« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 »
Usually a closed-for-renovations sign means out-of-business.
At Pat Bombino's in Bella Vista, it simply means they're setting up the bar as the place is fixing to get a liquor license. I'm told that the casual red-gravy house will reopen later this week with drinks.
Restaurant critic Craig LaBan talked to John Bucci, owner of John's Roast Pork, who is in Jeanes Hospital being treated for cancer. Here's an update.
Peter Lamlein retired a couple of weeks ago and closed Overtures, the French-Mediterranean spot on Passyunk off South Street that was a BYOB back when BYOBs weren't cool.
He opened in October 1991.
Back in March, I wrote about plans for Garlic, a combo coffeeshop, salad stop and brick-oven pizzeria with a bar in the RiverWest condos at 21st and Chestnut Streets.
Victor Fellus, a partner in Old City's Soho Pizza, hopes to open by the end of June and he has switched the name from Garlic to Mix Brick-Oven Pizzeria. Why? "Because it's a mix," he says.
Which brings up a sore issue: The naming of restaurants. Garlic may not have been the most original name, but "Mix"? There's Mixto on Pine Street -- not to be confused with the now-closed Misto in Cherry Hill -- and MIX in Vegas and MIXX at the Borgata in A.C. (There's also a club called mur.mur at the Borgata, which sounds like a medical condition.)
Chef change at Snackbar at 20th and Rittenhouse: Jonathan McDonald left last month. He tells Food & Drinq that he wants to take some time off before the September birth of a baby with his girlfriend, Melissa.
Sous-chef Joshua Homacki took over the Snackbar kitchen. He's formerly of Lacroix and, prior to that, the Freight House in Doylestown. New menu items include: crab cakes with black bean/edamame salad and meyer lemon aioli, chilled corn soup with avocado, salmon with lobster/pea risotto and carrot emulsion. The full menu is now available until 1 a.m., seven days (bar open until 2.)
The Top Shelf II at 1433 Arch St., for years an old man's bar across from the Municipal Services Building, is undergoing a quite dramatic transformation into a glitzy seafood grill called Big Bang's.
(Bang happens to be one name of the owner, who so far opts to remain publicity-shy.)
It looks to be about a month from opening.
I think Bang is brilliantly forward-thinking, opting for this location, just off 15th and Arch. A few doors down, at the old YMCA and Distric Attorney's Office at 1421 Arch St., construction proceeds on the 202-room Le Meridien hotel. Around the next corner will be the new western end of the Convention Center.
Sansom Street Oyster House is closed, and owner Cary Neff is not talking about it.
He filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 last month, and the next move will belong to David Mink, who still owns the building at 1516 Sansom St.
Mink is expected to reopen SSOH soon, with his son in charge.
Mink, whose dad Sam owned Kelly's on Mole Street, founded SSOH in 1976. In 1999, Neff joined David Mink as chef of the restaurant. In September 2000, Neff bought the business.
Neff last year opened Coquette, a French spot at Fifth and Bainbridge Streets. It's unaffected by Sansom Street's closing.
Striped Bass will close at the end of the month as owner Stephen Starr says he'll turn the seafood destination restaurant this fall into a ’40s-supper-club-style steakhouse called Butcher & Singer Steak & Seafood.
Starr told staffers moments ago that they’d be offered jobs at his other eateries, including Parc, the French bistro that he will open July 1 on nearby Rittenhouse Square
Butcher & Singer was the name of the brokerage firm that occupied the space at 15th and Walnut Streets before Striped Bass opened in 1994.
Starr told me that he has an Oct. 1 opening targeted and will put $2 million into renovations including oversize Hollywood-style booths and lamps on the tables. Average dinner check will be $85 a person, about $25 less than Striped Bass.
Starr bought Striped Bass out of bankruptcy in late 2003 for $1.3 million, put a million into renovations and reopened in April 2004.
Striped Bass, the dream of boyhood pals Joe Wolf and Neil Stein, joined the Pennsylvania Convention Center in ushering a new era of tourism-fueled nightlife in Center City under then-new mayor Ed Rendell.
With the showman Stein leading the PR parade, Striped Bass got oceans of ink, especially for its first chef Alison Barshak, who became a star almost overnight. Barshak, who quit in 1996, now owns Alison at Blue Bell and is building a second restaurant in Fort Washington. Stein bought out Wolf in 1997. Wolf is now director of operations for Georges Perrier. Stein, who served nearly a year in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion surrounding the collapse of his empire, is planning a comeback in the biz .
For years, we've seen those amusing commercials for Sonic Drive-In, which unlike other quick-serve chains offers American Graffiti-style car-hop service, a la Weber's in New Jersey.
I found the commercials interesting for another reason. Before last year, a Philadelphian had to drive at least five hours to get to one. A call out to headquarters asking, "Why are you spending money on advertising in TV markets nowhere near your customers?" was met with a chipper answer: "Someday, we'll be there and we want y'all to know about us."
She really did say, "y'all," her being in Oklahoma and all.
To make a short story long, the first Sonic in the Philadelphia SMSA will open Wednesday (6/11) at 37 W. Ridge Pike in Royersford.
The eatery has 25 drive-in stalls, two walk-up ordering stations and a drive-through.
The drive-in opens at 6 a.m. with breakfast, and the full menu is available all day.
More are on the way. I just spoke to Patrick Lim, who with his father, Jaime, owns the franchise for Lower Bucks and Camden County as well as rights for sites in Philadelphia. The Lims, hoping for 10 Sonics, just broke ground on their first store at 1525 Street Rd. in Bensalem (between the Texas Roadhouse and the Golden Corral, speaking of chains); it should be open in mid-August. Their next is up for November in Levittown Shopping Center, joining Home Depot, Walmart and Ross. They're looking for sites in the Far Northeast, plus Audubon, Clementon and Voorhees.
Don Welsh, the franchisee opening in Royersford, has a location planned for December next to the Redner's in Oxford, Chester County, and hopes to open next year in Pottstown, Malvern and Oaks. Welsh also has two in Lancaster and Morgantown.
Some boilerplate from the company:
SONIC, America’s Drive-In (NASDAQ/NM: SONC) started as a hamburger and root beer stand in 1953 in Shawnee, Okla., called Top Hat Drive-In, and then changed its name to SONIC in 1959. The first drive-in to adopt the SONIC name is still serving customers in Stillwater, Okla. As the nation’s largest chain of drive-in restaurants, SONIC has more than 3,400 drive-ins coast to coast. More than a million customers eat at SONIC every day; and with more drink combinations than any other quick-service restaurant – more than 168,000 to be exact – SONIC is Your Ultimate Drink StopSM. For more information about Sonic Corp. and its subsidiaries, visit SONIC at www.sonicdrivein.com.
(Speaking of commercials: Can someone please get the Independence Blue Cross commercials with the song "I Wish I Knew What I Know Now" off the Phillies broadcasts?)
21 West Philly restaurants, July 24-31, three courses, $15, $25 or $30. List here.
David Katz weighs in with details of his new restaurant, which will occupy the corner of 22nd and Spruce Streets.
He's calling it Mémé -- say it like "may-may."
"That is what we call grandmother in the Moroccan-Jewish culture. Still kind of ironing out concept, but I know it will be a casual neighborhood driven restaurant."
Beer and wine. September opening. Here's the spaceholder Web site.
Current occupant of the space is Melograno, which will relocate to 2010 Sansom Street. Its lease is up at the end of July.
Katz won raves as chef at the now-closed Restaurant M. He spent a short time at Silk City. His plan to open a restaurant at 24th and Locust Streets was scuttled after neighborhood opposition.
... will be June 21, says Stephen Starr.
Wednesday (6/11) marked the debut of Plaza Cafe, the outdoor operation run by Table 31 in front of the Comcast Center on the JFK Boulevard side between 17th and 18th Streets. (Sorry to interrupt, but Comcast's video wall in the lobby is mindblowing, in a Big Brother kind of way. Stop over and gawk.)
Plaza Cafe is set up beneath a giant pergola, with squirting fountains and an outdoor kitchen. Menu is mainly apps, sushi/maki and sandwiches.
Here's the opening Plaza Cafe menu. (No drinks or drink prices were available.)
Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays for lunch; 5:30 to 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, till midnight Fridays and Saturdays for dinner. There's a happy hour 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays.
Table 31 (inside) opens for lunch on Tuesday (6/17).
Because tourists are clearly incapable of walking a block to the Bourse, or a couple blocks to LaScala's or to Jones or to Benny's Place or to Chinatown or to all of Old City... The Independence Visitor Center at Sixth and Market has opened an outdoor café, Independence Al Fresco. Menu includes cheesesteaks, sandwiches, ice cream, drinks and snacks.
Hours:
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through mid-June
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting mid-June
11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the Fourth of July weekend
Manayunk has been fairly quiet for quite some time.
For a decade back in the late 1980s and 1990s, the onetime mill town by the Schuylkill was the go-to strip, hopping with new retail and restaurants. But by 1997, a movement backed by parking-strapped residents and abetted by restaurateurs who felt that more competition was bad lobbied their district councilman, Michael Nutter, to get Council to approve a five-year restaurant moratorium.
In the meantime, the new-restaurant action at least moved to Old City, Northern Liberties and Queen Village.
On Wednesday (6/11), Manayunk moved a step closer to getting fresh life: a "riverwalk" of storefronts and restaurants along the towpath that follows the canal behind Main Street, which would spark things up in the rear of the commercial strip. A City Council committee yesterday sent a bill to the full Council to allow an elevated outdoor deck behind Bourbon Blue restaurant at 2 Rector St. The Historical Commission and Licenses & Inspections also have to approve.
Such an idea had been floated 20 years ago by developer Dan Neducsin and Manayunk Development Corp.'s Kay Sykora, but it was new Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. -- who calls the towpath an "underutilized treasure" -- who got the project rolling. Part of the challenge was determining the value of "air rights" to the land out back, which is owned by the Fairmount Park Commission. The decks would overhang the towpath.
Under Council Bill #080540, Bourbon Blue would pay $20 per square foot a year for a 410-square-foot deck that would overhang half the towpath. (No music, cooking or "visual clutter" would be allowed outside.) Bourbon Blue would be the first of possibly 25 retailers and restaurateurs to develop along the towpath, which draws walkers across the Schuylkill from Lower Merion over the Green Lane Bridge.
Such riverwalks exist in San Antonio, Texas; Wilmington, N.C.; and New Orleans.
See the plan, including drawings, here.
Francesco Parmisciano and Sonny DeCarlo have soft-opened Da Vinci, their Italian BYO at 1533 S. 11th St. (215-336-3636), on the square where 11th, Passyunk and Tasker meet. It's the old Tre Scalini, which moved a few blocks away to 1915 E. Passyunk in early 2007.
Da Vinci managed to open fairly quickly, as Parmisciano (who cheffed in the Lamberti organization for a dozen years) and DeCarlo struck a deal less than 60 days ago. They're planning seating in the courtyard, whose alleyway would allow wheelchair access. DeCarlo wants to have an artist on premises (a la Leonardo) to sketch patrons.
It's dinner only, seven nights (3 p.m. seating on Sunday). Menu encompasses all of Italy, and contains few of the same old/same old.
Antipasti include prosciutto/cantalope ($9) and an antipasto platter ($11), plus interesting dishes such as cozze Leonardo (sauteed mussels in a garlic-white wine-tomato sauce with mini crab meatballs, $11).
Pastas include gnocchi with tuna in oil and olives in a red gravy ($16); risotto with calamari, shrimp and clams with onion, carrots, celery and asparagus ($17); and spaghetti with artichoke hearts, clams, shrimp and topped with ricotta salata ($18).
It's clear from the mains ($20 to $23) that Parmisciano likes his raisins. There are raisins in the breaded veal cutlet (with garlic, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes and basil in a sweet-and-sour sauce) and in the veal rollantini (which is stuffed with ham, raisins, pecorino dolce, herbs and topped with a shallot-and-wine sauce). Chicken comes two ways: as a chicken breast stuffed with toasted almonds, chopped ham, garlic, oregano and lemon zest and then topped with a wine-lemon sauce, and as a grilled chicken breast topped with gorgonzola, toasted walnut and balsamic reduction.
Ben Byruch has pulled the plug on Sonam, his BYO yearling in the subterranean space at 223 South St.
He couldn't be reached directly, but an associate cites the South Street reconstruction project as not helping matters.
The spot previously housed The Table and Next.
What's going on at El Camino Real (that's Owen Kamihira's new project at the former Deuce, across from his Bar Ferdinand in Northern Liberties)?
Major construction. Kamihira had the place gutted.
Chef Jen Zavala, who says they're hoping to launch in mid-August, has been in the area for eight months after a career and life that took her places such as Connecticut, California (where she owned a restaurant) and New Jersey. Zavala worked in the kitchen at Deuce but Kamihira found her at Silk City.
She's working out of Bar Ferdinand to develop her menu, which she says will fit quite nicely into El Camino Real's Mexican-border-bar theme. She's planning "real smokehouse barbecue." Zavala's grandmother is from Yucatán -- specifically the Chichen Itza area.
Speaking of Northern Liberties: Stephen Simons, half of the team from Royal Tavern, Cantina Los Caballitos and the Khyber, finally confirmed that he and Dave Frank are behind a new restaurant on the site of Azure. Simons says three concepts are in consideration for the space.
Tom Block of Naked Chocolate Cafe tells Food & Drinq that he's signed on to do a second spot, at 31 S. 18th St. That's the side of the United Plaza Building facing Continental Mid-town, on 18th St. just north of Chestnut.
This location will have more seating than the original at 1317 Walnut St. -- including patio space and a mezzanine that can accommodate parties. He says he's hoping to open in October.
El Fuego, the Cali-style Mexican quick-serve at 723 Walnut St., is about three weeks from a second spot, 2104 Chestnut St., across from the future Mix.
This outlet from John McNamee and Garrett Goggin will have a liquor license, which will be deployed in the form of a service bar — a rarity for such operations in Philly. Patrons can order beers and margaritas at the register; they’ll be served in real glass, and patrons can take the drinks to their tables. (No waiters, remember?)
The front will feature flip-open windows, and it will serve till 2 a.m. later in the week, they say.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in your hometown of Chicago...
Jose Garces, chef-owner behind the Philly Spanish hits Amada and Tinto, was quizzed by the Chicago paper Centerstage Chicago:
Q. Which reigns supreme, the Philly cheesesteak or Italian beef?
A. There's really no comparison. Italian beef and fast food in general is such a Chicago staple. You know with Phillyites, I might get some crap about it, but I personally think the cheesesteak is overrated — strictly from a culinary perspective — the way they cook the meat. I tend to feel like it's almost poached. They use good quality rib eye, but I'm not crazy about the consistency.
"Phillyites"?
Parc -- Stephen Starr's brasserie -- is hurtling toward a July 1-ish opening date. Bradlee Bartram and Michael Palermo, two Starr execs, gave me a quick tour.
Parc occupies the entire corner of 18th and Locust Streets. The bar/lounge occupies the former Bleu space that looks out to Rittenhouse Square on the 18th Street side. It also takes a portion of the former lobby of the Sheraton Rittenhouse Square. The dining room and kitchen occupy half of the former restaurant called Potcheen. All told, there will be 200 seats.
The look will be pure brasserie. The designers/decorators scoured antique shops for various pieces. The coat check, for example, is a wooden ticket booth from an old theater. Flooring in the dining room is old barn wood. A tin ceiling has been distressed and looks pre-smoking ban. Handpainted wall tiles look a hundred years old, as does the mosaic-tile floor in the lounge.
It's not really photographable yet -- between the painters and the electricians scurrying about -- but I managed to capture a few details. Dominique Filoni, the chef, has but a staff of two, but expects to hire dozens in the next week. He's in the final menu-testing phase, and he has a big room of equipment to do it.
1. A construction worker's eye view of the square, from what will be the lounge.
2. A handpainted wall tile.
3. A detail of the mosaic floor in the lounge.
4. Chef Dom Filoni (left) reviews tarts with Starr VP Bradlee Bartram.
5. Filoni's menu for a tasting session.
Thursday (6/19) is the firm opening of King of Tandoor, a white-tablecloth Indian BYO at 1824 Callowhill St. in Franklintown, down the block from Sabrina's and a few doors from the still-under-construction Kite & Key Tavern.
Owner Mohammed Islam is counting on future boom in this relatively quiet part of town. Developer David Grasso has a late-2010 opening plan for his nearby Intercontinental Hotel/Best Buy/Whole Foods project that he calls The Vine.)
Here are a couple shots of the dining room at King of Tandoor, which seemed all ready to go during my swing-by on 6/17.
Bottom photo is one of two ... how to best say it? ... bold chandeliers.
Fast-paced world we live in... Chef Jason Peabody has left the weeks-old sports bar beneath the Bellevue for points unknown. His sous chef, Ray Barnes, has been promoted.
A neat space is on the market: It's the ground-floor corner, facing 15th Street, South Penn Square and City Hall, at the soon-to-be-completed 48-story Residences at the Ritz Carlton in Philadelphia.
Steve Gartner of Metro Commercial says the 2,400 square feet will have 16-foot-high panoramic windows and a deep sidewalk for outdoor dining.
Last October, Bruce Cooper was in the planning phase of the more casual Cooper's Brick-Oven Wine Bar, next door to his longtime Manayunk fave, Jake's.
Cooper's is now about a month out ("second week of July"), and Cooper lets on that Jake's will be tweaked a bit.
Jake's bar, in the window on Main Street, will move next door into Cooper's, and Jake's bar area will be turned into casual seating. More significantly, Jake's menu will be steered away from entrees toward appetizers and what Cooper calls "in-between plates."
Cooper plans to close Jake's for a few days around the time of Cooper's opening for the construction.
Meantime: Here are Cooper's menu and its wine list, and Jake's forthcoming menu. Prices have not been set.
Bonefish Grill's Newtown Square location (4889 West Chester Pike) opens Saturday (6 to 8:30 p.m.) with a fund-raiser to benefit Living Beyond Breast Cancer. For a $25 donation, attendees get two drinks, appetizers and a main course tasting. All proceeds go to the charity.
Jose Garces ordered up a customized VW Beetle to serve as a booth (seats two or four) in his stylin' new Mexican restaurant, Distrito, which opens at 3945 Chestnut St. in mid-July.
The Beetle pulled up (on a trailer) outside Amada, and the restaurateur got a look-see. And now, so have you.
An orange liquor application just posted in the window of the long-gone Broad Street Diner at Broad and Ellsworth Streets bears the name of Stephen Starr.
From Miami (where he spent the weekend wrapping up negotiations for a Buddakan in South Beach), Starr told me that he has two ideas kicking around and no firm timetable.
Back in January, the diner was on the market for $1.9 million. The listing now says a sale is pending.
(Was Starr listening to Kirsten Henri, who while blogging in January on Foobooz.com dreamed of Starr, Marc Vetri, Mark Bee or the guys from Royal/Cantina taking it over? Starr says that after he signed the letter of intent for the building, he Googled "Broad Street Diner" and found the blog entry.)
Starr has an early July rollout planned for Parc at 18th and Locust, as well as summer openings of two restaurants in Atlantic City: Chelsea Prime (a steakhouse) and a diner called Teplitzky's. He also shut down Striped Bass tonight (6/21) and plans a renovation to a '40s supper club called Butcher & Singer.
With Parc about two weeks from opening at 18th and Locust, here are draft menus for lunch and dinner.
Lunch
Fruits De Mer
Shrimp Cocktail -2 sauces $15
Little Neck Clams (1/2 Dozen) $12
Oysters (1/2 Dozen) $15
Lobster Cocktail M.P.
Plateau Petit Serves 2 to 4 $28
Plateau Grand Serves 6 to 8 $75
Salads
Mesclun $8 -mixed greens, sherry vinaigrette
Salade Lyonaisse $11 -frisee, lardons, poached egg
Beet Salad $12 - mache, leonora, walnut vinaigrette
Grilled Sardine Salad $14 -roasted tomato, arugula, parmesan
PARC Salad $14 -grilled shrimp, mixed greens, truffle-citrus vinaigrette
Appetizers
Onion Soup Gratinee $9
Summer Pea Soup $8 -parmesan, brioche croutons
Escargots $14 -hazelnut butter
Steak Tartare $15 -chopped filet, dijon, quail egg
Pate de Campagne $12 - cornichons, mustard, shaved fennel, grain mustard aioli
Gnocchi Parisienne $12 -summer vegetables, tapenade
Mixed Charcuterie $14 -prosciutto, saucisson, country pate
Tuna Carpaccio $14
Sandwiches
Croque Madame $12 -grilled ham and cheese, sauce mornay
PARC Burger
Chicken Club
Tuna Tartine $14 -shaved vegetables, tapenade
Pannini $14 -prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, basil
Entrees
Seared Organic Salmon$26 -English peas, fava beans, tomato
Trout Amandine $22
Moules Frites $22 -steamed mussels, pernod, pommes frites
Risotto
Steak Frites
Boeuf Bourguignon $22 -traditional beef stew, fresh pasta
Poulet Roti $23 -roasted chicken, pommes puree, sauce choron
Omelet aux fines herbs$10 -crème fraiche, pommes frites
DINNER
Fruits De Mer
Shrimp Cocktail -2 sauces $15
Little Neck Clams (1/2 Dozen) $12
Oysters (1/2 Dozen) $15
Lobster Cocktail M.P.
Plateau Petit Serves 2 to 4 $28
Plateau Grand Serves 6 to 8 $75
Salades
Mesclun $8 -mixed greens, sherry vinaigrette
Salade Lyonaisse $11 -frisee, lardons, poached egg
Beet Salad $12 - mache, leonora, walnut vinaigrette
Grilled Sardine Salad $14 -roasted tomato, arugula, parmesan
PARC Salad $14 -grilled shrimp, mixed greens, truffle-citrus vinaigrette
Appetizers
Onion Soup Gratinee $9
Summer Pea Soup $8 -parmesan, brioche croutons
Pissaladierre $10 -caramelized onion tart, goat cheese, nicoise olives
Escargot $14 -hazelnut butter
Chicken Liver Mousse $12 -onion confit, mesclun greens
Tomato Tarte $10
Brandade de Morue $12 -creamy salt cod, herb croutes
Steak Tartare $15 -chopped filet, dijon, quail egg
Pate de Campagne $12 - cornichons, mustard
Tuna Carpaccio $14 -shaved fennel, grain mustard aioli
Gnocchi Parisienne $12 -summer vegetables, tapenade
Mixed Charcuterie $14 -prosciutto, saucisson, country pate
Entrees
Trout Amandine $22 -pencil asparagus, lemon brown butter
Steak Frites $24 -hangar steak, watercress salad
Slow Roasted Cod $21 -fennel confit
Crispy Duck Confit $23 -fingerling potatoes, arugula salad
Summer Vegetable Risotto $16
Boeuf Bourguignon $22 -traditional beef stew, fresh pasta
Seared Organic Salmon $26 -English peas, fava beans, tomato
New York Strip $28 -seared spinach, roasted potatoes, maitre d’hotel butter
Skate Grenobloise $22 -brioche croutons, rapini, caper brown butter
Roasted Leg of Lamb $25 -creamy polenta
Sauteed Calves Liver $21 -shiitake, cippolini onions, marsala
Moules Frites $22 -steamed mussels, pernod, pommes frites
Berkshire Pork Chop $26 -herb spaetzel, mustard sauce
Housemade Ravioli $17 -tomato confit
Poulet Roti $23 -roasted chicken, pommes puree, sauce choron
PARC Burger $15 -pommes frites, gruyere, caramelized onions
Sides $8
Pommes Frites
Haricots Verts
Macaroni Gratin
Pencil Asparagus
Seared Spinach
Cauliflower Gratin
Plats du Jour
Monday: Lamb Stew $24
Tuesday: Braised Rabbit $26
Wednesday: Soft Shell Crabs $27
Thursday: Braised Short Ribs $23
Friday: Bouillabaisse $28
Saturday: Cote de Boeuf (for two)$65
Sunday: Coq Au Vin $22
Late-night revelers in Rittenhouse over the weekend noticed police activity at two of the livelier establishments.
The visits to Drinker's Pub (1903 Chestnut St.) and Byblos and its Vango nightclub (114 S. 18th) were followed by closures and those white-and-red cease-operation notices slapped on the doors.
A check of the city Department of Licenses and Inspections shows that inspectors wrote a series of violations, and I hear that the department is cracking down as the summer season gets into full swing.
Drinkers was nailed for: not submitting certifications of its alarm system, insufficient lighting, various electrical violations, blocking the kitchen exit, use of extension cords, and rusted stairs. Inspectors also counted 155 people plus 13 staffers, when lawful occupancy is 75. Drinkers owner Avram Hornik said he met with L&I and ironed everything out, which an L&I spokesman confirmed.
Byblos/Vango was cited for not having a sign marking its sprinkler system, misuse of fire doors (e.g. propped open), use of curtains that may have been flammable, use of extension cords, and lack of licensing. Owner Diaa Sawan said he straightened everything out with L&I, which a spokesman confirmed.
The clubs were allowed to reopen.
Friday night (6/27) marks the finale after six years for Twenty21 in Commerce Square (2005 Market St.). Owner Sue Mahoney had planned to renovate and reopen in September, but financing fell through.
Mahoney was part of the original crew from Cutters, the chain noted for its salmon. When Cutters pulled out of Philly in 2002, she, Martin Doyle and Mick Houston revamped it into Twenty21.
Privé, the Mediterranean tapas/lounge coming together at 246 Market St. in Old City, is expected to open any day, pending the liquor license. This is the former Bluezette near Third and Market.
Partners Nick and Bill Lavdas - Bill owns the Corner Bistro in Haddonfield, while cousin Nick owns Victory Lane Bar & Grill in Berlin - have brought in chef Peter Karapanagiotis, who started cooking five years ago at his family's George's Place in Cape May and at the nearby Pier House. He spent a brief stint as a saute/saucier at Buddakan, followed by two years at Brasserie Perrier, most recently at its cafe at Boyds.
I only got a look at the lounge just inside the front door, which looks remarkably as it did as Bluezette.
Among dishes on the not-quite-final menu are:
Karpouzi: Watermelon & Feta Salad…Lavender Honey Drizzle…$11
Beet Salata: Walnut-Crusted Feta…Micro Arugula…Pear Emulsion…$11
Calamari 2 Ways: Flash Fried…Char Grilled…Lemon-Oregano Olive Oil…$12
Gyro Flatbread: Braised Short Rib…Tzatziki…Mint…Tomato Dust…$13
Cheese Boureki: Baked Goat Cheese…Fillo…Roasted Red Pepper & Eggplant Salad…Wild Berry Balsamic Glaze…$10
Lollipop Lamb Chops: Fresh Oregano Crust…Tomato Confit…White Asparagus…Feta…Black Olive Lamb Thyme Jus…$14
Saganaki: Pan-Fried Kefalograviera Cheese…Flamed in Ouzo…$11
** 6/27/08: This entry has been edited; the concept has been expanded beyond Greek to encompass the Mediterranean. **
You may know Michael di Tomassi from the old Tierra in Gulph Mills or Brasserie Perrier in Center City or Le Mas (now georges) in Wayne or the former Suilan in Atlantic City. He took over this spring as general manager of Epicurean restaurant in Phoenixville.
Epicurean has instituted a tapas menu. Instead of drawing ideas solely from exec chef Heath Haviland, di Tomassi has also solicited dishes from the staff. He and server James Parsons, for example, created a lasagna fondue with pasta chips. Chris Holt, the bar manager, came up with Thai monk-fish bites, which are wrapped in bacon and served with a coconut Thai curry.
See the tapas menu here.
... at 22d and Spruce Streets will be July 27, not June 27 as I wrote in "Table Talk" today.
