Last call is Sunday (3/30) at Gioia Mia, Fabrizio Pace and Peter Kokalari's Italian restaurant at 2025 Sansom St. They have a line on a new location, inside 1500 Market St. (commonly known as the Clothespin building.) More to come on that project, whose name will be Roman Bar & Grille. (Or possibly Roman Bar & Grill, without the "e." "Whichever is cheaper to print," Kokalari said, chuckling. Lease is not signed; they're hoping for a June opening.
New occupant of 2025 Sansom will be Noble, a partnership involving Todd Rodgers, Bruno Pouget and chef Steven Cameron of Blue in Surf City, N.J. Blue, incidentally, will open May 8 for its 11th summer season.
Rodgers describes Noble, which they'd like to open in November, as a seasonal modern American with a focus on fresh local ingredients. It will offer a boutique wine list of small producers, as well as local brews and bartenders who specialize in classic cocktails.
Cameron, chef at Blue, recently was named a semifinalist for the 2008 James Beard Award for Best Chef mid-Atlantic.
Pouget, creator of Caribou Cafe (he sold to Olivier de St Martin), is a partner with URBANSPACEDEVELOPMENT in Apothecary Lounge, a project at 102 S. 13th St. that was first mentioned here back in October. Apothecary, a small-plater with a fancy-sounding approach* to cocktails, is still under construction, and seems a couple of months out.
* Pouget rhapsodizes about an apothecary-style bar setup allowing "bespoke cocktails," whereupon the patron helps call the shots, as it were.