ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: One night of Hop Sing Laundromat, too much Axl chatter, lots of Hooters, Rex 1516 gets ready and say so long to Georges Perrier

John DeBella of 102.9 MGK awarded Butcher & Singer's Anthony Goodwin the Golden Spoon prize at this year's DeBella Comfort Food Fest at Vie the other night. Goodwin made Duck Confit & foie gras pierogi with porcini mushroom crème. The Inky's Ashley Primis, NBC 10's Lu Ann Cahn and food crit Beth D'Addono judged. Brad Spence (Amis), Jasper Alivia (Cuba Libre), Matt Levin (the due-soon Square Peg) cooked and 400+ guests got very comfortable.

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ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: One night of Hop Sing Laundromat, too much Axl chatter, lots of Hooters, Rex 1516 gets ready and say so long to Georges Perrier

POSTED: Thursday, March 1, 2012, 5:30 PM

Filed Under: Icepack Illustrated

The one-night-only pre-opening of Hop Sing Laundromat in Chinatown happened Wednesday night. I must say, from the exact placement of its etchings and candelabras to the open coziness of its aisles (wide enough to drive Lee’s invention of a silver table-side portable cocktail maker through) to its exclusive pricey well-stocked bar shelves (“not done yet, “I spent $30,000 so far and shelves still look empty,” he laughs) I’d say HSL was ready to roar even though Lee still wants to fill those shelves to 1,000 bottle capacity. After having not slept for over 24 hours, Lee created the night’s hearty cocktails — fresh squeezed juices, simple ingredients (no more than four elements for each cocktail) with specialty spirits such as Anejo Patron Tequila, Nolet’s Gin, El Dorado 15 years (rum), Greenbrier Gin, Johnny Drum Private Stock Bourbon, Ultimat Vodka and Booker Bourbon. My wife, Glamorosi, accurately identified one of the secret ingredients of Lee's screwdriver, the orange's pith. Each was a handsome drink. “I want all future guests to understand that we don’t use cheap liquors,” said Lee, early this morning, after just arriving to his home at 8 a.m. “The cocktails were created by me so if you didn’t like something then its my fault and nobody else’s.” Everything was great, Lee. Now let the rest of the world in on the treat. And hey, what was in those tiny vials that Shola Olunoyo and his table mate had with them? I don't think that was one of the night's special cocktails.

Writer/director Frank Vain’s shot-in-Philly sorta-Hangover-ish Mancation starring Joey Fatone, Jerry Blavat, Tony Luke Jr. and other long time locals screens at the Trocadero, March 8. Gina Lynn appears in the film clothed, by the way.

To close Le Bec Fin on March 3, beyond the end of an era stuff we’ve read, is like a smoldering romance that’s wound ever-so-strangely to a close. The last months are never perfect even though there are glimmers of hope. New operator/owner Nic Fanucci will close LBF after Saturday’s service, spend the summer re-configuring the space and bring in Per Se executive sous chef David Breeden (estimated by Eater Philly). But Le Bec Fin will always be Georges Perrier. “When you leave something so much a part of yourself, it is sad, without a doubt,” says Perrier. “But business is like life — nothing is forever. I have been doing this since I was 14 years old and now I am 68. I would like to rest and enjoy my life, what ever is left of it. I really didn’t want to have to work until 4 a.m. every morning, 300-some days a year. This business has led me to two divorces and so much heartbreak along with all the joy that it brought. That said, I will miss it dearly and not be very far away at all.” Perrier will run several of his local food enterprises in the area along with consulting. He noted how proud he was of current LBC executive chef Nicholas Elmi and that he was certain that Elmi’s next venture — a restaurant in downtown Philly, as rumored — would be great. Perrier reserved his highest praise for his former employ Fanucci. “I would have never sold the restaurant to anyone but Fannuci. That is why I took my time selling it. Only Fanucci know exactly what it takes to bring Le Bec Fin back to the prominence it deserves, one of the number one restaurants in America.”

Philadelphia publishing house Running Press just hooked up with cable’s Comedy Central — for laughs and for books made for laughing, such as Dennis Leary’s Merry Fucking Christmas, which is due out this autumn. Comedy Central already releases a slew of CDs and DVDs based on stand-up stuff from network stars like Daniel Tosh so publishing seems a logical step.

John DeBella of 102.9 MGK awarded Butcher & Singer’s Anthony Goodwin the Golden Spoon prize at this year’s DeBella Comfort Food Fest at Vie the other night. Goodwin made Duck Confit & foie gras pierogi with porcini mushroom crème. The Inky’s Ashley Primis, NBC 10’s Lu Ann Cahn and food crit Beth D’Addono judged. Brad Spence (Amis), Jasper Alivia (Cuba Libre), Matt Levin (the due-soon Square Peg) cooked and 400+ guests got very comfortable.

The 22nd annual Dining Out for Life — a DelVal event where restaurants donate a third of the day’s food sales to area AIDS organizations — may not return until April 26, but its television spots featuring Pam Grier, Ted Allen and Daisy Martinez have already started airing. See them here.

If you want to see Philly DJ Lion show off his record collection and get all misty about Tears for Fears’ The Hurting check out Dust and Grooves’ newest issue. It’s a doozy.

Caught up to Terry Lee Barrett the other night when he and the cats from Brett Kurnitsy’s Harry’s Smoke Shop brought stogies to the bourbon and schmoke lounge at Reserve Steakhouse in the OC. While Harry’s will be the cigar retailer of choice for Reserve, Barrett — who is busy trying to get funding for his self-penned script for Kata — is in talks with Jerry Blavat to write a screenplay for the Geator’s You Only Rock Once. That’s swank, but only Blavat gets to play Blavat if the flick gets made, dig!

Though its only been a few weeks that comedian Artie Lange was spotted back on the stages of the Borgata after a much needed post-rehab break, he’s busy negotiating setting up his “Nick and Artie Show” to air on SportsRadio 610WIP weekdays 10 p.m.-1 a.m. His co-star is fellow comic Nick DiPaolo. See NickandArtie.com. http://nickandartie.com/

Just in time for spring training, the Cole Hamel Foundation for inner city schools just hooked up with area Krispy Kremes for The Hamels Dozen. Buy donuts and yer entered into a raffle to win an autographed bat.

Hooter Rob Hyman is a busy and charitable guy. First he joined Mutlu, Jim Boggia and Skip Denenberg to do Beatles songs at MilkBoy downtown to celebrate the b-day of Helen Leicht — WXPN host, Biff Kennedy’s missus — and to raise cash for the Ovarian Cancer Organization. Next up Hyman will hit World Café Live March 13 to join in on co-Hooters David Uosikkinen’s In the Pocket project for Settlement Music. Their “essential songs of Philly” experiment this month takes on Robert Hazard’s “Change Reaction,” which can be heard and viewed here http://songsinthepocket.org/ . It’s nailed 1,500 vid-hits in just 4 days. Hyman will join Uosikkinen, Richard Bush (The A’s), Tommy Conwell, Eric Bazilian, Greg Davis, Beru Revue and TJ Tindall who has played with Bonnie Raitt and Robert Palmer. Uosikkinen will also be featured on KYW Newsradio throughout the day on Friday.

Rex 1516 on South Street won’t be open until the weekend — a slight change of plan — but it held a pre-pop opening soiree on the same night that its neighboring Tritone went down. I was at Rex’s. What does that tell you? Anyway, the hubbie-wife team behind Jet Wine Bar and Rex’s, Evan Malone and Jill Weber, snagged chef Regis Jansen (late of Royal Tavern) and pastry chef Shamus Moriarty for a divine Southern-influenced bill featuring the tastiest gruyere-filled mac-n-cheese dish, a warm spinach and walnut salad with Maytag blue cheese, a heart cornbread stuffed pork loin with collard greens, a zesty seitan meatloaf. The 30-plus-seat spot has a distressed living room feel, like a Georgian salon after the war. That’s a compliment.

WHOWHATWHERE: Guns ’n’ Roses’ Axl Rose talked a bunch about the December 2002 cancellation of a show at the present day Wells Fargo Center, which added nearly ten minutes to a nearly three hour set of oldies at the Electric Factory. Hot on the heels of dropping Some Nights, their new Top Ten Billboard release, fun. stopped at Radio 104.5 iHeart Performance Theater in Bala Cynwyd as did Mateo during an interview session with Power 99’s Cappuchino. While Jackass Bam Margera was busy getting his ass arrested at Mardi Gras, his fellow J-Ass, the late great Ryan Dunn was shamefully left off the Oscars In Memoriam list along with Grease’s Jeff Conway and Dragnet’s Harry Morgan. Vulture caught this flub. I was busy staring at Angelina Jolie’s leg.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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