Days after the New York Times included Mawn and Meetinghouse on its annual best-restaurants list, Bon Appetit named another Philadelphia eatery to its own best new restaurants list: Provenance, chef Nicholas Bazik‘s ambitious fine-dining destination on Headhouse Square, made the cut, along with 19 other restaurants around the country, from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to Seattle and Honolulu.
Bon Appetit editor Amiel Stanek wrote that Bazik’s modern French tasting menu “arrest[ed] time for a moment … compelling diners to pause” and likened the Society Hill restaurant to a Formula 1 racing car. “Stopping time is Bazik’s superpower,” he wrote.
This is the sort of national accolade that Provenance was built for. The 25-seat restaurant took nearly two years to complete, and it’s equipped with a custom Molteni stove, a basement wine cellar, and an 11-seat chef’s counter where you can watch Bazich and co. assemble elaborate bites such as a gold leaf-dusted spot prawn encased in a jellied chogochujang. The chef has reportedly had his sights set on a Michelin star since well before the guide announced it would come to Philly.
As Bazich told The Inquirer last July, before the restaurant opened, Provenance was intended to be a space “that can’t be replicated anywhere, with food that can’t be reproduced — because it shouldn’t be. It isn’t meant to be full of regulars.”
That’s reflected in the fare as well as the price: The 20- to 25-course tasting menu for one costs $225 before tax, tip, and drinks. (LaBan ballparks a meal for two will set you back $700 or $800 all-in.)
Provenance got a mixed review from Inquirer critic Craig LaBan last October. It has earned high marks Philadelphia Magazine and restaurant recommendation site the Infatuation.
Dining and Cooking