Veggicurious Cooking in and eating out, vegetarian, in Philadelphia and beyond. Trying to keep it local, fresh, community oriented, and curious.

I’ve been hearing about the beer selection at Kraftwork for months, so when it was time to see my friend David off to his new job in Chicago, I suggested we try it out. Crowded for a Tuesday night and loud, we decided to sit outside so we could catch up a bit. The beer menu is certainly above-average, focusing more on artisinal and microbrews than local beers, but you can also order in an 8 ounce glass in to get in a maximum number of “samples.” And the food wasn’t bad, either. My favorite was the ricotta dumplings, above, with wilted chard (my favorite vegetable) and a savory sweet pepper harrisa sauce.

Kraftwork had a Kennett Mushroom special that I had to order, both for the mushrooms, which I can’t NOT order, and for the local flavor. The mushrooms themselves, touched with truffle oil and under two soft poached eggs. I’d have improved the dish with a thicker, richer toast (the thin toasted wheat slice was a little disappointing).

And of course I couldn’t turn down the toasted garlic and herb fries with Yards’ Porter mustard aoli. I mean, come one. I ate them with a fork, with plenty of aoli.