"Our experience at Josephine was nothing short of stellar. From the friendly front house manager who took our reservation and was helpful, friendly and accommodating, to the hostess, to the incredible wait staff who were friendly, welcoming and responsive, to the people preparing the food, and the head chef himself, it was all just perfect, start to finish.
For starters, our party shared the pretzel bread with housemate mustard, the crispy chicken skin with black-eyed peas hummus, the Nashville hot scrapple, and the amazing roasted Brussels sprouts with dried cherries, orange, peanut vinaigrette and rye crumb. All four were delights to the palate, and you could definitely see chef Andrew putting a Nashville touch on his Pennsylvania "eat like you live here" inspired cooking.
For my entree I had the Duck Breast with dried cherries, toasted corn, arugula and butternut squash. My husband had the beef cheeks with glazed root vegetables, potatoes and bacon. We tried a little of each others dishes, and both were phenomenal. Everything was balanced and all the flavors paired together so nicely. The medium rare cook on the duck with the perfectly done crispy skin was particularly wonderful.
For dessert our party shared the chocolate panna cotta with Early Gray, strawberry and chocolate cookie crumble, the Pistachio cake with honey and rose buttercream, phyllo and blood orange sorbet (cranberry is currently listed on the menu, but I think it might have been blood orange that night), and then we rounded it off with the Bananas Foster inspired layer cake. All three desserts were amazing and delightful, but special mention goes to the panna cotta for the inspired pairing of the chocolate and Earl Gray. The bergamot notes of the Earl Gray just paired so beautifully with the richness of the chocolate. The other big surprise was the pistachio cake. It was just a carnival of flavors with the saltines of the pistachio, the richness of the buttercream (really rich and decadent), and the sweetness of the honey and spices, along with the light crunch of the phyllo layers. Almost like a slightly deconstructed baklava. And the addition of the small dollop of sorbet leant just the right touch of fruit and tang to the dish.
We left not only full, but with happy, happy palates and definitely plan on coming back again next time we're in town. Cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough."
