Eating out with Instagram: #Philadelphia4ADay. Where to Eat Brunch & Dinner in Philadelphia

I love traveling. If I'm in the same place for too long, I get antsy. Although I just got back from a trip to San Francisco and Alameda, and am going to Seattle in June, I have no other travel plans on my calendar. Oy.

That's why I was so happy when my friend Pankti suggested a day trip to Philadelphia. I've been to Philadelphia three times already: once on a solo trip, once on a trip with my twin {Philadelphia can also be a City of Sisterly Love :)}, and once for a flower show.

Our friend Samantha also joined us for a day of eating and walking around the city. It was really nice not to have any specific plans and just enjoy each other's company and Philadelphia.

For brunch, we went to Garces Trading Co (thank you, K for the recommendation!!). Garces has a gorgeous open space, big windows, communal tables and a fun $28 brunch special menu. I started with a mimosa, and had a house mozzarella as my appetizer. It was creamy and just slightly salty. The olive oil drizzled over the mozzarella was so delicious, I bought a bottle of it to take home with me.

For my main course I had Steak & Eggs: it was a flavorful and filling dish. Somehow I managed to eat the whole thing :) The steak was cooked as I asked for it: medium rare, and was tender and a bit bloody. The poached eggs were perfect.

Unfortunately there was no room for dessert.

And just so that you know, I took some "people photos" and not just food photos. Below is Pankti, Samantha and I by the gorgeous Magic Garden.

And this is me kissing a frog. I'm still waiting for it to turn into my Prince!

After brunch we did quite a bit of walking around. Philadelphia really lends itself for that and provides fun things to look at. Loved these murals.

And of course I'm still obsessed with red doors:

For a quick snack we stopped by at Fork. Check out their website for fun interior shots. I had hibiscus iced tea (yes, still obsessed with hibiscus flavor) and a grapefruit pastry.

And then it was time for dinner. I was disappointed we could not get reservations at Zahav, so we just decided to walk around and see what looked good. By that point we were a bit tired and it was raining and a few of the restaurants we went to have more than an hour wait. No good.

And then, we discovered a lovely neighborhood wine bar called Tria.

The restaurant was somewhat dark, so no photos other than a dessert, but I LOVED the Housemade Lamb Sausage served with white beans, piuillo pepper and min-feta sauce. I also ordered Warm Poached Black Mission Figs with gorgonzola and prosciutto.

For dessert I had Lemon Panna Cotta with blood orange sauce. Divine.

This was such a fun day trip!