Wilder, the glamorous Rittenhouse newcomer, has room for improvement

Like so many Philadelphia couples before them, artist Nicole Barrick and chef Brett Naylor went to the Academy of Social Dance to brush up on their waltzing skills before getting married.

“I’m such a terrible dancer they were like, ‘There’s no hope for this guy,’ ” says Naylor.

So much for the dance critics. The couple’s 2010 wedding went off without a hitch. And nine years later, they were back at the Academy on the 2000 block of Sansom Street. But instead of joining dance class, they were imagining the multilevel restaurant of their dreams in this pair of historic buildings with attached mid-19th-century carriage house.

A bar lined with barstools dressed in leopard print inspired by Poison Ivy from the punk group The Cramps and chic marble countertops would replace the Academy’s waiting room. French chandeliers and velvet teal banquettes would separate that lounge from the ground-floor dining room, while the dance floor would be replaced by intricate mosaic tiles and its mirrored walls would give way to an undulating wave of sewn Persian rugs.

That vision took nearly three years to become Wilder. When the grand marquee was finally illuminated in March and the doors opened onto this rambling space — this 150-seater divided over three floors — designed by Barrick and Hope Velocette, it would be one of the most beautiful and eccentric new dining spaces Philly’s seen in years.

“We wanted to draw from different things that might not seem to go together and make them go together,” said Barrick, a fiber artist, reiki healing master, and self-described “feminist, earth-based witch” who contributed nine murals to the decor plus a ritual ceremony to bless Wilder’s opening in tandem with the spring equinox.

The big menu could have used some blessings, too. Or at least the staff to deliver it consistently.

I absolutely loved the double-stacked burger with Birchrun Blue, horseradish sauce, and caramelized onions on a house-baked brioche bun. But at $21, I shouldn’t have had to order it twice after a first attempt was terribly overcooked and drenched in too much horseradish. They nailed it to drippy pink perfection on the repeat, and properly adjusted for the misfire on the bill. But if Wilder aspires to be that something-for-everyone hit destination — and this glamorous project has that potential — it’s taking its time to find that stride.

The name Wilder, Naylor says, was chosen to embody the spirit of disparate elements being pulled together, and the menus are no exception, with three different services (lunch, brunch, dinner) encompassing a range of genres — raw bar, wood-fired pizzas, house-extruded pastas, chilaquiles for brunch, dry-aged steaks, fresh-spun ice cream — that demand a range of skills in the kitchen.

Wilder has an ace mentor in executive chef Bob Truitt, 40, a Delco native and alum of Buddakan and Morimoto (where he met Naylor) who worked a season at Spain’s El Bulli, earned a Food & Wine best new pastry chef award in 2013 while at Ai Fiori in New York, then transitioned to the savory side at Casa Publica in Williamsburg.

Naylor, the former Oyster House chef and opening chef-partner at Mission Taqueria, persuaded Truitt to come home to take this project on. And it’s easy to see from this menu, which focuses on beautifully plated crowd-pleasers rather than anything innovative, how Wilder could quickly become a do-it-all Rittenhouse destination for date night or a celebratory crowd. In a city with plenty of great small restaurants, the flexibility in both larger seating capacity and cuisine here can be an asset.

The drink list covers multiple beverage bases with style, including seasonal cocktails (try the gin-based Mad Straw Hatter with Earl Grey and strawberry), thoughtful nonalcoholic drinks (Doctor’s Orders), cool wines under $15 a glass (Aussie Riesling; South African Mourvèdre Rosé), and a brief but well-chosen beer list that includes both local stars and my favorite saison from Brasserie Dupont. The service team’s earnest enthusiasm compensated for their occasional lack of polish and inconsistent pacing.

But even with a relatively large kitchen staff of 35, the overall success of our meals varied. The starters built around the raw bar were universally strong, from the briny littlenecks and saline New England oysters, to stylish crudos of bigeye tuna (turned Mediterranean with fennel pollen, blood oranges, and Calabrian chile oil) and black bass tartare (with Asian flavors including a ginger-soy onion dashi and shiso).

The baked Chesapeake oysters tingled with house-fermented chile butter. Fresh potato chips added a stellar crunch to the luscious hanger steak tartare glossed with a zesty Choron mayo blushing pink with a touch of tomato and tarragon. The classic brasserie vibes continued with white and green asparagus salad in sauce gribiche, as well as a sumptuous foie gras mousse topped with a ruby mirror of sour cherry gelée garnished with mustard seeds and cocoa nibs. It’s delicious, but also worth ordering if only to pluck brioche toast off a platter elevated by brass duck feet.

Things got less reliable when the hot side kitchen was involved. Given Truitt’s pastry background, it’s no surprise that the dough-based building blocks are excellent, including irresistible pull-apart rolls with green garlic butter, toothy pastas, and a flavorful pizza dough with a touch of sourdough complexity and hint of extra crunch and roastiness for its new-Neapolitan style crusts.

That worked especially well for pies with lighter toppings, like the Rosa, a minimalist special that shined with bright tomato sauce touched with garlic and basil (and virtually nothing else), or the Summer Fever with shaved zucchini and blossom petals radiating between sun-dried tomato bursts and milky dabs of fresh chèvre. Sloppy execution, though, dimmed the Sweet & Spicy meat pie, whose shiny crust was slicked with grease. The mortadella pie with ricotta, balsamic, and long hots is a combo I’d love but was pile so high with meat it was like biting into a bologna sandwich. (It should have just one meat layer, Truitt says).

The pastas were also inconsistent. The rigatoni alla norcina was tasty, but too much cream rendered its sausage ragù heavy. A pea-flavored stuffing inside the spring pansotti was pasty. At following meals, though, I saw improvements. I appreciated the vegetal brightness of a pea leaf pesto that turned the casarecce garden green. And the bucatini nero, turned chocolate brown with squid ink, basked in the lobster stock richness of a seafood sauce piqued with ‘nduja spice.

The dinner entrees were solid but also less adventurous — a quality dry-aged strip steak over brandied peppercorn sauce, a juicy grilled swordfish dabbed with romesco, and a delicious pork chop Milanesa over tonnato sauce that delivered trattoria cutlet comfort. The plump octopus was overshadowed by too much charred eggplant puree and would have been better as a smaller app than a main dish.

I waited a few weeks to revisit for Wilder lunch, and it felt like its kitchen had finally gathered a midsummer gust of energy. A cucumber gazpacho with green tomatoes and yogurt offered a refreshing snapshot of that final moment before the local red tomatoes finally come into their own. A delicate crab cake full of sweet meat suspended in scallop mousse was a luxurious treat with vaduvan gribiche. A burger-shaped falafel surprised me with its spot-on textures, which held up nicely inside the soft house brioche bun. And Truitt was soaring now with a different stuffed pasta, an “esquites” agnolotti filled with sweet corn whose sauce of pureed corn with lime juice and chilies perfectly balanced earthiness with a citrus lift. Everything was good.

For dessert, there were Truitt’s sugar-dusted bomboloni, buttermilk panna cotta, and caramel stracciatella ice cream to choose from. But where was “Infance”? That cotton candy cloud served over a plate of mignardises had been an early Wilder signature and nod to a dish Truitt made during his time in New York.

“Mechanical issues,” he said, noting the equipment had flamed out during the busy months that made Wilder one of Philly’s hottest new restaurants.

That wink of nostalgia was sure fun. Wilder’s continued success will depend on continuing to improve while moving forward.

The Inquirer is not currently giving bell ratings to restaurants due to the pandemic.

2009 Sansom St., 215-309-2149; wilderphilly.com

Lunch Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Dinner Monday through Thursday, 5-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, until 11 p.m.; Sunday, until 9 p.m. Brunch Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Dinner entrees, $16-$46.

Reservations suggested.

Wheelchair accessible.