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Food News
Rittenhouse is the neighborhood of the casual lunch, and it's hard to imagine a better setting right now than the secret garden at the new Rittenhouse Tavern (Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St.). Chef Nicholas Elmi just started serving afternoon eats last week, so as of right now you can and should elbow in among the power attorneys and Art Alliance board members for charcuterie with violet mustard, local fluke crudo, a LaFrieda burger or the soft-shell crab grinder we can't wait to try. Check out the full menu after jump (click to enlarge). Lunch is served 11:30 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
This Sunday, Xochitl v. 2.2 (408 S. Second St.) launches brunch under chef Carlos Alonso. As you might expect, it's got a Latin accent with dishes like the sope Benedict, cornmeal pancakes and Bloody Marias. "We really want to keep it affordable," says GM Adam Solomon, which means the menu tops out of at $15 for an Angus steak, huevos and chilaquiles. Brunch goes from 11 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon. Here's the menu (PDF).
Photo: Felicia D'Ambrosio
This Thursday, May 24, is National Escargot Day, a holiday marking the end of the French snail-harvesting season. Throughout the week, Gallic-and-otherwise restaurants all over town are partaking in the festivities with special snail-centric menus. Doug Dussault, the self-proclaimed Snailman behind Potironne Company, is supplying wild Burgundy snails to the participants, and will even make appearances at Southwark and Lacroix to talk snail. Other participating restaurants include Bistrot La Minette, Fond, Matyson, Bibou and Amis. Check out the National Escargot Day page for schedules, menus and general slow-gastropod info. Reservations are highly suggested for each dinner. Some highlights from each restaurant's menu after the jump.
Vientiane Café, the bustling Laotian BYOB at 4728 Baltimore, is about to add a little more bustle. It's expanding into the former Mariposa space next door at the end of June or beginning of July. Right now they're waiting on permits and paperwork to begin construction; once that's settled, they'll knock down the separating wall, providing room for nearly 20 more patrons at a time. Not a huge number, but for a tiny restaurant that seats only 30 right now, it's a major upgrade.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Beer Cakes, which we mentioned two weeks ago, is in the development stages, but it turns out we don't have to wait to try some of Lexi Malmros' literally intoxicating cupcakes. Melissa Torre of Cookie Confidential (517 S. Fifth St.) has forged a partnership with Malmros; the two creative bakers now share a kitchen and storefront. Beer Cakes will make its formal at the shop on June 7 and 8 — the tail end of Philly Beer Week, fittingly. From 4 to 10 p.m. that Friday and Saturday, swing by to taste a cupcake and sample the beers Malmros uses to scratch-bake the sweet treats. Eventually, Malmros hopes she and Torre can push back the closing time of Cookie Confidential to midnight or even 2 a.m. to catch folks leaving the bars with a hankering for dessert.
Malmros hasn't released the flavors of the cakes she'll be serving yet — keep eyes on her Twitter feed and her website for forthcoming details — but you can expect to pay about $4 for a standard-sized cupcake, $1.50 for a mini and $15 for a sampler of 12 minis. Torre will still have her full Cookie Confidential inventory available for your sweet teeth.
Gotta love any email that contains the phrases "old-school Chinese," "housemade ginger beer" and "tiki menu." Those and more were in a message bartender-about-town Katie Loeb shout out in regards to her plans for the new University City outpost of Han Dynasty (3711 Market St.).
The former Chick's, Oyster House and Tapestry gin whisperer is drawing inspiration from the classic Chinese-restaurant cocktail Rolodex: Suffering Bastards, Flaming Volcanoes and other retro Sino-American elixirs that always seem like a good idea at 3 a.m. in Chinatown. Just don't expect cloying fruit punches; Loeb is updating the recipes with from-scratch syrups (passion fruit, orgeat), sodas, cordials and house-infused spirits. Lemongrass, for example, is currently imparting its exotic floral flavor to vodka, the base of a Chengdu Mule capped off with the aforementioned ginger beer. We also like the sounds of the Sino-Rita, a reposado margarita infused with tangerine peel and rimmed with a mix of raw sugar, salt and the Handynasty favorite, numbing Szechuan peppercorn. Look for the new cocktail list to be live in a few weeks.
- Route 6 (600 N. Broad St.) is rolling out brunch for the first time this Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Seafoodish choices from chef Seth High include crab and salmon benedicts, a smoked fish platter (peppered bluefish, smoked salmon or whitefish salad) and a Hangtown Fry with fried oysters, bacon, scallions and jalapeno. Menu here (PDF).
- Rittenhouse Tavern (Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St.) is officially starting brunch service tomorrow. The menu, created by chefs Nick Elmi and Ed Brown, features a.m. dishes like Anson Mills stone-cut oatmeal with caramelized brown sugar, hanger steak and eggs and customizable buckwheat pancakes (plain, with berries or with pan-seared foie gras). And since brunch cocktails are a must, RT's compiled a nice list that includes a Stoudts Pils beermosa and the "Royal Hawaiian" (Gordon's Gin, Velvet Falernum, lemon, pineapple). Their brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Here's the menu (PDF). —Alexandra Weiss
- Tapestry (700 S. Fifth St.), too, launches brunch Saturday. The beer bar's service, which runs both weekend days from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., boasts options like a Grafton cheddar cheese biscuit with a poached egg and sautéed spinach and baguette French toast and buttermilk pancakes with Vermont maple syrup. Full menu (PDF). Bartender Chauncey Scates is also offering a special brunch cocktail list. Tappy just landed a KoldDraft ice machine, too, so look out for those adorably cubic non-melting jams in her drinks soon.
Photo: Neal Santos
Starting Mother's Day — that's this Sunday, kids — Brauhaus Schmitz (718 South St.) begins brunch. From 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon weekly, chef Jeremy Nolen will be preparing German-inspired a.m. eats like eggs benny with acorn-fed Westphalian ham, sourdough pancakes, house-made muesli and yards and yards of wursts. There's a typical "German Breakfast" consisting of sliced meats, cheese, brötchen (German rolls), rye bread, Nutella and a hard-boiled egg, as well as a Bavarian version featuring pretzel, sausage, mustard and hefeweizen. A little banana nectar turns that hefeweizen into a Bananaweiss. So wrong or so right? Here's the full menu (PDF). Check out Brauhaus this Sunday and let us know in NFTW.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Brett Naylor, who came on CP's radar at chef de cuisine of the short-lived Les Bons Temps and more recently cooked for Urban Outfitters and Tria, will become the new chef at Oyster House (1516 Sansom St.) this coming Monday. He's taking over for Andy Kikto, who's moved on to the nearby Butcher & Singer (both were preceded by Ted Manko and Greg Ling). No word yet on what sort of personal imprint Naylor will put on the popular Center City seafood spot.
Photo: Drew Lazor
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