A bounty of Michelin-approved dumplings | Let’s Eat

The Philly area now has a second dumpling restaurant anointed by Michelin. Also this week: Craig LaBan drops his first batch of restaurant reviews from the Shore, Jenn Ladd finds a fresh masa and tortilla maker, and I will tell you how to get into Amourette. Also, read on for first word of a new eatery coming to East Passyunk Avenue.

— Mike Klein

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The Michelin Guide bestows its Bib Gourmands upon restaurants with good food at a value. Nan Xiang, which got its Michelin in its home base of New York City, recently opened locations in Cherry Hill’s Towne Place at Garden State Park and King of Prussia Mall, where teams of cooks fill, pleat, and pinch in the glass-walled kitchens. Expect more outposts, as owner Eddie Zheng is developing smaller versions.

This week, the similarly Bibbed Luscious Dumplings, out of Los Angeles, opened a franchise on Race Street in Chinatown. Though there’s a robot imported from Taiwan in the kitchen, Luscious is turning out fine potstickers, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and boiled dumplings, plus the cute custard-filled pig’s faces (shown above) and a small menu of appetizers, noodle dishes and soups, and two bao buns. I’ll share a first look, and explain how “luscious” emerged from “moist” in the restaurant name’s initial translation.

Also on our dumpling radar:

Critic Craig LaBan’s annual two-part guide to the Jersey Shore’s essential restaurants starts on Long Beach Island and Atlantic City and includes a couple of inland stops. He’ll steer you to the old and the new, such as a simple strip-mall BYOB, the region’s first “oystery,” and a seafood classic going strong at age 50.

Sor Ynez, a restaurant in Kensington, makes masa in-house for its tamales, tostadas, tacos, tlacoyos, and more. Chef Alexis Tellez also packages fresh masa and griddled tortillas to sell to the public four days a week. “A mass-produced tortilla is often a near-flavorless vessel, handy for getting a grip on a filling, and not much else,” writes Jenn Ladd. “A just-pressed, still-warm corn tortilla is a single-ingredient stunner all by itself.”

🎥 Chef Alexis Tellez shows the art of masa-making in a video by Lauren Schneiderman. Tune in to see a lot of joy in the process.

Water ice is apparently a thing in ... Louisville? Rita Giordano found Philly expats Rodney and Tonya Daisey at their shop, Philly’s Best Frozen Desserts, and got the scoop on what it’s like to sell water ice 500 miles from home. While we here prefer such classic flavors as cherry, chocolate, and lemon, they’ve found that Derby City favors mango, strawberry-lemonade, cotton candy, peach, and iced tea.

Sunday Girl, on a corner in the sleepy side of Old City just south of Vine, is equal parts coworking space, community hub, and dog-friendly coffee shop with retail merch and a cheese program. Owner Becca Grites, who opened the cafe last spring, has a varied background, including fashion, show biz, and food and hospitality. In her travels, she said, “the things that I clung to and found really important that are those that are community-driven and are rooted in kindness.” The coworking space in a back room, dubbed CoLAB, can support individual work, though Grites intends it as a space where independent artists, small-business owners, freelancers, and the like can “hold hands,” she said.

She took the name from the Blondie hit and from her own past as a bartender. “I always loved working bars on Sundays,” she said. “I’d always be like, ‘I’ll be your Sunday girl’ because most people wanted the day off. This fits into the shop’s mood. Sundays always had a sleepier vibe. People would just come and want to chat and you really get to make connections. I want that energy to be brought to this coffee bar. I want to feel like Sunday every day.”

Sunday Girl, 263 N. Third St. Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Two of Philly’s best-known French chefs — Jean-Marie Lacroix and Pierre Calmels — will join executive chef Eric Leveillee for a nine-or-so-course collab dinner on Bastille Day (July 14) at Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel. Reservations for the 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. seatings (limited to 20 people at $145 per person, plus tax and gratuity) are up on Resy; an optional beverage pairing will also be available.

History: From 1983 to 1997, the French-born, British-schooled Lacroix oversaw the kitchen at the Fountain and Swann Lounge at the old Four Seasons, two of Philadelphia’s most-decorated restaurants, then on Logan Circle. In 1997, Lacroix left for the Rittenhouse and a restaurant bearing his name. Though Chef Lacroix stepped away in 1999, Lacroix the restaurant remains. In 2001, Calmels came to Philadelphia as executive chef at Le Bec-Fin under Georges Perrier before he left for the 2009 opening of Bibou, the acclaimed French BYOB in South Philadelphia he opened with his wife, Charlotte, before it closed during the pandemic. The Calmelses also owned Le Cheri at the Art Alliance. Calmels is now executive chef at the Philadelphia Club. Leveillee started at the Rittenhouse in 2019 after the closing of Marigold Kitchen. He’s an alum of Vernick Food & Drink and the now-closed Whetstone Tavern.

The coffee shop on Second Street across from the Head House shambles that was Bodhi has a new occupant on the way this fall: a cafe dubbed Loretta’s from the folks at the nearby Bloomsday. More details are forthcoming.

Keswick Tavern, across from the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, wrapped its 25-year run several months ago. For the corner’s next act, two restaurant groups are developing Rooster’s Glenside, opening later this summer. The Rooster name, at least, should be familiar to locals.

Carbon Copy’s new location is expected to soft-open Friday at 3124 Richmond St., the Port Richmond corner bar space previously occupied by Lunar Inn. In a few weeks, CC will be joined there by Mom-Mom’s Kitchen, serving Polish food along with CC’s beer, wine, and cider. Locals got a taste Sunday during Richmond Street Flea. The photo above was snapped by Let’s Eat pal Catherine Laborde, a fan of Carbon Copy’s Whir (a Belgian witbier) while her partner, Shane Smith, favors the Laud, a Munich-style Helles lager; both give thumbs-up to Mote, a table beer. Retro note: The Carbon Copy/Mom-Mom’s partnership will include a liverwurst and onion sandwich.

Liberty Garden gets its ribbon cut midday Wednesday on Independence Mall. The beer garden, about a block from Independence Beer Garden, can accommodate 250 people and will be up through October.

Amourette. In addition to Her Place Supper Club and My Loup, chefs Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp are throwing a garden party through October. This is the second week for Amourette, under the string lights in the shaded, walled garden of the Art Alliance on the edge of Rittenhouse Square.

At 42 seats and only three nights a week, it’s also one of the hottest tickets in town. Reservations hit Resy at noon 30 days in advance, and they’re selling out. How do you crack the list? Just show up. They accommodated 30 walk-ins last Friday; you can at least hang at the outside bar for drinks. You can also try stalking Resy for last-minute cancellations.

Given the size and scope of the place, they’re banging out an impressive menu and drink list. Among starters are two retro offerings: pimento crab dip ($15) with crudités and Ritz crackers, and green goddess salad ($19). You may want to share the tomato salad toast ($20) or the fried zucchini flowers ($16).

Divvy up the entrées, as well. Shown above is the half roast chicken ($32), served with a tangle of fries and topped with jus from the chicken. There’s trout ($32) with zucchini escabeche, pine nuts, and saffron yogurt, and hanger steak ($38) with peppers and charred onions. Shown below are the shrimp frites ($42), which are grilled U4-size shrimp in a sauce diable, may be cycling off soon. A few wines by the glass ($15-$17), a couple of beers, and nine cocktails available by the glass ($15-$18), four by the pitcher.

If it rains, they move the party inside.

Amourette at the Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. (entrance on Rittenhouse). Hours: 4-10 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, through Oct. 31. Reservations are made available on Resy 30 days in advance starting at noon.

One in four children in Philadelphia are food-insecure. Nice Roots Farm in North Philadelphia, operated by the food-insecurity nonprofit Share Food Program on a lot next to its warehouse, is taking a grassroots approach to tackle this.

Workers at Green Line Cafe have announced that they wish to join Local 80, Philly’s growing barista union.

Howl at the Moon, the nightspot that probably hosted a gazillion bachelorette parties, announced its closing after a decade on 15th Street near Spruce. No reason cited.

Libertee Grounds, the restaurant/mini golf course in Fairmount, is setting up a summertime course on Eakins Oval on the Parkway near the Art Museum. Oval Beer Garden, a seven-week pop-up in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Rec, starts July 11. Details are here.

Cantina Feliz’s last day in its longtime Fort Washington location will be July 13 as it readies for a five-minute move to 111 E. Butler Ave. in Ambler. Opening there is TBD.

Chef Liz Grothe, in residence at Wim Cafe pending the late-summer opening of her Queen Village restaurant, Scampi, will pop up at High Street (101 S. Ninth St.) on July 24 with a campy tribute to Olive Garden (as in, salad and breadsticks for the table, fettuccine Alfredo, chicken Parmesan, etc.). Open seating from 5-9 p.m. When you’re here you’re family, as Olive Garden says, but this dinner is $75 per person. Reserve via OpenTable.

The Pub in Pennsauken has closed for a summerlong renovation. What quirky feature does this medieval-looking destination have?

A) a dry-cleaning plant in its basement

B) a processing room where charcoal for the grills is created

C) jousting tournaments in an upstairs ballroom

D) mugs made of pewter

Find out if you know the answer.

What’s happening with the former Paradiso on East Passyunk Avenue? — Joseph R.

Paradiso, once a buzzy Italian restaurant that ended a 15-year run at 1627 E. Passyunk Ave. five years ago, will become a location of Paris Banh Mi, a syndicated Vietnamese bakery-cafe that specializes in banh mi and specialty drinks. Opening is a couple of months away, according to one of the owners.

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