Craig LaBan’s top new restaurants at the Jersey Shore | Let’s Eat

What summer doldrums? Busy week here at the food desk, what with critic Craig LaBan weighing in on hot new Shore restaurants, a first look at Marc Vetri’s steakhouse on the Main Line, word of a fantastic oyster deal, news about farm-fresh ice cream and a creative spin on French toast and gelato, and plenty of restaurant goss.

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The Wildwoods and Cape May, on the Jersey Shore’s southern end, is home to some of this season’s most vibrant new restaurant energy, says critic Craig LaBan in the first of his two-part “What’s Hot and New at the Shore” feature. He’s not only touting the fancier spots, either. He calls out a barbecue corner in North Wildwood, a BYOB in Cape May, and a beachside hut catering to the Instagram crowd. Stay tuned for Part 2, online at Inquirer.com Thursday and in Sunday’s newspaper.

How about a wine trip to the Cape May area? Colleague Tommy Rowan recommends five wineries for a visit.

Tony’s Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City has been baking pizzas for nearly a century. And while those pies are artful, our own Amy S. Rosenberg will also steer you to Union Hall Arts’ studio next door to see “The Pizza Box Show.” The exhibit gathers 60 works, all painted directly on Tony’s pizza boxes or incorporating the boxes into the art. By the way, Tony’s is under new ownership and recently underwent a few retro-renovations, and Amy will also tell you how they brought back the iconic red Naugahyde banquettes.

Need more Shore stuff? Subscribe to Amy’s “Down the Shore” newsletter, sent out every Thursday. Click here to opt in.

Chef Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin, the duo behind Philly landmark Vetri Cucina and its South Philly pasta-focused sibling Fiorella, are soft-opening Fiore Rosso, their Italian steakhouse replacing Tredici in the Bryn Mawr Village shops (915 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr). Official opening is July 5 and the res book is now open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday. The handsome 130-seater’s grand environs spread beneath soaring ceilings, with an adjacent cozy bar, 16-seat private room, wine cellar, and tower-style meat-aging case.

Fiore Rosso is not a traditional American steakhouse (e.g. no sides of cream spinach), though it’s a splurge. Vetri says he expects guests to build dinner around chef Jesse Grossman’s small plates such as chicken liver crostini and eggplant suppli; salads (including the classic Vetri warm salad with pancetta and egg); antipasti such as grilled, pastrami-spiced sweetbreads; pastas such as crab and shrimp paccheri; and main plates (grilled swordfish, whole grilled orata, half-chicken, veal Milanese). The steak lineup includes four for sharing: a Creekstone Farms bistecca alla Fiorentina ($168), a dry-aged Niman Ranch bone-in ribeye ($126), a Creekstone Farms striploin ($75), and a Snake River Farms wagyu rib cap ($85).

One other thing you need to know: Investor Tom Gravina lent some mighty high-end art from his collection. Check the photo below for an example. The large photograph next to the espresso station is A Broad and Expansive Sky: Ancient Rome by Carrie Mae Weems. On the far right is the colorful Joan Miró lithograph La Premiere Nuit Du Printemps. At center is Woman in Armchair, No. 2 by Pablo Picasso.

I mean, this is a Vetri restaurant and you probably wouldn’t expect Dogs Playing Poker. But a Picasso?

Stay tuned for a full report.

Headed to Thailand to check out the street food? No time soon, I’ll bet. Pick up the recent package of stories by Craig, as well as the stunning photos and videos by colleague Monica Herndon, who followed Kalaya owner Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon on a trip to southern Thailand. If you’re unsure how to pronounce Kalaya, which Nok named after her mother: In one video, you’ll hear her say it, “Kah-lay-YAH.”

On Monday, July 4, Nok will collab with Mike Strauss of Mike’s BBQ on a Thai BBQ brisket sandwich during Kalaya’s final weekend of residency at South Philadelphia’s Bok Bar. The sandwich features Mike’s BBQ’s brisket marinated with fermented fish, honey, and spices that Nok brought back from Thailand. It will be topped with Kalaya’s som tum (papaya salad) on a Conshohocken Italian Bakery potato roll. There will be 100 sandwiches made available beginning at 2 p.m.

A corner store in Philly selling sashimi-grade salmon, cold-cracked lobster, super-frozen big eye tuna, tinned fish, and 12 varieties of oysters? Colleague Jenn Ladd casts her net to land a chat with Bryan Szeliga at Fishtown Seafood, where the stock is all responsibly sourced and the Friday $1 oyster special is a pearl of a deal.

South Jersey farmers say Americans need to start buying local produce or the farms won’t survive. My colleague Jason Nark tells a frightening story about a horrific confluence: As the population and demand for food grow, the cost of supplies and farming is skyrocketing. Add in cheap imports, and as the head of the New Jersey Farm Bureau says, “The threat is real.”

The Vanderwende family has been tilling the fields and milking the cows in southern Delaware since 1954. Ten years ago, matriarch Donna Vanderwende got the idea to set up an ice cream shop out front, and the Vanderwendes grew themselves a side business. This week, son Will, 23, opened his own shop in Old City.

(Which reminds me: Why does a milking stool only have three legs? Because the cow has the udder.)

Charisse McGill and Galen Thomas (below) have teamed up on a treat called French Toast Bites Gelato. Official launch is July 1, the start of National Ice Cream Month. McGill is the French Toast Bites entrepreneur and owner of Lokal Artisan Foods, while Thomas owns the gelato and sorbet company Cloud Cups. They’re doing two French toast gelato flavors — strawberry and stracciatella — and the pint-size offerings will be sold at both Cherry Street Pier and Spruce Street Harbor Park, via DoorDash and GrubHub, and at Pizza Brain, Manayunk Pizza, and Ashley’s Deli.

“Thai tapas” is the concept behind the softly opening Grandma’s Philly at 1304 Walnut St. in Washington Square West. Chiang Mai-born Donrutai “Locket” Jainon (below) was inspired by her grandma, and with boyfriend/front-of-the-house partner Jan Brookes, she and her sous chef Matthew DiPaolo are turning out a now-growing menu of small and sharable plates such as crispy pork belly with miang kham sauce (above), meatballs, assorted dumplings, and curries. All fresh ingredients, she says. (Jainon also owns Ratchada, the Thai-Laotian restaurant at 11th Street and Washington Avenue in South Philly.)

The interior is taking shape — right now it’s a mix of cushy banquettes and a few tables for two, and for now it’s BYOB, though a liquor license is pending. A reservation (by phone) would be advisable.

Grandma’s Philly, 1304 Walnut St., 215-315-9050. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday. Closed Wednesday.

Briefly noted

The shore meets the city at Craftsman Row (112 S. Eighth St.), the sleeper saloon on Jeweler’s Row in Philly, which has launched a summertime beach decor with boardwalk-themed food and drinks (such as a hurricane served in a souvenir glass and an electric-blue snow cone spiked with vodka and blue Curaçao). Burgers are built on funnel cake buns. Shown above is the Everything But the Boardwalk Milkshake, made with Bassetts chocolate ice cream and chocolate fudge, and garnished with two doughnuts, caramel corn, and sprinkles.

Chef Robert Irvine of Restaurant Impossible will debut his Irvine’s Spirits, a vodka and a gin distilled by Boardroom Spirits in Lansdale, with a Thursday, June 30 reception on the deck of the Moshulu (401 S. Columbus Blvd.) from 5-8 p.m. with bites prepared by Moshulu chef Anthony Bonnett and his crew. A portion of the $25 ticket proceeds will go to the Robert Irvine Foundation, which supports service members, veterans, first responders, and their families.

Holy ‘Que Smokehouse, the Texas BBQ BYOB in Lahaska, will set up a pop-up location on weekends starting July 9 (noon to sellout) at Doylestown’s Main Street Marketplace, adjacent to the cocktail bar Hop/Scotch (22 S. Main St.). In case of rain, it moves inside the cocktail bar.

Rittenhouse will see new activity in coming weeks: Luan Tota, owner of Branzino on 17th Street near Spruce, is taking over the old Grillmaster Deli next door with a pasta/coffee/pastry cafe called Bottega Rittenhouse. The former V Street on 19th Street near Sansom will open as a Euro restaurant called Aleksandar. Another onetime vegan restaurant, the old Mi Lah at 16th and Chancellor Streets, is being turned into a swank, low-key cocktail bar with a Scandinavian aesthetic called Andra Hem. The syndicated Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is being prepped for two levels of 1721 Chestnut St. (Concept: Your plates on the conveyor belts are color-coded by price. You rack up enough plates to win prizes.)

The circuit

The Great Chefs Event, which benefits Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, is traditionally one of the region’s top charity draws in terms of money raised and talent attracted. In its first outing since 2019, the 2022 edition bought in $400,000 from a crowd of 700 people at Urban Outfitters’ headquarters in South Philadelphia on June 11. Chef-wrangler Marc Vetri brought in 30 chefs, including national names such as Chris Bianco, Rob Hurd, and Katsuya Fukushima. Top auction item ($20,000) was a private dinner at Vetri with TV writer/producer Phil Rosenthal, creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and Somebody Feed Phil.

Atlantic City hosted its first Diner en Blanc, the pop-up picnic whose secret location, revealed just before the June 25 event, was the Boardwalk. Check out Vernon Ogrodnek’s photos.

Main Liners are talking up the new Tous Les Jours bakery-cafe that opened earlier this month at Lancaster Avenue and Haverford Station Road in Haverford, across from the fine local java hang Green Engine Coffee. The South Korea-rooted TLJ, which also has a location across from Garden State Park on Haddonfield Road in Cherry Hill, traffics in tasty carbs such as the almond croissant, sweet hot dog roll, and chocolate pretzel pastry you see before you. Hours are 8 a.m.-7 p.m. daily.

To South Philly we go for deliciousness. Picking up the trail from his recent breakfast-sandwich roundup, @knilegram visited Gleaner’s Cafe in the Italian Market for a “Painkiller” (eggs, Cheddar, house-made spicy ketchup). Catrachos are folks who come from Honduras; @noahgrantlevine stopped at El Sabor Catracho — as in, “the Honduran Flavor” — for this mojarra frita (fried tilapia with rice and vegetables). I’ll tack on a vote for the pastelitos.

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