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Openings
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.).
Dave Magrogan of Kildare's, West Chester's Doc Magrogran's and Glen Mills' Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar has plans to open a second location of the latter concept at 40th and Walnut, in the former Marathon Grill. Harvest's menu features dishes (plenty of wood fire-grilled meat and seafood) that, for the most part, fall under 500 calories; to drink, the concept offers rotating draft and cocktail lists and more than 60 wines, many produced sustainably. There are plans to carry this environmentally friendly approach over to the construction of the space, too. Slated for a June opening, Harvest will serve both lunch and dinner.
Photo: harvestseasonalgrill.com
Matt Levin, whom we haven't heard much from since his departure from Adsum (now Tapestry), has surfaced as the chef of the new project from Barry Gutin and Larry Cohen. It's called Square Peg, a name only a mother (or the guys who brought us Cuba Libre) could love, and it's coming this March to the 900 block of Walnut Street. (We first mentioned the deal in December.)
"Well, it looks like I own a swim club." That's the first thing Brian Nagele of Cities2Night said when he called to tell me he took over the private Arrow Swim Club and its indoors restaurant. The pricey members-only spot was previously held by Nicole Cashman and Bart Blatstein, the latter the developer who not long ago leased the Piazza restaurant Apollinare to Nagele to open Kings Oak. "Bart is just the landlord of the swim club spot, with me leasing the space," says Nagele. "And there will be a few changes."
View galleryIn the last week of December, Caracas native Siu Fung launched Delicias, the city's only Venezuelan food truck. Fung, who's been in Philly for about two years, is running the operation with the help of her husband and mother, the latter of whom is making sure her ingredients and recipes are true to Venezuelan tradition. Her most popular offerings so far are the pabellon arepa, a Venezuelan corn cake filled with shredded beef, black beans, fried plantains and cheese; and the choripan, a spicy chorizo sandwich with homemade pico de gallo and caramelized onions. Right now you can find the truck on Market Street between 34th and 36th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. Follow Fung on Twitter to get up-to-date information on her whereabouts and offerings: @PhillyDelicias
Opening a new spot on the first day of Restaurant Week? "Why not?" shrugged Marcie Turney during last night's staff tasting at Jamonera (105 S. 13th St., 215-922-6061), which she and Valerie Safran will roll out this Sunday, Jan. 22. They're pretty pro, after all — the couple employs more than 100 people all told at Lolita, Barbuzzo, Grocery, Open House and Verde; what's a little super-polished Spanish wine bar between friends?
While were busy mulling over Ocean City's gluten-free Pure Tacos opening a branch at 1935 Chestnut and Paul's Idaho Potatoes coming to South, we almost missed this: Wildwood's Maui's Dog House soft-opens a stand today at the Food Court at the Bellevue (200 S. Broad St.). Owners "Maui" Mike and Liz D'Antuono (pictured), in business at the shore for the past 13 seasons and fresh off a turn on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, felt it was a good time to bring their hot dogs to Philly.
Artisan Boulanger Patissier, pastry purveyor and longtime object of Meal Ticket affection, is moving out of the 12th and Morris space it's occupied for more than 10 years. Cue the anguished wails of croissant devotees all up and down East Passyunk. Chill, chill! Owners Amanda and Andre Chin aren't going far — only about three blocks to the former home of Nino's pasta shop (1218 Mifflin St.). "[The space] is much, much bigger than this," explains Amanda, who cited landlord issues for the reason behind the move. "We’ll be able to do a lot more food, sandwiches and things." Mark your calendars for April; Artisan should be all settled and baking in their new digs by then.
The space at 743 S. Eighth is beginning to look cozy, and will soon be filled with the aroma of homemade stocks and garlicky scents familiar to Italian kitchens — next week, Bridget Coccia and Domenic Collaretti will be cooking at that address (Eighth, just off Fitzwater). Bridget and her husband Albert, married for 21 years, grew up working at his family's famed Frankie's Seafood Italiano at 11th and Tasker. Now they're launching their own breakfast/lunch café, The Cup and Saucer, in which Collaretti (Mary's Catering) is a partner, this coming Monday, January 23.
What can you expect from TC&S? La Colombe coffee through a manual drip, a breakfast menu featuring fruit-stuffed French toast and handmade crepes and a lunch menu with traditional Italian dishes as well as vegan specials and homemade soups. Steph Vacca from the Restaurant School does the desserts, while Bridget and Dom do the cooking seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. They're looking to keep prices between $6 and $14 and plan to host art exhibitions in the future. Their full opening menu is after the jump.
Last month, we posted about the still-being-renovated Odd Fellows Café (1201 Spruce St.), the sister location of Spruce Street Espresso (1101 Spruce St.). Right now they're aiming to open on or around Jan. 28, but we swung by recently for a peek.
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