Square 1682 won't disappoint

The perfect scallop: It's seared on each side, crispy to the point of a crunch as your teeth slide through to the buttery interior. It's fresh, and seasoned so you aren't distracted from the texture, but surprised to catch a hint of garlic or wasabi or whatever the chef of the day is using. The perfect scallop isn't impossible to find, but it isn't at your average Pearls-And-Jacket-Required restaurant either. That's what makes it such a good barometer of what's going on in the kitchen. If stringy or chewy scallops escape to the dining room it's entirely possible--nay, likely--that a dry filet will follow. My litmus test has never let me down.

With that in mind, let's say I was more than a little happy when the mini scallops, accompanied by wasabi potato puree, came to the table at Square 1682. It was flawless.

And just like that, I knew I was in for a good meal.

I shouldn't have been surprised. The shellfish plate was the handiwork of Chef Guillermo Tellez, executive chef at Square 1682. His resume reads like a marquee of must-visit restaurants around the continent: Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, C in Los Cabos, Striped Bass here in Philly. So clearly the work at Square 1682 was going to be no less than eye-closing, finger-kissing good. (I kid you not; my dining partner did both.)

If you haven't heard the buzz yet, Square 1682 is different from other restaurants popping up. In the past year, we've seen steakhouses swarm Philadelphia, places where it's all about decadence in the form of meat and wine. But that's not the vibe in Tellez' dining room. Instead, the menu features local food, most grown organically. All of the seafood meets standards set by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, and even the coffees, teas and wines are organic. In short, it's green meets gourmet.

Nearly everything we sampled was a demonstration in how to properly prepare food. There were a few notes that hit short of ringing clear: The hummus was only slightly better than average. Not quite smooth enough to make you want to schlep some home in an organic doggie bag. But if that was the low note, it's certainly not one to get hung up on, considering what was coming next. After our scallop serendipity, we moved on to the entrees. With more than half the options hailing from the ocean, the menu was dominated by seafood, accented by unexpected items including vegetable lasagna, roasted squab, and a rack and loin of lamb.

If your table orders two things at the restaurant, make sure it's the squab and the halibut. Trust me on this one. The squab, a gamey poultry option, was served with crackled skin and meat so delicate it seems a sin to consider chicken. And the halibut, accompanied by white sweet potatoes and corn and truffle vinagarette, will redefine how you think of the fish. Somehow Tellez has managed to make the filet flake, while keeping it so smooth a sushi chef would be proud.

Considering checking out Tellez' latest work? You won't be disappointed; the scallops never lie.