and I didn't even think once about snacks for the return drive home. Oh yeah, except for those chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels...and those peanut butter malt balls...

Stay hungry my friends and if you're a foodie like me, get yourself to Philly!