‘Vibe dining’ is coming to Northern Liberties this fall with SIN Philadelphia
Restaurateur Justin Veasey says SIN will be an Italian restaurant with aspects of a steakhouse.
There’s casual dining and fine dining and nowadays there’s also “vibe dining” — upscale dining in a trendy setting with a DJ.
It is the term Justin Veasey uses to describe the feel of the 200-seat Northern Liberties restaurant that he plans to open this September in a partnership with business executive Mike Connors and radiologist William Muhr Jr.
The restaurant’s concept is contained in its name: SIN Philadelphia, as in Steak Italian Nightlife.
SIN will take space on the ground floor of the Beverly, owned by developer Michael Stamm, going up across from the Piazza on Germantown Avenue at Second Street.
Northern Liberties is one of the fastest-growing parts of the city. The Beverly’s 51 apartments are among more than 5,000 units that have been permitted or are under construction in Northern Liberties, said Kris Kennedy of the Northern Liberties Business Improvement District. At 1.5 residents per unit, she said, the district’s population is expected to double in the next two years. To that, add hundreds of condos, apartments, and houses on the way in nearby South Kensington and Fishtown.
Veasey, 30, and a fixture on the Center City/South Jersey/Jersey Shore nightlife and social circuits, got into hospitality when he was tending bar at such places as Chickie’s & Pete’s, the Greenhouse, Memories in Margate, and Del Frisco’s. He was in real estate development and later opened Stat’s on 17th, a nightclub, before returning to real estate.
What we know about SIN
SIN’s food will be mostly Italian but would include steak house offerings, Veasey said. It will not be a steak house, however. “If I label myself as a steak house, I have to compete with Butcher & Singer, Barclay Prime, Del Frisco’s, Capital Grille,” he said. “If I put myself more to the Italian side, then I really don’t have the competition.”
Lighting will be dim, colors will be black, gray, silver, and white. The idea of “vibe dining” will change throughout the evening as the crowd gets younger and more trend-seeking.
There will be a 20-seat bar/lounge area, a 140-seat main dining room, and a 40- to 50-seat private dining room.
There will be a cheese wheel for tableside pasta service.