Billing itself as the “music lover’s rendezvous,” the Victor Cafe spices up your dinner with arias on the side. The performances are given by the wait staff who respond in turn to a bell, the signal that a musical interlude is about to be served up. The stage is a small landing that bridges sets of steps separating the Victor Cafe’s two dining areas. When the singing begins, accompanied by piped-in recordings, forks go down, table service stops, and for a few brief minutes, the singing waiter is the star. Transitions are seamless: once the aria is delivered, the singer is back in character as your attentive waiter. As the website says, the Victor Cafe is “a unique dining experience.”

In a word, the food at The Victor Cafe is ok. In two words, it’s overpriced ok. But don’t let that keep you away. Order a simple pasta. Enjoy the house chianti. You may even find yourself giving your singing waiter a big bravo and a nice tip.

The Victor Cafe, 1303 Dickinson St., Philadelphia, PA 215-468-3040

Among our adventures, we got an inside look at Buckingham Palace, enjoyed a scenic train ride across England to Scotland, took in a performance of the oh-so-Scottish Tattoo military music review in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, and celebrity-sited Tom Hanks at afternoon tea in the Balmoral Hotel. And most memorably, we ate some great food—Japanese, Indian, Nepalese, Thai, Spanish, traditional Scottish pub food.

Once we discovered Broughton St., around the corner from our flat on Hopetoun St., it was inevitable that we would also do some cooking. The street is home to some interesting shops and restaurants, but none more appealing than the food vendors. A butcher shop offering Scottish sausages and meats, a small but well-stocked organic grocery, and a fishmonger with a whole window full of fresh fish inspired us to see what we could pull off in our simple kitchen.

For our last cook-in of the week, we opted to make cullen skink, a traditional Scottish soup. We did a quick internet search, expecting formidable preparation duty for our team of three. What we found was anything but formidable. From start to finish, creating a pot of cullen skink took about 30 stress-free minutes. Easy! But easy not simply because the preparation was straightforward, but because the ingredients (and especially the critical star ingredient, cold-smoked haddock fillets) were fresh, inexpensive, and plentiful at Something Fishy on Broughton Street.

Making cullen skink on our trip was part of a great tradition of everyday cooks who create meals around what’s fresh, abundant, and appealing at market. I’m totally up for carrying on the tradition wherever the next vacation leads.

Cullen Skink Recipe
Once we knew the basics of this recipe, we added the celery root and opted to use dill instead of the the more commonly recommended parsley. We did not have access to a food processor; if the vote was for a smoother soup and we had a processor, we may have used it instead of masher.
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped (leeks would be good alternative)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 medium celery root, trimmed, peeled and quartered
water
1 pound cold-smoked haddock fillets, cut into small bite-size pieces
1/2 cup fresh dill, torn or cut into small strands
1/2 cup heavy cream
freshly ground pepper

Put the quartered potatoes and celery root in a pot with water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until easily pierced with a fork. While potatoes are cooking, melt butter and oil together in a small saute pan and cook the onions over low heat.

When the potatoes and celery root are done, drain them, but reserve the water. Mash with a potato masher and then return to pot with water, the sauteed onions, and the dill. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Add the fish and cook for about 6 minutes, or until fish is heated through. Finally, add the cream and fresh pepper and heat, but do not boil. Serves 4-6.