Summer heats up with new restaurants | Let’s Eat

New restaurants just keep on coming, and today I run down a fresh crop. Also this week, we get inside a new entertainment venue in Center City, check Craig LaBan’s review of a seafood restaurant, and meet an up-and-coming boxer who owns a cheesesteak shop. And how about a low-alcohol cocktail that you can make with only two ingredients?

🕫 Want to play favorites? Last year, we introduced a Reader’s Choice award in The Inquirer’s 2022 Dining Guide, and this year, we’re going even bigger. Nominate your favorite restaurants, bars and go-to dishes here.

⬇️ Read on for a quiz and restaurant news.

— Mike Klein

Kismet Bagels, the fast-growing bagel shop, is planning a location on the Main Line, and the owners are calling this one a “bagel luncheonette.” This is only one of the deals I’ll tell you about in today’s roundup of new and forthcoming restaurants in Philadelphia and the suburbs. There’s a neighborhood-priced steak house, the obligatory new Italian restaurants, a taqueria-pizzeria, and an “express omakase” serving 15 courses in an hour. Want more? Read on.

Philly will soon see the opening of a live-entertainment venue called Vinyl, with a diverse slate of entertainment and cocktails in a classy setting. We got inside yesterday for your first look.

Boxing and cheesesteak are two of Philly’s biggest exports, as Matt Breen writes. Ismail Muhammad is trying to master both. He’s a 21-year-old super lightweight who has won his first two professional fights and has owned Essie’s Steaks since 2019. That’s why he’s known as The Chef in the ring.

The Southeast Asian Market in FDR Park not only offers stellar street foods, it’s a gathering spot for Philly’s Cambodian and Lao immigrant community. This week, Food & Wine recognized it as one of the best markets in America.

The SEA Market happens to be subject of the third installment of The Inquirer’s exclusive, six-part newsletter, Taste Philly With Craig LaBan. Get an issue every Friday by signing up here now.

Colleague Michelle Myers’ mom, an engineer in Ecuador, relies on exact numbers for everything. But as a mom, Michelle writes, “she throws them out the window when cooking.” Have fruit, sugar, and milk? You can make her ice cream.

At International Bar in Kensington, they combine Miller High Life and Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro, and voilà. You have the Lo-Life, a simple, low-alcohol cocktail. Two ingredients! Jenn Ladd tells you how you can make it at home.

Peripatetic pizzaiolo Mike Fitzick has decamped from Bar1010, the Northern Liberties pizzeria he cofounded earlier this year with Aakash Patel. Fitzick, whose previous spot was the now-closed Bakeria 1010 in Linwood, N.J., is back at the Jersey Shore at a new location: Express Pizza (719 Battersea Rd., Ocean City). He’s turning out super crispy pies with cornmeal bottoms at the old-school 1990s-style pizzeria. Bar1010 continues.

Pearl & Mary in Center City is carrying on Philly’s oyster bar tradition. As critic Craig LaBan writes in his latest review, the vibes are undeniably sexy but the menu is a work in progress.

The Melrose Diner is indeed coming down in favor of a new building that will include a new diner on the street level, with 94 apartments above. Since Ryan Briggs and I broke the story last week, work has begun. Owner Michael Petrogiannis told us that he was saving memorabilia, including the iconic outdoor signs.

Anchor Brewing is closing after 127 years, as beer sales decline nationwide.

The “Taco Tuesday” trademark fight has taken an unfortunate turn for a Jersey Shore bar.

Get a closer look at Rosemary, the stylish new bistro in Ridley Park.

Wawa just added a menu category. What is it?

A) pizza

B) sushi

C) doner kebabs

D) pasties

Find out if you know the answer.

What was Bookbinders? — @augielarson

This question came up during my initial writing about Vinyl, the new entertainment venue. “Bookbinders” was actually two touristy seafood restaurants with a longstanding rivalry. Samuel Bookbinders opened Old Original Bookbinders in 1898 at 125 Walnut St. It closed in 2009. As a tribute, the Bookbinders sign (shown above) still hangs outside what is now The Olde Bar. The second Bookbinders — Bookbinder’s Sea Food House, complete with apostrophe — opened in 1935 on the 15th Street site of Vinyl. It closed in 2004.

Here’s some Philly restaurant history. A dig in the archives yielded the ultimate Bookbinders story from 1982 that recaps this only-in-Philly family food feud. Also, here is Craig’s review of both restaurants from 1999 and my article about Old Original’s bankruptcy in 2009.

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? E-mail your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com.

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