What you may have missed this summer on the Philly restaurant scene
New restaurants include Bastia, Provenance, and Little Walter's. But the level of activity was smaller than expected, and many restaurants have not yet crossed the finish line.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/T2QTP6QDIFG3DGLZ5RSMONRIOQ.jpg)
Let’s imagine that in mid-June, you skipped town and shut down all media. Now you want a summary of the summer Philadelphia-area restaurant scene.
You didn’t miss too many newcomers. Nearly half of the 60 restaurants scheduled to open before Labor Day have been delayed by licensing snags or construction hang-ups.
There was a rash of closings. We’ve learned that many longtime restaurateurs are tired. In 2021, many fed-up restaurant workers joined the so-called great resignation. Now, owners themselves are checking out: Andy Bernard at Kaiseki, Effie Boukidis at Effie’s, Peter Woolsey at Bistrot La Minette, and Juan Lopez and Mallory Fix-Lopez at On Point Bistro, all shut their restaurants this summer.
Adding to the burnout are fluctuating commodity prices, keen competition, and rising labor costs that the owners feel they can’t offset by raising menu prices. (There’s a sense of frustration on the part of customers, too, as they gripe about such issues as mandatory tipping and surcharges for credit-card payments.)
The summer also saw bright spots:
Cantina Feliz moved into larger digs in downtown Ambler.
Bastia brought a dash of style and chef Tyler Akin’s “coastal Mediterranean” cooking into the new Anna & Bel boutique hotel in Fishtown.
Amourette delights as a Rittenhouse Square warm-weather pop-up from chefs Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp (My Loup, Her Place Supper Club).
Mama’s Falafel opened on the longtime site of Center City favorite Mama’s Vegetarian.
Provenance, perhaps one of the most ambitious restaurants in years, opened in Society Hill.
Little Walter’s, a corner spot in Kensington, is showing that Polish food can be cool.
Same for Carbon Copy, the brewery, and Mom-Mom’s Kitchen, the Polish foodery, now collaborating in Port Richmond.
Picnic has brought juicy rotisserie chicken, a sterling wine shop, and a bustling scene to a former Kensington factory.
Yanaga Kappo Izakaya in Northern Liberties finally obtained its liquor license.
Han Dynasty moved to smaller quarters down the street in Old City.
Germantown now has Das Good Cafe, serving Laotian and Hawaiian specialties.
Fimy and Ara Ishkhanian moved Apricot Stone, their Northern Liberties Armenian-Mediterranean BYOB, nearby to Girard Avenue.
Momoka, a ramen and skewer specialist from Northeast Philadelphia, opened a second location at Fifth Street and Passyunk Avenue in Queen Village.
At Black Dragon Takeout in West Philadelphia, chef Kurt Evans interprets classic Chinese American takeout food through the lens of Black American cuisine.
Significant suburban openings include a gorgeous, 400-seat White Dog Cafe location (the fifth) in Chester Springs, Jalsa Indian Cuisine (which moved from a Laurel Springs takeout to a Somerdale strip center), and Drift on Mill (a nautical-theme bar-restaurant in Bristol).
New in Chinatown: Luscious Dumplings (a BYOB), Chubby Nori (a sushi room over Chubby Cattle), and Drip Vietnamese Cafe (serving coffee and banh mi).
On the forthcoming front: The Pub in Pennsauken closed for an upgrade of its systems, but not its decor; it’s due back Sept. 20. Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook announced a new restaurant in Kensington this fall called Jaffa Bar. Unapologetic Foods and its collection of critically acclaimed (and mainly Indian) restaurants in New York signed a lease in Fishtown to open next year. Jesse Ito, Philadelphia’s most celebrated sushi chef, told The Inquirer that he is planning an izakaya at 1710 Sansom St., sans sushi. Sagami in Collingswood will continue after the passing of its matriarch, Chizuko Fukuyoshi.
A chef’s new mission: Joncarl Lachman, who owns Dankbaar and Winkel, became culinary director at Broad Street Love, formerly Broad Street Ministry (315 S. Broad St.). His work in Poland with Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen feeding Ukrainian refugees in 2022 gave him new purpose, he said.
A strikeout: Former Phillies star Jimmy Rollins parted company with a business partner on a forthcoming Old City bar-restaurant initially called Eleven Social, after his jersey number. The Avery, whose concept has been upgraded since plans hatched, is under construction for a fall opening at 117 Chestnut St.
Closings. Besides On Point, Bistrot La Minette, and Effie’s, we saw the closings of SweetWater Bar & Grill in Cinnaminson (about 40 years, including many years as Hathaway’s); Viggiano’s in Conshohocken (24 years — and still open in Cape May); Pumpkin in Graduate Hospital (nearly 20 years); all three OCF Coffee Houses (13 years); Howl at the Moon in Center City (10 years); Farm & Fisherman in Horsham (seven years — and still open in Cherry Hill); Autana in Ardmore (four years); De La Terre in Downingtown (about a year and a half), and Good Dog Bar’s Atlantic City location (about 15 months) Also, Win Hospitality has announced that Azie on Main in Villanova will close Sept. 22 after 15 years.
Also: You still have months to secure a pizza at Pizza Jawn, but know that next spring, David Lee will close the Manayunk shop to focus on Bar Jawn, his nearby bar — which will serve an entirely different kind of pizza.