Lolita to stay put - as an empire grows

Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran had a choice: Sign a new lease at Lolita - the Mexican BYOB on 13th Street near Sansom that put them on the map nine years ago - or think about buying a spot and moving. That wouldn't be easy, as the couple also own Barbuzzo and Jamonera, plus the retail locations Grocery, Verde, and Open House, on the same block.

They not only elected to sign a new 10-year lease but also to obtain a liquor license for Lolita, which should be in place by summer. This will end the popular practice of bringing your own tequila for margaritas.

What's more, this week Turney and Safran agreed to take over the two restaurant spaces two blocks away, beneath the Independent Hotel at 13th and Locust Streets. These are the short-lived Rhino Bar on the corner as well as at Fish, midblock at 1234 Locust St. The concepts have not been disclosed.

This spells the end for Fish, which enjoyed a four-year run.

Evan Prochniak, a lawyer, assumed sole control of the restaurant in December as chef Mike Stollenwerk bowed out. Rhino has been closed since January after what has been described as a flood. Fish rode high with Stollenwerk, a Shore native who made his entree to the Philly scene by buying the BYOB called Little Fish, then at Sixth and Catharine Streets. He later sold it.

Fish - a more upscale operation, with a bar - opened in fall 2008 in the former Astral Plane at 1708 Lombard St., but in early 2012 moved to the corner of 13th and Locust Streets.

By May, Prochniak and Stollenwerk were at odds, and the restaurant closed briefly. In October, Fish moved a short distance east on Locust Street into smaller space, while the corner became Rhino Bar - less ambitious, more of a taproom.

Agricola, a farm-to-tabler replacing the Princeton landmark Lahiere's, soft-opened this week at 11 Witherspoon St. (609-681-2977, www.agricolaeatery.com). Much of chef Josh Thomsen's rustic-American menu comes from co-owner Jim Nawn's nearby farm. Thomsen, a Culinary Institute of America grad, has French Laundry in Napa, Calif., on his resume and a wood-fired oven at his disposal; entrees are $17 to $29. It's open nightly for dinner; brunch and lunch are due shortly.

John Mims is a man on the move again. The Creole chef/restaurateur, now in Phoenixville, is returning to one of his old locations, 232 Woodbine Ave. in Narberth, most recently Aperto and previously Gemelli. Mims says he's set an April 5 opening date for Carmine's Creole Cafe. Also, on April 4, he and a partner, Dominic Gammaro, will open Dominic's Restaurant Italiano, a pasta house decorated like an old church, where his Daddy Mims was, at 150 Bridge St. in Phoenixville. Mims also has been helping to run the nearby Columbia Hotel, but he said he was devoting his energies to the Narberth location. Mims first made the scene in 1999 in a little storefront in Havertown before relocating in 2004 to Narberth. In 2006, he moved it to Bryn Mawr. In 2009, he moved to Phoenixville. In the meantime, he and a partner opened Les Bons Temps in Center City and, briefly, Mims Food + Drink in Wayne. Both of those arrangements ended in court.

Sitting idle on Germantown Pike since September 2010, General Lafayette Inn in Lafayette Hill is in line to return this summer as Barren Hill Tavern. The crew from Devil's Den in South Philadelphia and Old Eagle Tavern in Manayunk is behind it; settlement is four to eight weeks off. No fancy renovation: Operators expect to clean it, rip up rugs, and do general repairs, which will take about two months. Brewing equipment will be fired up later by a to-be-named brewery. Paul Trowbridge, chef at Devil's Den, will run the kitchen.

Battered by negative reviews at the Saint James in Ardmore, Michael Schulson has assumed control of the kitchen. Chef Matt Moon, who opened the bistro at Suburban Square in October, was let go. Schulson, who owns Sampan in Washington Square West and Izakaya in Atlantic City, is in charge until a new chef comes on board.

The James Beard nominations - the food world's Oscars - are due out Monday. Meanwhile, the public can vote for Food & Wine's best new chef for the Mid-Atlantic region. Seven local chefs are among the 10 nominees: Jason Cichonski of Queen Village's Ela, Christopher Kearse of East Passyunk's Will BYOB, Joshua Lawler of Washington Square West's the Farm & Fisherman, Kevin Sbraga of Avenue of the Arts' Sbraga, Sylva Senat of Avenue of the Arts' Tashan, Lee Styer of East Passyunk's Fond, and Greg Vernick of Rittenhouse's Vernick Food & Drink. Vote: http://bit.ly/yCKjR1.

Marc Vetri is writing his third cookbook - a tome devoted to pasta. The book, which will require a research trip to Italy, will cover artisan makers, factories, doughs, flavoring, shapes, stuffings, combinations. "It will be the pasta book to end all pasta books," Vetri said, before a long pause. "I hope."