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Last week we took a peek at Rebel Rock Bar & Bites (100 Spring Garden St.), the new bar, restaurant and live music concept from the owners of Delilah's and Zee Bar, ahead of its grand opening this Thursday, Jan. 26.
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.).
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?
View galleryLast 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.
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.
Over 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).
Pumpkin (1713 South St.) hasn't changed a lick looks-wise since opening in 2004, but that ended New Year's Day, when Ian Moroney and Hillary Bor decided to kick off a intensive front-of-house overhaul of their teeny 28-seater. "The restaurant has grown and the food has grown," says Bor, "but the room has stayed the same." Can't say that anymore — designer Arnie Liguori landed all sorts of local reclaimed materials, from original wood panels from an abandoned Eraserhood factory to a central light fixture that once illuminated a school gymnasium, to grant a new feel to the BYO, which reopened this past weekend. They've lost two seats but there's so much more room to breathe for both staffers and diners. Speaking of dining, you should hit up their new tasting menu option — six courses of food from chef Christopher Kearse for $65, Tuesday through Thursday. They still offer their five-course, $35 tasting every Sunday.
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.)
"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.
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