(upbeat snappy music) - Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano.

Each week, three different guests recommend their favorite restaurants, then try each other's picks and come together to tell us what they think.

Right here on "Check, Please!"

(upbeat bright music) Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano and welcome to "Check, Please!"

The show where regular people from all over the Philadelphia area recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So, here's how it all works.

Every week we have three guests.

Each guest recommends their favorite restaurant and then the other two go check them out to see what they think.

This week, art curator Daniel Tucker thinks his cozy neighborhood joint is the perfect place to fill up on spicy Ethiopian classics.

But project coordinator Derek Lentz goes to this Philly BYOB, serving nonna-approved red gravy staples.

Up first though, software engineer Craig Baumer says his Fishtown lunch spot is dishing out pastry so good, you just might feel like you're having your cafe y dolce on the streets of Rome.

For his pastry and panini fix, he heads to Fiore in Kensington.

(air whooshing) (upbeat jazzy music) - My name's Ed Crochet.

I'm the co chef and co-owner at Fiore in East Kensington, Philadelphia.

My wife and I moved to Philadelphia in 2018.

The plan originally was for us to open a small chocolate shop.

She's a pastry chef, we were both moving down from New York and we quickly realized that I was tired of working for other people, so we developed a restaurant called Fiore Fine Foods that we opened in 2019.

In 2023 our lease was coming to an end.

We had recently had a child so we decided to relocate to our little space here in Kensington.

It's a bit smaller of a profile and that's where we're at.

So we try to be as Italian as possible, recognizing that we don't live in Modena.

This isn't Napoli, it's not Rome.

We live in Philadelphia, so we do our best to kind of take Italian traditions from all over the peninsula and apply local ingredients, the local time of year to to the menu.

So we try our best to like, be as faithful to the Italian tradition of cooking what's around you and cooking it as simply and deliciously as possible, applying the wonderful produce and environment around us to the food that we make.

When my wife and I lived in New York, I was a chef at a place called Craft.

So I was a sous chef there and my job every day at 7:00 am was to take that giant wheelbarrow and go to the green market and pick out produce and take my wheelbarrow back up across Park Avenue.

And then, you know, you build relationships with people by interacting with them, asking them what they have coming up, and I've kind of taken that rubric for like, the way that we operate and applied that to down here.

There's obviously, like, a pretty strong Italian tradition in Philadelphia and the, you know, the Northeast in general.

But then we try to like, apply the seasonality to other more esoteric, more unique regional Italian specialties that like, you can't get everywhere.

So from all over the Peninsula, maritozzi from Rome and torta della nonna from Tuscany.

And Italy is surrounded by and then run through with mountains, so their cuisine tends to be very regionalized.

Saying Italian cuisine isn't really an accurate representation of the amount of difference there are between the little pockets and regions in Italy.

And that's kind of what we try here to display in its fullest.

(upbeat music) (air whooshing) - Craig, there's a lot happening at Fiore.

You got pasta, you got pastries, you got gelato.

Why did you pick it?

- I actually used to live very close to their other location in Queen Village before they moved and I just really, really liked the food.

You know, you can go in the morning, get a pastry, you get a coffee, you know, get a breakfast sandwich if you're hungry or you can go get some gelato to take home.

And I'm so glad, you know, they still have all the pastries I love and they still have the pastas, which are a very important part of it.

- And as a go-to, what would you recommend people get their first time?

- So, any pastry, really, is always gonna be a good pick.

My favorite is the maritozzi, and it's basically like, a little like, brioche bun, very light, filled with like, a huge pile of whipped cream.

And I'm a big whipped cream fan so it's the perfect thing for me.

(everyone chuckles) But yeah, it's just, it's light, it's a little bit sweet but not super sweet, and you just get to eat like, a huge mound of whipped cream for breakfast, which is amazing.

- When we were waiting in line to find a seat, we picked up something.

I'm not exactly sure how you say it.

I think it's called a borsettine, and it was filled with plum jam.

And it's kind of like a hand pie and it was delicious, you know, really flaky.

The plum jam was, you know, not too sweet but really satisfying.

And everything that they had on display looked fantastic but that was the one that we tried.

- We shared, it was like a cookie.

It was filled with like, vanilla cream and some cherry as well.

I knew that we were gonna eat a lot of stuff that day so we went with something light.

It was just the perfect, perfect start to our meal there, so.

- And Craig, I know you love the pasta.

- Yes.

- There's not a pasta that they've made that you don't like.

- [Craig] Yes.

- What did you get this last time?

- So this last time, I wanted to get everything, but it was still breakfast and we were gonna bring a bunch of pastries to a friend of mine.

So I'm like, "We'll get a bunch of pastries to go but we're gonna get a pasta to eat right here, right now, 'cause it's so good.

So we ended up getting the gnocchi arrabbiata.

And so, it was, you know, super light potato gnocchi and like, kind of a lighter tomato sauce with, I think, serrano peppers in there for a little bit of heat.

And it was so good.

I could have eaten two orders just immediately.

- They also have breakfast sandwiches and I know the saltie is one of their like, most popular breakfast sandwiches.

- Yeah, I really loved the saltie.

It's served on a house-made focaccia bread and it's really light and fluffy egg with ricotta cheese.

And it's a really simple sandwich but just really well done and I think that the mix of the ricotta and the egg just provides, it's has a lot of air and is just soft and, I don't actually know where the saltie name comes from.

I'm curious.

- So my girlfriend got the BLT sandwich and it was just enormous, like, and I actually, I was like, looking around too, at the other sandwiches that they had there and they all looked amazing and a big portion size.

But I got the pasta malloreddus.

It was with pork ragu, like, the pasta shell were like, really small but they kind of look like gnocchi, a little bit.

But they're very delicious.

- They have coffee drinks but they also have Italian soda.

- I had an Italian soda.

It has this cherry syrup in it and it's just perfectly mixed.

Not too sweet, but a really nice treat to have.

- So I just got a normal latte, delicious, and my wife got a latte with just like, salted vanilla syrup in it, which was like, a really great flavor.

Not overwhelming at all.

Yeah, really, really, really good.

- And someone here tried gelato.

How was the gelato?

- I had the gelato.

So, me and my girlfriend both had the vanilla gelato with like, a cherry swirl.

We got it to go, 'cause we wanted to walk around and check out some other stores.

It was just, just delicious.

- I ordered a ton of food and I think I had kind of a complicated order and I kept going back to the pastry case and being like, "Maybe I should get one of these, maybe I should get one of those."

And you know, they were super accommodating, happy to answer any questions.

Yeah, just seemed happy to be there and help you out.

So, I also got a bombolini.

I got a cornetti, and I got a schiacciate.

- Okay, so the cornettis are an interesting thing, 'cause they have a few and they rotate them out.

Which one did you get?

- I got the crema cornetti.

And so, it had kind of like, a custard inside.

Really tasty.

I did really like the schiacciate that I got.

It had like, baked with like, a tomato on top, like, a slice of tomato.

And I feel like it became kind of like, the taste of like, a sun dried tomato almost, just like, intensely like, savory with a little bit of sweetness.

I really liked it.

- The only other thing I got was an order of the hash browns.

- [Kae Lani] The hash browns.

- Which were incredible.

It was definitely a highlight.

I mean, all the bread is probably the reason, really, to go there, but you know, if you're gonna go and you're getting an egg sandwich, you should definitely get an order of hash browns on the side.

And you know, it's almost as if they took mashed potatoes and threw them in the deep fryer because it has the softest creamiest inside and a really good crisp exterior.

And you know, that was definitely reason enough to go there and hang out.

- Craig, Fiore is your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- Pastries and pastas that you'll be dreaming about.

- And Daniel, what are your final thoughts?

- If you wanna go to a neighborhood spot that has really sweet decor and happy workers serving really amazing bread, check out Fiore.

- And Derek, what's your big takeaway?

- Pastries, coffee, pasta and gelato.

What more could you ask for?

- Try out Fiore located at 2413 Frankfort Avenue in Kensington.

(upbeat music) Reservations are not accepted and the average tab per person without drinks is $25.

(air whooshing) When Daniel Tucker wants to relax, he sits down at this beloved Ethiopian spot for spicy and flavorful platters, never ending injera, and then if you know, you know upstairs bar, he heads to Abyssinia in West Philly.

(air whooshing) - My name is Tedla Abraham.

I'm the owner Abyssinia restaurant.

We opened Abyssinia 1995.

Somebody else was running, then when I came from Boston, I was found out Abyssinia was for sale, then I moved to buy the Abyssinia restaurant.

(mellow music) The ingredient we use like, homemade ingredient.

You know, the chef is the best.

She's my wife.

I'm not cook.

I manage it but I'm not cook.

Like, you know, she not cooking like for a business.

She cook like home since from my child.

She likes to cook.

And then you know, our family was big family.

She was learner from them.

They cook in style.

(upbeat music) Veggie combo is different.

The combo is green lentil, and cabbage, you know, mixed cabbage, potato, carrot and string beans.

And then we have yellow split pea, and red lentil and green lentil.

Meat combo and some other delicious foods.

You know, I was driving a taxi and then I moved to have a restaurant business instead of driving a taxi because I love to work with the people and then to serve the food, the drink, you know?

And they make some kind (indistinct).

You know, I feel good and I feel community is very nice area.

The people, everything is, I don't have no complaints.

Everything's good.

I ask them if they eat, if they are vegetarian or meat, I ask them.

Then they say vegetarian and I will tell them to pick vegetarian combination.

The first time, they don't know what's favorite but once it's taste it they love it.

They come back again and again.

(Tedla chuckles) They never leave anything.

They finish the whole thing we bring them.

They love it.

(upbeat music) My favorite?

Everything is my favorite.

I cannot name it.

Everything is my favorite.

(upbeat rhythmic music) (air whooshing) - Daniel, this a West Philly institution.

Why did you pick it?

- You know, Abyssinia is my go-to place, either for a date night with my wife or a big group dinner.

I feel like it can accommodate any size party, It's always really fun, it's fun to eat with your hands.

There's this great bar upstairs that you can have a drink at before or after.

What more could you want?

- It's great for groups because a lot of the food comes out and it's in platters.

They have a ton of different combination meals.

But what was everyone's favorite bite?

I'll start with you, Craig.

Favorite bite?

- Yeah, so I really liked almost all of it, to be honest.

I would've eaten any of the various options I got on my combo platters again.

I thought the lentils were so good, the chickpeas, really all the vegetarian options were amazing.

But I thought the most interesting thing was the kitfo, which is like, the marinated raw beef.

Texture wise, it reminds me a lot of steak tartar, but taste wise it's completely different because the spice mixture they use is just so good that you just get this like, rich, kind of, velvety bite of spices.

That was really incredible and worked really well with the injera.

- There's nothing more satisfying than getting a handful of injera and then you know, getting to select which combinations you're gonna fold into that particular bite.

So I took a little shiro, which is the chickpea, you know, flour kind of stew and then picked up a little bit of fresh garden salad on the way, and then landed, finally, in the chicken tibs, which are just super moist, well-spiced chicken, and all those together had a great crunch from the salad and just incredible flavor.

- Best bite for me was the tibs firfir.

Just the marinated goat, you could tell, like, they took their time with preparing it.

Just a lot of flavorful spices.

I actually wanted more of it, to be honest with you.

I should have ordered more, but it was just fantastic.

- I got something that I'd never had before, which was asa, which is a whole fried fish.

And it was really incredible.

Really well done, super moist on the inside, but crispy on the outside.

Fun to tear apart and, you know, roll into the injera bread.

And something that I have had before but took a greater appreciation for this time was shiro, which is like a chickpea wat, I think is, you know, what it's called, like, a stew.

And it was just really incredibly creamy.

And then gomen, which is like, a green, you know, like a collared green or a mixed green of sorts that's sauteed.

- So as appetizer we got the katenga.

So they were strips of the injera with berbere spice, which my girlfriend doesn't like spicy foods, but I do, so I ended up eating most of it.

She did enjoy it, but the spice levels were pretty high, I thought.

But then for our entrees we got the shrimp tibs and then I got the firfir tibs, which is the marinated goat, over the injera, and then you just roll it up and eat it.

So it was pretty, it was really good.

- I went with a couple friends and I feel like we had so much fun.

They asked us if we wanted our food family style because we had kind of ordered separately, and we said yes.

So they just brought out this like, huge platter filled with all sorts of different meats and stews and everything.

And it's just a great time to, you know, rip off a little bit of injera, scoop up whatever you want and you know, just eat and enjoy with friends.

It was awesome.

- Derek, as a first timer, what was that experience like when you came in?

Were the servers helpful in helping you navigate the menu?

- Very much so.

Actually, on the menu they had like, definitions of some of the terms of the food.

So that was very helpful.

And if we had any questions at all, if we weren't sure of anything, we could just ask the server.

So that was very helpful.

- We didn't ask too many questions, but I agree, having a little glossary on the menu was quite nice.

So we kept cross referencing back to that.

And we did ask about Ethiopian beer options and they gave us something called Habesha, which I thought was really good.

It reminded me almost a little bit of Heineken, but a little bit of a different flavor, and it went really well with the food.

- And I know the assignment was to eat at Abyssinia and y'all did great, but we cannot not talk about the bar upstairs, formerly known as Fiume, but now it's called the Upstairs Bar at Abyssinia.

'Cause it is a scene.

Craig, did you get a chance to check it out?

- I got a yuzunot cocktail, which is made using the, you know, Japanese liqueur that's really citrusy.

It was really well crafted and just the vibe in general is, you know, totally charming and it just felt like a, you know, a really fun place to hang out.

- We went upstairs.

It felt like you were sitting in someone's living room.

They had a ton of beer options, drink options up there.

It was just like, a very cool environment.

- Daniel, this was your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- Well, if you want a place that you can go on a date with another person or a big group, spontaneous dinner without a reservation, Abyssinia is a great place to gather people and share, scoop up some delicious treats with your injera bread and then go up for a cocktail at Upstairs at Abyssinia.

- And Craig, how would you sum up Abyssinia?

- Yeah, I would say absolutely delicious Ethiopian food with really fun bar options, too.

- And Derek, what's the big takeaway?

- Excellent, authentic Ethiopian restaurant.

You can sit at the bar, you can go with a large group or go upstairs and catch a show.

- Check out Abyssinia for yourself, located at 229 South 45th Street in West Philly.

215-387-2424.

Reservations are not accepted, and the average tab per person without drinks is $20.

(upbeat music) (air whooshing) Derek Lentz knows not to mess with the classics.

So when he wants a warm plate of homemade pasta, he grabs a bottle of wine and heads to Cafe Carmela in Huntingdon Valley.

(air whooshing) (upbeat music) - My name is Joseph Maglio.

I'm a owner/operator here at Cafe Carmela.

Basically, Cafe Carmela was brought about to use the, you know, the best quality ingredients we can have at an affordable price.

We always said, you know, we're a big family here.

Carmela is my mother.

And we were deciding on, you know, what to name the restaurant and the best cook I know is my mother.

So, it all stemmed from my grandmother.

So, my mother was born in Italy.

She came here when she was three.

She learned a lot from my grandmother.

She did a lot of cooking at home at such a young age.

I remember as a kid, my grandmother, she didn't speak much English and she would watch soap operas and make homemade pasta.

And she would get like, you know, used Stroman bags and every week everybody would get three or four bags of homemade pasta.

We would throw it in the freezer.

And I just remember sitting there watching her, just with her finger, you know, rolling pasta, all by vendor.

All our pastas are homemade.

You know, for me, I love pasta.

It's my favorite.

It's funny, it's just, there's two ingredients.

It's semolina and water.

You gotta love it, you know?

You gotta really have passion for it.

You know, we make everything fresh, down to our dressings, you know?

Everything.

That's like, one of my biggest compliments, "Your meatballs remind me of my grandmother's."

Or sometimes people say they're better, you know?

And that's always the best feeling.

(upbeat music) So the reason I opened our first restaurant in Holme Circle, Philadelphia, I grew up around that area and my wife is from South Philly.

In South Philly, you could go anywhere and get a great meal.

And I remember when I was a kid there was a lot of good places in the Northeast and then we came back and nothing was very good.

Not like when I was a kid.

I feel like a lot of people are scared to go into the burbs.

People come here for birthdays, you know, showers or wedding rehearsals.

We do a lot of wedding rehearsals.

Or if you just want to come, we have customers that come here two, three times a week, you know, for pizza or cheese steaks or whatever.

Here, it's just comfort food.

That's what we serve here too, you know, we hope that your heart is full as well.

(upbeat music) (air whooshing) - Derek, this place feels like it's been there forever, but it's relatively new.

Tell us why you picked it.

- So I moved into a new neighborhood a couple years ago, so I was looking for a new restaurant and heard a lot of buzz about Cafe Carmela.

And went there once and I keep going.

- This last time, though, you got a pizza to share with your group of six people?

- Yes, the American boy pizza.

So it's an upside down pizza.

So the cheese is on the bottom and the sauce is on the top with mozzarella.

We got two pizzas and everyone enjoyed it.

- We got the garlic buffalo Parmesan wings.

So there's a lot going on, but they were really good and they have like.

little Bleu cheese crumbles on top and a little bit of like, chopped up herbs.

There's just like, a ton of flavor.

Like, you are not lacking for flavor at all.

Served with Bleu cheese, of course, the dip.

And I would just say they were like, really decadent, you know?

It's not the kind of thing you're going to eat every day, but if you really want like, a really engaging like, wing experience with like, a great mix of flavors, I would recommend them, yeah.

- We got a Caesar salad.

I think it's, you know, always nice to just try a Caesar wherever you go and see how they compare.

I was with a friend who didn't eat anchovies and so we had the anchovies on the side, which actually allowed me to really appreciate how good they were.

So they were really good quality anchovies, and the salad was was great in general.

And then we got the Oh My Sweet Ricotta appetizer, which were little toasts with ricotta cheese, honey and pistachios.

Almost more of a dessert than, you know, something I would usually get as an appetizer, but really well done.

And you know, a kind of a nice sweet way to get ready for a filling meal.

- The pizza was really good.

We got The Maggs pizza, recommended by our waitress.

You know, it had mozzarella, I think fresh mozzarella on it.

Just, you know, really well done.

Good crust, really liked it.

- You have an interesting theory for cheese steaks.

- Sometimes when you're out at a restaurant in Philadelphia, a cheese steak on a menu can be kind of like, white noise, you know, they're just on everyone's menu, it's really hard to know if they're gonna be good or not.

And so, it's not at all my go-to, for that reason.

But our server recommended it, and it was incredible.

You know the steak was really moist, the cheese, you know, was kind of sharp, but, you know, it didn't feel artificial at all.

It was one of the best cheese steaks I've had.

- Tell me what makes a good pizza crust?

- What stood out to me was something that my dinner mate mentioned.

He said, "You know it's a good pizza crust when you can't smell the store-bought yeast in the crust."

It was really soft on the inside, great crunch on the outside, had a little char from the oven.

It was an exceptional crust.

- And of course, they also have pasta.

How was everyone's pasta?

- Mine was very good.

I got the Carm's Parm.

So, it's rigatoni with a pomodoro sauce and two large meatballs.

And when I was looking at it, I'm like, "I don't know if I can eat all this."

It was a big size portion.

But I did and it was just delicious.

- I got the Carm's Parm too, actually, but I got it with chicken parm, and I thought the cutlet was awesome.

Fried really well, still juicy, really liked the sauce but I was really impressed by the pasta.

It says they, you know, make it right there and I feel like it was cooked like, perfectly al dente, which is how I like my pasta and I can be kind of particular about that sometime.

But I thought it was amazing and like, so much better than your average pizza place.

- You had mentioned that the waitress was really good at recommending things for you to order.

[Craig] Yes.

- What did you think of the service overall?

- They were really friendly, really quick with everything.

It was great.

- What did you think of the prices?

- The prices were really reasonable, you know.

We probably spent about $75 for three people to eat more than enough food.

I took leftovers home, so it was, I think, yeah, quite reasonable.

And BYOB if you want to take some wine with you.

- We got the blood orange Italian soda, on a recommendation from our waitress, and really liked it.

And I think it worked really well with all the other foods we got 'cause we ended up on the heavier side of the menu.

No salads with cheese steaks and pizza and wings.

And so it was a really nice accompaniment.

I did not have room for dessert, but I decided to place an order for tiramisu to go, which I ate straight out of the fridge later that night, and it was really, really good.

I'm really happy I did that.

(everyone laughing) - Did anyone else have leftovers to take home?

- Definitely.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Yeah?

- Went in the fridge and got my Carm's Parm, got it out, and I might have ate some of my girlfriend's Crab Mac & Cheese as well, so yeah.

- Oh, we gotta talk about this Crab Mac & Cheese situation, okay.

Speak more to the Crab Mac & Cheese.

Is this something that you get all of the time or did you try it your first time this last visit?

- So, my girlfriend got it this time around and it was a very big portion.

I just kept looking at my girlfriend and she's looking at me like, "Hey, I need some help here.

This is delicious, but can you help me out a little bit?"

Lots of cheese.

It's very delicious.

- Derek, Cafe Carmela was your choice.

Sum it up for us.

- Great family-owned Italian restaurant.

You can go there with a large group and expect to take home a lot of to-go food.

- And Craig, what are your final thoughts?

- Bring everyone.

Bring everyone you know for really good Italian pizza, pastas and everything.

- And Daniel, bring it on home.

- If you want to be surprised by a place that opened just in 2020 that might make you think that it's been there, you know, your whole lifetime, go to Cafe Carmela.

It's a great place.

- Grab a pie at Cafe Carmela, located at 2975 Philmont Avenue in Huntingdon Valley.

215-821-2584.

Reservations are not accepted and the average tab per person without drinks is $25.

(upbeat music) (air whooshing) So on this week's show, we featured Fiore in Kensington, Abyssinia in West Philly and Cafe Carmela in Huntingdon Valley.

Special thanks to my guests Craig Baumer, Daniel Tucker and Derek Lentz.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending their favorite restaurants right here on "Check, please!"

And don't forget to find us on Instagram and TikTok.

We're @checkpleasephilly.

I'm Kae Lani Palmisano and I'll see you next time.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

(glasses clinking) (upbeat snappy music)