Popular pop-up Paffuto moves to a permanent cafe space in South Philadelphia

After a full two years of pop-up appearances in the region, the chef-friends behind the casual Italian concept Paffuto are ready to settle down.

Dec. 6 is the planned debut of their all-day cafe at 1009 S. Eighth St. in South Philadelphia. It’s a 22-seater in the former Bibou and Pif.

Jake Loeffler, Daniel Griffiths, and Sam Kalkut will offer breakfast and lunch Wednesday to Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To start, ordering will be available only by phone or in person. Dinner service will follow, with nighttime hours Thursday and Friday.

Paffuto — Italian for chubby or plump — will open as a BYOB, but will develop a wine program through an affiliation with Mural City Cellars.

Five sandwiches will be on the menu, including four regular breakfast and lunch options and one weekly special. Three panzerotti — those calzone-like turnovers — will include a breakfast one, plus weekly specials. They’ll do sides such as broccoli Caesar, white bean salad, house-made focaccia, meatballs with burrata, and grab-and-go options. Rotating pastries will be offered daily, including cannoli, tiramisu, biscotti, cookies, maritozzi, and more.

They’re using local suppliers: coffee beans from Elixr, bread (including hoagie rolls and kaiser rolls) from Sarcone’s, and provisions from such outfits as Fishtown Pickle Project and Mural City.

Paffuto’s interior was designed by Cait Borkowski, who also designed Gilda.

Loeffler, 31, grew up in Union County, N.J., graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and banged pots at Vernick Fish, Tabachoy, Rouge, Kensington Quarters, and Philadelphia’s Four Seasons Hotel. Griffiths, 30, a CIA graduate who grew up in Rhinebeck, N.Y., worked at such restaurants as Laurel, Talula’s Garden, BBQ Smokhaus in the Bok Building, Jean-Georges Philadelphia, and Tabachoy over the last 3½ years. Kalkut, 31, a New Yorker and CIA classmate of Loeffler, worked at Jean-Georges with Griffiths, as well as Boka in Chicago, and Kensington Quarters in Fishtown.

They decided on Italian because Loeffler’s and Griffiths’ families hail from southern Italy, while Kalkut’s father grew up in the Bronx and as such became Italian through association.

“Danny and I were talking one day about our backgrounds and talking about, like, our families,” Loeffler said. “It turns out we’re both from southern Italy. Philly is very, very Italian and there’s a lot of amazing Italian establishments in Philly. But what we wanted to do is take our childhood, take what we grew up eating, take the style of Italian food that we had and put that best foot forward, and see how the city is receptive to it.”

“We started Paffuto literally because we just wanted to cook together and make some money on the side and cook with friends,” Loeffler said. “The snowball effect carried us — the city support and everyone’s help and guidance throughout the whole thing.”