|
|
|
Openings
When a restaurant closes "temporarily," the likelihood of it ever reopening is about as slim as a cocktail straw. So good for Yoshi Yamasaki for making good on her promise to get her cheery Mexican coffee shop, Cafe con Chocolate (2100 S. Norwood St.), back in business after shutting down last month to take care of her ailing mama, among other reasons. Missers of CcC's molletes, nachos and Oaxacan cocoa will be able to get their fill starting on May 5, when the cafe reopens at 10 in the morning. Yamasaki is running a special Cinco de Mayo menu (we'll have that for you soon) and there will be live mariachi music from 3 to 6 p.m. Welcome back, guys!
UPDATE [26apr12]: Added Cinco de Mayo menu (PDF).
Photo: Adam Erace
Sowe Bar & Kitchen (22nd and Carpenter), the Divan replacement we first mentioned in February, opens to the public this Wednesday, April 25, at 4 p.m. Here's a look at the neighborhood bistro's dinner, drinks, bar menu and desserts (PDF) — liking the sound of the ricotta gnudi with English peas and morels and the pork belly pastrami sandwich.
There's a serious oven cranking up Andorra way — Pizzeria DiMeo's, located in the shopping center at Henry and Ridge (8500 Henry Ave.), is pie-ing up the hills with father/son team Pino and Antimo DiMeo wielding the peels.
Pino has owned/operated a number of casual by-the-slice pizza parlors since landing in the area from Italy in 1988, but this location is the DiMeo clan's first to truly dedicate itself to the Neapolitan approach, something I learned plenty about when writing this 2010 story on Philly's pizza culture. Pino's hometown is strict about the starting ingredients of its dough — double-zero flour, yeast and water only (don't you dare put olive oil in there!) — and the shop is taking it even further, importing tomatoes, mozzarella and even bottled agua from Italy for their stuff. (It's a heated point of contention among pizzaioli, but Antimo swears up and down the H2O makes a huge difference.) They're plating them by the minute-and-a-half in a very clearly labeled 900-degree oven that burns oak.
Honeygrow (1601 Sansom St.), which starts serving salads and stir-fries next month, has a nifty promo lined up for its premiere. (We first mentioned the place in December.) Owner Justin Rosenberg has earmarked $1,080 of funds to pay customers' parking tickets. Yes really. Here's how it works: Ignore a meter, block a bus zone or commit some other PPA transgression and bring your ticket to Honeygrow on the day it was issued. You'll receive a Honeygrow voucher (up to $36) you can use to match the fine with food. Considering the café's crazy-packed location, we're looking forward to some rockstar parking/eating.
Photo: Courtesy of Honeygrow
As much as it pains us to write about something Pittsburgh-centric following last night's 10-3 drubbing in South Philly, this involves wings so it's OK: The Quaker Steak & Lube brand, which has roughly 50 automotive-themed fast-casual pitstops in the states (11 in PA), is on track to build three on our side of the Commonwealth.
Though most famous for its flappers, "The Lube" also serves up casual Americana fare like burgers and ribs. The chain (referred to collectively as "Lube Nation," hee) should open its first local location in a year from this month. The expansion is being spearheared by Jeff Druzak of Druzak Merchant Development Inc., a medical supply distribution specialist turned restaurant franchisee.
In conclusion, screw the Penguins, go Flyers.
Photo: quakersteakandlube.com
The ever-pedigreed Chris Kearse, who slid in at chef de cuisine at Pumpkin (1713 South St.) in late 2010 and took Ian Moroney and Hillary Bor's BYO in a daringly personal direction, just got the keys to his first-ever solo restaurant. The Bucks County native, who's cooked locally at Lacroix and Blackfish and has stints at meccas like French Laundry, Alinea, Tru and Charlie Trotter in his arsenal, has partnered with the Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation, which owns the small space at 1911 E. Passyunk that should open by late August. Construction is set to begin sometime in June for the restaurant, a 30-or-so-seat BYO that doesn't have a name just yet.
"It'll be more French than [my food] at Pumpkin," says Kearse. "A little more dialed in, a little more finesse ... very creative, but nothing too crazy. I'm very excited for it." Small menu — think five starters and five entrées ($25ish price point). Outdoor seating and Sunday brunch are also in the blueprints. Kearse plans on continuing his gig at Pumpkin right up until he opens. "I don't need time off," he says.
Photo: Drew Lazor
"A celebration of all things old-world" is one line the owners of Bainbridge Street Barrel House (625-27 Bainbridge St.) are using to describe the concept they're currently building out in the old appliance shop at the corner of Sixth and Bainbridge, right next to Bistrot La Minette and across the way from Beau Monde. The 80-seat space, which will also feature room for 40 outdoors, will be a cooper's dream, focused on wines, whiskeys and barrel-aged beers. The food will have a similar artisanal focus, a mixed-up menu accented with aged cheese, plenty of pickles and house-prepped breads and meats. No official word on when the Barrel House will open just yet, but construction's currently underway.
Avram Hornik of Four Corners Management first talked to us about his restoration of NoLibs' venerated jazz club Ortlieb's (847 N. Third St.) in July 2011 — nine months later and the old girl's ready for tunes once more. (It'd been vacant for two years prior.) Officially open at 5 p.m. tonight, the new-look Ortlieb's doesn't have much of a new look at all; it's still got the crimson-lit barroom vibe, centralized stage and old-timers' bar, but plush red-vinyl banquettes in lieu of tableclothed two-tops have freed up the room considerably.
When a casual Sunday stroll on the street where hippies meet revealed an orange sticker at 344 South, I had a sneaking feeling it had something to do with Billy Curry and Copabanana, which has held the Third-and-South corner down for three-and-a-half decades. So I asked Curry, who gave up the info on his new upscale wine, beer and whiskey bar called Redwood that should be open by late spring or early summer.
Huge coup for vegetation-minded Center Citizens: Former Horizons GM Nicole Marquis opened her vegan fast-food joint Hip City Veg (127 S. 18th St., 215-278-7605) in the old Pad Thai Shack yesterday. Steering clear of overt vegan propaganda and preachitude, Marquis' aim with Hip City is to provide a "100 percent plant-based" experience "familiar to meat eaters, without sacrificing affordability or taste." Her chef, Lauren Hooks, is knocking out a menu (see it here in PDF format) with populist appeal — think the "Ziggy" burger, a meatless riff on the Big Mac (yes, with "special sauce"), a crispy "chick'n" sandwich that plays off that popular fast-food option, and salads of the Caribbean, Asian and Mediterranean persuasions, all made with local ingredients. (Those bananas don't count.) That thoughtful approach extends into realms like packaging (compostable) and delivery (by bicycle, Spring Garden to Washington north to south and Front to the bridge east to west).
Hip City Veg has been slammed since opening its doors (here's a real-time shot of the lunch line!), but generous hours should help assuage the demand — they serve daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
