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Menu Time
Right on sked, Benny Lai soft-opened Grill Fish Café (814 S. 47th St.), a cozy seafood-focused offshoot of his massive West Philly restaurant Vietnam Café (816 S. 47th St.) over the weekend. Lai took a trip down the Vietnamese coast to research the menu for the 20-ish seater late last year; the result is a tight menu that restaurant-izes Viet seafood staples at good prices. The kitchen, for example, uses sake in lieu of down-home chicken broth for their steamed clams and mussels; they take a Mediterranean step, too, by using olive oil in some dishes, which Lai observes has only come into favor in native kitchens in the last decade or so.
Nightly specials will expand as the kitchen gets more comfortable; for now, look for a regularly changing grilled whole fish option (branzino, bass, pompano, etc.). Opening menu and opening wine/beer/cocktail list after the jump (click to enlarge).
Brian Sirhal and Tim Spinner's La Calaca Feliz (2321 Fairmount Ave.), as we noted last week, is on pace to open any day now — the Cantina Feliz owners are confident they'll get the doors open at their liquor-licensed modern Mexicano by this Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 4 p.m. Swung by earlier today to find the restaurant looking ready to go. The former Illuminare has been given a bright Spanish-speaking makeover; punched-tin light fixtures dangle around the 10-stool bar up front, which leads back past the wood oven-equipped open kitchen to a main dining room with room for around 60 at tables and in booths. The entire space is dressed up beautifully with mural work by artist Alison Dilworth, who is also responsible for the lighthearted Dia de los Muertos pieces at Sirhal and Spinner's year-old Fort Washington restaurant. There's an enclosed courtyard off the western wall of the dining room; by spring, this will be enclosed to create a "Mexican beer garden"-style outdoor seating area.
Chef Lucio Palazzo, late of Xochitl, is running the kitchen at La Calaca, which will serve dinner seven nights a week. They'll take advantage of the aforementioned beast of an oven, formerly used for pizza, for dishes like nachos, rellenos and tlayudas, or masa-flour Mexican pizzas (campechano or wild mushroom style). Other highlights include both crab and chorizo fundidos, vegetarian pozole, Veracruz-style swordfish skewers, Baja fish tacos and chicken enchiladas smothered in mole poblano. Peep the opening menu, plus the margarita, cocktail, beer, wine and tequila lists, after the jump (click to enlarge).
And yes, that is a painting of The Most Interesting Man in the World. He's hanging in the bathroom.
View galleryOver the past few months, Bridgid's (726 N. 24th St.) has changed its look dramatically, adding hardwood floors, new lighting, an expanded gravity tap system and a brand-new second-floor kitchen for new chef David Clarke (Osteria, Morimoto). Prices are still 'hood-friendly — entrées are topping out at $23, and they still offer a more casual bar menu — but Clarke's managed to introduce a no-shortcuts ethos to the Fairmount beer bar, cranking out pastas like ravioli, agnolotti and fettucine in-house. Other highlights include wintry plates like braised veal breast with celeriac purée and roasted carrots and a braised lamb shank with goat cheese whipped potatoes, fennel and radicchio. Check out Bridgid's new menu in full after the jump (click to enlarge).
Beverage manager Phoebe Esmon introduced a new winter cocktail menu at The Farmers' Cabinet (1113 Walnut St.) the other day, its aim "lascivious pleasing" — every drink on the list, peepable in PDF format here, is accompanied by passages from various Shakespearean works, and you do not have to murk your older brother the Duke of Clarence, stab King Duncan in his sleep or poke Claudius with a poisoned blade to enjoy them. (2012 is the year we all stop committing regicide.) The ever-scholastic Esmon doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, either; every from-scratch element in the drinks, from Champagne shrubs and red wine syrups to cinnamon drams and green pepper jelly, was made by her (right). Throw a couple back and commence nose-painting.
Photo: Phoebe Esmon
Have yourself a bella mattina this weekend at East Falls' In Riva (4116 Ridge Ave.), which just rolled out Saturday and Sunday brunch. Served both days from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Arthur Cavaliere's Italiano starts with San Marzano bloodys and Lambrusco bellinis (!), moving into a selection of brunch-from-the-boot choices, like pancetta-laden breakfast pizza and polenta and eggs with pepperonata, rapini and grana padano. Full menu after the jump (click to enlarge).
Mike Stollenwerk's Fish, which half-debuted over New Year's, officially reopened in its 2.0 digs at the corner of 13th and Locust last night. Located in the ground floor of The Independent (1234 Locust St.), the restaurant is far larger, brighter and spit-shined than its original home at 1708 Lombard, which'll become Brick American Eatery in the near future. There's now a full-on illuminated bar running parallel to a dividing drink rail/banquette, a small plush lounge area for cocktailers and an entirely separate elevated raw bar station for oysters and other shellfish. Coming by the spring: lunch, brunch, room service for Independent guests and outdoor seating in a dedicated courtyard.
Peep after the jump for Stollenwerk's opening dinner menu, split into raw starters, snacks, and first and second course columns that actually feature a little bit of meat (looking forward to devouring crudo off those pink Himalayan salt blocks). We've got pastry chef Monica Glass' opening dessert menu, too. (Click both to enlarge.)
With the new year came a handful of changes at Center City's Minar Palace, at it since 2008 at 1304 Walnut after shutting down its O.G. Sansom location two years prior. They've expanded their already-huge menu to its heftiest size yet; check out it out in full (PDF). The Singh family has fully implemented tandoori ovens into its kitchen operation, using them to bake naan and other breads fresh to order in addition to roasting meats. Minar now offers a buffet option for both lunch ($9.95) and dinner ($12.95), running Monday to Friday and Monday to Saturday, respectively. They've stepped up their online game a bit, too, setting up relationships with both GrubHub and DiningIn.com.
Photo: Shirley Nicole Fonner
Ran thru fam/friends of Lemon Hill (747 N. 25th St.) last night — this handsome new corner spot, spearheaded by Mitch Prensky of Supper and Mike Welsh of The Franklin, will open its doors to eager Fairmountians tomorrow night at 5 p.m. The interior is bereft of all sports-barrish traces of former tenant Lucky 7; it's now an uber-warm polished wood and exposed brick sitch, with the bar and banquetted dining room separated by a long wall, the kitchen staff holding court in the open pass on the far end.
You can call the joint a "gastropub" if it truly pleases you, but to us it feels more like a thoughtful neighborhood restaurant. Prensky's cooking downmarket takes on Supper-style food — pastrami-brined wings; housemade beer cheese and rillettes; oven-roasted fish; Prensky's fave patty melt — that wouldn't necessarily fit in on South Street but look quite comfortable here. The eats are complemented by a beverage program built by Al Sotack, who's come up with a 12-drink cocktail list comprising classics (Old Fashioned; daiquiri) and a couple drinks of the Franklin-ish persuasion (the self-referential "Fairmount Project," with Bluecoat, Bonal, Luxardo, lemon, house blackberry syrup and two kinds of bitters).
Lemon Hill will be open nightly from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., with the kitchen serving late; weekend brunch will launch in a couple weeks. Full food and cocktail menus after the jump.
In addition to offering extended hours on Boxing Day and New Year's Day as they did last year, Pub & Kitchen (1946 Lombard St.) will be open all this week for lunch, too. (Full holiday schedule here.) Chef Jonathan Adams has created a few new dishes exclusive to the holiday menu, like a South Philly-style chicken cutlet sandwich and ribollita, Tuscan white bean soup. You can also find tried-and-true favorites like the Churchill Burger (above) and the barbecue pork sandwich, and even the fish and chips (currently served on Sundays only). They've also got Wells Bombardier, a classic English bitter, on tap, and are pouring $3 martinis today until 2 p.m. Full menu after the jump.
Photo: Drew Lazor
La.Va Café (2100 South St.), already a purveyor of tremendous Israeli comfort food, is stepping up its dinner game. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 5:30 to 10, owners Victor and Liron Agiv convert the coffee shop into a full-service sit-down BYO with food from chef David Zaga (Four Seasons, Marathon Grill, R2L). Patrons can still grab coffee to go during these times, but tables will be reserved for diners digging into Zaga's grilled beef kebabs with green tahini, pan-roasted branzino and marinated short ribs. Full menus for tonight and tomorrow's service after the jump.
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