Food and Drinq

You may have wondered: How do those guys do it -- be the executive chef of so many restaurants? Some guys delegate and shuttle like madmen among their holdings. Others carefully pick a successor, which is what Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov have done at Marigold Kitchen in West Philly. (And get this: Solomonov was one of Restaurant Hospitality mag's "Rising Star Chefs" in the December issue.)

They're elevating Erin O'Shea, 36, at left, whom they hired as sous chef a few months ago after she spent time studying with Jimmy Sneed at The Frog & the Redneck in Richmond, Va. Come new year's, she'll change the menu to "modern Southern," befitting the mansion that houses the restaurant. She's fond of small-time artisan companies from Virginia, and she puts up her own pickles and jams. Solomonov then will devote his time to Zahav.

Some dishes: Turnip soup with Virginia ham biscuits; seared cornbread with creamy collards and Virginia wigwam ham, topped with a sunny side up egg; pork tenderloin with creamed collards and house-pickled peaches; Virginia stone-ground grits with shrimp; chicken liver toast with house-pickled celery and fig jam; scallops with tapioca pearls, mussels, and sweet potatoes; and chicken with house-made cornbread, pear stuffing, braised cipollini onions and mustard greens.

Dinner for two will cost about $60.