Chefs revive the classic Philly restaurant Fond in a new home in Delco

Fond, once one of the darlings of the East Passyunk dining scene, closed in late 2021, a casualty of the pandemic.

Last week, chefs Lee Styer and Jessie Prawlucki Styer revived Fond in a shopping center in Wallingford, Delaware County, near their home.

In spirit, it’s 2009 at the former La Cannelle Cafe, with Fond classics like chicken liver mousse; tuna crudo with red curry and coconut; and escargot from Lee Styer’s French-inspired menu all back. The service is similarly refined, the atmosphere elegant.

Fond is also a BYOB again. The liquor license hangs back in South Philly at 11th and Tasker Streets, where the Styers own an all-day bistro called the Dutch with chef Kevin Watters.

Most of the staff is a holdover from La Cannelle, which had a Mediterranean approach; Styer credits them for smoothing the transition.

Fond, making a foray into daytime service, serves brunch as well as dinner. The new location is about the same size as the old, with 40 seats. There is a large patio outside, as well as plenty of parking.

Fifteen years later, with three children, a dog, and a henhouse full of chickens, “there’s a lot more to risk” with the new Fond, Lee Styer said. “But we also have different priorities and know what we’re doing.” With Watters overseeing the Dutch, the Styers’ suburban world revolves around Fond. “Making it all happen — that’s the holy grail,” Styer said. “I know it sounds cliche.”

“When we opened up [Fond], we were 24,” he said. “We had two bicycles, no house, and a kitchen the size of a car. She’s making a wedding cake and I’m butchering a salmon a foot away. We decided to roll the dice and [figured that] if we fail, we can get jobs tomorrow.”

Experience has also allowed them “to step back and let things kind of play out — not trying to control everything all the time,” he said. “As you get older, you know you don’t have infinite time.”