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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.
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.
Took a quick spin through the fast-approaching Rittenhouse Tavern yesterday — the Restaurant Associates-helmed restaurant in the Art Alliance (251 S. 18th St.) is polishing up for a Tuesday, April 24 public debut. Run in front and back of house by Dan Elliott and Nicholas Elmi respectively, the Tavern is hoping to wedge into that very specific upscale-casual niche once lorded over in this neighborhood by Brasserie Perrier and Striped Bass — not stuffy or stilted, but dead serious about its food and drink. As you can see from the pics, no starched tablecloths, just pretty wood and mod banquettes throughout the multi-room concept. And R'house al fresco addicts will surely be geeked over the Tavern's flower-framed outdoor patio, accessible both through the main Alliance entrance on 18th and a gate along the building's park-facing side. Hearing that management is toying with the idea of teasing out impromptu happy hour-type events for this open-air space via Twitter.
View galleryGarces Group has decided to turn its westward charge eastward — Jose and Co. are opening three new restaurants in Atlantic City. Located in Revel, the newly built casino on the AC boardwalk that already houses a bunch of restaurants, Garces' Jersey expansion includes new locations of Amada, Village Whiskey and Distrito.
Nom Nom Ramen (20 S. 18th St.), which we featured in our March 15 cover story ahead of its March 20 rollout, has been easing its way in Philly noodledom with limited dinner services. As of this week they're grooving along nicely, slinging soups from 5 to 8 — except tonight, actually, as owner Alan Su is currently trekking up to New York to scoop up an emergency supply of his custom-built noodles from Ramen Lab, a subsidiary of the Sun brand. He'll be back in action tomorrow, and in the coming weeks, they'll stroll into a schedule of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weeknights and 11 to 11 Fridays and Saurdays, with the possibility of preventative-hangover late-night service in the near future.
Many people seem to think the under-the-radar Brick American Eatery, which occupies the old Fish space (1708 Lombard St.), is a new Mike Stollenwerk endeavor. Is it a meatier spin-off from the seafood maestro? Negative, though that was the plan at one point. Jolly Weldon of Jolly's Piano Bar (1420 Locust St.) is now heading up the business. "I've always liked the space, and one of my partners at Jolly's is a partner of Mike's," says Weldon of the lead-up to the transaction. He's teamed up with Stollenwerk, whose role is "consulting chef," and partners Jason DiDomenico (the GM), Judy Taraborrelli and Jon Anderson to convert the G-Ho space (most famously Astral Plane) into an affordable, approachable neighborhood restaurant.
The Local 44-associated bottle shop we first mentioned nearly a year ago is ready for action — Brendan Hartranft and Leigh Maida will open the doors to the long-in-the-works addition, just a few feet east of the Spruce Street side of L44 (4333 Spruce St.), today at 3 p.m. To incentivize: One free cask pour of Yards ESA per visitor.
"People think of Local 44 when they think of beer in this neighborhood," says Maida, so opening a retail space was a logical move for them. Their cold case features upward of 500 mix-a-six choices, and beer geeks will flip over the library-style large-format selection, situated up a short set of stairs in the back. (We spy Jolly Pumpkin La Roja, Dogfish Head Noble Rot, Kriek de Ranke, Lost Abbey Serpent Stout and Aventinus among the options.) There are a few bar seats up near the register for drinkers to crack open their purchases, or have a few glasses off the Local 44 beer engine, which has been routed this-a-way to provide shoppers a fresh-poured respite.
The bottle shop will be open Sunday to Thursday from noon to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from noon to midnight. The phone number, awesomely, is 215-222-CANS.
Last night marked the debut of Popolino (501 Fairmount Ave.), the new BYO from most-Italian-Irishman-we-know Peter McAndrews. Translating to "commoner" in the Roman dialect, Popolino is a trattoria focused on both recognizable dishes from The City of Seven Hills and age-of-empires preparations reinterpreted. "It felt like Rome," McAndrews says of the former Lafayette Bistro's existing interior columns and touches. (Gesturing toward a mythological relief on the wall: "Look at that, freakin' Zeus!") It's the unrecognizable-to-most ancient era of Roman cooking that excites McAndrews the most. "You would be surprised how much food you can actually do when you're doing Roman," he says.
The long lines outside the National Constitution Center yesterday had nothing to do with its ongoing Bruce Springsteen exhibition. Once inside, the dense crowds of beer drinkers had zip to do with the continuing St. Patrick's Day preview. OK, not exactly zip.
This was the crazy scene yesterday afternoon at the corner of 22nd and Christian — a fire originating somewhere in the second-floor kitchen of The Sidecar forced the bar staff and guests to evacuate onto the street to make way for Philly firefighters, who swarmed the building and climbed the roof to inspect the output of the hood system. Owner Adam Ritter reports that the scene was much more dramatic than the fire itself — "a small fire, with lots of cleanup." Crap timing on a busy weekend with beautiful weather and plenty of residual Craft Beer Express business, to say nothing of the brand-spanking newness of the second floor and kitchen. Good news, though: No one was injured, and The Sidecar will reopen for business tonight with a limited food menu.
Thanks to Steve Stiefel for the photos.
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