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Food News
What Han Chiang characterizes as "a small basement fire" had Philly firefighters all over his Old City restaurant Han Dynasty (108 Chestnut St.) last night. As was the case with the recent flare-up at The Sidecar, no one was injured and the PFD was able to contain the situation before any severe damage occurred. They're hoping to reopen tonight.
Thanks to CP arts editor Emily Guendelsberger for the snap.
Last Tuesday, UPenn allowed food trucks to set up on their property prior to the beginning of a Philadelphia Mobile Food Association meeting — a temporary but promising peek at a mutually beneficial relationship between food entrepreneurs and landholders. (The city's "restricted zones," which block carts/trucks from many potentially lucrative perches on city property, is a major point of discussion with the PMFA.) NoLibs' Garden Variety pioneered the idea of a private food-cart lot locally, and now more people are looking to jump into the game. For example: We recently heard from a party looking to convert the industrial-zoned trapezoid lot at 2400 Weccacoe (pictured), right behind Ikea, into a multi-use food truck "depot." The 2.5-acre space would feature a commissary kitchen, parking and an outdoor "garden/picnic area" where eaters can hang and grub. They're looking to lock in tenants for a June 1 launch; anyone vendor interested in hearing more should contact Kristen Muldoon at 215-351-9366.
Robert Amar's Underdogs (132 S. 17th St.), which has become quite the go-to for Center City restaurant workers since opening about three weeks ago, is ready to get its late-night thing going. Starting tonight, he'll keep his subterranean forcemeat emporium open until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. No night-owl-specific discounts or dealage, just his regular menu, which you can check out after the jump.
There has been much rumbling in the Philly brunch world as of late. Check out all the new options and menus that have bubbled up in the past couple of weeks ...
Come April, you've got a very new/very awesome reason to head down Strawberry Street in Old City, one that doesn't involve sprinting away in terror from the Drakkar Noir'd juicehead militias that swell out of Recess every 40 minutes! Yay. Inspired by National Empanada Day (April 8), Cuba Libre (10 S. Second St.) is setting up a temporary pop-up bodega behind the restaurant that'll operate on Fridays and Saturdays from midnight to 3 a.m. throughout the month. From here, chef Guillermo Pernot and crew will hawk a variety of fresh-fried empanadas — picadillo (ground beef, olives, raisins), camarones (shrimp, spinach, pine nuts) and alcachofa (grilled artichoke hearts, salt-cured tomatoes, feta) to name just three — for $3 a pop. Sales will benefit CORE, a non-prof that benefits the children of hospitality employees. The non-alley portion of Cuba Libre, meanwhile, will introduce eight new empanada varieties during lunch and dinner from April 8 to 15, what they're dubbing Empanada Week. Stay abreast of late-breaking empanada news by following @empalley on Twitter.
UPDATE [29mar12]: Felt like this was coming after we received some concerned emails from Strawberry Street residents — Cuba Libre's Barry Gutin just announced that they won't be running their late-night empanada operation in April after all. "We've decided not to open Empanada Alley at the back of our restaurant because of neighborhood concerns that it would bring more people and noise to Strawberry Street after hours," says Gutin in a statement. "We recently learned there are a few families living in the buildings surrounding our back door, including one with a set of 10-month-old twins, whose sleep we do not wish to disturb." The plan is for Empanada Alley to relaunch as a mobile operation in the near future; Cuba Libre will still donateprofits to CORE.
Photo: Courtesy of Cuba Libre
Tomorrow, March 20, the Philadelphia Mobile Food Association will host a launch meeting for current members, potential new members and associates (those who are affiliated but not in the mobile game) to discuss the state of the association and its goals for the coming months. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Silverman 240A at UPenn Law School (3400 Chestnut St.), but several trucks will be parked in front of the venue starting at 4 p.m. to feed attendees. This is notable since one of the toughest hurdles trucks/carts face in Philly is lack of access to diverse vending spots; UPenn has agreed to allow the entrepreneurs to sell on their property in this two-hour window as a test run. An auspicious, if ephemeral, peek at something that could become more prominent as the PMFA builds its relationships with local businesses and the city itself. For more info, check out phillymfa.com or email info@phillymfa.com.
Thank you for all the great feedback I've received so far on this week's piece on ramen on Philadelphia. It was certainly one of the most fun food articles I've written in a long time. I did so many interviews and so much research and ate so much soup that a bunch of fascinating/funny tidbits, thoughts and quotes ended up not making it into the piece. Here are some in no particular order.
With the Spanish night-loving lifestyle in mind, Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran will debut a new late-night specials menu at Jamonera starting on Monday, March 19. Night owls will enjoy a $2 rotating tapas menu that features fried chorizo-stuffed olives and sheep's milk cheese with membrillo, as well as $3 beer, $4 sangria, $5 glasses of wine and a $15 sherry tasting. Turney will also be offering "kitchen staff snacks," $5-to-$10 dishes she makes for her employees after the hustle/bustle has died down. Dishes include desayuno ("breakfast"), Spanish fried egg, ibores cheese, papas fritas and a choice of house-ground chorizo or grilled veggies; "jamón & waffles," Serrano ham-studded waffles with smoked mahon ice cream, maple syrup and crispy pork belly; and Marcie’s Kitchen Snack Fries, Serrano-wrapped fries with aged sheep's milk cheese and truffled sea salt. The late-night eats will be available Sunday through Thursday from 10 to 11:30 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Jamonera
As far as outdoor spaces go, they don’t get more Edenic than the lush, fruit tree-fringed courtyard at Talula's Garden (210 W. Washington Square). Just in time for this spate of unseasonably warm weather, the Stephen Starr/Aimee Olexy Starlexy restaurant will launch brunch this weekend. Chef Sean McPaul is going beyond eggs Benny and waffles with dishes like seared scallops with farro; kielbasa and biscuits; and tiny doughnuts with coffee-spiked Chantilly cream. Us? We're into the Sunday Best, a hand-picked seasonal foursome of Olexy's masterfully curated farmstead fromages. Brunch will be served every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., rezzies recommended.
Photo: talulasgarden.com
There was a time Barclay Prime (237 S. 18th St.) was the finest steakhouse in Philadelphia. And not only fine, but interesting, different, more than typical meat and potatoes. Sometime between now and our last steak dinner there (toward the end of James LoCascio's term), things fell off, at least according to Inquirer critic Craig LaBan, who demoted BP in February to two lukewarm bells. Chef Stephen Wambach left soon after, destined for Azure at the upcoming Revel in AC, and Jeff Froehler is now in charge. The 32-year-old was born in Jersey and grew up in Miami, came back north and attended the Restaurant School. Froehler was the original sous chef at Barclay Prime when the steakhouse first debuted. Here's hoping he brings back some of that opening mojo.
Photo: barclayprime.com
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