April 21-27, 2005

food

Honey Trap

good morning: Honey's features standard brunch fare, like eggs and pancakes, but with a regional twist. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

A NoLibs brunch spot serves up Jewish home cooking with a sweet Southern drawl.

by Helen i-lin Hwang

On a recent Sunday afternoon, every table at the new hipster brunch place, Honey's, was full. That's surprising for an eatery that has been open for only a month and had no advertising at all. The sharp eyes of residents and passersby, followed by fast-spreading word-of-mouth, created the robust clientele, hungry for a neighborhood brunch place on par with what Morning Glory has done for South Philly.

You would almost expect to find this down-home diner off a rural Georgian back road, but it's smack at the intersection of Fourth and Brown streets, where it shares this city corner with a bus stop.

Vivacious 30-year-old co-owner Ellen Mogell sings out, "Coffee, coffee," as she makes her cheerful rounds from table to table doling out cupfuls of strong black La Colombe. It's bottomless here, and you won't find mochas or cappuccinos on the menu. Not an espresso machine to be found — but you will find two working antique phonographs with early blues records being spun by a would-be turn-of-the-century DJ.

Mogell and partner Jeb Woody, 27, opened up Honey's because they were "tired of going to South Philly for brunch," says Woody, so they decided to found a restaurant right in their own neighborhood. They live only a few blocks away.

Inside, there are a dozen rustic wooden tables and counter stools topped with cheery yellow gingham. The walls are painted the green shade of a budding stem, the color of a fresh shoot in NoLibs soil. But what's most striking are the exposed iron I-beams and planked ceiling, shellacked in a dark stain you might find in a frontier barn. "We found it under drywall," Mogell says. "Jeb suggested opening a bit up and this is what we found." Mogell confesses they're "trash-picking antique-y people," which explains why odd-shaped Western-looking saloon chandeliers and a curious stick attached to three shackles all dangle from the ceiling.

The pair was set on serving comfort foods they grew up with. For them, this meant chicken-fried steak, biscuits and gravy, latkes and matzo ball soup. If there is a perfect customer in mind, he might be the Southern Jew.

One of their specialties, the latke, is a traditional combination of flakes of potato, cheddar cheese and crunchy bits of onion, formed and crisped brown on the outside. The dropped buttermilk biscuits are thrown from scratch and topped with peppery cream gravy with a smattering of homemade sausages. You'll also find pancakes, French toast, omelets and tofu scramble offered.

A lanky poet with close-cropped dark hair, Woody hails from "Texoma," which, he explains, is the area between Texas and Oklahoma in Red River Valley. Mogell, who wears her auburn hair in a chin-length bob, was born and raised in Northeast Philly. She credits the Jewish recipes to her mother, "an excellent cook."

Honey's is Mogell's second restaurant. She also owns Sonny's Famous Steaks in Old City with her brother. "Honey's rhymes with Sonny's," chimes the bard as he waxes on the placename. Mogell casts a sidelong "let's be honest" look, and Woody offers another explanation. "I call her honey, she calls me honey, so we thought why not call it Honey's?"

The affectionate banter flows back and forth between the engaged couple, even as they deliberate over the awning they'll put up to shade their planned sidewalk tables. They joke they've held off on wedding plans till they jumpstart their restaurant, also referred to as their "baby."

While the lunch and weekend business has taken off, they say they tried to boost morning traffic by creating breakfast specials for early weekdays. For $4.50, customers can get two free-range eggs ("hand-gathered by an Amish farmer," Woody adds), a latke, toast and coffee.

The dining room has quickly become a hub for the neighborhood as well as for those planning to move here.

By one of the large windows, a young couple pulls out a newspaper, scanning the Northern Liberties real estate section.

On another visit, a bearded, long-haired hipster was overheard informing a friend on his cell phone that Honey's was a really "cool place to eat," having already been there three times in the opening week. Then he excused himself by saying he had some property to attend to.

And Dan McShane, owner of The Fire, recently brought his family in to check out the newest business in the vicinity. His music venue up the street on Girard Avenue faces no competition from a brunch place, but his bar is getting more crowded as he sees more people venturing to the front lines of the neighborhood.

With offerings like homemade condiments of blueberry preserves and mayonnaise, Honey's is attracting the hipster millionaires, restaurant friends who know good food and potential new residents, adding up to one more reason to head north of Spring Garden.

Honey's 800 N. Fourth St. 215-925-1150

• Brunch: $2.50-$14.95
• Hours: Tue.-Fri.: 7 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sat.-Sun.: 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Wheelchair accessible.
• Smoking not permitted.
• Reservations not necessary.
• Cash only.