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Zento Contemporary 2.0 in pictures
Five years after opening in Old City, Zento has a new home - chef/owner Sam Ho has partnered with neighbor Darin Picorella, who operated Grey Social three doors east of the contemporary sushi BYOB, for an upsized, liquor-licensed version of the restaurant (132 Chestnut St.).
Zento Contemporary 2.0 in pictures
Five years after opening in Old City, Zento has a new home — chef/owner Sam Ho has partnered with neighbor Darin Picorella, who operated Grey Social three doors east of the contemporary sushi BYOB, for an upsized, liquor-licensed version of the restaurant (132 Chestnut St.).
Ho, who's long "wanted to offer more" to customers but was unable to due to space constraints, first began chatting with Picorella about teaming up after the power went out on the 100 block of Chestnut this past summer. Grey Social was somehow the only business that still had electricity, so Ho rushed all his fish over to Picorella's walk-in to keep it fresh. A few months later, they had an agreement; Picorella, looking to leave behind the Old City club scene and get into restaurants after a rough 2011, is now a partner in the new-look Zento. Previously just 25 seats, the new-look Zento's now got two levels, with nearly three times the capacity on the ground floor alone.
Manager Christian Ruppert, a Grey vet, crash-coursed in sake over the past few months and has put together lists of sake- and shochu-based cocktails, in addition to wine and beer lists and a straight-up sake selection offered by the 8-ounce carafe. For now, Ho's menu is actually a little smaller than his previous one; that's because they're still waiting on the installation of their exhaust hood, after which point they'll be able to expand the menu beyond sushi and seafood into plenty more hot kitchen items. That includes the R-word — yes, hakata heads, talkin' 'bout ramen. Ho briefly served a version at the old Zento but was unhappy with it; the Hong Kong native has finally perfected his recipe, and plans on offering noodle soups with pork-, miso- and soy-based broths. In fact, he's also currently hunting for locations for an entirely separate concept he and Picorella are calling Ramen Room; University City is a particular area of interest for them.
Zento is open for lunch weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and they do dinner Sunday to Thursday from 5 to 11. Friday sees the kitchen going till midnight, with a late-night sushi menu available until 1 or 1:30 a.m.; same deal for Saturday, except they'll also offer their dinner menu all day and night on that day to capitalize on weekend Old City foot traffic.
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