What if a fine-dining chef were to open a ‘Wawa’? Breezy’s in South Philly is the answer

What if a chef were to open something like a Wawa — but aimed it at the neighborhood?

After a decade working on Washington Avenue on the line straddling the fast-growing Point Breeze and Graduate Hospital neighborhoods, chef Chad Durkin had the idea for a deli and sandwich shop that would give shelf space to local brands, sell fresh produce, serve as a small supermarket, and even rent out space for private functions. It not only will offer sandwiches, it would sell prepacked, sliced meats by the pound.

This weekend, Breezy’s Deli & Market grand-opens on the corner of 23rd Street and Washington Avenue, a block west of the Durkin-owned Porco’s Porchetteria and Small Oven Pastry Shop. Durkin started working there in late 2013 as the pastry chef when it was Kermit’s Bake Shoppe; he took over the space three years later.

Like the flowy name itself — an homage to the neighborhood and to a long-gone nearby cafe — Breezy’s has an easy feel. Bins of produce sit at the center of the store, amid wire racks full of pantry items and snacks, with refrigerators off to the side. There’s a high-tech smoothie and slushie machine from Botrista and, for contrast, an old-fashioned scale. The deli counter, and its lineup of hoagies, is toward the rear. Hoagies include eggplant caponata veggie, smoked trout and cheese, roast beef, mortadella, and smoked turkey BLT.

Durkin, 41, has sterling credentials in pastry. After interning at Le Bec-Fin, he landed at Susanna Foo and later the Water Works before starting out on his own and hitting the competition circuit. His past includes research and product-development chef for Carlo’s Bakery, working for Buddy Valastro. At the time he started at Kermit’s, he was relieved to have a direct connection with customers.

Breezy’s also unites Durkin with well-regarded local pastry chef Marqessa Gesualdi, whose Wayne bakery, Aux Petits Delices, closed last December when her landlord sold the building. Gesualdi is helping to manage both his locations.

Durkin was offered space in a new building backed by developer Ori Feibush. There has been a building boom on the western end of Washington Avenue, but with few grocery outlets to serve not only the residents but those in apartment buildings springing up nearby. “I wasn’t looking to open something specifically, but once these properties started being a little bit more clear, I was thinking: ‘If it’s not me, it’s going to be somebody else,’” Durkin said. “If I was going to open up a second business, it’d be close, it’d be manageable, and it’d be into this community that I feel so strongly about and vice versa.”

Breezy’s hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.