If you’re looking for a guaranteed tasty meal at a restaurant opened by people who know food, head over to Bala Cynwd’s new Avril BYOB. Husband and wife team Christian Gatti, a long time chef, and April Lisanti, former Philadelphia Daily News food editor, just opened this Northern Italian and Southern French cuisine restaurant, which features homemade pastas and desserts. Look forward to entrees such as wild mushroom barquette with sea scallops and seared duck breast with peach and endive tarte tatin. Click here to see the full menu.
Celebrated chef Guillermo Tellez i
s set to open a new restaurant called Square 1682 (right), an eco-friendly, locally conscious, bi-level and modern (whew) restaurant in Rittenhouse Square. Featuring a new American menu that has dishes from Asia, Mexico, India and more, Square 1682 will be designed for sampling and sharing dishes while a drink experts take control of the cocktails. Set to open in mid-October. See CityPaper’s inteview with Tellez here.
Xochitl is now offering a weekly Staff Meal, for all those in the industry. All dishes are under $8 (including the $4 duck and goat cheese sopes) and each menu item is half-off the normal price from 10pm – 1am. On Thursdays from 10pm – midnight and Tuesday through Sunday from 5 – 7pm you can get half-priced margaritas, $2 beer specials and the $6 Guero Special (a shot of Sauza blanco tequila and a can of Tecate).
s set to open a new restaurant called Square 1682 (right), an eco-friendly, locally conscious, bi-level and modern (whew) restaurant in Rittenhouse Square. Featuring a new American menu that has dishes from Asia, Mexico, India and more, Square 1682 will be designed for sampling and sharing dishes while a drink experts take control of the cocktails. Set to open in mid-October. See CityPaper’s inteview with Tellez here.
Xochitl is now offering a weekly Staff Meal, for all those in the industry. All dishes are under $8 (including the $4 duck and goat cheese sopes) and each menu item is half-off the normal price from 10pm – 1am. On Thursdays from 10pm – midnight and Tuesday through Sunday from 5 – 7pm you can get half-priced margaritas, $2 beer specials and the $6 Guero Special (a shot of Sauza blanco tequila and a can of Tecate).Chef Douglas Rodriguez has added a few new items to the menu at Alma de Cuba (perhaps after Witherspoon dined there and uped the publicity?) including Big Eye tuna with watermelon, kumquats and Thai basil; Cuban corn chowder with pumpkin and potato; and Pionono, a Puerto Rican sweet plantain roulade of zucchini and queso fresco and roasted garlic broccoli rabe.
For $38 a person join chef-owner of the restaurant Supper, Mitch Prensky, as he hosts a series of family-style Sunday Suppers. On September 6 and October 4 at 10am, Prensky will lead tours of the farmer’s market (on second street between Pine and Lombard) and ask guests for input in planning the menu. Dinner will be served later that night at 6:30pm with a special no-corking fee. The tour is limited to 10 people, and you can sign up by contacting Chef Prensky via Twitter. A portion of the proceeds will go to The Food Trust, which operates 29 local farmer’s markets.
Nick Farina (executive chef of Blush Restaurant) and Howard Taylor (owner of the former Carmine’s Creole Café) joined forces to open Verdad (left), a Euro-Latin tapas restaurant and tequila bar in Bryn Mawr. The restaurant focuses on small plates with Spanish, Cuban, Brazilian and Mexican influences, like sweet corn and black truffle gazpacho, hamachi ceviche with tomato sorbet and scallops with blackberries glazed with honey and lavender. The bar is filled with Latin inspired cocktails, wines from Spain, Chile and Argentina and an assortment of Latin beers. View the full menu here. Say goodbye to summer with the So Long to Summer food tour, which starts at XIX Nineteen at The Bellevue to sample fresh seafood on September 6 at 3:30pm. The tour continues onto Roys restaurant just a few blocks away to taste some summer-inspired mixed drinks followed by a trip to Fogo de Chao Steakhouse for a sampling of different barbeque delights. Chef and bartenders will be showing tips and tricks on how to recreate it all at home. Tickets are $45 and advanced reservations are required and can be made online here.
With an interior inspired by Hong Kong’s own open-air food stalls, the new Chinese food restaurant, Kong, located in Northern Liberties, is the perfect place to go if you are looking to have some authentic, home-style Chinese cuisine. The menu boasts dishes such as spicy, slow-cooked short ribs with walnuts and beef brisket noodle soup (with noodles that are made in-house). Also available is family-style dim sum and a selection of Chinese craft beers. View the menu here.Zuppler.com, a fast and easy way to order food online, is adding a portal for online take-out and delivery in the Philadelphia Suburbs starting in mid-September.
If you’re looking for a good time, Rum Bar off of Rittenhouse Square is the place to be on Tuesdays. $2 Tuesdays continues every Tuesday night and offers discounts such as $2 Miller Lites, $2 Rum and Cokes, $2 mini burgers and $2 chicken fingers.
California Pizza Kitchen has opened its doors at the Cherry Hill Mall. The new full-service location is 5,500 square feet and will be open Friday through Sunday from 11am – 10pm. All of the old favorites will be on the menu along with new additions and a full bar.
Snackbar has just launched a special menu offered from 5 – 7pm were all of the items on the menu are in the $5 – $7 range, appropriately called “5 to 7 from 5 to 7.” The Italian and Western-European inspired Snackbar presents this menu to include a selection of their signature and house wines along. Where else can you get potato pierogies with crème fraiche and caviar for $5?
Former Le Bec-Fin chefs Lee Styer and Jessie Prawlucki, alongside their former co-worker Tory Keomanvong present Fond, a new French BYO located at 1617 E. Passyunk Ave. and set to open in late August. Menu includes items like steak tartare with carmelized onion, quail egg and Gruyere; pork chops with truffled maiitake and Jersey corn; yellow fin tuna crudo with avocado and pickled ginger. Click here for the menu. Click here to make reservations.Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant has just introduced a special gluten-free menu that is available at lunch and dinner, offering more than 40 modified dishes. Some of the options on this new menu include: fiery baked chipotle wings; char-grilled angus sirloin with grilled fingerling potatoes, asparagus, sun-dried tomato-portobella mushroom relish; and voodoo shrimp with honey barbecue sauce, white rice, sour cream and green onion. Click here for the menu, available at all 8 locations. http://www.ironhillbrewery.com/lancaster/food.htm.
Avenida, owned by husband and wife Edgar and Kim Alvarez, is set to open in September and will feature a menu containing flavorful Latin food such as queso fundido with black beans, tasso and roasted chiles; and grilled octopus with lime cilantro vinaigrette. Inspired by Edgar’s Guatemalan heritage, the restaurant will be family-focused with all dishes priced under $20. Avenida will be located at 7402 Germantown Avenue.
Chef and television star Michael Schulson, host of the new TLC show Ultimate Cake Off and owner of the modern Japanese pub Isakaya at Borgata, will return to Philadelphia with the opening of his new restaurant Sampan (Schulson, right, at new location), in November. Located at 122 South 13th St., this modern Asian restaurant with a menu composed of a variety of small plates (including tuna tataki summer rolls, a skate wing sandwich and a veal tonkatsu burger) is designed in a dining style that is for the purpose of sampling and sharing dishes.Zavino, a wine bar and pizzeria set to open in October, will feature a seasonal menu, classic Italian cocktails, a selection of wine and beer along with the best late-night menu in the area. The menu may include house-made beef ravioli, roasted red and golden beets and roasted lamb, depending on the season. Dinner will be served from 5pm – 2am for those who work late. And the location Zavino nabbed is just unbelievable.
Have a gift certificate from the recently closed Oceanaire or Bookbinders? Do not fret; Postiano Coast will accept them at full face value up to $100. (And its outdoor patio is now dog friendly!)
Leigh Malda and Brendan Hart (left) add a third beer-centric location to their list (which includes Local 44 and Memphis Taproom). Resurrection Ale House, which will be located at 2425 Grays Ferry Ave., is set to open in September. Resurrection will featured items like corn and scallion griddle cakes with queso fresco and romesco sauce. Sample menu here.Short for North of Vine, NoVi is located on the first floor of Fairmount’s CityView Condos at 2001 Hamilton St. This new upscale restaurant has a 20-seat bar and 135-seating dining. The menu features bruchetta, steamed clams, fried tomatoes and lobster ravioli. Our friends at Thrillist did a great reportt and list the menu here.
Owner and chef of Little Fish, Mike Stollenwerk, is opening a bigger restaurant called Fish at 1708 Lombard St. set to open just after Labor Day. In addition to a dinner menu, Stollenwerk is working on developing a “lounge menu” that will consist of 10 items to be offered at the bar until 1am when the regular dinner menu is no longer available (dinner hours are 5 – 10pm). Menu here.
Opened in June at 118 S. 20th St., Jose Garces presents Village Whisky (right), a 30-seat brown liquor bar offering close to 100 choices for whisky, bourbon, scotch and rye as well as sparkling wines and a selection of beers. Click here to download the full menu, cocktail menu and whiskey list.Although Gayle is closing, owner Daniel Stern is set to open MidAtlantic, to be located at 3711 Market St., in early fall. As the name implies, the restaurant is to showcase Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Click here for the interview with Daniel Stern.
Bye bye Loie. Hello new Japanese boite.
AroundPhilly Staff
