It’s ultra-modern micr0gastronomy at Charcoal in Yardley. Diner by day, the brother-run restaurant becomes a cutting edge restaurant at night and although Craig LaBan finds some of the dishes over-zealous, there are others that are truly memorable.

when the brothers are in the groove, they can pull off some genuinely stunning plates. Their twist on “Oreos and milk,” for example, brought gingersnap cookies sandwiched around decadently creamy stuffings of foie gras, set over crumbled shards of frozen sweet milk. It was a startling collage of textures, spice, and temperatures that evolved as I ate, the frozen milk melting back into a familiar puddle of cookie-dipping dairy comfort. A dish inspired by A&W burgers and root beer floats produced a short rib I’ll long remember – brined in sassafras, anise, and juniper, then slow-cooked sous-vide for so long (four days at 127 degrees), the savory meat was medium-rare-pink yet pull-apart fork-tender.

2 Bells – Very Good

Charcoal [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Charcoal [Official Site]