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Menu Time
When last we checked in with the kitchen at Lemon Hill (747 N. 25th St.), they were adding shareable Sunday suppers to their roster. (Their bar also made a bunch of notable changes for winter; you can check them out here if it's been a while since you've stopped in.) Now, they've nixed those dinners in exchange for an expanded all-day brunch on Sundays.
Saturday brunch features a few new menu items, and that regular brunch menu will be available on Sundays as well. But on Sundays, the menu will see all sorts of additions, and you'll be able to get your french toast or eggs benedict on at any hour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We've gotta say, the new menu items are seriously eye-catching. All weekend long, you can now get crepes filled with coffee pastry cream and whipped cream cheese, topped with coffee cake crumble, or a signature eggs benedict that includes andouille, mustard greens, "dirty hollandaise" (bacon fat and cayenne: better than olive juice), and a bacon-bell pepper jam.
Sundays get even more decadent with a dish of foie, donut bread pudding, apple butter and thyme caramel, and a patty melt that adds avocado, thai chile mayo, and a sunny egg to the standard formula. If that all sounds like a bit much to you, though, there are plenty of simpler selections: the parsnip soup with crispy rabbit confit and pickled apples sounds particularly good.
Monday, May 21
Katie Loeb is consulting on the cocktail list at the new Han Dynasty in West Philly.
Cookie Confidential teams up with boozy dessert expert Beer Cakes.
Le Cochon Noir has smoked its last rack of ribs.
Tuesday, May 22
Happy hour launches at Jason Cichonski's Ela.
Vientiane Café is expanding in West Philly.
Manakeesh is opening its own smoothie and scoop shop.
Wednesday, May 23
Finnigan's Wake just keeps getting bigger.
Philly celebrates National Escargot Day.
We're hiring a food editor — and yes that includes editing Meal Ticket!
Thursday, May 24
Running down what's in the CP food section for May 24.
Friday, May 25
Xochitl starts brunch service.
Pics inside the kitchen at Morgan's Pier, the new waterfront hang from Four Corners.
Critical Mass made note today of the debut of Morgan's Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd.), Four Corners nightlife capo Avram Hornik's takeover of the old Rock Lobster/Octo spot right on the water. The revamped dockside spot is poised to draw live-music fans in with its promise of live open-air shows/DJs weekly (look out for Dave P and Sammy Slice tomorrow, then Lee Jones and Rich Medina for a Sundae dance party this Sunday), but the food's also a lure. Hornik, along with partners Mark Fichera and Joe Crouse, brought on David Katz of Mémé (2201 Spruce St.) to develop a menu reflecting what'd it be like to hit up a weekend cookout at a chef's house — nothing fancy or over-the-top, but more ambitious and finessed than a ripped-open packet of Dietz & Watson wieners.
This Sunday, Xochitl v. 2.2 (408 S. Second St.) launches brunch under chef Carlos Alonso. As you might expect, it's got a Latin accent with dishes like the sope Benedict, cornmeal pancakes and Bloody Marias. "We really want to keep it affordable," says GM Adam Solomon, which means the menu tops out of at $15 for an Angus steak, huevos and chilaquiles. Brunch goes from 11 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon. Here's the menu (PDF).
Photo: Felicia D'Ambrosio
It's been about three weeks since Rice & Mix (1207 Walnut St.) got fixin' on the opposite side of Broad from owner Yong Chi's Giwa (1608 Sansom St.). Chi, who opened that quickie Korean restaurant in 2006, says franchising has long been a goal of his, but he realized Giwa's menu was too varied to spark in markets lacking a familiarity with Korean cuisine. Since bibimbop — the popular mainstream specialty of pork, beef or chicken mixed with egg, rice and vegetables, often in a lava-hot dolsot (stone bowl) — accounts for 70 percent of food sales at Giwa ("That clearly says it all," says Chi), he figured a separate concept focusing on this dish would have broader appeal.
Around three times the size of Giwa, Rice & Mix (first mentioned here in the fall) operates on a burrito shop or Subway-style point-and-shuffle system — you can watch R&M build you a custom bibimbop bowl or select from a menu of four predetermined favorites. Other menu items include dup bop (simply meat over white or multigrain rice in a bowl), jap chae (the most famous Korean noodle dish), galbi (grilled short ribs) and, soon, bulgogi cheesesteaks and Korean fried chicken. A slew of traditional banchan, or Korean sides, are available to go, too. Full menu after the jump (click to enlarge). Hours: Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Route 6 (600 N. Broad St.) is rolling out brunch for the first time this Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Seafoodish choices from chef Seth High include crab and salmon benedicts, a smoked fish platter (peppered bluefish, smoked salmon or whitefish salad) and a Hangtown Fry with fried oysters, bacon, scallions and jalapeno. Menu here (PDF).
- Rittenhouse Tavern (Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St.) is officially starting brunch service tomorrow. The menu, created by chefs Nick Elmi and Ed Brown, features a.m. dishes like Anson Mills stone-cut oatmeal with caramelized brown sugar, hanger steak and eggs and customizable buckwheat pancakes (plain, with berries or with pan-seared foie gras). And since brunch cocktails are a must, RT's compiled a nice list that includes a Stoudts Pils beermosa and the "Royal Hawaiian" (Gordon's Gin, Velvet Falernum, lemon, pineapple). Their brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Here's the menu (PDF). —Alexandra Weiss
- Tapestry (700 S. Fifth St.), too, launches brunch Saturday. The beer bar's service, which runs both weekend days from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., boasts options like a Grafton cheddar cheese biscuit with a poached egg and sautéed spinach and baguette French toast and buttermilk pancakes with Vermont maple syrup. Full menu (PDF). Bartender Chauncey Scates is also offering a special brunch cocktail list. Tappy just landed a KoldDraft ice machine, too, so look out for those adorably cubic non-melting jams in her drinks soon.
Photo: Neal Santos
The third location of Sabrina's, on Drexel's campus, opened at the beginning of the school year last fall. Along with that September '11 debut at 34th/Powelton came the promise of an associated stop from Robert and Raquel DeAbreu called Spencer ΣTA Burger, grilling a bunned-up selection of sandwiches separate from the café menu. Choices at the patty-centric concept, which properly opened over the weekend, include "Dr. I's Burger" (pictured), topped with Sabrina's huevos rancheros sauce, guac, lime sour cream, tomato, pepper jack and a fried jalapeno; the breakfast-y "Wakey Wakey," a burger on a biscuit topped with grilled sausage, caramelized maple/onion/shallot jam and two over-easy eggs; and the "Ultimate Spencer Burger," a beast boasting everything from poached apples to turkey bacon. Full menu's after the jump. ΣTA Burger will be open on weekends only to capitalize on munchie-stricken party crowds — Thursday from 8 p.m. to midnight, Friday/Saturday from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday from 4 to 10.
Starting Mother's Day — that's this Sunday, kids — Brauhaus Schmitz (718 South St.) begins brunch. From 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon weekly, chef Jeremy Nolen will be preparing German-inspired a.m. eats like eggs benny with acorn-fed Westphalian ham, sourdough pancakes, house-made muesli and yards and yards of wursts. There's a typical "German Breakfast" consisting of sliced meats, cheese, brötchen (German rolls), rye bread, Nutella and a hard-boiled egg, as well as a Bavarian version featuring pretzel, sausage, mustard and hefeweizen. A little banana nectar turns that hefeweizen into a Bananaweiss. So wrong or so right? Here's the full menu (PDF). Check out Brauhaus this Sunday and let us know in NFTW.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Lauren Aukett, a first-time owner, has taken over the Queen Village space that's been Gayle and Hoof + Fin (617 S. Third St.) for Zen-Nor, a "zen-themed" restaurant opening next Wednesday, May 16.
Aukett, a retail manager up to this point, describes the revamped spot as a tribute to her parents — the "Nor" in "Zen-Nor" is her mother Eleanor's nickname, while the concept itself is in honor of her dad, a professional chef who passed away a year and a half ago. The "zen" thing has worked its way into both the décor (they've installed an idyllic pond in the space's beautiful back patio area) and the food, from chef Michael O'Mara, late of South Jersey's M/O Global Bistro. O'Mara, who also worked at Old City's La Truffe (where Swanky Bubbles was) back in the day, has both Asian and French elements on his menu for the BYO. Zen-Nor will serve brunch, as well; both menus are after the jump (click to enlarge).
After a long six months of construction and planning, Spiga (1305 Locust St.) will open its doors this coming Saturday. Chef Brian Wilson, formerly of the posh Le Castagne (1920 Chestnut St.), has teamed up with Giuseppe Sena, Anthony Masapollo (managing partner at Le Castagne) and Skip DiMassa to open the neighborhood spot. "We were just sitting around one night and decided we were crazy enough to open another restaurant," says Wilson.
Wilson and the team renovated Spiga — it translates roughly to "ear" or "spike," as in the stalk from which wheat is harvested — all by themselves. "We want people to come out to have a good meal and enjoy themselves without getting crushed price-wise," says Wilson of his departure from fine dining. The menu reflects this mentality with dishes like polenta fries with garlic aioli; crespelle with roasted eggplant cream, prosciutto and asiago; a strawberry, balsamic onion and robiola cheese pizza; and the Spiga Burger, an Angus beef patty with herbed goat cheese, onion mostarda, Applewood bacon, spinach and fries. Plates range from $4 to $20 for small plates, $12 to $15 for pastas, $12 to $14 for pizzas and $12 to $26 for entrees. Full opening menu after the jump (click to enlarge).
Spiga will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 to 10; Friday from 11 to 11; Saturday from 5 to 11; and Sunday from 11 to 4.
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