Reading Terminal Market heads outdoors | Let’s Eat

Reading Terminal Market’s latest upgrade has happened outside. Read on for the story as well as a Craig LaBan review of an ambitious bar-restaurant in Port Richmond, an inside look at Chester County mushroom farming, and the details behind a forthcoming location for Philly’s first Black-owned brewery

Read down for restaurant news, Thanksgiving food tips, and a quiz. And if you’re looking for things to do this week on the food and drink scene, colleague Hira Qureshi has you covered.

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Reading Terminal Market’s latest upgrade is ready, writes colleague Jenn Ladd. Better lighting, new seating, and a wide, curbless sidewalk have transformed the 1100 block of Filbert Street into a pedestrian-friendly spot for Terminal customers.

Have you tried the Georgian-style cheese boats at the Terminal’s new Saami Somi?

Restaurateur Aimee Olexy is used to breaking the sad news to those eager to know more about her hometown. “Are there mushrooms just growing everywhere?” they’ll ask about Kennett Square, the mushroom capital of the world. “Yeah, but they’re in cement houses,” she’ll tell them. Jenn got inside one for a fascinating look at mushrooms.

Brothers Mengistu and Richard Koilor have signed a lease in University City for a physical location to house their Two Locals Brewing Co. — the first Black-owned brewery in Philadelphia. It was a long search, and the location, expected to open sometime in 2023, is 10 minutes from where they grew up.

The menu at La Roma in Port Richmond roams far and wide — with Korean, Mexican, French, and Polish influences, writes critic Craig LaBan. Kielbasa inside the arancini? A garnish of cilantro sour cream atop the pierogi? All that and, as he says, “date-night elegance.” 🔑

Craig loves the bánh khọt, the skillet-sizzled mini-pancakes served at Andrew Ma’s Hên Vietnamese Eatery in Cherry Hill, part of a wave of second-generation Vietnamese immigrants who arrived to America as young children and have now taken the entrepreneurial torch from their parents. “Ma’s menu is thoroughly inspired by the food he grew up eating,” Craig writes. As Ma told him: “I want to make my mom proud.” 🔑

And speaking of Cherry Hill: Russ Cowan of Famous 4th Street Deli in Queen Village will take over the space previously occupied by Short Hills Deli & Restaurant, which closed a year ago in Short Hills Shopping Center on Evesham Road. He’ll call it Radin’s. This may set off a deli war.

Where to find Thanksgiving food to go? We’re building a list of options here.

Where to go out to Thanksgiving dinner? Our growing-by-the-day roundup is here.

Chestnut Hill gets a French café Thursday, just a scone’s throw from the Chestnut Hill East regional-rail terminus. Matines Cafe is the latest stop for Arthur and Amanda de Bruc, who moved from Paris to Florida in 2014. Several years later, they took a road trip to Savannah, Ga., and decided to relocate and open a French café. In 2020, on their way to a vacation in Washington, D.C., their flight was diverted to Philadelphia. Their tour through Center City prompted another relocation, and with two toddlers and a dog, they settled in the 19118. The cafe is on Bethlehem Pike in the former Wm. A. Heine Clockmaker shop, whose clock outside is correct twice a day (though the de Brucs plan to repair it when they have, well, the time).

Menu includes all-day breakfasts, salads, soups, sandwiches, and tartines, plus coffees and teas. There’s also a line of French-theme gifts, such as prints. Warmer weather will bring a patio on the side.

Matines Café, 89 Bethlehem Pike. Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

Bastien Ornano has just opened a second location of J’aime French Bakery, polishing up a tiny storefront two steps up on the corner of 17th and Pine Streets near Rittenhouse Square. Like the much larger original, which opened in 2017 on 12th Street near Locust, the Aix-en-Provence-raised Ornano (below) offers a line of pastries and viennoiserie (a macaron of the day, too), a few savory items, and La Colombe coffee. No crepes or sandwiches yet. Mostly takeout.

J’aime French Café, 1644 Pine St. Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Pierre and Charlotte Calmels are selling the space that housed their destination French BYOB Bibou. I look back at its past, and catch up with the Calmelses, who say they are happy.

Briefly noted

Need outdoor dining ideas, now that fall has returned? Hira offers a rundown of heated patios.

Closings: After 33 years, Delancey Street Bagels in Wynnewood has closed after the landlord obtained a judgment seeking more than $123,000 against the business, according to Montgomery County court records. Friends of owner Jan Marc Dorfman have launched a GoFundMe to support him. ... Branzino’s nearly 20-year run on 17th Street above Spruce is over. Owner Luan Toto, who told me that he had problems attracting staff, recently opened the tiny, more casual Bottega Rittenhouse next door at 263 S. 17th St., serving pastas, coffees, and other Italian specialties.

What’s coming: Peter McAndrews says he has idled Modo Mio, his Italian restaurant at Fifth Street and Passyunk Avenue, as he straightens out issues with his landlord. Meanwhile, in a couple of weeks he plans to revive his sandwich shop, Paesano’s, at 943 S. Ninth St. in the Italian Market. The menu is not final but will include Modo Mio dishes. ... Restaurateur Avram Hornik is reviving Noche upstairs at 1901 Chestnut St., opening a Mexican coffee shop near 23rd and Walnut, and has leased 1720 Chestnut for a sports bar. Details are here. ... Chef Michael Falcone and David Backhus are opening Stables Kitchen & Beer Garden in the spring at 160 Park Rd. in Chester Springs, next to their restaurant Bloom. (The location was Levante Brewing.) ... The fine-dining Ristorante Lucca, with Italian-speaking waiters, tableside service, and a piano lounge, will replace the shuttered Mastoris Diner in Bordentown in late fall.

Tiffin, the regional Indian chain, has opened its 10th location: 5 S. Morehall Rd., Malvern.

New Jersey Wine Week is Nov. 14-21. Here’s the list of related activities.

Golden Corral restaurants (there’s one in Bensalem) will offer a free dinner buffet and beverage to military personnel (active and retired) on Monday, Nov. 14 to mark Veterans Day, from 5 p.m. to close.

Hammonton in Atlantic County, N.J., is a prime town for fans of Mexican food, and @zckltz recommends the tacos at Marquez Mexican Grill at 8 Railroad Ave. in Hammonton (also, the best hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily). In Center City, meanwhile, @thompsonschill enjoyed the Trinidadian-style goat curry from Flambo, the new Caribbean bar-restaurant at 205 S. 13th St. in Washington Square West.

Had to get a World Series reference in here. It was alleged last week, inaccurately, that two Philadelphia restaurants — Mike’s BBQ and Angelo’s Pizzeria — denied food deliveries to the visiting Houston Astros because of the rivalry. The call to Mike’s was a flat-out error: The Astros wanted Latin food, but Mike’s serves barbecue. Why didn’t Angelo’s deliver?

A.) The shop ran out of pepperoni.

B.) The shop closes at 7 p.m., but the delivery was requested at 10:30 or 11.

C.) It was outside of the shop’s delivery range. Try Domino’s.

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