Seldom do people realize their dreams. For onetime camp pals Jonathan Makar and Steve Cook, it took a long time, many coincidences and lots of twists and turns, but it finally seems that they've done just that. Makar always knew his destiny would somehow involve food (his family was in the kosher catering business in New York). He was working in Washington, D.C., when Steve called him with a proposition: A restaurant had recently closed here in Philadelphia, the staff was eager to find another venue and he had just the place.

Vernon Morales had left Salt, the tiny Rittenhouse Square restaurant where he had been teaching the gospel according to Ferran Adria. He had studied at the master's world-famous restaurant, El Bulli, outside Barcelona. Makar and Cook led them to the first floor of an old boarding house in the Spruce Hill section of University City, and Marigold Kitchen was reborn. They freshened up the dining room with sleek banquettes, a gas fireplace and work from local artists. The room is still unprepossessing, and tenants (I'm told) still inhabit the upper floors, but, from day one, this leaderless group became a family. At first, Cook did the cooking, but found that administration was more to his liking. They brought in their new chef, Vetri's Michael Solomonov, who just happened to have grown up with Cook's wife in Pittsburgh. A new frontman, Brett Meier-Tomkins, came from Rouge. And all the old clients of Salt came to dine at Marigold.

Still, Adria's ghost is a mere wisp these days, for Solomonov has introduced a more Mediterranean, comfort-food sensibility to the menu. From Vetri, he took the idea of having a tasting menu as an alternative to ordering a la carte, and the more fanciful techniques were not much of a shift for guests familiar with Salt. Makar emphasizes, "That's comfort food for today."

Jonathan adds, "Guests bringing in a cherished bottle of wine demand a cuisine to match, so we are very mindful of wine-friendly food." Their choice of stemware illustrates this desire—it's the best I've seen in any BYOB around town.

Solomonov is sending out dishes like lobster soup with coconut panna cotta, foie gras sauteed with honey cakes, and Israeli couscous with escargots. All innovative, but with a homey simplicity all the same. He uses local and organic ingredients whenever possible, following the Slow Food tenet to which many knowledgeable chefs adhere these days. And he is so considerate of his guests that he will prepare whatever you want to eat (within reason) if nothing on the menu appeals to you, or you have dietary restrictions.

Makar and Cook are so pleased with the way Marigold is going that they are looking for one more place to open, perhaps within the year. They want something more casual, more like a bistro. "When the right space comes along, we'll know it," Makar says. "Plus, the climate in Philly is ripe right now. It's easy, because there's a palpable feeling of builders wanting to build, and people wanting to get things done."

To further this end, the twosome have been traveling around, their ambitious product inspired even more by what is hot in New York and California. They want to take a little something away from each restaurant they visit—the service at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, for example—and infuse it into their work. They want to go further, strive just a bit harder. Says Makar, "Our philosophy is to trust people so that we can grow."

Marigold Kitchen, 501 S. 45th St., 215-222-3699.