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Openings
Little Baby's, the mobile artisanal ice cream team we first wrote about in February 2011, has had plenty of success moving their products at events and in local shops over the past year — so much so that it looks like they're ready to take that next brick-and-mortar step. Owners Pete Angevine, Martin Brown and Jeff Ziga will go before the Fishtown Neighbors Association on Tuesday, Jan. 17 to seek use approval for a space at 2311 Frankford Ave. — that's directly adjacent to Pizza Brain (2313 Frankford Ave.), which ginger bon vivant/world record holder Brian "Brain" Dwyer tells us is "trucking right along" in construction. More on both spots soon.
Since its first show in May 2009 (Pig Iron alum Sarah Sanford's Appetite), Gary Reuben's Underground Arts basement theater space in the Wolf building at 12th and Callowhill has promised a food-and-booze component. By December's end, that facet finally got its name (Underground Eats), its chef (Tom Stalling) and a ready-to-install kitchen.
Plenty of people have asked us about the liquor license placard that recently went up at 1306-1312 Frankford, right near Stephen Starr's Frankford Hall along the stretch that serves as the primary south-to-north conduit into Fishtown. In a broker-as-landlord move, the 8,000-square-foot former welding shop has been converted into a multi-unit commercial space by Alex Generalis and Theresa Stigale of MG Real Estate, whose holdings run deep into the River Wards. They're applying for the license with the plan of attracting multiple food/restaurant tenants set up shop in the building. But who?
View gallery"We want to make Korean food approachable to as many people as possible," says the well-spoken Sammy Chon of his new spot, Sammy Chon's K-Town BBQ (911 Race St.), the bouncing baby sibling of his four-year-old flagship Cherry Hill location. A takeover of the long-running H.K. Golden Phoenix, the restaurant's a collab between Chon and a team familiar with the many ins and outs of Philly's Chinatown (partner Jack Xiao, a real estate broker, was integral in getting the deal done). "This is the premier location of Asian dining in the tri-state area," says Chon of his decision to shift into the big city.
Open for lunch and dinner daily, the wide-open operation (79-seat dining room, 20-seat side room and a second floor opening this summer) will do the late-night thing till 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, with a large menu similar to the offerings in Jersey. BYO for now. Once the liquor license falls into place, K-Town will offer beer, wine, soju and a selection of Korean-inspired cocktails, as well as some additional ultra drunk foods Chon currently serves at his Cinnaminson takeout — think "kimchi fries," french fries topped with spicy fermented cabbage, Cheez Whiz and your choice of Korean barbecue meat (!). In the meantime, the Chinatown's restaurant's robust selection of dolsot dishes, noodles and stews (to say nothing of the infamous "Koagie") should keep you busy.
If you're one of the many Philly drinkers who've loudly lamented that there's nowhere in the 215 to acquire dangerously powerful drinks of the Polynesian persuasion, cast your hazy orgeat gaze to spring 2012 — that's when Philly's first proper tiki bar will be arriving. As of Jan. 1, Matt Scheller and Matt and Colleen Swartz of The Farmers' Cabinet (1113 Walnut St.) will have a lease in hand for the huge Frank Furness-designed building at 600 Spring Garden, most recently operating as a club called 90 Degrees (Transit and The Bank before that). While they'll dedicate the ground floor to an as-yet-undetermined concept, the basement of the space, which resembles the inside of a ship, will be all tiki all the time. Bartenders Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal, both of whom work behind the F-Cab bar, will design the entire cocktail program, consisting of around 10 tiki classics and 10 originals. You should also expect huge shareable tiki bowls (think Flaming Volcano) and an "American dimsum" menu (think pu pu platter). Get geeked.
Matt Levinson has opened The QUICK FIXX (1511 South St., 267-273-1066), the "chef-inspired takeout" joint we first mentioned a year ago. The Colorado native, who was on the opening management team of AC's Borgata (his wife's job brought him to the Philly area), wanted to establish an affordable, accessible fresh-food concept "in between where people are working and where people are living." His South Street location accomplishes that, while chef Charles Reinhardt's menu plays within recognizable categories — salads, flatbreads, pastas, sides, daily sandwich and dinner specials. They also highly encourage customization; "if you can think it, we can build it," Levinson promises. Italian-born Reinhardt, like Levinson, is a luxury hotel veteran; he cooked for the Swiss-based Kempinski hotel group in exotic locales like Dubai and Djibouti before landing in Philly to work at Center City's Sofitel. Pictured above are his Parma salad, with mixed greens, prosciutto-wrapped cataloupe, red peppers and Terra chips in a pink grapefruit vinaigrette; the "Retro Pesto" flatbread, with pesto, grilled marinated chicken, fontina cheese and red pepper crema; and the signature "Fixx" flatbread, with white sauce, bacon, caramelized onions and gruyere.
The restaurant is easing into its regular schedule for right now — they'll open takeout, eat-in and delivery till 1 a.m. tonight and tomorrow before closing up shop on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Come Jan. 2, they'll run 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. (or later) Friday and Saturday.
Word from on hoppy high is that the first in-the-city-limits brewpub for Iron Hill Brewery, at 8400 Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill, will open next Wednesday, Jan. 4. (Adam Erace first mentioned it way back in March.) City Council members Bill Green and Cindy Bass will host a ceremonial toast an hour before the 5 p.m. launch time for Iron Hill's newest location, which will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week. The brewing part of the equation will be overseen by Paul Rutherford, who's doing a blog about the project; he'll oversee six house brews, plus regular one-offs and bottled reserve selections. It's the ninth overall location for the 15-year-old brewpub brand, joining existing branches in Lancaster, Maple Shade, Media, Newark (De.), North Wales, Phoenixville, West Chester and Wilmington.
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.
Center City institution Portofino (1227 Walnut St., 215-923-8208), owned by Ralph Berarducci since the early '70s, shut down quietly over the summer under the vague guise of "renovations." Turns out the genial septuagenarian, long one of the most generous and colorful members of the Phllly food community, was ready for something new. This Wednesday, Dec. 28, Berarducci and Midtown Village Association founder James McManaman will unveil what's been going in on the other side of all that window paper — Walnut Street Supper Club, a Stork Club-esque venue that will mix Portofino's housemade pastas and Italian specialties with old-school classics from a bygone restaurant era (think ritzy, jacket-required steakhouse). The food and drink at the 175-seater will be complemented by live music overseen by musical director Jeremiah Downes. (The waitstaff will be among the performers, a la Victor Café.) The Supper club will be open nightly from 5 p.m.
UPDATE [03jan12]: Here's Walnut Street Supper Club's full menu (PDF).
Stopped by a dry run at Hickory Lane last night to see what's going on at the brand-new Fairmount bistro (2025 Fairmount Ave.), run by chef Matt Zagorski (ex-Rouge) and partner Jack Henderson, who was involved in the corner space's previous tenant, L'Oca. Officially opening today for dinner (lunch starts on/around Dec. 28, says Zagorski), Hickory Lane's name pays homage to Fairmount Avenue's moniker in the Philadelphia of old. The cooking, however, is new — reasonable neighborhood prices dot a menu featuring both comfy, bone-warming dishes (French onion soup; calamari bolognese, literally those two ingredients in a big bowl — awesome) and more artful plates reflective of Zagorski's stuff at Rouge (chard-topped medallions of pork with caramel ginger pork jus; yellowfin tuna with riotta saffron gnudi).
The room itself has been augmented from the L'Oca days to carry a darker, more contemporary feel (say hi to Eastern State peeking in through the burlap curtains), with a bunch of outdoor seating along the 16-foot sidewalks coming in the spring. Hickory Lane is BYO for now, but there's talk of a liquor license in the near future. Here they are on Facebook and Twitter.
UPDATE [03jan12]: Peep PDFs of Hickory Lane's opening lunch, breakfast/brunch and dinner menus.
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