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Openings
We've been patiently waiting for The Avenue Delicatessen (27 N. Landsdown Ave.) to open its Landsdowne doors for a while now and this past Saturday was the day. The concept of this north of Baltimore Ave. storefront is to merge two classic deli cultures: Italian and Jewish. The focus here is made-in-house with Becca O'Brien, formerly of Creperie Beau Monde doing some serious pickles, preserves and all sorts of meaty offerings.
The menu will rotate seasonally but right now you can look forward to lemon poppy pancakes topped with lemon curd and blueberries, corned beef hash with chiles and sweet potatoes and The Mighty Casey, a breakfast of house-made sausage (pork, turkey or veg), two eggs and two potato latkes. For lunch think house-cured corned beef specials and reubens, fried flounder sandwiches and veg options like a balsamic tofu wrap.
We're also pretty excited about The Avenue's mason reuseable mason jar iced coffee cups. Genius.
Foobooz sat down with Joncarl Lachman, the Philly-born force behind Noord, the new Nordic spot set to open on EPX in early May. They talked renovation plans (think communal table and seating for 40) and got a sneak peek at the opening menu. We've got to say that we're more than a little excited to check out difficult to pronounce but sure to be awesome menu items like shellfish waterzooi (a seafood stew in beer broth), konijin in het zuur (rabbit leg confit and wild boar belly with zuurkool, er, sauerkraut) and smorrebrod (open faced sandwich board).
Eater has the latest of Kermit's Bake Shoppe, the newest venture from The Sidecar and Kraftwork folks. This 22nd and Washington storefront will be home to a pizzeria and bakery serving up whole pies, slices, soups, salads and baked goods like sticky buns, cookies and loaves of bread. No word yet on an opening date.
The Insider shares news that Strangelove's, the newest beer-centtic endeavor from Brendan Hartranft and Leigh Maida (you might recognize the duo from craft beer meccas such as Memphis Taproom, Local 44 and Resurrection Ale House) is on track with an April opening date TK. 18 draft lines are installed and the food is coming from Paul Martin who has put in time at Rittenhouse brasserie Parc as well as Nola by way of South Street restaurant Catahoula.
Just in time for a mid afternoon pick me up, we're pleased to announce that the first Philadelphia outpost of Joe Coffee (1845 Walnut St.) is now open. The New York based mini chain is a longtime Meal Ticket favorite, seriously, they do a killer macchiato. The Rittenhouse location is pulling shots on a shiny new La Marzocco Strada using their own beans as well as Intelligenstia Black Cat espresso. On the edible end of thins Joe is bringing in local pastries from Metropolitan and Brûlée Bakery as well as some out of town treats from Greenpoint's Ovenly, home of the salted chocolate chip cookie.
Poi Dog Snack Shop, Philly's first Hawaiian-themed food truck (Hawaiian-themed anything, really), starts serving next week on Temple's campus, according to owners/former Foo Truck-ers Kiki Aranita and Chris Vacca. Aranita, who grew up on Oahu, is bringing traditional island grub to town: SPAM musubi, coconut butter mochi, plate lunches with rice and macaroni salad and more. (We'll have the full menu shortly.) "Outside of Hawaii and beyond the West Coast, Hawaiian food is pretty unknown to people. But it has extremely rich and varied traditions and its own unique identity," she says. "We want to serve the simple snacks Hawaii likes to eat but also version of them done our way with Philly in mind." Stay on Poi Dog's Twitter and Facebook to see exactly where on campus the truck will be parked next week.
Last night we had the pleasure of checking out the soon to open Cheu Noodle Bar (255 S. 10th St.), the pop-up come to life from Ben Puchowitz and Shawn Darragh and we've got to say that after sampling a sizable portion of the menu we're pretty stoked. The space is gorgeous, with a wall of ramen noodles, sleek bar seating and graffiti-inspired murals.
But eye-pleasing aesthetics aside, the menu is killer. Off the vegetables list we tried crisp broccoli with Vietnamese sausage, soy and peanuts and brussels sprouts with XO sauce, radish and a perfectly poached egg. Barley congee with smoked tofu, mushrooms and pea was a hearty take on typically delicate rice porridge and raw scallop with pickled rhubarb, cardamom and avocado was bright and elegant.
Off the noodles menu we checked out the hand town noodles with lamb neck and pickled mustard greens and cumin with just a touch of sweetness lent by dates. And since it is still officially Passover, we went for the brisket with egg and matzo balls, awesome. There are all sorts of additions for the noodle menu including some very serious scrapple (A+) and house-fermented kimchi.
Cheu is soft opening this weekend for friends and family and opening up shop to the public on April 1st at 3 p.m., we suggest you go there immediately.
Well folks, here are a few items to add to the ol' culinary calender: First off we've got the highly anticipated Cheu Noodle Bar (255 S. 10th St.) opening up shop on April 1st at 3 p.m. Hopefully this is not some sort of mean spirited April Fool's joke since Ben Puchowitz and Shawn Darragh have been teasing us with some seriously good looking noodle teasers for plenty of time now. Look out for snacks like black garlic chicken wings and cauliflower chawanmushi and noodle offerings including pork belly ramen and lamb neck noodles.
April 1st also sees Pub & Kitchen (1946 Lombard St.) closing (don't freak out) for some quick renovations. The renos are coming from Ian Chapin whose recent design work can be seen at the lovely new Fitler Dining Room. But the real excitement here is that when P&K reopens it's doors there's a new chef at the helm. Taking over for the recently departed Jonny Mac, Eli Collins is coming in from Daniel Boulud's East Village sausage and beer mecca DBGB. Collin's Philly resume includes time spent at Supper and Gayle. The revamped menu has yet to be finalized but we're hearing that an olive tapenade poached vitello tonnato, smoked egg salad and vanilla panna cotta with rhubarb-balsamic reduction are going to be featured.
First came Manakeesh (4420 Walnut St.), the Lebanese flatbread-slangin' in an old Spruce Hill bank building. Then came Bliss, with smoothies, sundaes and Middle Eastern fruit cocktails next door. Now, GM Abd Ghazzawi has snipped the ribb on BlissMart, a pop-up grocery within the ice cream parlor. Stacked wire shelves are stocked with small-batch coffees, fancy soaps, raw honey, energy bars and, naturally, a well-rounded trove of exotic spices and products from the Middle East.
Tonight's shaping up to be quite the evening for openings. We already know where we'll be having dinner (ahem, Pizzeria Beddia) but afterwards we're going to be making our way back down south for the grand opening of the revamped Dolphin (1539 S. Broad St.) From the minds of Making Time's Dave P., Best Philadelphian/R5 founder Sean Agnew and the good people behind Union Transfer and Morgan's Pier, we've got high hopes for The Dolphin especially after taking a look at the line up for the rest of March. They've got a super solid line up of DJs six nights a week including Tim Sweeney of Beats in Space, The Rapture's Vito and Druzzi and L-Vis 1990. The site's live so head on over to check out the full schedule including featured dancers.
Well folks, it's been a long time coming but tonight Pizzeria Beddia (115 E. Girard Ave.) is officially open. Passion project of pizza enthusiast Joe Beddia, the Fishtown spot is going to be serving American-style whole pies made with Jersey tomato sauce and mozz and dough using organic flour. The streamlined menu includes housemade toppers like sausage and pickled hot peppers. Early reports have been gleaming so we're pretty stoked to check it out tonight.
Are you a South Philadelphian who's had a hole in your brunch routine since Carman's shuttered a few months back? Well, Passyunk Post has some good news for you. They sat down with Christine Liskowicz and chatted about Porto, the Portuguese-influenced breakfast and lunch spot that she's opening in the 11th and Wharton corner. With plans to open sometime at the end of May to middle of June, Liskowicz is thinking a menu of sandwiches and with the possibility of a Friday night BYOB tasting menu.
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