Moving to a $130 eight-course tasting menu was both a pandemic response and natural progression for Chad and Hanna Williams, whose intimate bi-level townhouse in Rittenhouse has evolved into one of Philly’s top dining experiences. The menu reflects the collaborative spirit of a diverse kitchen, delivering bold flavors in beautiful dishes like empanadas, stuffed crispy pig face, and grilled veal cheeks in a black plum-smoked chile barbecue sauce that had its roots in a pandemic pop-up.

Handmade pastas, prime local ingredients, and a wood-fired hearth fuel one of the area’s best locavore kitchens. Chef Anthony Andiaro’s weekly-changing $75 menus delivers five hearty courses, with optional wine pairings, ranging from $50 to $75. Andiario also allows BYOB for a $25 corkage fee.

Amanda Shulman, who has worked for Vetri, Montreal’s Joe Beef, and Momofuku Ko, is crafting her own identity at this pop-up BYOB in Rittenhouse, which has extended another six months.The meals feel like a casual dinner party with frequent commentary from the chef. The food is at once homey and sophisticated, drawing on largely Italian and French inspirations, though Shulman’s wide-ranging interests has also produced a retro lobster Thermidor tribute to an old Bookbinder-themed meal. Another recent menu featured a deconstructed chowder of creamy clams over buttery house brioche toast, a caciocavallo-stuffed meatball flavored like a roast pork sandwich, roast lamb with peppers, tomato cobbler, and profiteroles filled with peaches and cream — a nine-course deal for $65.

After Royal Sushi’s long closure due to COVID-19, Jesse Ito finally reopened Philly’s top omakase bar at the end of September, with fewer seats (eight) and two seatings per night for a $152 tasting of 16 pieces (plus a handroll) of the finest imported Japanese fish. With Royal Izakaya’s à la carte tavern in front humming at a higher level than ever, there is a deep list of sakes and Japanese whiskey for the sushi bar to draw on, with outstanding service to guide the pairings.

There is something transporting and luxuriously serene about the 20-bite omakase in the cedar-clad hideaway of Hiroki Fujiyama’s tasting room tucked behind a barrel-shaped concrete door behind Wm. Mulherin’s & Sons. The cooked elements add more substance to the $140 menu, including conger eel, crispy river crabs to eat like popcorn, a dashi-steamed sea bass, and a posh tea sandwich stuffed with Wagyu tartare and truffles. But it is ultimately the sushi course of top-notch Japanese fish (managatsuo, hachibiki, mekajiki, anago), exceptional rice, and craftsmanship where Hiroki stamps its elite-level status, with well-practiced service and a fine sake list to complete an experience that feels like a worthy special occasion splurge.

Nicholas Elmi’s intimate gastronomic atelier remains a prime oasis for a tasting splurge, where the Le Bec-Fin alum and Top Chef champ turns seasonal luxury ingredients into modern French jewel box plates. Kombu-cured fluke in buttermilk, poached lobster with frothy sauce Choron, black bass with kimchi daylilies, and a striking duet of land and sea snails (conch) were among the highlights of our summer menu, which, as usual, had opportunities for truffle and Wagyu upgrades to the already heady $130 six-course menu. The suggested drink pairings, which range from inventive culinary cocktails to junmai sake or well-chosen Euro wines, are worthwhile.

Chef Michael Vincent Ferreri has transported his much-loved modern Sicilian menu from Res Ipsa to the Bok building, where it benefits from stellar views and a good bar. The four-course chef’s choice tasting is the best way to experience a wide range of flavors, and is required for parties of five or larger. A more expansive tasting with 10-plus-courses expected to launch around the New Year and will give Ferreri’s crew more leeway to experiment and push their repertoire beyond the core of coveted favorites.

Eddie Konrad, Laurel’s former chef de cuisine and a Top Chef alum, has breathed new life into the remake of this century-old social club in South Philly. With a $25 membership fee, entry to this character-filled old bar is not exclusive. Konrad’s six-course menu for $95 offers some personal takes on modern American cuisine, from zucchini ribbons wrapped around mussels, to meaty tilefish piped with polenta foam, and a stunning pasta dish — caraway-infused gnocchi sardi topped with beet relish, fresh horseradish, mustard seeds, and rye bread crumbs that is a memorable homage to Konrad’s Port Richmond Polish and Italian roots. Beverage director Melissa Pelegrino’s drink pairings are also among the most fun I’ve had all year, from a dill-scented martini with a capered strawberry, to Lambrusco for duck with blueberries and a Human Robot’s pils for the caraway gnocchi.

Few chefs in town pair modernist techniques with seasonal spontaneity, gorgeous plating, and soulful funk as well as Houston native Randy Rucker. A desire to stretch those culinary chops and also make the most of limited seating pushed Rucker to move to a seven-course $85 tasting menu three nights a week. Advanced notice makes it easier to accommodate dietary restrictions. Sundays, which are walk-ins only, are still reserved for à la carte small plates, big steaks, the lust-worthy Mother Rucker burger, and a list of natural and organic pours.

I’ve long argued Zahav’s Mesibah tasting is both the best way to sample what this modern Israeli trailblazer can do and a relative bargain for both the quantity and quality. During the pandemic, owners Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov streamlined the kitchen to make Mesibah the rule, so everyone gets to taste everything, a feast of no fewer than 17 little dishes ranging from seasonal salads with hummus and taboon-baked laffa, to charcoal-kissed kebabs, an array of mezze, a tender hunk of the smoked pomegranate lamb shoulder, and dessert. For repeat visitors, dinner now can feel something like a favorite Greatest Hits album, though inevitably enhanced with thoughtful seasonal wrinkles to the haloumi, veggies, and fish (harissa-flared Tunisian tuna crudo! Swordfish kebabs spiced with Libyan pilpelchuma!). But Zahav has entered a new phase in its maturity as a national destination. And for first-timers, I can’t imagine a better introduction to Philly’s best-known restaurant. It’s still full of legendary flavors, outgoing hospitality and still, at $72 a person, the best tasting menu value in town.

The four-course Abbondanza menu, a family-style feast for $65 a person, is a great way to taste what talented new chef George Sabatino is cooking at this Fairmount neighborhood favorite. Chili-crab salad with chilled tomato-melon soup, house-extruded lumache with sweet corn and porcini butter, and the oil-poached steelhead trout were the favorites from a recent meal.

As much as I admire the big à la carte menu at Vernick Food & Drink, I’ve always felt Greg Vernick had a higher gear to achieve. He’s found the venue to do it in the natural wine shop next door to his flagship. And he’s found the right crew in chef Robert Newcomb and wine director Ray Gazdzinski to execute one of the more exciting tasting menu experiences in town, with inventive seasonal plates that show sophisticated techniques, whimsical ideas and wine pairings that sing.