Kennett in pictures

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Kennett in pictures

POSTED: Monday, December 6, 2010, 8:42 PM

Filed Under: Openings | Photos

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Kennett, as we told you last week, opened over the weekend in former digs of Lyons Den at Second and Christian. We dropped in to a packed house Friday night for a little sneak-peek action. Any semblance of Lyons' divey personality has been scrapped in favor of a narrow but high-capacity interior, with a handsome dark-wood-laden bar up front (check out the pretty arched shelving stocked with booze) and cocktail/banquette seating leading way back to a semi-open kitchen and pizza oven station. Scattered artwork, mirrors and candles have warmed the space up considerably for the neighborhood. They're close to reaching certification from the Green Restaurant Association (more on that here). Owned/operated by Johnny Della Polla (he last worked with Yards here locally) and Starr vet Ashley Bohan, Kennett's name pays homage to the history of the address (848 S. Second St.). In the early days, Ukrainian immigrant Stephen Kennett and his wife ran a Prohibition-era boarding house (and covert distillery!) in the space; his son, also named Stephen, eventually took it over, and it operated as Kennett Café until 1986, when he sold. While Della Polla was working on opening, Ted Kennett, Stephen Jr.'s grandson, contacted him; he'd read that someone was revamping the old digs using his surname, and provided a number of original family photos that the Kennett crew has proudly displayed throughout the restaurant. Onto the food and drink. It looks like the restaurant's website is temporarily down, but we grubbed on the following off chef Brian Ricci's affordable, smarter-than-your-average-pub menu: - dinosaur kale salad, beets, roasted winter squash, Bulgarian feta, sherry vinaigrette - red wine-braised French puy lentil salad, carrots, red onion, celery, chervil, sherry vinaigrette - hamburger, bone marrow (worked into the patty), S&P, pickled onion, lettuce, anchovy mayo (this burger was awesome, definite contender) - lamb burger, smoked paprika, cucumber yogurt slaw, capers, shaved onion, purple cabbage, toasted cumin On the boozy end of things, they had plenty of craft beer on tap (downed some Victory Prima Pils, Ithaca Flower Power, and a few other things). Della Polla's association with Yards means they'll be get super-fresh cask ales and maybe even some specialty beers from the brewery. And there's also a cocktail list that's been developed by uber-tenders Christian Gaal and Phoebe Esmon.

Notes from the Weekend: Dec. 6 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2010-12-06 17:26:54

[...] Living up to your convictions Meal Ticket• Oh, dear: Matt Levin's Four Loko dinner is a go• Kennett in pictures• Chifa and Troegs team up for beer dinner• Pizzeria Stella gets into the meatball [...]

ThadS

Posted 2010-12-06 16:28:04

Man, I have to get up there. Anything taking over the Lyon's Den has to be an improvement. Sounds great (anchovy mayo? drool).

Tweets that mention Kennett in pictures :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2010-12-07 15:42:12

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Meal Ticket, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: Food/interior pics of the brand-new Kennett at 2nd/Christian. Lookin' good: http://ow.ly/3kPMG [...]

alex

Posted 2010-12-22 13:15:04

that burger is incredibly good (the pickled onions perfectly cut the marrow-infused richness), and the beer list is really, really well designed.

The pizza situation at Kennett :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-02-10 18:20:05

[...] chef at Kennett (848 S. Second St.) has been working with his Forno Bravo wood-burning pizza oven for a mere two [...]

Feb. 5-8: The Philadelphia Bartenders’ Guild’s “Lost Weekend” :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-01-19 12:46:34

[...] at Kennett (848 S. Second St.) at 11 a.m. to climb aboard a bus chartered direct to Philadelphia Distilling, [...]

Jan. 25: Robert Burns Night at Kennett :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-01-17 12:24:31

[...] Queen Village’s new Kennett (828 S. Second St.) pays filling homage to Burns next week with a thematic supper of its own, scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 25 (Burns’ birthday). Chef Brian Ricci will start serving a menu of Scottish specialties  Scotch eggs, bannock buns, cullen skink (smoked haddock soup), rumbledethumps (a very-U.K. cheesy-gooey cabbage/potato/onion mash), and housemade haggis bangers  at 7:30 p.m. Reps from UPenn’s poetry department will handle a recitation of Burns’ famous Address to the Haggis  great chieftain o’ the puddin’ race!  around 9 p.m.   Jan. 25: Robert Burns Night at Kennett [...]

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