Heritage Earns Two Bells From LaBan for an 'Experience Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts'

It's a tricky business marrying live music with a high-level dining experience, but Heritage, Jason Evenchik's (Time, Garage, et al.) latest in NoLibs, navigates those waters deftly enough to merit a sunny two-bell review from the Inquirer's Craig LaBan.

Chef/"master of the Artful Pile" Sean Magee's cooking gets high marks, despite some disappointing shellfish, "underperforming" desserts, and a handful of dishes that cried out for some tweaks or refinement. "For every mild misfire, there were two solid hits," comes Laban's estimate of the success-to-failure ratio, with roast chicken, whole trout, kale salad, brisket, rabbit sausage, and more falling squarely in the win column. And ultimately, this review gives itself over more to the emotional side of dining than the technical:

With great music beaming off the stage before us, serious food on our plates, and a glass of boozy happiness by my side, it's a recipe that works. Heritage manages to remind us how three such elemental pleasures of life - when presented in finely tuned balance - can add up to an experience that's greater than the sum of its parts.

Elsewhere:

· City Paper's Adam Erace files early on farm-to-table diner Fourth and Cross, where he's "floored" by a standout burger and so charmed by excellent ingredients, notable baked goods, and a strong sense of warmth and community that he's more or less willing to overlook a few snags in service and flaws in execution.

· South Philly Review's Phyllis Stein-Novack devotes her column inches this week not to a review, but to talking us through a thought process about all the restaurants she might conceivably take her cousins to when they visit the city. In doing so, she reveals she hasn't been to Zahav since it opened, which... damn, girl, we think you've got your answer right there.