GoodTaste: Pistachio pavlova

I went for the crab cake, but left with pavlova in my heart.

Our appetites had been primed for classic French cuisine by King Georges, Erika Frankel's engaging documentary about Georges Perrier, in which Le Bec-Fin's chef feverishly whipped up a batch of his signature "galette" crab cakes when the kitchen was at risk of running out ("You will never '86' the galette!")

But now that Le Bec is long gone, Le Chéri, owned by Pierre Calmels, one of Perrier's last chefs, is among the last places (and at lunch only) where one can find that familiar galette bound with a distinctively rich and airy shrimp mousse.

Executive chef Steve DeLorean cooked it just right. What I remember most about our meal, though, was the dessert, an elegant take on the equally classic pavlova, a baked meringue basket that originated in New Zealand (and that was popularized in France) that's had a recent resurgence in Philly on menus at Townsend and Buckminster's.

Le Chéri pastry chef Becca Craig turned out three mini-pavlovas, their crunchy meringue rounds infused with toasted pistachio, piped full of creamy mascarpone, then jeweled with gorgeous red raspberries, poached pears, and candied kumquats, whose bittersweetness brought it all together.

- Craig LaBan
Pistachio pavlova, $9, Le Chéri, 251 S. 18th St., 215-546-7700; lecheriphilly.com