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Today at Le Bec-Fin (1523 Walnut St.), Georges Perrier and executive chef Nicholas Elmi open Tryst, a more modern bar/lounge replacing the former Le Bar Lyonnais, located downstairs below the main dining room. While the construction schedule is running up to the last minute (this morning, DAS Architects and the GC were on-site installing the glass countertop for the wraparound bar), Meal Ticket stopped by to take some shots before they open the doors this evening at 5 p.m. The lounge, which will stay open late Monday through Saturday, will feature small-plate French fare from Elmi, like truffle and foie gras arancini, jumbo lump crab cocktail, Le Bec's signature caviar and some takes on classic dishes from their menu dégustation. Tryst will also offer an extensive wine list in addition to some brand-spanking-new cocktails, like the Bustier (gin, Cocchi Americano, St. Germain, rhubarb bitters) and the Peach Smash (whiskey, lemon juice, muddled peaches, mint). See the full food and wine menus, plus the cocktail list (PDFs).
MilkBoy (11th and Chestnut), the first city-limits foray for Tommy Joyner and Jamie Lokoff of the Main Line-based MilkBoy Studios and coffee shops, will soft-open this Monday, August 15, at 6 a.m.
The concept's spread out across two floors — ground level's got coffee, a bar and lunch/dinner seating for 56, while the upstairs, which'll debut in mid-September, will host shows, open mics and karaoke. (There's also a bar up here.) The first MilkBoy outpost to hold a liquor license, the space will start out by offering Counter Culture coffee during the day (La Forza will be their house espresso) and booze from happy hour time till 11ish — six crafts on tap, 20 in cans (no bottles; there'll be mounted can crushers so drinkers can smoosh their own empties), pony buckets and 15 or so signature cocktails.
The following Monday is the tentative launch date for lunch and dinner, the menus for which are still being finalized. Expect a lot of the vegan- and veggie-friendly fare available at MilkBoy's Ardmore and Bryn Mawr locations, plus simple pleasures like fries and grilled burgers (neither café has a fryer or a grill). And here's a coup for those who love a good swag get — soon, everyone who comes through will get a free branded MilkBoy beer koozy, the classiest of all frosty beverage receptacles.
MilkBoy's struggles with union protesters have been well-documented by local media, but how's this for a bit of forward-looking kismet? See the last photo above: During construction, the owners uncovered a long-lost vintage dairy bottle in perfect condition.
Popped our heads into Cook (253 S. 20th St.), restaurateur Audrey Claire Taichman's pretty-much-complete Rittenhouse demo kitchen and epicurean boutique, yesterday evening.
The space will not open to the public until Tuesday, Sept. 6, but that hasn't stopped them from opening up online registration for the inaugural season of culinary events, the first of which will feature the don Georges Perrier. (Peep September's scheduled classes in full after the jump.) Moving forward, there'll be both daytime and nighttime classes, touching on everything from breadmaking and cocktail mixing to Vietnamese cooking and grilling.
View galleryThere were a few last-minute changes to the competitive eating portion of the National Watermelon Day festivities at City Tap House (3925 Walnut St.) yesterday evening. They broke the competition into two rounds: The first gave contestants 150 seconds to eat as much watermelon — sourced from Misty Mountain Farm via the Fair Food Farmstand — as possible, on the premise that those who ate the most, without using their hands, would move on to the finals. Contestants wearing costumes, such as the guy dressed as a cheeseburger, were given 15-second head start.
At the the end of time, the judges selected the biggest eaters for round two. All of these finalists were given two melon quarters, with the first eater to scarf down to the rinds winning the whole thing. That was Henry Yin, who received $200 cash for his efforts, with the rest of the competitors earning $25 Tap House gift cards. (The original prize, Kings of Leon tickets, had to be nixed after the band cancelled the remainder of its summer tour.)
Tap House beer steward Andy Farrell says the night was such a hit that he hopes to host similar events seasonally. Don't be surprised if you hear about a pumpkin beer night — and pumpkin pie-eating contest — this fall.
We've been talking about Tashan, Tiffin owner Munish Narula's long-planned upscale Indian restaurant at 777 S. Broad, for more than a year now, and it looks like the project is finally close enough for the team to begin trickling out a handful of details about the menu. Exec chef Sylva Senat, who helped us out for our recent Meal Ticket Magazine piece on mise en place, had us over to Tiffin's flagship Girard Avenue location late last week to taste a handful of proposed Tashan dishes. (The restaurant hopes to open in early September.)
Yesterday we shared all the menus for The Twisted Tail (509 S. Second St.), the "bourbon house and juke joint" from bartender-about-town George Reilly and chef Michael Stevenson. It opens tonight at 4 p.m. but swung by a little earlier this afternoon for a few photos.
Reilly's taken the bilevel space, formerly Kildare's, and brushed everything up with some polished rock 'n' roll touches (check out Stevie Ray, Janis and the other luminaries looking over you in the downstairs dining room). Upstairs level features another bar (the bourbon barrels bolstering each corner are a cool touch), a rec-type room (with shuffleboard!) and a small stage, complete with drum kit and operational guitars on the walls for visiting musicians who might've forgot their ax at home.
Get all the info on booze and food (Stevenson will focus on the grill in Twisted Tail's kitchen) via yesterday's post, or check out the opening dinner menu, opening beer/wine list and opening whiskey list (PDFs).
The Aksumite Empire, the ancient traders' nation based in northeastern Africa, is the inspiration for Saba Tedla's new café/hookah lounge Aksum (4630 Baltimore Ave.) set to open within days in West Philly. (We first mentioned it in March.) Although she considers herself a local, Tedla's lineage ties to the historical kingdom and country of Eritrea are inspiring her recipes, which she describes as healthy, light and authentically fresh. "I have a passion for good food, and I really wanted to present more options for our neighborhood," says Tedla." Something with a chic vibe."
By working with the neighborhood, for whom she provided a series of experimental tastings, Tedla gained feedback to create a menu of small and large plates meant for sharing. Favorites include a fresh strawberry/avocado salad as well as a fattush salad, a mix of fresh veggies and spices. Other items will include homemade hummus, a spicy pulled chicken wrap, lamb stew and seared mahi mahi. In addition to serving brunch on the weekend, Tedla is keeping the spot open until 11 p.m. most nights. While Aksum doesn’t have a liquor license just yet, Tedla encourages all to bring a bottle, grab some bites, smoke some sheesha and enjoy both indoor and outdoor seating.
Photos: Nicole Rossi
Screw your stupid Ford Mustang — the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, is, without question, America's vehicle. That's why I, a red-blooded tubesteak fanatic with more than 27 years of hot dog-eating experience on my CV, nearly convulsed with exultation when I was offered a chance to put my whole body inside the most iconic wiener in this great country's history. (This idiot has sullied the name. FOR SHAME.)
Dropped into the brand-new second location of Raw Sushi & Sake Lounge in The Piazza this weekend after the first-ever Philadelphia Vendy Awards (more on that a little later today). Three places to perch here — at the open-air bar, which is right off the Piazza grounds; the dining room, done up with movable two-tops and a big wraparound banquette; and the sushi bar, peering directly into the state-of-the-art kitchen. Dinner hours are pretty more or less identical to Raw's original location at 1225 Sansom — Sun.-Tue., 5-9:30 pm.; Wed.-Thu., 5-10:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-11:30 p.m. Management says lunch service will kick off on Monday, July 25. Check out more photos after the jump. We've also got chef Sam Yoon's opening sushi and hot-entrée menu, which features an all-new robata (Japanese barbecue skewer) section and fishy options galore. Click 'em to enlarge.
Here are some shots of the cavalcade of marketing-minded cattle that took to the Philadelphia streets this past Wednesday to celebrate the 16th anniversary of Chick-fil-A's "Eat More Chikin" campaign. Tasty sandwiches/fries/nugs and generous street teams notwithstanding, gotta say that we're a little put off by the dead, slightly sullen look in all those jet-black bovine eyes. Kinda reminds us of Michael Pitt's character in Murder by Numbers. Shudder. I'LL EAT MORE CHICKEN OK I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT JUST LET THE GIRL GO
Photos: Courtesy of Chick-fil-a
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