21 new places to dine in the suburbs | Let’s Eat

Attention, suburbanites and their friends: Fall is barely a month old, and I have found 21 new restaurants on both sides of the river — and here is the corrected version to fix a broken link.

Also in this edition:

— Mike Klein

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It’s been a busy fall for restaurant openings on both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides of the Delaware. Let me tell you about 21 new spots, including a stunning redo of 1906, the restaurant at Longwood Gardens (that’s the halibut shown above). Two newcomers have opened in advance of their liquor licenses. For now, the reservation-only Mary in Ambler is giving away drinks, and you can bring your favorite spirit to Noble Goat in Downingtown, where, for $10 a drink, they’ll add it to their house-made mixers and stir/shake you a proper cocktail.

❗The 76 is our ultimate guide to the restaurants that shape the Philadelphia-area scene.

Chefs Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook, with several partners, are now in the shellfish game with Jaffa Bar, their most dramatic restaurant yet, on two floors of a former firehouse in Kensington. It has two bars, an oyster bar, and a food menu bearing all the marks of the CookNSolo culinary canon, especially the spice rack.

Taco Bell summoned Philly chef Reuben Asaram to create his own version of the Crunchwrap Supreme. He opted for the flavors of his childhood buffet order — butter chicken and rice — and now the fast-food giant is considering it for its nationwide menu.

Catch Danielle Mahon, who sells seafood steam pots as Topsail Steamer, on ABC’s Shark Tank this week. She dumped hot lobsters onto brown paper in front of the sharks, and Amy Rosenberg wonders if they’d bite.

A vintage clothing store/bar called Garage Sale Vintage is coming to Fishtown, and the owners of Garage bar across the street are not happy about the name. (Coincidentally, Garage’s owners also have a Center City bar called Vintage, but that’s not part of the lawsuit.) Read on as Abraham Gutman unpacks the whys and wherefores.

Puyero Venezuelan Flavor, the Queen Village BYOB included in our 76 list as a primo example of Latin street food, is branching out with a new location at 3428 Sansom St. on the University of Pennsylvania campus (once a Federal Donuts location). Puyero was founded in 2007 on Fourth Street near South by Venezuelan-born brothers Gilberto and Simón Arends, and Gil’s wife, Manuela Villasmil, who runs the kitchen. (Above is the pabellón criollo bowl.) Opening is targeted to November, and the shop will offer dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering.

Sylva Senat — a Top Chef alum with stints in New York (Sign of the Dove, Aquavit, Jean Georges, and Mercer Kitchen) and at Buddakan in New York and Philadelphia — is the new executive chef at the Sofitel, at 17th and Sansom Streets. He’s overseeing the newly redone Liberté Lounge (whose new menu starts next week), its breakfast/brunch spot Chez Colette, and banquets and events. Senat, born in Haiti, raised in Brooklyn, and schooled at the École de Cuisine Gourmets by Institut Paul Bocuse in France, has long been involved with Philly school kids via Careers Through Culinary Arts (C-CAP). He also was a 2013 James Beard best-chef semifinalist for his work at the erstwhile high-end Indian restaurant Tashan on South Broad Street.

Five Italian restaurants in six years? Dejvi Furxhi smiled at the thought. “Seven, all together, soon,” he said at his homey, new Bucatini Caffe at 1824 S. 13th St., a few steps off of East Passyunk Avenue.

Furxhi was the longtime general manager of the former Casta Diva on 20th Street near Locust in Rittenhouse in 2018 when he and a cousin left to open Burrata, a BYOB, at 13th and Wharton Streets in South Philadelphia. Others followed: a second Burrata, on Eagle Road near Darby in Havertown; the more upscale Luna BYOB in Casta Diva’s old location; and Enzo’s Pizzata, a takeout at 19th and Wolf Streets.

Bucatini, a partnership with chef Chris Miller, is a brick-walled storefront. When it‘s full, and that is often due to initial word-of-mouth, it takes on the life of a party. Miller’s menu includes seven appetizers (like stuffed long-hots, grilled octopus, beef carpaccio, and two salads); a meat of the day; a fish of the day; and seven pastas (all in the mid- to upper $20s). The bucatini ($29), with lobster, butternut squash, in a sage-cream sauce, seems to be popular, as are the squid ink rigatoni ($29) in a blush sauce (above), and paccheri done up in duck Bolognese with stracciatella (shown at top).

Furxhi (shown above with baby Vera talking to CBS3 meteorologist Andrew Kozak) is keeping quiet about Nos. 6 and 7, only to say that both will be in South Philadelphia, east of Broad Street: He’s planning a cafe nearby that will also sell imports, as well as a separate coffee house.

Reservations via OpenTable. Note: Restrooms are downstairs.

Bucatini Caffe, 1824 S. 13th St. Hours: 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-9:30 p.m. Friday, 5-9 p.m. Saturday.

Jackass Burrito, Stephen Starr’s delivery brand, has debuted among the Aramark concessions at Lincoln Financial Field during Eagles games. The Big Jac is a smash burger with American cheese, special sauce, shredded lettuce, sesame bread croutons, and curly fries. Henry Savage runs down the Linc lineup, including cheesesteaks from Philip’s.

Free chicken sandwiches, you say? Drake, an investor in Dave’s Hot Chicken, is backing a slider giveaway from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday at all locations; it’s available in-person only and customers must scan the reward in the Dave’s app. Not to be outdone, local upstart Nanu’s Hot Chicken will open its ninth restaurant at 6151 Ridge Ave. in Roxborough on Friday, and will hand out comp chicken meals from 4-7 p.m.

James Beard-winning author/bartender Danny Childs (Slow Drinks) will join Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel for an eight-course Nov. 10 dinner with executive chef Eric Leveillee, paired with Childs-created beverages. Sixteen guests per turn (at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.); $200pp including full beverage pairing, or $165pp for a non-alcohol pairing. Reservations via Resy.

A TV commercial supporting former President Donald Trump was filmed at what Philly-area restaurant?

A) Zahav

B) Hymie’s Deli

C) Pat’s King of Steaks

D) The Pub

Find out if you know the answer.

Will Essen’s bakery location in Olde Kensington ever open? — Melissa K.

Some emailed questions seem almost too prescient. As this popped into my inbox, I got a tip that Tova du Plessis’ long-delayed bakery, an offshoot of her shop in South Philadelphia, was scheduled for final city inspections. The four-time James Beard semifinalist told me that babkas could be babka-ing at Essen North (110 W. Berks St.) later this week.

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👋 I may be the writer here, but a whole team puts out this newsletter. Today’s edition will be the last under the departing Ashley Hoffman, who as our senior newsletter strategist has kept this train on the rails for four years. I’ll wrap with a farewell song, making certain that the hyperlink is at the end of the sentence, as Ashley would want it.