Modo Mio, chef Peter McAndrews’ Italian restaurant, to come back
Also: Paesano's will move to Fishtown as it closes in Northern Liberties.
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The peripatetic chef Peter McAndrews is planning to reprise Modo Mio, the trattoria he closed in mid-2017 after a decade on West Girard Avenue across from Northern Liberties.
McAndrews has secured the former Plenty Cafe/Village Bar & Kitchen corner location at 705 S. Fifth St., just south of Bainbridge Street in Queen Village, and hopes to open the onetime Craig LaBan two-bell winner in mid-January with a liquor license. Village closed in late October, along with the Plenty locations in Center City and South Philadelphia as brothers Damon and Anthony Mascieri decided to concentrate on their real estate business.
In other McAndrews news: Sunday, Dec. 29, will be the last day at 148 W. Girard Ave. for Paesano’s, his sandwich shop. It will move in early January to 1429 Marlborough St. in Fishtown, the hole-in-the-wall takeout window just off Frankford Avenue and across from Suraya that last housed Poe’s Sandwich Joint.
Andrews was the longtime chef at the old Rembrandt’s in Fairmount when he opened Modo Mio, a BYOB regarded as one of the city’s best bargains (especially its Sunday Sugo fixed-priced dinners). From there came a slew of openings: Modo Mio (now Cadence); Paesano’s, which had three locations at one time; a Southern Italian BYOB called Monsu in the Italian Market; the short-lived Popolino in Northern Liberties; Heffe, a Fishtown taco shop; and his current holding, La Porta in Media.
At Fifth and Monroe Streets, McAndrews told me, he will run the $45 tasting menu daily to run alongside an a la carte menu. He’ll serve $7 glasses of house wines and is planning a late-night menu. Hours will be noon to midnight on weekdays, till 1 a.m. weekends.
As for Paesano’s: The 35-seat dining room on Girard Avenue was occupied only two hours a day, he said. Since half of his business is conducted through apps, he said, he did not need a storefront. He expects to open the first week of January, keeping hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., till 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.