Note: This review is for Bar Amis at the Navy Yard
(previously called Lo Speido).
My spouse and I dined at Bar Amis at the Navy Yard for a
light, early dinner on a Saturday evening in late July 2017. The restaurant is open for weekday lunch, and
for dinner on Mondays through Saturdays (no lunch Saturdays, and closed on Sundays).
You can make a reservation online using the Open Table system, although the
restaurant also accepts walk-in customers. Complimentary parking is available in
a small adjacent surface lot or on the neighboring streets. The Navy
Yard is bustling during weekday work hours, when 11,000+ workers from the
nearly 150 companies flood the 1000-acre campus, but the area is peaceful at
night and on the weekends after the employees return home. We walked to Bar
Amis from our nearby hotel, the Marriott Courtyard Navy Yard, on our way to a
concert at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Vetri Family
restaurant group operates Bar Amis at the Navy Yard, along with other
Philadelphia restaurants including Alla Spina, Osteria, Vetri, Amis, and Pizzeria
Vetri. We dined previously at Vetri in December 2011; see our review titled
“Excellent Special Occasion Spot!”, and also at Pizzeria Vetri in June 2017;
see our review titled “Try the Unique Rotolo!”. Since 2015, the Vetri
restaurants have operated under the umbrella of retail giant Urban Outfitters
(which also owns Free People, Anthropologie, BHLDN [Beholden] online bridal
shop, and the Terrain Cafe).
Bar Amis originally opened with the name Lo Speido in fall
2014; however, its name changed to Bar Amis in late June 2017. Bar Amis
occupies the former Guard House for the Navy Yard, positioned just inside the main
gate. The tables on the outdoor brick patio sit under cover of a rustic sort of
lean-to within view of the decommissioned ships in the harbor. Indoors, the small
first floor dining room/bar area offers a few seats at the zinc bar, at
high-top tables positioned on the mosaic tile-floor, or at a bar rail that
extends around the rear of the exposed brick walls. A second-floor dining room
(reachable by elevator or stairs) offers traditional table seating as well as a
space enclosed by glass windows/walls for more private dining.
The restaurant serves international cuisine. We were
disappointed by the new casual menu, which is served both upstairs and
downstairs, because we had read a lot about the rotisserie-focused food. Sadly,
almost none of those menu options were retained when the restaurant concept
changed from Lo Speido (which means “the spit”) to Bar Amis. We shared an
appetizer of hoagie toast, which was truly delicious but difficult to eat and
not easily shared, with its meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomato components piled
high on a slice of thick crusty bread. As our main dish, we shared a meatball
sandwich, served on a sort of modified Panini bread accompanied by French fries.
We requested that the sandwich be cut in half for easy sharing, but the chef
refused; instead, it arrived speared with a giant steak knife so that we could
cut it ourselves. My Alto cocktail (prosecco, blood orange bitters, and ginger
liqueur) seemed weak; I should have ordered one of their frozen drinks instead.
We enjoyed our dinner at Bar Amis, although it has a “captive
audience” because it is the only restaurant open in the Navy Yard in the
evenings (although not on Sundays as previously mentioned).
No comments:
Post a Comment