🦪 Dive deep with us into Jersey oysters | Let’s Eat

New Jersey oysters are enjoying a revival, so we’ve put on our waders and plunged in. Also this week, we tell you where to find pizza values at the Shore and have a brat summer, and drop scoop about a hot restaurant group coming to Philly.

— Mike Klein

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While you squeeze a lemon wedge on that tray of Sweet Amalias or Sugar Shacks in front of you, consider where they came from. The New Jersey oyster scene isn’t just back — it’s producing world-class oysters. Craig LaBan and a team of reporters, photographers, and designers took a deep-dive into the waters around the state for a look at this growing aquaculture scene.

🦪 Meet the experts: There are 41 farms now — up from just two in 2011.

🦪 Craig’s top ranked Jersey oysters, complete with tasting notes.

🦪 Shucked, slurped, recycled: How the oyster you just ate might help the next generation of oysters.

🦪 The briny beauty that started it all — the Cape May Salt — is in a moment of major transition.

🦪 Oysters have a heart and two kidneys, so why do some vegetarians and vegans consider them OK to eat? Maria Yagoda explains.

🦪 Margaret Eby met the man who has shucked a million oysters.

Tommy Rowan sifted through the top pizza shop offerings in beach towns between Atlantic City and Cape May. Then he combed those offerings and found the most reasonably priced shops that deliver quality. One question before you click: Would you spend $30 for a pizza on the boardwalk?

Charli XCX has made all things lime green cool. Henry Savage ran down the local bars and venues with dance parties and themed drinks, like the Jolly Green at Oltremare.

🌭Speaking of “brat summer”: If you missed our recent round-up of outstanding brats (as in, hot dogs), I offer this link so you can play catch-up.

Jewish delis are fairly easy to find. Kosher delis, however, are rare. There’s a new one in the Overbrook Park neighborhood, where you can get your pastrami on.

Unapologetic Foods, a Michelin-starred restaurant group out of NYC, is coming to Philly next year. Roni Mazumdar and James Beard Award-winning chef Chintan Pandya are not yet sure of the brand, but told me that the cooking will reflect Unapologetic’s no-holds-barred approaches to Indian cuisine. They’ll open on Frankford Avenue, amid the booming Fishtown scene.

Sedgwick Theater in Mount Airy will be coming back since its purchase by Quintessence Theatre Group, as Rosa Cartagena reported a few weeks ago. The historic theater has applied for a liquor license for its concessions on performance days.

Carlo’s Bakery’s final Philly-area store (in Marlton Square) has closed, leaving fanciers of the Cake Boss’ confections to seek out its vending machines on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. The Philly location bowed out last December.

Topside Tavern. Dhayanandh “Danny” Kuselan owns Thanal Indian Tavern near Logan Square and Manam Indian Cuisine in Malvern. For his third restaurant, partnered with Ganesh Veeramani, he’s switched lanes to an American sports bar. The week-old Topside Tavern, at 20th and Ludlow Streets, is on the former site of Farmer’s Keep, a health-forward, fast-casual eatery that closed during the pandemic. That immediate slice of Center City West doesn’t have too much else, bar-wise.

“Yes, it is definitely out of my comfort zone,” Kuselan said the other day. “But opening Indian restaurants is getting difficult because of [finding] good Indian chefs. Getting visas to come here is very difficult. So why not try American food?” They’ve brought in the well-traveled chef Todd Butler, whose local resume ranges from Puttshack to Veganish.

Though billed as a sports bar, Topside is not tied to a deep-fryer. The menu, studded with vegan items, includes such dishes as Korean-pork barbecue riblets, shrimp katsu on brioche, bao buns filled with bulgogi-seasoned short rib, and green papaya salad with poached shrimp (shown above), plus a few entrees (top price: $26) such as a whole stuffed Cornish hen for two and skillet crisp red snapper (shown below) with corn succotash, tomato, basil, fava, lemon butter, hush puppies, and paprika aioli.

Eight beers join a full bar list. Draft beers are 20% off, and burgers, wings, and Brussels sprouts are half-off, during happy hour, 4-6 p.m. weekdays. Next up will be rooftop dining.

Topside Tavern, 10 S. 20th St. Hours: 4-10 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m.-midnight Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.

Chubby Nori. Chubby Cattle, dishing hot pot for nearly six years in Chinatown, is undergoing a rebrand to a new concept based on Miyazakigyu Wagyu beef. Meanwhile, owner David Zhao and his crew have opened its second floor as a comfy temaki-style sushi bar called Chubby Nori in partnership with Boston’s Matsunori.

Now in its soft-opening phase, they’re keeping the menu small — just a few appetizers (chawanmushi, salmon cups, truffle edamame, and seaweed salad), plus a decent selection of hand rolls (figure $7 and under) and some premiums, such as miso butter cod and scallop (shown below, both $9.25), as well as specials (Korean barbecue Wagyu or A5 Miyazaki Wagyu with truffle pate, each $16.50).

Drinks list in the early going includes Sapporo on draft, as well as soju, sake, and shots of Tito’s, Crown Royal, and Hennessy’s. There’s a 14-seat sushi bar as well as roomy table seating.

Chubby Nori, 146 N. 10th St. Hours: 5-10 p.m. daily. Note: It is closed for an event Aug. 14.

Philly’s first Pure Green franchise opens at 11 a.m. Aug. 14 at 1124 Walnut St. Owner Tiara Council, a Fairmount resident who grew up in West Oak Lane, has an MSW from Temple and has worked in the nonprofit sector. Pure Green, specializing in wellness-based, cold-pressed juices, will offer a free small Pure Green smoothie (kale, spinach, mango, banana, pineapple, coconut water) to the first 100 customers. Hours: 7 a.m.-9 p.m daily.

Drip Viet Cafe’s grand opening (225 N. 11th St., next to Vietnam in Chinatown) starts at 9 a.m. Aug. 18 with a free tote bag and drink for the first 30 people. There’s a dragon dance at noon.

Hop Sing Laundromat, the Chinatown cocktail bar, has sold out its series of “cocktail omakases” featuring award-winning bartender Toby Maloney. HSL’s owner, the mononymous Lê, said he was considering adding a date, Aug. 22, if there’s a call for it; DM for details.

Vegandale Festival, set for Saturday at the Navy Yard, will feature comp samples of TiNDLE’s boneless wings, along with sales of TiNDLE banh mi from Chad Rosenthal of Rosey’s in Ambler. Besides food, Vegandale includes music and interactive art.

A familiar mall store has come out with its own cologne. Name it.

A) Orange Julius

B) Sbarro

C) Auntie Anne’s

D) Dippin’ Dots

Find out if you know the answer.

Do you any recommendations for where I can take my husband to get whole-belly fried clams? — Joanne L.

As much as we enjoy this New England treat (opposed to ubiquitous clam strips), we don’t know where find it regularly around here. Oyster House in Center City offers them every so often. I’m putting this one out there. Please email any leads, preferably sit-down spots within an hour of so of Philadelphia, and we’ll make Joanne and her husband happy as, well, clams.

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? E-mail your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

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