Staff Blog
VERDANT FOOD NEWS: Green Line on Locust, Callaloo
All this chatter about the conceptual "green" sometimes makes me forget that actual, tangible green stuff exists out there.
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| Outside the new Green Line on Locust |
| greenlinecafe.com |
Take Green Line on Locust, which officially opened this past Saturday, May 31, at 4426 Locust Street. (Hat tip to CP reader Dan Obley for the heads up.) Co-owners Douglas Witmer and Daniel Thut have spent the past year or so moving the shop up the block from 4305 Locust, where it was known as "The Other Green Line." The new space is twice as big (plenty of sidewalk seating, too) and will soon serve as the primary performance venue for the West Philly baby chain, taking over for the original Green Line location at 43rd and Baltimore. When musicians aren't gigging, Witmer says GLoL's carpeted "stage" will double as a kids' play area. Other big developments are in the works, as well: All three Green Line cafes will soon roll out a fresh-made salad and sandwich menu.
Five miles or so to the northeast, you've got Callaloo — named for a leafy (yes!) green common in Jamaican cooking — going in at 2204 N. Broad Street, or the corner of Broad and Norris, right off Temple's campus. Co-owner Richard Rochester says it'll primarily be a Jamaican/Caribbean takeout, with around 8 to 10 seats on the inside and a few seats out on the sidewalk. (Other owners include Rochester's wife, Simone; her sister, Candace; and Rochester's buddy Jerry Melville.) His chef, whom he identified only as "Chef Barrington" ("Like Barrington Levy?" I asked. "Yes," Rochester replied) is going to be doing some traditional fare; his specialties include well-loved classics like curry shrimp and jerk chicken. They're looking at a mid-July opening. More on these guys soon.
[...] After it closed, and Douglas Witmer and Daniel Thut took it over as the Other Green Line. They moved that shop up to 4426 Locust over the summer. Now, Terzian is about a month away from resurrecting Clave, and locals seem to be [...]