The best things we ate this week

The food desk at The Inquirer frequently documents the area’s standout cheesesteaks and hoagies and pizza, etc. — the internet’s response basically mandates it. But there’s another food group we’re actually very enthusiastic about, though our archives don’t necessarily reflect it: salads.

While we don’t give them nearly the same air time (write in and give us reason to do otherwise!), there are quite a few amazing salads to be found in Philly’s restaurants. This week, the one that floored me was the shaved artichoke salad at Bastia, chef Tyler Akin’s ode to Sardinian cuisine inside Fishtown’s industrial-sleek Hotel Ana & Bel. The starter is one of two items that have been on Bastia’s menu since Day One, and according to Akin, it’ll probably never come off due to its popularity.

Like the best salads, this one is dead-simple: Sheer-cut artichokes and slivered celery are tossed with fresh lemon, olive oil, a hefty dose of Parmesan, and salsa verde (the Italian kind, meaning loaded with parsley, garlic, and capers). The heaping mound of zingy, herb-flecked thistles is finished with a generous sprinkle of crispy sunchoke chips so thin and lightly fried, they almost melt away after the first crunch.

Akin says Bastia turns out so many of these salads, shaving the artichokes to order is almost a full-time job for one of the restaurant’s prep cooks. We had a bunch of other courses coming — tender figs with salami and cardoon honey, toothsome chestnut-and-porcini pasta, an agrodolce-painted pork collar — or I would have eaten a bowlful of this spectacular salad, and the next time I’m in Fishtown, I just might. Bastia, 401 E. Susquehanna Ave., 267-651-0269, bastiafishtown.com

— Jenn Ladd

I am a hideous tiramisu snob, thanks to eating many, many versions of them during my scouting for Italian restaurants on The 76.

The absolute ideal tiramisu has to be balanced: The bitterness of the espresso has to stand up to — but not overwhelm! — the sweetness of the mascarpone cream, and the biscuits (traditionally ladyfingers, but not always) have to offer the barest bit of resistance to your fork. It’s not a mush, but it’s so fully integrated that you can’t imagine plucking the components away from each other.

In my opinion, there are maybe three contenders for the best tiramisu in the city, and the version that chef Liz Grothe makes at the Queen Village BYOB Scampi stands tall among them. She makes her tiramisu using sponge cake rather than ladyfingers, and it ably soaks up the espresso without disintegrating. And she cleverly adds a tiny bit of crunch to the dessert using a sprinkle of cornflakes.

I’ve been eating Grothe’s tiramisu since she served it at her in-home pop-up Couch Cafe and was delighted when it became a regular fixture on the menu at Scampi. This past weekend, a dear friend turned 40 and got a slice of the Scampi tiramisu in lieu of cake. It’s that memorable.

Grothe just announced on Instagram that she’ll be offering tiramisu for pickup during the holidays, should you want a break from pie or cake. A full tiramisu (a whole 9 x 13 inch pan!) serves from 24 to 48 people, Grothe says, but I’m sure, with enough determination, you could bring that number down to two. Scampi, 17 S. Third St., scampiphilly.com

— Margaret Eby

At Dara, I was excited to try the hed tod, the basket of fried mushrooms that got a shoutout on the 76 this year. I enjoyed those flour-fried fungi, but my favorite dish of the night was the vegetable massaman curry — a beautiful, golden-orange bowl packed with roasted cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and fork-tender chunks of carrots and potatoes that were the size of a small fist. (I really don’t know how the carrots got so big). The peanuts within and the crispy shallots on top added a lovely crunch. For cold nights this winter, I can’t imagine a better dish to warm up with. It’s somehow more elegant and more satisfying than the classic massaman curries you can get all over the city. Dara, 1221 Walnut St., 267-876-8107, daraphilly.com

— Zoe Greenberg

What’s a basbousa, you ask? It’s a cake often made of semolina that’s soaked in syrup. It’s not light and fluffy, but pleasingly dense, with an amazing gritty texture. At Queen Village’s Majdal Bakery, that wonderful graininess is thanks to coarsely milled wheat. The bakery, run by Kenan Rabah, who grew up in Golan Heights, features a cornucopia of Syrian pastries and cakes. But the pear-fenugreek basbousa is an obvious standout. Soaked in a spice sugar syrup and topped with labneh and crunchy kataifi (a filo dough-esque pastry), the dessert is not too sweet — which, as any Asian will tell you, is the mark of the world’s best sweets. Add to that the softness of the pears playing against the grittiness of the wheat, tinged with the magical lilting hint of fenugreek that’s usually confined to savory dishes, and you have an unforgettable dessert. I washed that amazing little treat down with an excellent hot spiced tea. Majdal Bakery, 618 S. Fifth St., majdalbakery.com

— Bedatri D. Choudhury