This weekend at SJU is parent’s weekend- a great time for them to come and enjoy our beautiful campus (Chances are, they are paying a pretty penny for you to walk by Barbelin everyday!). If your parents are anything like mine when they came to visit freshman year, I’m sure they would love to see Manayunk, especially after every phone call with “So what you’d do last night?” results in that infamous eight letter word. Rest assured, you don’t have to take them to a small basement on Green Lane, but instead, to one of Manayunk’s first restaurants, now in their 26th year of business: Jake’s and Cooper’s Wine Bar. When you arrive at this restaurant, you can choose to eat on the more formal, dining room side that is accompanied by a beautiful, full wall wine room constructed from reclaimed hemlock wood from an old church, stocked with a mix of 100 local and imported wines. If you’re in the mood for a more relaxed, casual, atmosphere you can opt to sit on the bar side, equipped with large comfortable booths and high top table seating where you can see the pizza chef preparing homemade pizzas ready for the open brick oven. My fellow Her Campus editor and bestie, Maya Wilson and I, decided to sit on the more casual relaxed side of the restaurant, which was filled with patrons having lunch. No matter what atmosphere you choose, the menu is the same. Whether you are hungry for a snack, small plate, pizza, cheese, salad, or an entrée, Jake’s and Cooper’s knows how to put delicious flavor combinations on your plate that will keep you coming back. Maya and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to chat with the manager, Cosmo Mullen, who has been with Jake’s and Cooper’s for 7 years, and taste some of the delicious, trendy, and most popular menu items they provide on their menu. One of the great things about this restaurant is the fact they have something for everyone. Cosmo made it a point to explain that this restaurant is here to “satisfy all walks of life.” Whether you are there with your parents who are willing to spend however much to give you a much-anticipated, substantial meal (they recall college cafeteria horrors too), or just your girlfriends who want something affordable, this place has it all. For the HC girls who are 21 and older, the wine prices at this restaurant are totally affordable. The menu will always offer bottles and glasses of “cheap whites” and “cheap reds” that are not cheap wines at all, they are just offered at an unmarked up price of $20.00 per bottle, and $12.00 dollars for a half carafe. Love Sangria? During the warm months, they offer homemade pitchers of Sangria for $25.00, yielding around 4 large glasses. Another great aspect of this restaurant is its seasonality. Not only does their menu change with the seasons, but the beverage menu changes as well, offering you new tastes as the new seasons roll in. If the menu item is a staple, the accompaniments that go along with the dish change to allow a seasonal transition and taste such as the use of creamy sauces for winter as well as seasonal vegetables and fruits; for example, figs and squash.
The first tasting was this beautiful, roasted fig salad with crispy pancetta, balsamic reduction, and a lemon dressing. If you have never tried a fig before, try them in this salad as they are roasted in the oven, giving them an even richer, warm and caramelized taste. The flavors of the figs were delectably sweet, pairing well with the saltiness of the pancetta and bold flavors of the lemon and balsamic. A must try!
The next item we tasted was the crab cake. When I think of how to explain this crab cake, all I can really say is wow! This crab cake is a plump, jumbo lump crab meat packed cake that is then lightly breaded with panko breadcrumbs and pan seared, served over a bed of spaghetti squash (seasonal change). My mouth is watering thinking about it. Pure bliss!
Lastly, we tasted the spicy meatball pizza. This pizza was constructed on a delicately thin and delicious crust, topped with homemade tomato sauce, fresh ricotta cheese and fontina cheese with a generous serving of spicy meatballs. It was the perfect combination of spicy and would be loved by any Italian around the world.
My experience at Jake’s and Cooper’s was absolutely amazing. One of the major perks about taking your parents here is that they will be completely impressed with Manayunk after tasting how good the food is as well as experiencing such an extensive wine, beer and cocktail list. This restaurant certainly is keeping up with the foodie trends of Philadelphia and is doing them in all the right ways (allowing you to deal with less traffic, too!). I hope you all get to check it out this weekend or whenever you are in the mood for something delicious!
Cheers to a delectable meal!
HCXO,