Craig LaBan’s 10 favorite restaurants | Let’s Eat

Craig LaBan put down his fork and pulled out his keyboard. And now it’s time for his top 10 restaurants of the year.

In this edition:

— Mike Klein

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A gazillion meals under his belt, critic Craig LaBan is out with his list of 10 favorite Philadelphia-area restaurants for 2024. There’s sushi, Jewish deli, Mexican cemitas, cutting-edge vegan, and wood-fired cookery, and that’s just the half of it. Read on for Craig’s takes and luscious food photography. (Shown above is Monica Herndon’s view of sweetbreads in mustard-gin sauce, scallop crudo, and bean and prosciutto-stuffed farfalle at Her Place Supper Club.)

🗣️ Talk back to the critic! Inquirer subscribers can join a live, virtual “Ask Me Anything” chat with Craig at 11 a.m. Thursday. Register here right away.

☝️ The 76 is The Inquirer’s comprehensive guide to the 76 restaurants that define the Philly-area dining scene.

“People love coffee and people love alcohol. When you put the two together, you’re going to have a huge crowd,” says the bar manager at the Dandelion, one of the bars where Earl Hopkins found tasty espresso martinis, including the one shown above at Bar1010, garnished with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

🍸A bar machine that mixes espresso martinis has shaken up the cocktail world.

Hyper-seasonal, Japanese-inspired drinks, created by James Beard-winning cocktailer Danny Childs, and tasty bar snacks are the draws at the new Almanac, above Ogawa in Old City. What sets Almanac apart, as Jenn Ladd explains, is the start-to-finish omotenashi.

Noelle Blizzard’s New June, the Instagram-born bakery that brought striking vintage-style cakes to Philly and subsequently swept national media, opens its storefront on Saturday. Jenn Ladd explains what you’re in for.

Testa Rossa. Fearless Restaurants (White Dog Cafe, Moshulu, etc.) has a high-end Italian restaurant at the Wayne Hotel called Rosalie. Now, says Fearless’ Sydney Grims, Rosalie has “a naughty little sister and she’s a redhead.” Hence, the name.

The first of two casual Testa Rossa locations — sporting a high-lacquer, midcentury look from Stokes Architecture + Design — will open Friday across from the White Dog Cafe Glen Mills in the Shoppes at Brinton Lake. (It’s a former Ruby’s Diner, and you’ll feel it.) The second is due next summer near the White Dog in Wayne.

Grims and her father/business partner Marty Grims bill Testa Rossa as a restaurant “born in Italy but raised in America” with “inauthentic” pizzas (elote as one topping) and pastas (goat cheese tortelloni). Cocktails will use Italian ingredients. Desserts will include soft-serve gelato, Chinotto floats, and tableside tiramisu.

Testa Rossa, 919 Baltimore Pike, Glen Mills. Opens 5 p.m. Dec. 6 for dinner daily. Lunch (from 11 a.m. daily) begins Dec. 11. Closing time is 9 p.m. because this is the suburbs. Reservations via OpenTable.

Mona. Teddy Sourias is growing up. The longtime bar and club operator — who reopened Memories in Margate last summer — is transforming a former Center City furniture store down the street from Tradesman’s U-Bahn, and Bru into Mona, a luxe, multilevel Mediterranean bar-restaurant with a menu honoring his family’s Greek heritage. (He calls it “néos-Mediterranean,” as in “new.”)

The first two floors — the 150-seat ground-floor dining room and the low-lit basement lounge — open Friday. The upper level/roof are still a work in progress.

Vanessa Deleon of VVA Designs started the project in 2021, and architect Oscar Soto picked it up in 2023, installing a 24-seat main bar, floor-to-ceiling olive trees, big florals and chandeliers, and European-influenced textiles lining the floors.

Menu has assorted dips (choose four for the “A Little of Everything”), gyro dumplings, kebabs, pastas (such as lobster pappardelle and shrimp orecchiette), and herb-crusted lamb chops (the top-priced dish at $48 for four meaty chops).

Sample cocktails: the Olympian Lemondrop with Metaxa Ouzo, simple, triple sec, lemon, and olive oil drops, and the house martini, made of dill-infused Glendalough gin and housemade brine.

Mona, 1308 Chestnut St. Opens 4 p.m. Dec. 6. Reservations via OpenTable.

Dear Daphni. Here are a few details about the long-in-the-works Dear Daphni, the Mediterranean restaurant from Michael Schulson and the Schulson Collective (Harp & Crown, Alpen Rose, Sampan, Double Knot, etc.) at the 20th and Sansom side of the Laurel building. It opens Dec. 12.

The name is inspired by the mythological nymph whose name is usually rendered Daphne; it’s a play on the laurel tree that she transforms into in her bid to escape Apollo’s unwanted pursuit.

I haven’t seen DD in person. According to design notes: Kate Rohrer and Rohe Creative used “playful patterns, bold colors, wistful curvatures and bespoke furniture and lighting [to] punctuate the space in an incredibly vibrant, as if it were ‘alive’ way.” Features include taupe stucco walls, jewel-toned stained glass, and emerald green light fixtures. “On one side of the dining room, intimate, plush booths sink into curved, recessed walls as a hidden beach cove might dip out of sight. Taupe tables and chairs lining the center of the dining room are grounded by earth-toned tiles decorating the floor. Across the room, sea-blue armchairs are cozied up to natural stone tables with low lighting. A 12-seat bar with stools stands at the back of the room. Outdoor seating among lush greenery will also be available during the warmer months.”

Food: mezze and pita, skewers of lamb kofta, pork, wagyu New York strip, swordfish, and salmon, all grilled over coals and accompanied by Turkish pilaf, plus sauces such as adjika, chermoula, and toum. There’s kousa with tomato, zucchini, and beef; snapper crudo with saffron, pistachio, and yogurt; gigante bean tabbouleh with bulgar, parsley, and mint; and Moroccan meatballs with tomato, pine nut, and feta. A for-two section (whose top price is $62) includes whole branzino, prawns, and Tunisian lamb shank. In addition to cocktails, there will be 16 wines by the glass and about 30 bottles from around the world, plus nonalcoholic beverages, a Mediterranean tea program, and Turkish coffee.

Dear Daphni, the Laurel, 125 S. 20th St. Opens 5 p.m. Dec. 12.

TKTS, the discount-ticketing service, has opened a kiosk at Philly’s Visitor Center at Sixth and Market Streets, through a partnership with Visit Philadelphia, the Visitor Center, and the Theatre Department Fund. It’s the first TKTS outside of New York City. Organizers hope the 30% to 50% discounts lure audiences and help local theater companies.

Mawn — Phila and Rachel Lorn’s red-hot Cambodian BYOB — will expand next year with a Southeast Asian oyster bar on the East Passyunk strip. The Lorns are adding a cousin — ex-Vernick/Dandelion bartender Jesse Levinson (at left, below) — as they set up Sao in the former Ocho Rios Parilla/Plenty Cafe at 1710 E. Passyunk Ave. Thirty seats will include eight at the bar. “Sao” is Lorn’s mom’s pronunciation of “South,” as in South Philadelphia. (In 1986, his Cambodian parents named him Phila — pronounced “Peela” — to honor the city where the Lorns arrived after a church sponsored their immigration the year before.) Sao’s culinary inspiration is Lorn’s 2008 trip to Cambodian beaches, where “I smelled and saw things that I really wanted to bottle up and sell.” For the look, they plan to channel Boston’s Neptune Oyster Bar. When does it open? “When I’m [good and] ready,” he said. Follow along here.

The Black Squirrel Pub & Haunt in East Falls has closed, but chef-owner Art Cavaliere is keeping up the cocktail stylings on the second floor of his nearby pizzeria, In Riva. Friday and Saturday nights from 6-10, bartender Sean Clarke oversees what he’s calling the Nook, serving cocktails and small plates.

Revival BBQ at Saint Lazarus Bar. While visiting Clementon Park last summer with his wife, Janay, and kids, Brendan Olkus of Saint Lazarus ordered barbecue from John Stewart’s Revival BBQ stand.

“I was hangry,” Olkus said. “Got a bunch of food. Ate it, loved it, and got his card. I said, ‘I’ve got a vacancy in my kitchen if you guys want to come into the city.’”

“We said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Stewart said.

Revival’s food is available nightly inside the bar and through the takeout window at Saint Lazarus, on the corner of Front and Girard under the El where Northern Liberties and Fishtown collide.

Stewart, who also owns Kitchen 519 in Glendora (that’s him below with son Aidan), has set up a menu far beyond the usual ribs-brisket-pork standards, although the brisket “cheesesteak” (topped with crumbled Cooper sharp cheese on a seeded roll) is a winner from his hickory smoker. Appetizers include corn bread stuffed with maple cream, deep-fried deviled eggs, and crab-bacon jalapeño poppers. Besides burgers and chicken sandwiches, there is a line of DIY bowls (pick a base, protein, and toppings).

The menu’s vegan selections include tofu burnt ends and jackfruit as a meat substitute. Desserts: smoked cheesecake with sumac berry sauce, a Reese’s brownie, and vegan chocolate mousse with smoked granola.

If you order delivery or take food to go, you’ll miss out on one of the happiest, liveliest bar scenes around.

Saint Lazarus, 102 W. Girard Ave. Barbecue is offered from 4 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily.

Watkins Drinkery. Since Jonn Klein opened Watkins in 2010, it’s been a neighborhood go-to for beer, imaginative bar food, and pool on the second floor. When Klein relocated to Croatia, he sold it to Jack Ross, a management veteran from the Starr organization, and Alex Kaslowitz, a marketing specialist in baby equipment — both 37 and friends since their first day at Northeast High.

They took stock of the vibe, which is classic South Philly corner bar. “It’s like a lodge where everybody’s a member,” Kaslowitz said. That stayed, even the taxidermy. The menu? Ah. Perhaps the Scotch egg should come off. “We looked at sales, and I think they sold six in four months,” Ross said.

They brought in Frankie Ramirez, who was chef at LMNO while Ross worked there, to redo the food. Ramirez, in turn, brought in Jose Lugo, one of his chefs, to execute. (Ramirez, as I reported last week, is creating his own restaurant, Amá, in Kensington.)

This is next-level bar food: four kinds of twice-fried wings, mushroom “calamari,” mac and cheese, pretzel bites, fries, and tots, sandwiches (including a truffle mushroom cheesesteak on a Sarcone’s roll), and two wedge salads: one vegan and the other, shown above, with lump crab, onion, smoked crispy quinoa, blue cheese, bacon bits, and smoked Thousand Island dressing. Ramirez and Lugo are offering vegan selections all over the menu. One of the six hot dogs is plant-based. (The Reaper, deep-fried, topped with German relish, and shown above, is not.)

Plus: The kitchen is open late, making it a potential magnet for the restaurant industry.

Watkins Drinkery, 1712 S. 10th St. Opens at 5 p.m. daily. For now, kitchen closes at 11 p.m. weeknights, 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

(Below, Ross at left, Kaslowitz at right in the upstairs pool room.)

La Panarda, the tradition from Abruzzo that includes a feast of at least 40 dishes served family style, is returning to Le Virtu in South Philadelphia on Feb. 16. Tickets ($500 plus tax/tip) go on sale at 9 a.m. Dec. 4 (as in this morning, if you’re an early-bird Let’s Eat-er); there’s a five-person ticket limit. Chef Andrew Wood and owners Francis Cratil-Cretarola and Catherine Lee will be in Villavallelonga in January to join its Celebration of Sant’Antonio Abate, which ends in a 12-hour panarda celebration. Le Virtù’s version, including 10 wines, will start at noon and end about 9 p.m. Tickets via Resy.

Fishtown Pickle Project is bringing back the Feast of the Seven Pickles on Dec. 17 at Mural City Cellars in Fishtown. Seatings at 5, 6:45, and 8:30 p.m. The menu is a collab between Fishtown Pickle’s Niki Toscani and Mike Sicinski and Fiore’s Ed Crochet and Justine MacNeil: a grazing board with local cheeses; a seasonal giardiniera; pickled endives and fermented winter fruit salad; pickled shrimp toast; spiced kabocha squash, hazelnut gremolata, and pickled peppers; sweet potato gnocchi, fermented cabbage, and scallion; ragu Napolitano with polenta; and torta Caprese al Limone with pickled cranberries and mascarpone for dessert. Vegetarian substitutions will be available. Tickets ($95) are online; $10 from each ticket will go to the Share Food Program. Additionally, Fishtown Pickle Project will release jars of Aji Dulce Giardiniera, a collaboration with chef Eli Kulp, and a portion of proceeds from sales will also benefit the Share Food Program.

Two Fishtown restaurants — Bastia (Tyler Akin’s sultry spot in Hotel Anna & Bel) and Amy’s Pastelillos (Amaryllis Rivera Nassar’s corner takeout) — have made Esquire’s best new restaurant list.

Rayo Cocktail Bar from Mexico City will pop up at Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. from 5 p.m.-midnight Dec. 9.

Rock N Rolls — Shamaya “Bella” Oberlton’s egg-roll shop in Northeast Philadelphia — is opening a food truck at Broad Street and Montgomery Avenue on Temple University’s campus on Dec. 5. There’s a giveaway: egg rolls to the first 100 people starting at 10 a.m. Varieties include sweet chili salmon, cheesesteak, Buffalo chicken, and “soul rolls,” which are stuffed with mac and cheese, collard greens, and chicken or roast beef, and served with a side of gravy for dipping. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

An Uber Eats driver in South Jersey recently discovered this tucked inside a burrito delivery order:

A) an AirTag

B) an ounce of marijuana

C) a pair of sunglasses

D) a wad of cash

Find out if you know the answer.

What’s going into the old BurgerFi location across from Reading Terminal Market? — Sean M.

A real estate source says it will become a location of Kyuramen, the noodle franchise out of Queens, N.Y.; there’s one now in Cherry Hill. No timeline.

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