An early look at Irwin’s, the bar/restaurant at the top of Bok
Mediterranean menu and cocktails in the renovated high school.
July 3 is the target for Irwin's, a cocktail bar/restaurant with a Mediterranean menu from chef Paul Garberson (ex-Fitler Dining Room, Trattoria Carina), coming to the eighth floor of the Bok Building in South Philly.
It's on the other side of the roof from the enormously hot Bok Bar, at Eighth and Mifflin Streets.
Talk about kicking it old school:
Rohe Creative, working with the Bok crew, converted the school's former eighth-floor nursing classroom, adding bold art deco designs and found objects. There's also a roof terrace. Menu will include mezze boards and salads. Hours will be 5 to 11 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday.
From the bar, watch the city twinkle; know that the soapstone-topped bar itself comes from the old science room. Irwin was school architect Irwin Catherine.
Speaking of Bok:
Two Persons coffeeshop is brand-new from Adam Gery and architect Whitney Joslin. It is accessible through a new public entrance at 821 Dudley St. They use Passenger Coffee out of Lancaster and Machine Shop Boulangerie on the Bok's fourth floor. Hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends.
South Philly Smokhaus, a butcher counter/BBQ takeout, is looking at late July or early August.