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ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Michael Rappaport, Diplo, Octomom and Young Chris
Hearing that the Horizons veggie crew (that's Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau) are heading to the mega-Deux Cheminees space for something called Vedge. That spot is huge. They'll have the room to grow their own corn.
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Michael Rappaport, Diplo, Octomom and Young Chris
Brian Nagele, the Philly2Night entrepreneur who took over the Appoliniare space in the Piazza several weeks ago for his own hipster devices, has finally re-branded the former Italian restaurant. “Our new name will be Kings Oak,” says Nagele. “That’s taken from my experiences with location-based apps that would always say I was located on Kings Oak Lane when standing in the Piazza. Not sure if Second was actually called Kings Oak Lane at one time, but I liked the sound of it.” We like it too.
If you were as shocked as I was that singer Chris Brown took home so many trophies at the BET Awards, here’s one you may have missed: The Diplo-written and produced Chris Brown song “Look At Me Now” won Best Collaboration and Best Video (see it here). Congratulate Dip when you see him spinning at Voyeur on July 3 for The Roots’ pre-Welcome America bash.
Italian Market brunch sensation, Sabrina’s, just got an additional location at Drexel University’s Ross Commons building on 34th. Good for them. Speaking of Itals, there was no way in heck I could have made it to last week’s press-and-pals opening of Serafina’s, Rittenhouse’s hearty new Italian bistro created by owners Fabio Granato and Vittorio Assaf. These same owners of the three New York City Serafinas were still buzzing around when I sat down with friends for dinner on Friday. Not only was the early seating crazy bustling (you got to get in there early for the lobster and the tuna tartars, the pasta and caviar dish and the pizza selection) so was the venue’s publicist Kelly Boyd. Had she been there since Tuesday? She looked fresh as a daisy. That’s dedication. The place was so mobbed I think it was Assaf who was helping to bus outside tables. Double the dedication. Love Serafina’s for that. Plus as I was walking out the door Mark Bee (Silk City) and Mark Vetri (on a bike, in a helmet, in a lemon t-shirt from his Alex’s Lemonade Stand Great Chefs event) were hanging outside. Guess I wasn’t the only guy who missed the VIP party.
Now, you can’t walk down 18th without something going on this week. David Fields opening his kitchen, a.kitchen at AKA Rittenhouse Square, during happy hour on Tuesday, with chef Bryan Sikora. You knew it was happening but it was still a lively and swank surprise to finally see the space blossom.
I know I’ve been devoting all my local hip-hop new release attention to Meek Mill and his Maybach Music deal. But what about North Philly MC NiceonTracs? He just got signed by JMD/Universal and his new EP and “We Came to Party,” with Young Gunz Young Chris is out. Check it out here.
Philly installation artist Erik Ruin, Toronto filmmaker Brett Story and local Klezmer trombonist Dan Blacksberg present Staring at the Cracks starting on Thu., July 7 at 7 p.m. (through Sat., July 23) at 4212 Chestnut Street in a suite of unoccupied offices near Penn’s campus. Ruin has crafted a visual and sonic environment that will share the emotions and experiences of formerly incarcerated people with gallery viewers. Expect shadow puppets, silk-screened prison scenes and audio interviews with those describing their time in solitary confinement.
Hearing that the Horizons veggie crew (that’s Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau) are heading to the mega-Deux Cheminees space for something called Vedge. That spot is huge. They’ll have the room to grow their own corn.
Speaking of corn, Joe Piscopo is opening his own joint at Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel this weekend, Club Piscopo. Ohhhhhhh. On July 1, comic Jeff Norris and a swing band will aid the Sinatra-impersonating Piscopo ring (a ding ding) in the new variety club. Later that same night, the Borgata is having a bash to open several of its new facilities, like The Shoppes at The Water Club’s grand opening of VINTAGE — A Wine Boutique. After that, at Mixx, John Legend will tickle the keys and croon a few tunes at an invitation-only gig in the Borgata’s Mixx nightclub for the start of the Borgata’s Fourth of July activities.
WHOWHATWHERE: “We are all in the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame Museum’s Library and Archives,” says George Manney. The day after he screened his Meet Me On South Street, The Story of JC Dobbs at the Franklin Institute, Manney received the letter saying such. (When he says “we,” he’s talking about including my name in the “thank yous”. No. Thank YOU.) Manney had a great crowd for his screening with the likes of Gerald Kolpan, Michael Tearson and Bobby Startup in the audience. The It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia crew shooting and eating around town? OK, so far Varga, Jones, Davio’s (Charlie Day who also happens to be dong press for the new Horrible Bosses flick), O’Sheas and Melograno (which stinks as they walked right by me on Sansom after I put my camera down post-Serafina’s visit) have felt their wrath. Pete Rose and Larry Christenson were spied at my neighborhood joint, The Saloon. Charlie Hustle eats. The 2011 World Open Chess Tournament is at the Sheraton City Center. King me. So an Octomom, a faux-boxing promoter and a lady radio jock walk into a bar. No joke. O-Mom, Damon Feldman, and Gina Rodriguez prepped for their Celebrity Boxing match in Belmawr, NJ by stopping at Packer Avenue’s Chickie & Pete’s. That’s right after I caught up with actor/director/one time b-boy Michael Rappaport who was at the Four Seasons Hotel talking up his long-in-progress hip-hop documentary about A Tribe Called Quest. After telling me how much he liked the cover story I had written on Gamble & Huff, we got to talking about his love of Philly and what our brand of rap meant to the New Yawker. “Philly? Of course I knew about the Broad Street Bullies and Rocky was my favorite film. At age 7, from the day I saw it, it’s still the best. But the first time I got introduced to Philly hip-hop was some live broadcast from a club in New York where DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were playing. Is it OK to call him that instead of Will Smith? Anyway, as soon as I heard the Fresh Prince you could tell he had a flow. But he sounded like a white guy.” I’ll have more with Rappaport talking about his game and his July 22 film release on Critical Mass closer to the release date.
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