FARMiCiA opened its doors five years ago and is the creation of Kevin Klause (formerly of the White Dog Cafe) and duo, James Barrett and Wendy Smith Born (current owners of Metropolitan Bakery). Five years and five Valentine’s Days later, my stomach-of-steel-man-friend and I decided to check it out.

Walking into FARMiCiA is like entering a page in a hybrid magazine of Martha Stewart Living meets Better Home and Gardens. Lovely and pastoral, twinkly lights are strung throughout the 122-seat restaurant, and a small flower arrangement is perched on every one of the perfectly polished wooden tables. Rustic looking stars dangle pleasingly from the ceiling, squeaky clean, body-length mirrors are hung securely to the walls, and a breathtaking mural depicting an outdoor scene takes up a far back seating area. Needless to say, I was digging the décor, but would FARMiCiA’s food be as fresh as their flowers?

At 11:15 on a Sunday morning, I was very hungry and very ready to find out.

Two mimosas, grilled Brie, a tofu scramble, and quesadilla later, I felt like cupid had shot me with a food -laden love arrow. Let me explain.

As usual, I was taking prophylactic measures and asking our server the perilous ins and outs of the menu, which he answered without so much a stutter or hesitation. Being a condiment kind of- girl, I found myself disappointed only once regarding my allergy-friendly-menu rating. Alack, their ketchup isn’t organic and thus contains preservatives. However, that misery was fleeting and quickly forgiven because they do carry organic maple syrup. Although not all menu options were acceptable for the lactose intolerant, our server assured us that many things could easily be taken off or modified.

We learned with much delight that brunch happy hour on Saturdays and Sundays offers all alcoholic beverages at half price. Draught beer, specialty cocktails (try the Barn Burner, FARMiCia’s Bloody Mary), elixir tonics (hungover?), glasses of wine, and more — for half price. Guests have the option to BYOB, but FARMiCiA has a full bar and an extensive wine list, an opportunity of which we took full advantage.

With such a fascinating and remarkable menu, and all the items listed being described with the words “organic,” “fresh,” and “pure”, I felt slightly overwhelmed. I wanted it all.

While the Metropolitan Granola with soy milk ($5.5) was calling my name, our server strongly suggested the brioche French toast (one slice $4.5), which I could just imagine drenching in that pure maple syrup. But the eggs Benedict with smoked salmon on a toasted whole grain English muffin ($13.5) sounded incredible. This indecisiveness went on for quite some time, but our waiter remained incredibly patient, friendly, and helpful.

After a game of rock-paper-scissors, my dining buddy and I shared a starter of a very large hunk of grilled Brie that is served with a large quantity of hand-sized toasted French baguettes ($6.5). Brie, I have discovered, has very little lactose. As I slid my knife through the chunk of heaven, warm and gooey Brie trickled out of a crispy shell-like casing. The pesto was both nutty and sharp and created an incredibly vibrant flavor combination, and the baguettes were perfect; considering they, like the rest of the bread served, had been baked just hours earlier at Metropolitan Bakery. The amount of time given between the delivery of our starter and our main course was perfect in that it allowed our stomachs to truly appreciate what we had just devoured and our taste buds to hanker for more.

I finally decided on a scrambled tofu and vegan chorizo sausage atop vegan sopapilla with refried black beans and avocado salsa ($9.5). I truly believe that tofu is best served scrambled, and FARMiCiA didn’t disappoint. The texture was perfect; crumbled, but still in chunks, and soft, yet caramelized in all the right places. Although the sausage was a bit too spicy for me, if the menu hadn’t labeled it vegan, I’d have thought I was eating the real deal. It had distinct flavors of paprika, smoke, and spice, pairing perfectly with the more mellow beans and avocado salsa. The dish was also served with a half dozen warm and chewy pitas that should have been impossible for me to finish, but I did.

My dining partner is a health-conscious carnivore that can eat for days. Luckily his breakfast quesadilla that was stuffed with organic farmhouse eggs, jack cheese, roasted potatoes, and fresh, all natural, preservative and nitrate-free chorizo was the size of a small dog. He’d never been so full or happy for just $9.50. I was thrilled when he said without hesitation that I could sample his plate. The eggs were scrambled to perfection; light and fluffy, the cheese was evenly strewn throughout, the potatoes tasted like I had dug them up from my own garden, and I couldn’t taste the difference between my faux chorizo and the authentic.

And so we entered an allergy-friendly food coma. FARMiCiA: a great success.

Marisa McStravick studies journalism at Drexel University in Philadelphia and plans to attend law school in fall 2010. She has written for Philadelphia City Paper.

Article photograph from dr.coop, via Flickr (Creative Commons), "I'm Allergic" photograph from , silverfox09 via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Philly" photograph from camardella, via Flickr (Creative Commons).