Food & Drink in West Chester

At Northbrook MarketPlace, guests can enter a restored 1850s fieldstone barn with bright-red wood siding and picturesque white wooden frames to browse the market and grab dishes made from fresh, sustainable ingredients. Chefs fire up tender brisket in the smokehouse, make sandwiches to order, and pluck signature apple-cider donuts from trees. Diners can also nosh on daily hot-meal specials, including chicken pot pies and fish 'n' chips, then slide forks into the flaky crust of the daily pie while sitting inside the marketplace, outside in the courtyard, or at home. For those who want a more leisurely meal, the Chef's Table, which was named Philadelphia magazine's Best Private Dining Table in 2009, proffers an hours-long culinary experience in which patrons devour local, gourmet fare from a tasting menu designed by head chef Rob Boone. The week's BYOB feasts include the Chef's Table banquet; Family Nights, which feed visiting households and peckish minivans with an Italian buffet; and brunch, which mollifies maws with homemade granola and barbecue sliders.

Drawing on his culinary background working in East Coast bistros and stately hotel kitchens, Mile High Steak & Seafood’s Executive Chef David Robinson crafts a rotating menu of upscale steakhouse cuisine. Robinson, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, refuses to cut corners with his ingredients, going so far as to fly in fresh seafood and grass skirts overnight from the Honolulu Fish Company. He only chooses aged certified Angus beef for his steak-centric entrees, and he revs up traditional sandwiches and appetizers on the bar menu with high-end items such as shaved prime rib, artisan cheeses, and lobster. These gourmet bites pair palatably one of the bar’s signature cocktails or glasses of wine.

Even in his down time, Robinson keeps his culinary skills sharp, coordinating charity events for the Chester County SPCA and the Brandywine Hospital Strawberry Festival. But even with his busy schedule and impressive resumé, he’s still thankful for landing his “dream job” at Mile High Steak & Seafood.

We are BYOB!!

"I really love Thai food," says Jazmine Thai co-owner Josh Morton. "I love how it reflects all the taste buds, all the sensations, from sweet to sour, to spicy to salty." He shares this passion with his partner and executive chef Somsak Kechat, who artfully prepares and plates a wide range of dishes from Thailand's vast culinary treasure trove. With a Kechat does everything from sculpt fried rice into a heart to serve the shrimp-chicken-veggie dish inside a masterfully carved pineapple. He also prepares dishes such as the Spicy Sea of Love—a blend of seafood and green peppercorns—and the Evil Jungle Princess, a red curry he sautées with shrimp, chicken, and veggies. Meanwhile, a bartender compliments these interestingly named meals with a lineup of refreshing libations that includes wine, sake, and the My Thai cocktail, a tropical blend of fruit juices, liquors, and giggle zest.

The Classic Diner has always intended its name to be a little tongue-in-cheek. Most diners, after all, do not encourage customers to customize their eggs benedict order with a layer of ahi tuna. A similarly upscale culinary approach informs all of the "diner's" menu items, elevating roadside mainstays to the level of an upscale restaurant's choicest dishes. Apple sausage and turkey-pepper hash accompany eggs done any way, from scrambled to drizzled directly into an open mouth. Omelets arrive stuffed with a smorgasbord of fresh veggies. Fried jalapeños can be easily stacked atop char-grilled Angus burgers. Lunch, served until 3 p.m., ventures outside of the diner definition with parmesan-crusted chicken with saffron risotto and sautéed steak tips in a red-wine demi-glace.

The successful union of Indian and Thai flavors inside a chic, BYOB space has helped Spice Indian Thai Bistro earn praise from local press, including The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Craig LaBan who calls the eatery “one of the suburbs' best all-around Indian kitchens.” Round tables and cozy booths stretch across an expanse of rustic tile flooring, overlooked by saffron and burnt-orange walls and plentiful wood accents. Though the lighting is dim and romantic, it cannot mask the vibrant colors of chicken korma, lamb biryani, and hot-and-spicy Thai curries laced with coconut milk and enough bamboo shoots to please.