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Archive: April, 2011
Jason Brooke, GM and chief vino head at Zavino (112 S. 13th St.), is kicking off a weekly "3-Liter Thursday" special this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. by popping a large-format bottle of 1991 Sterling Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon out of his personal cellar. Since this wine is not available through the PLCB system, Brooke will be pouring the big Napa Cab for free, but subsequent 3-Liter Thursdays will see him selling 3- and 6-ounce pours, plus 750ml decanters (prices will vary based on the wine). This once-a-week special goes along with Brooke's recurring "Premium Pour" feature, which sees him bust out a swanky wine usually available by bottle only and pouring it in reasonably priced tasting portions.
Photo: Courtesy of Jason Brooke
Today, the good folks at South Philly Tap Room (1509 Mifflin St.) and Brew (1900 S. 15th St.) introduce SoCal brewery Firestone Walker (which, ironically, also operate a restaurant called The Taproom) to our thirsty republic. Started by Adam Firestone and David Walker in 1996 on a rented parcel of the Firestone Vineyard estate in Santa Barbara, FWBC now runs its oak-barrel brewery out of Paso Robles.
Matthew Feldman first told Meal Ticket about his plans to open Lucky Old Souls at 1713 McKean back the summer of 2009 — by summer 2010, he'd made notable but minimal headway. Now, the local jazz enthusiast is proud to announce that he's secured final approval for a liquor license from the PLCB. (It was held up by neighborhood appeals, you know how it is.) Renovations on the Newbold building that'll house his bar, restaurant and venue — it's been vacant for a quarter-century — will begin very soon, and "Feldie" is confident he'll be open for business before the end of 2011.
To keep the music heads sated while construction goes down, Feldman has organized "Jazz on Colorado Court," a series of free concerts that'll take place on the 1700 block of McKEan, in the outdoor space adjacent to the future home of LOS. The shows will run every Saturday in May from 3 to 6:30 p.m.; musicians Wade Dean (May 7), Venissa Santi (May 14), The Mini Q's (May 21) and Three Blind Mice (May 28) have signed on to play. Mobile vendors Honest Tom's, Tyson Bees, Buttercream and Little Baby's Ice Cream will park to feed the crowds.
Quietly, while all us silly food pens were busy wagging our tongues at the House of Vetri/Garces/Starr, Mike Stollenwerk began building his own empire. He's like the Tampa Bay Bucs, assembling a group no one saw coming. Little Fish. Fish. A new location for Little Fish. Fathom, which we’re reviewing next week. Slow down, dude! Yeah, right. Last week, news broke of a new project up Stolly's sleeve.
Here's a little photo tease of Pure Fare (119 S. 21st St.), the health-conscious café opening this coming Monday in the former 21st Street Gourmet. (We first reported on it in December.) Brother/sister owners Kunal and Kriti Sehgal have lightened up/modernized the space considerably. One side of the restaurant, which features a communal table as well as rail seating along the windows, will be dedicated to brewing Blue Bottle coffee via pourover bar and espresso machine. (They're the first Philly venue to brew Blue Bottle on-site; CP food critic Adam Erace's store, Green Aisle Grocery, carries whole beans from the San Fran-based roaster.) On the opposite end is a counter, leading into chef Sarah Ginn's kitchen, where customers can order from Pure Fare's under-$10 selection of breakfast, lunch and snack items, all carefully broken down in terms of caloric count as well as fat, protein, carb, sodium and fiber content.
The "My Fare" database platform, which we touched on in December, is Pure Fare's free, opt-in system that will cull and analyze the nutritional value of what you eat, both at Pure Fare and outside the café. The service is designed to provide personalized dietary recommendations based on this info — all you need to do is activate a card (above, first pic) and have it scanned each time you make a Pure Fare purchase.
We still have a ways to go before Jeb Woody and Ellen Mogell open their second Honey's Sit 'N Eat location at 21st and South — Woody tells Meal Ticket that Grasso Holdings is currently in the thick of structural renovations to the building, and once they're done, they'll deliver a "vanilla box" that the Honey's crew will design and decorate from the ground up. Woody gives a realistic estimate of fall 2011 for the opening of Honey's numero dos, but in the meantime, follow the jump for a sneak peek at what the restaurant will end up looking like. (Click to enlarge.) Woody points out that the feel will definitely be "less refined" than it appears in these mockups, reflecting "the rustic nature and character of the first Honey's."
Perch Pub, which Joe Varalli opened in January on the top floor of his Varalli (1345 Locust St.), starts weekday lunch today. They'll serve Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday brunch is coming to the corner of Broad and Locust in early May.
Photo: Courtesy of Perch Pub
Last week, chef Moon Krapugthong (Chabaa Thai, formerly MangoMoon) dazzled at the James Beard House with an array of beautifully refined Thai plates. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19 and 20, Krapugthong offer a reincarnation of the meal at her Manayunk restaurant (4371 Main St.). Fifty bucks will buy you five courses of aromatic interpretations of traditional Thai cuisine, whie $65 presents seven courses and includes complimentary wine pairing to boot. (Both price points do include tax and gratuity.)
Light savory hors d'oeuvres will include grilled Thai sausage with traditional red curry, galangal and kaffir lime; and Khao Kiep Pakk Mao, a rice-flour crepe (gluten-free!) filled with pork loin, crushed peanuts, coconut, daikon and cilantro. Beef in green curry with Thai eggplant and basil and smoked cotton fish over green mango salad highlight some of the entrée-style offerings. Finish with a Navan-spiked tea and a coconut-focused dessert. Behold the menu in full after the jump.
Passover is almost upon us, and for some, this means a week of unleavened bread. When the standard Manischewitz supermarket fare starts getting repetitive, though, those seven days can seem like they're dragging on for months. Never fear! Michael "Challahman" Dolich of Four Worlds Bakery (4634 Woodland Ave.) has you covered with batches of his handmade matzah. Available in whole spelt and white wheat, the matzah will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 17, for $12 a pound. They expect to sell out pretty quickly, but in case they don't, Four Worlds will be get rid of any remaining stock the following Tuesday. A quick aside: Four Worlds' matzah is not certified kosher.
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