Jose Garces and Chifa in Philadelphia

Restaurant Week is in its second week in Philadelphia.  Monday night I headed to Chifa, which melds Peruvian and Cantonese cuisine, and the result is amazingly interesting - and delicious!

Chifa is owned by Chef Jose Garces of former Iron Chef fame.  He opened his first restaurant, Amada, in Philadelphia in 2005.  He now has a total of five restaurants in Philly and one in Chicago (Mercat a la Planxa, where Garces is the executive chef).  The Philadelphia restaurants (descriptions compliments of the Food Network website) are:

• Amada - an authentic Andalusian tapas bar
• Chifa - a Latin-Asian restaurant named after the Peruvian restaurants of the same name
• Distrito - spirited celebration of the vibrant culture and cuisine of Mexico City (Blogger's comment here:  This restaurant has a huge array of Mexican wrestling masks, which are both scary and very intriguing.)
• Tinto - a wine bar and restaurant inspired by the Basque region of Northern Spain and Southern France
• Village Whiskey - a classic American bar with over 80 whiskies and bar snacks

The Food Network website also mentions that "Distrito and Mercat were named to Esquire Magazine's list of 20 Best New Restaurants 2008."

I've enjoyed Amada and Distrito in the past but I was especially looking forward to Chifa.  I knew of the Peruvian-Cantonese blend, and later learned (via Wikipedia) that

Chifa is a term used in Peru to refer to a style of Chinese cooking in which ingredients which are available in Peru have been substituted for those originally used in China.

Because I have a Peruvian stepmother who has spoken about the Asian influence in her homeland, I was looking forward to having this experience and telling her about it.  Although, I forgot to mention it to her when I spoke to her last.  Had I remembered to tell her about the food, I would have told her the ceviche was not "normal" ceviche but more a curry and coconut cold stew.  The veggie spring rolls were lighter than typical Chinese fare.  Ironically, perhaps because of fatigue, those are the only comments I can remember right now.  All I would need for her to know is that the food was good and the atmosphere enjoyable.  (One caveat:  I was sitting in the "middle" dining area - not the one back by the kitchen and also not where I could view the bar.  When I walked to the restroom in the back section of the restaurant the noise was deafening.  I'm glad I wasn't sitting in that area.)

I've been very pleased with all three of the Garces restaurants I've tried to date.  I can't wait to find more interesting and delicious food at Garces' other restaurants.  I've also made a mental note to contact my friend in Chicago (who loved Chifa) and tell her not to miss Mercat in her city.