Where to eat and drink by the water | Let’s Eat

What better way to celebrate spring than an outing with waterside views? Also this week, we offer ideas for Mother’s Day feast-ivities, tell you how a suburban restaurant owner found a legal way to open a bar more cheaply, and take a look ahead at nine restaurants on the way. We also have some breaking news about a Long Beach Island destination that’s in danger of being shut down.

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Outdoor-dining season is kicking in. Colleague Jenn Ladd found six spots overlooking scenic waterways in the Philly area. Check in for her report of “calm creekside lunches, cheap beers, and lots of bird sightings (ducks! geese! two bald eagles!).”

The post-pandemic restaurant boom continues. As Bake’n Bacon, the eagerly awaited bacon-centric bar-restaurant from food trucker Justin Coleman (above), heads toward its opening, nine new restaurants have hit my radar in only the last few weeks. Add this to a bunch previously announced. There will be a spot in Phoenixville serving boneless Korean fried chicken and beer, a second Brazilian steakhouse in King of Prussia, and two more Jewish delis in the ‘burbs.

Mother’s Day plans? Right about now, the procrastinators among us are starting to consider a food-centered outing with a significant mother figure. Colleague Hira Qureshi offers 11 dining options, including restaurants and even a river cruise.

To add a 12th idea: This Sunday’s buffet breakfasts and brunches at the Dolce Philadelphia in the W Hotel (1437 Chestnut St.) include complimentary floral bouquets from Kaleb Events.

Or stay in and do tea. Contributor Rebecca Firkser suggests turning spring produce into a galette (or two). The strawberry and preserved lemon galette shown above is even easier than pie.

Milk consumption is declining among younger people. Some local coffee shop owners report that as many as half of customers now request oat milk or other nondairy options. Colleague Erin McCarthy does a deep-dive into the subject, chatting up not only coffee shop owners and consumers, but a dairy farmer who won’t even use the word milk to describe these alternatives. Sesame milk!?

Chef Jennifer Carroll, the Northeast Philly-raised Top Chef alum, is creating chicken sandwiches with what she calls “iconic” Philly flavors for a two-day pop-up next week. And they will be free. FanDuel Casino’s “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” will set up May 18 and May 19 at 216 Market St. in Old City from 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. The chicken will be dipped in garlic and long-hot oil, topped with Cooper Sharp cheese and Fishtown Pickle Project pickles, and built on an Amoroso roll. The online casino’s giveaway is open to anyone 21 and over who has a FanDuel account or signs up for one there. FanDuel also will donate to Sisterly Love Collective, the organization that Carroll cofounded to support women in Philadelphia’s food and hospitality industry.

Speaking of Carroll, she and longtime boyfriend Billy Riddle shifted their personal and professional lives last year after he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. To manage their lives better, they left Spice Fish restaurant. They now consult, shoot and host videos, and whip up private dinners in their Philly loft.

Toby Maloney, who started over the winter as bartender-in-residence at Chinatown’s Hop Sing Laundromat, is up for a James Beard Award for The Bartender’s Manifesto. He sat down with Hira Qureshi, who writes that Maloney’s time at Hop Sing is actually research for another book.

Say you want to open a bar in Wyndmoor. A liquor license in Montgomery County will cost you $350,000. How can a little guy do it? By securing a brewery license for about a tenth of that. Jenn Ladd tells how Eric Connor navigated the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s system and turned his fish-and-chip eatery into a pub.

Or say you have a brewery and you want to open another tasting room. Human Robot is using its brewery license to open this week at 2401 Walnut St., where it’s sharing space with Spread Bagelry. Jenn explains how this is a beer destination with a terrific view of the Schuylkill.

When Jose Lorenzo’s work hours were cut during the pandemic, the restaurant cook and manager started selling birria tacos out of his South Jersey garage. Now, he runs three taco stands at Clementon Park and recently opened AXO, a BYOB in Lindenwold. AXO fuses Mexican, Japanese, and Korean ingredients. Birria ramen? Seafood egg rolls?

Mustache Bill’s, the Long Beach Island diner around since 1959, is due to open for the season Memorial Day weekend. But its long-term future is uncertain, reports NJ.com, since the James Beard “America’s Classics” award winner is now up for sale.

Holiday Snack Bar, at the other end of Long Beach Island for 75 years, is fighting Beach Haven’s denial of a 2023 mercantile license. My colleague Amy Rosenberg has the story.

Arpeggio BYOB in Spring House turns out tasty hummus and hot-from-the-oven pita. Owners Mary Cullom and Hamdy Khalil will give free orders to dine-in customers this Saturday as they mark International Hummus Day.

“The Power of Food Media” is the title of a panel discussion May 25 at Indy Hall in Northern Liberties. Kyle V. Hiller of Broad Street Review will moderate as writer/Check, Please! Philly host Kae Lani Palmisano, journalist Alisha Miranda, and Inquirer deputy food editor Margaret Eby talk about Philly dining culture. Arrival and bites from Soul & Busan at 5:30 p.m., panel from 6-7 p.m. It’s $30; info is here.

Themed events surround this weekend’s Taylor Swift shows at the Linc. Which of these is not real?

A) Swiftadelphia Pop-Up Shop

B) Swifty Drag Brunch and Tay-Gates

C) Shake It Off Night at Shake Shack

D) Taylor Takeover at SoulCycle

Find out if you know the answer.

You can find all our Taylor Swift coverage here. (And some intel for Swifties of legal drinking age: Bottles of wine will be sold at the Linc during her shows. The lineup is William Hill cabernet, Gouguenheim pinot noir, Sonoma Cutrer chardonnay, Banfi pinot grigio, and Bridge Lane rose. Prices have not been released.)

Give me an idea of smart marketing in the food world. — @justw0rd

I think it’s smart for restaurants to accept gift certificates issued by now-closed restaurants, even at 25% of face value. This kind of good will goes a long way. By the same token, props to Scoop DeVille, the ice cream parlors at 1109 Walnut St. and 538 South St., for accepting old Bed Bath & Beyond store coupons at 20% off. You needed the towels, but you really want the sundae.

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