Night on the Town

There is just something about a night out on the town that never loses its charm for me.  Coming home still basking in the glow of an evening out...sure, some of it is from a few glasses of good wine, but I think it's more about the overall experience: the anticipation, getting dressed to go downtown, an intimate dinner with our own conversation, the closeness you feel walking home. Over the years these evenings all melt into one, with certain bits standing out here and there, but it's that overall experience that keeps me coming back for more.

Tonight we tried out a restaurant I have wanted to visit for quite a while called Pumpkin (no website yet, but mentioned here in #12). It is a BYO, which was a new concept to us moving to Philadelphia. From what we've been told, liquor licenses are extremely expensive and hard to come by in this city (I've heard upwards of $250,000 per restaurant) so many small food-focused joints go BYO. They say the food prices are a bit higher in these establishments but we haven't noticed; in fact, we're always pleasantly surprised with the bill as it never includes the markup of alcohol.

As we had hoped, the food at Pumpkin was fabulous! On Sundays they only serve a prix fixe menu and at $35 a person, quite a steal. One aspect I love about the BYO scene is that the restaurants are intimate and the focus is on good service and great food, and Pumpkin fits squarely into this category.

I wrote about the glow of an evening out, and I tried to capture that warmth in photos as we walked back to the train station. Philadelphia is such a grand old city in the evening - narrow alleyways of stately brick buildings, cafes and bars spilling out onto the sidewalk, mature trees rustling in the wind down the street, and all types of people out to enjoy a beautiful evening.

Though sometimes I may not care to admit it, I can already feel that I'll miss you old girl when we're gone, you've wormed your way into my heart with a certain class that is all your own.