Three great new pizzerias | Let’s Eat

The pizza scene around here has exploded in the last several years, and critic Craig LaBan samples three newcomers. Also this week: Philly’s best vegan mac and cheeses, new restaurants, and a new app that might change the planet, or at least your dinner plans.

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– Michael Klein

So pizza really is more than sauce and cheese on dough. Critic Craig LaBan visits three new pizzerias that are worthy additions to Philadelphia’s ever-improving pizza scene. But each is distinct, shaped by this moment. Get a taste of Down North in North Philly, and Sally and Pizzata Pizzeria in Center City.

The pandemic hit food wholesalers hard, as sit-down restaurants no longer needed as much of their products. But many pivoted by delivering directly to consumers. Their minimum orders may be higher than grocery services, but the quality and prices are typically better since the middleman has been eliminated. If you’re a bulk-buyer with a chest freezer, it’s gold.

At the end of their shifts in restaurants, cooks roll up garbage barrels to their work stations. Into the cans goes a lot of unsold prepared food. What if this still-delicious food instead could be portioned into takeout containers, marketed on the fly, and sold at a deep discount to customers that day — and not wasted? That’s where Too Good to Go comes in. The app just might change your dinner plans. And the world.

Mac and cheese can be dry, or mushy, or bland. To create a memorable version can be tricky. Tack on a dairy-free requirement, and that challenge gets exponentially harder. But Philly chefs are up to it, and staff writer Grace Dickinson finds some favorite vegan mac and cheeses. Where’s the milk? Not here.

Old City’s Ristorante Panorama has one of the best wine programs in the city, with about 150 by the glass. Now through Sunday, request Wine Tasting Flight #602, which will get you a 1½-ounce sample of five wines from Black-owned wineries or Black winemakers. This flight ($34) was not easy to assemble, given Pennsylvania laws. The restaurant’s sommelier, William Eccleston, offers two white wines and three reds, all from the West Coast. You’ll get Black Girl Magic, a riesling from the McBride Sisters; Livermore, a chardonnay from Longevity; Maison Noir’s O.P.P., a pinot noir; Black Girl Magic Red Blend, a merlot/cab sauv from McBride; and Longevity’s Livermore cabernet sauvignon. Eccleston says he will try to keep the wines on the list as long as supply can be maintained.

Di Bruno Bros. has embarked on a collaboration with Project HOME: It’s a kiosk of goods made, packaged, or curated by individuals who were once homeless, writes staff writer Alfred Lubrano. Catch it Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in an outdoor tent at Di Bruno’s in the Italian Market.

Victory Brewing Co. has partnered with Philly-based Back on My Feet as the main beneficiary of a new campaign, the Brotherly Love Community Fund. To support the fund, Victory released Brotherly Love, a 6% hazy IPA and donated $10,000, with a goal of a $25,000 contribution by the end of 2021. Back on My Feet’s mission is to combat homelessness through the power of running.

Tuan Phung and Olivia Lam, the couple behind South Street’s Banh Mi & Bottles, are partnered with Chinatown Square owners Kenny Poon and David Taing on the airy, plant-filled Nam Vietnamese Kitchen, which grand-opens Feb. 28 at 3816 Chestnut St. in University City. The Vietnamese street-food basics are there (banh mi, papaya salad, pho, bowls, summer rolls), while Lam has sprinkled in some of her home recipes, including bò kho (beef stew, shown below), perfect for winter. Try the cà phê sữa đá (made-to-order iced coffee). The initial hours are 4 to 9 p.m. daily for dine-in and takeout. On Saturday, Feb. 27, Nam joins the delivery apps. On Sunday, Feb. 28, takeout hours will expand to 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Poon and Taing own several restaurants at the corner of 39th and Chestnut at Hamilton Court, including a new Paris Baguette next door to Nam as well as West & Down, Bonchon and Tea Do on the 39th street side.

A second Nam is teed up for this spring at 1221 Walnut St. in Center City, replacing the short-lived Butcher’s Smokehouse.

Jose Garces has opened two delivery-only kitchens: Livy’s Plant Based Foods, a vegan concept named after his teen daughter, Olivia, who eats a plant-based diet, and Rustika, based on Peruvian-style pollo a la brasa. Hours are noon to 10 p.m. daily. Uber Eats delivers them out of 3300 Fairmount Ave., so the service area stretches roughly from Chestnut Hill to South Philadelphia out to the inner-ring of the Main Line and nearby Delco. Orders can be picked up, as well.