POSTED: Thursday, November 4, 2010, 4:10 PM
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| photo | Scott Weiner |
| President Obama emerges from AF1 at 10:58 a.m. at PHL's Atlantic Aviation landing runway and greets a line of people including, at the front, US Sen Arlen Specter, Mayor Michael Nutter, US Sen Robert Casey, PA State Reps Dwight Evans and Josh Shapiro on Oct. 30. © Scott Weiner |
Signs, signs, everywhere is signs: Everyone from
Plan Philly (months back) to
PhillyChitChat to
Brownstoner (where I got it) points out that the haggard
Valu-Plus on Chestnut and Juniper posted a "store closing" sign overnight (thanks blog-guys for sticking outside in the cold) with a notion to finally turn the old
Keystone Bank Building into a swanky hotel and restaubar courtesy the
Klein Company and architectural firm
JKR Partners (of
Victory Building renown). Good, that. Then, there's the for sale sign at the old
Broad Street Diner.
Stephen Starr had signed a bill of sale for it awhile back,
but let it go as the place is not necessarily in the best shape. This latter bit got me thinking though: If Starr let go of the
Ansill space on Bainbridge and then the Broad Street Diner presumably to focus on his due-by-December gastropub and his Locust and 12th Street
Il Pittore by February, 2011, what was up with the 10,000-square foot beer thing at
1210 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown, near
Johnny Brenda's that Starr's in talks for? And what was this rumor that had Brenda's
Paul Kimport and
William Reed buying the Greek pizzeria that sidles Starr's biergarten? For now, the latter part is just that — a rumor. "I heard it myself the other day but no we haven't bought the Greek place," says Kimport. "William and I look at other spots in the neighborhood on occasion. We like this neighborhood. But we're up to our elbows with this place and
Standard Tap." Just checking. Meanwhile Starr's
Granite Hill Restaurant at the
Art Museum plays VIP host on Nov. 4 at the
Van Pelt Auditorium for an after-screening event for
The Olmsted Legacy; $100 gets you into the flick and the meal. Call
Michelle Nicoletto at 215-988-8762 for tix.
You say you haven't heard from
Burning Brides'
Dimitri Coats since 1997 and that's OK. Too bad. Philly's dark-eyed rawk-stah is in a hardcore-punk super group,
Off!, with guys from
Black Flag,
Circle Jerks,
Redd Kross (
Keith Morris,
Steven McDonald,
Mario Rubalcaba) who drop a
Vice label four-EP box set Thanksgiving week. Turkeys come early, yo. Howler Morris has also just been made into a punk bobblehead — the eighth in a series — by Phoenixville's
Clint Weiler's company
Aggronautix.
Speaking of the '90s and Burning Brides, remember when the Khyber Pass was the Khyber Pass and not an izakya or a biergarten or something ELSE? After having a Halloween-ie party over the weekend with
Swellco + Swellco where a
Glenn Beck pinata got face-fucked by
Needles Jones,
Stephen Simons is re-opening the Second Street space as
Khyber Pass Pub next week with Southern fried goodness from
Cantina kitchen wizard
Mark McKinney. What's happening with the chef Simon got for the izakaya,
Todd Dae Kulper? Word has it Dave Frank and Simons have been sniffing around
Genji at 17th and Sansom.
Director/actor/large man
Charles S. Dutton will shoot a pilot for
Must Be the Music with actress
Nia Long starting in December. They'll need lots of dancers. So will area native
Christina "Jarhead of Hearts" Perri who, with
Atlantic Records and
DiscountDanceSupply.com, an internet shop for dancewear, support her debut EP,
The Ocean Way Sessions (out Nov. 9) with a challenge to choreographers: Use one of the EP's tracks at ChristinaPerri.com, film a vid, send it Nov. 8-30, and win a chance to perform the routine live with Perri on Jan. 16 at the CDR Convention in Dallas, TX. THAT'S THE PRIZE?!
On Nov. 4, Phily's best lady chefs vie for Philly's best purple plate for
Women Against Abuse's fundraising cooking competition,
Dish It Up. That means
Marcie Turney and
Valerie Safran (
Lolita/
Bindi/
Barbuzzo),
Moon Krapugthong of
Mango Moon, and
Delilah Winder of
Delilah's Southern Cusine throw violet into their mix for 2009 champ/now judge
10 Arts'
Jennifer Carroll and the watchful eyes of
Kirsten Henri (Philly mag) and
Phyllis Stein-Novack (
South Philly Review).
WHOWHATWHERE: Aw, it seems like only two days ago we had such hope:
President Obama hit PHL airport running, greeting
Arlen Specter and
Michael Nutter and
Rep Dwight Evans with a plan to put
Sestak and
Onorato on top. Then
Adsum owner/right wing monster
Jon Runyan and zombie
Pat Toomey won, our dreams got dashed And now we are doomed. Wait, doom. The very picture of
Evelyn Waugh's end-of-society come courtesy
Jersey Shore's
J-Woww Farley and designer
Richie Rich who drank Jaeger shots at
Dusk at
Caesars Atlantic City's Halloween event while
True Blood's hunk
Joe Manganiello hung at the
Borgata with DJs
Samantha Ronson and
Rev. Run before heading over to
Bobby Flay's steakhouse. Meanwhile in Philly, while his stuntman nearly got bloodied on JFK Blvd.,
Safe's
Jason Statham (last seen gazing into our lens here) and producer
Lawrence Bender steak-ed it up at
Smith & Wollensky before hitting
G-Lounge and
Whisper.
Could there be an East Passyunk-like
night market in Chinatown? Yes. And sooner than spring 2011 if the
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corpoation has any say.
Brooklyn friend of the column/fellow accordionist
Nick Loss Eaton's band
Leland Sundries plays Triumph Brewery on Fri., Nov. 5 with Conor Oberst's cohort
Taylor Hollingsworth. Eaton's Sundries released its debut EP
The Apothecary in October and the whole schmegie has that latter-day Waits/early morning Leonard Cohen vibe about it. Be there.
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| photo | Scott Weiner |
| J Woww and Richie Rich pictured at Dusk Nightclub at Caesars Casino in Atlantic City, NJ on Oct. 30. © Scott Weiner 2010 |
