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Openings
Last summer, Philly native Lexi Malmros started dreaming about the marriage of beer and cupcakes. This January, things started cooking, literally, as the culinary-school grad began to experiment with recipes. Out of her trial-and-error and Twitter brainstorming came the "King's Cup," a cupcake with Heath Bar cake and coffee buttercream icing, both made with Victory Brewing Co.'s Storm King Stout. So began Malmros' Beer Cakes project. She's sure to stress that her cupcakes are not just inspired by local brews: "I make cakes that taste like beer!" she proclaims. Her latest recipe sounds good, too: strawberry banana cake with strawberry banana buttercream icing, both made with Lancaster Brewing's Strawberry Wheat.
Beer Cakes are not yet available commercially, but that's the goal: Malmros has a Kickstarter set up, aiming to raise enough to pursue a local storefront with beer for drinking while folks wait for their cupcakes to be baked to order. Malmros' big-picture aspirations also include a food truck and locations in other cities that will focus on cupcakes made with beer from area craft breweries.
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.
On Tuesday, Greg Vernick, his wife Julie and GM Ryan Mulholland opened Vernick Food & Drink (2031 Walnut St.), the well-traveled chef's long-planned solo joint after years cooking all over the world for Jean-Georges Vongerichten and more recently at NYC's Toqueville. See our March 20 post for more background on the concept, food Vernick characterizes as "radically simple" — examples he cooked up for us the other day included his tuna with soy-laced tomato compote, charred spinach and leek toast, whole roasted organic Amish chicken and whole roasted "pocketbook-cut" dorade. Those last three items are a few examples of dishes Vernick is preparing in his Wood Stone oven, which he rocks around 550 degrees in the tucked-away open kitchen of the restaurant's ground floor. There's a chef's counter and room for walk-ins back here; heading back toward the street you've got the bar, featuring beer, wine and cocktail selections curated by Mulholland. Diners with reservations will mostly kick it in the restaurant's bright, clean-lined second-floor dining room.
Opening food and drink menus for Vernick are after the jump (click to enlarge). Right now they're open Tuesday to Sunday from 4:30 to 11.
Peaceful little Lansdowne is on the food come-up as of late — already home to the excellent BYO Sycamore (14 S. Lansdowne Ave.), the annual farmers market in the nearby DelCo suburb is close to launch, as is the second restaurant from the Sycamore team Adam Erace noted in February. (Hearing the name NoBL, as in north of Baltimore and Lansdowne avenues, as a possible moniker.) And here's another new arrival to the party: Argana Moroccan Cuisine, inhabiting the old diner space actually at the corner of Lansdowne and Baltimore. The friendly joint (also tree-themed, shoutout to the arboreal trend), open for lunch and dinner, is cooking a straight-ahead selection of Moroccan classics — lamb, chicken and kefta tagines, couscous, seafood pastilla, etc. — in a fam-friendly BYO atmosphere. Full menu after the jump (click to enlarge). Hours: Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
The old Dairy Queen on South, right next to Manny Brown's on the 500 block, is now home to a location of the N.Y. Bagel Cafe and Deli chain. Operating long hours (6 a.m. to 9ish on weekdays, with a 7 a.m. start and later evening hours on weekends), the shop, open since last week, offers a hunky selection of bagels and sandwiches with eggs and Boar's Head meats, plus some salads, pastry items and whatnot. Their full menu is after the jump (click to enlarge).
The Boot & Saddle, located at 1131 S. Broad Street, will reopen its doors and relight its unmistakable sign in 2013, as decided by the Zoning Board of Adjustment yesterday afternoon. The ZBA has granted its blessing with the provision that the neighborhood not be affected by noise.
Avram Hornik of Four Corners Management, who runs spots like Lucy's Hat Shop, the Drinker's bars, Union Transfer and the recently reopened Ortlieb's, plans on bringing live music booked by R5 Productions to the venue, which hasn't been operational for more than a decade. Hornik has worked with the Passyunk Square Civic Association and the South Broad Street Neighborhood Association (SBSNA) on compromises to avoid disturbing neighbors.
Common Grounds is a coffee shop with a mission. Back in 2010, Andrew Lemon, a youth pastor at Wyncote's Calvary Assembly of God, wanted to make the most of the newly renovated church at the corner of Wayne Avenue and Washington Lane in Germantown. "I had always wanted to do something with that space," says Lemon, who started Common Grounds in September of that year. The premise behind the program was providing kids and adults with something productive and community-oriented to do on Friday evenings. Common Grounds currently showcases local artists, musicians and poets and provides free coffee and light snacks.
"The community embraced us very quickly," says Lemon. "People keep asking when we're going to open a full shop." They're well on their way: Lemon just wrapped up a HelpersUnite campaign (same idea as Kickstarter) to raise funds to expand Common Grounds into a fully functional coffee house. Half of the donations will go toward buying equipment, like espresso and ice machines, while the other half will go into startup costs. For now, Common Grounds congregates every second, third and fourth Friday of the month at 6300 Wayne Avenue. To lend support to their goal, contact them online or send donations to Calvary Assembly of God at 7910 Washington Lane, Wyncote, Pa., 19095.
Photo: commongroundscoffee.org
About a month back, Cafe Chismosa (900 N. Fourth St.) replaced Almanac Market at Fourth and Poplar. Chef/owner Jugo Stevcic is running Chismosa as a café in the a.m., with eggy sandwiches/dishes, seasonal scones and One Village Coffee. By lunch/dinner, it becomes a Latin-inspired BYO operation, with tortas (the "El Cerdo," with carnitas, Granny Smith apple, queso blanco and an apple/lemon gravy for dipping), quesadillas and simple ceviches. Here's the full menu (PDF). For what it's worth: En espanol, Chismosa is slang for a prolific female smack-talker, so ready your best neighborhood gossip to share with Stevcic as he fixes your smoked scallop and quinoa avocado salad. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 8 to 8 and Sunday from 9 to 3 (closed Mondays).
Photo: Cafe Chismosa on Facebook
On May 10, Annie Baum-Stein and Mauro Daigle of West Philly's Milk & Honey Market (4435 Baltimore Ave.) will cut the ribbon on their new location in Sister Cities Park (18th Street and Logan Square), right near the new Barnes Foundation. "We're excited to be on the other side of the river and to be a part of the new park," says Baum-Stein. This spot will be strictly cafe, no market, with the same menu of sandwiches (don't sleep on their Coppa Caprese, made with Claudio's mozz and coppa), soups, smoothies and bakery snacks served in West Philly. "We'll also be carrying fun little gift items like butterfly nets, heirloom seeds and, of course, honey," she says, referencing her Urban Apiaries line of city-made bee nectar. And parents, look alive: M&H is teaming up with the Academy of Natural Sciences for birthday party packages for your little ones.
Photo: milkandhoneymarket.com
We posted some preview pics of Rittenhouse Tavern (Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St.) a few weeks ago, and the day we teased then has arrived — tonight at 5 p.m., exec chef Nicholas Elmi (formerly of Le Bec-Fin) and "chef collaborator" Ed Brown (VP of Restaurant Associates) along with FOH manager Dan Elliott, are opening the Tavern's doors officially after some sneak-peek services over the weekend.
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