Inside The Inquirer Dining Guide | Let’s Eat

Come dig into our 2023 Dining Guide, fresh off the grill. Also this week, we get to the (pink) center of the wagyu steak controversy, check out an ice company that caters to chichi bars, and visit an Ethiopian restaurant that our critic thoroughly injera-ed. Also, let’s find out how you get a dish named after yourself.

Special note: Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook’s restaurants — Zahav, Laser Wolf, K’Far, and Goldie — will donate 100% of sales Thursday to United Hatzalah of Israel, a community-based volunteer EMS organization that provides free humanitarian services.

⬇️ Read on for a quiz and more restaurant news.

— Mike Klein

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All summer, we on the Food team — as well as folks from every other department at The Inquirer — have been prepping for our annual Dining Guide. To critic Craig LaBan, who takes the driver’s seat for this project, it is “a ferocious two-month sprint of reservation-hoarding, driving, noshing, note-taking, return visits, interviews, photo assignments, and long walks with my dog, Buttercup.”

By the numbers, for Craig: 50 meals, 1,000-plus miles, a billion calories, and 7,636 words tapped out. And Craig says he is tapped out. “Now it’s time, at last, for some home cooking. At least for a few weeks.” (This should please Buttercup, the LaBans’ adopted Great Dane mix.)

You can order print copies of the Dining Guide through The Inquirer store, while supplies last. Want to talk about the guide? Craig and I will be live on a Reddit AMA at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 13.

Here’s what’s in the guide:

Naming a sandwich, drink, or dish after someone is rarely an honor doled out willy-nilly, as Mike Newall reports. One deli owner actually named a sandwich after his girlfriend, but only as part of a marriage proposal. Mighty tasty sandwich, and the story is a fun read, too.

Even Acme sells ground wagyu nowadays. But not all of this vaunted beef is equal. One Tokyo native is on a mission to reclaim the true, “capital-W” Wagyu, and Jenn tells of her mission.

At many chic bars, you don’t see just any old ice from any old freezer. Clear ice is a growing business (and carries a high price tag), and Zoe Greenberg lays down the cold, hard facts in her report on Philadelphia Craft Ice. Seventy cents a cube?

West Philly is always good for Ethiopian cuisine, and Craig has found exceptional kitfo at the new Amsale, where chef Gomege Achamyeleh’s cooking brims with nuance, depth, and a homespun touch.

The Eagles are in the booze biz — as I told you last week — via an arrangement with BOTLD, the innovative distiller-cum-liquor store at 119 S. 18th St. in Center City. They’re selling whiskey and vodka under the Bird Gang label. I can now tell you further that BOTLD is planning a second location, at 117 S. 13th St., next door to the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream shop just off 13th and Sansom. Owner Andrew Auwerda hopes to soft-open this fall, and by next spring plans to have a cocktail lounge/tasting room upstairs.

Dottie’s Donuts has its fourth location teed up for this fall in Fishtown at 1764 Frankford Ave. as it takes over for Beehive Bake Shop.

Sabrina’s Cafe has a sixth location on the way for spring 2024 in Philadelphia International Airport’s Terminal C, replacing both Sky Asian and Burrito Elito. Raquel and Robert DeAbreu founded Sabrina’s in 2001.

Three years after it closed during the pandemic, High Street is back — in a larger, more ambitious setting, and six blocks from where it began. The restaurant, fronted by the James Beard Award-winning Ellen Yin, has taken the corner space at the Franklin Residences at Ninth and Chestnut Streets with new features, including a glassed-in pastry shop, a 14-seat bar, and a private dining room. The grab-and-go shop next door remains.

The original format has been revived: baking program in the morning; sandwiches, salads, pastas, and house-made breads using locally milled flour and grains for lunch; and a full-service restaurant at dinner with a lighter menu by chef Christina McKeough of “snacky, family-style, comforting plates.” Head baker Delilah Pergola’s shop is turning out pizza, and baking classes are planned, as is cocktail seating in the Franklin’s historic lobby. Brunch will begin in mid-October. More details are here.

High Street, 101 S. Ninth St. Current restaurant hours are 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Bakery/grab-and-go hours are 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday.

This snazzy coffee shop, opening officially Thursday with comp coffee from 7-10 a.m., is Cafesphere, across the street from Trader Joe’s in downtown Media. Owner Magdalena Pasciak is behind the mod, Euro-style 60-seater, and her husband, Pawel, built it, creating a roof deck offering stunning views and a mezzanine sporting a play coffee bar for kids. Simple menu of Ox Coffee, teas, zero-proof cocktails, and baked treats from such local outlets as Au Fournil.

Cafesphere, 25 E. State St., Media. Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. daily.

Where to watch the Phillies at an outdoor bar? Jenn has options.

The YèShì Chinatown Night Market, with many food trucks and restaurant stands, will take over the area around 10th and Race Streets from 6-10 p.m. Thursday. Details are here.

PSL PDQ at 2 a.m.? Gopuff is now slinging out Starbucks to many Philly home-delivery customers, in a new partnership. Forget about nitro cold brew and hot espresso shots, though, reports Ariana Perez-Castells. They’d get too cold and go flat on the way.

The Gang Goes to the Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores: Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, and Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will sign bottles of Four Walls Irish American whiskey purchased on site at two area stores. First will be Sunday at Columbus Commons (1940 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia). The signing will begin at 1 p.m. The second will be Monday at Ardmore Shopping Center (62 Greenfield Ave., Ardmore). The signing will begin at 7 p.m. Samples of the $31.99 spirits will be available to those 21 and older an hour beforehand.

Tyler Akin, chef-partner at Wilmington’s Le Cavalier, will host chef Brittanny Anderson of Richmond, Va.’s Metzger Bar & Butchery, Brenner Pass and Black Lodge for a collaborative dinner Oct. 29 to raise funds for the Friends of James Beard Benefit. The $195-per-person ticket, available here, includes a cocktail hour, seven-course dinner, beverage pairing, and gratuity. This will be Anderson’s first time cooking in the region.

Añejo Philly (1001 N. Second St. on Northern Liberties’ restaurant row) is hosting a fundraiser every Tuesday in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s all-you-can-eat tacos, rice and beans, and chips and salsa, for $27. Proceeds from that, as well as a new cocktail flight ($24), will be donated to Cancer Support Network, Greater Philadelphia. It’s on from 5-9 p.m.

Artist Betsy Casañas’ large-scale mural featuring Fairtrade banana farmer Mariana Cobos will be unveiled Saturday at Riverwards Produce’s Fishtown location (2200 E. Norris St.) as part of a block party from noon-6 p.m.

Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square has made an auspicious land purchase, as Mike Newall reports. What was the property?

A) The Wawa behind it on Baltimore Pike

B) The former Galer Winery

C) The Brandywine Valley Tourism Information Center

D) Longwood Cemetery

Find out if you know the answer.

What’s happening now with Bankroll, the failed sports bar on Chestnut Street?

The gently used property — the former Boyd Theater and the GAP store next door — is on the market. It can be leased by one tenant or it can be subdivided, reports Jacob Cooper at MSC, who has the listing. “Rare opportunity for a large-format restaurant/bar or entertainment venue,” says the brochure. Check it here, and see my story from last month that recapped Bankroll’s short and money-draining life, as recounted by the people in charge.

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