Table Talk: Heritage in Northern Liberties

Heritage, a rustic combination of bar, restaurant, and jazz/funk venue, and arguably the boldest restaurant project ever in Northern Liberties, opened this week at 914-22 N. Second St. (215-627-7500), across from Cescaphe Ballroom.

Owners Jason Evenchik and Terry Leach (Time, Bar, Vintage, Growlers, Garage) have completely redone the workaday building that housed Feast Your Eyes catering.

Wide-open, warehouselike interior, reminiscent of the new La Colombe in Fishtown, has greenery everywhere: ringing the ceiling, behind the bar, and outside on the roof, as well as in a side garden that will have seating.

Talks are in the deepest stages to relocate Ruth's Chris from its home of 27 years on South Broad Street next to the Sonesta hotel at 1800 Market St., reps of both sides confirm. If rib eyes are dotted and T-bones are crossed, the steak house would open where Elephant & Castle was, perhaps in late summer.

Tom Vasiliades has refashioned the private dining space above his South Street Souvlaki (507-09 South St.) into a cozy lounge and dining room open Thursday through Sunday for dinner. At Upstairs at Souvlaki, chef Jorge Reyes executes a bistro menu - five starters, four entrées - that is priced for the neighborhood. Though the rooms are served with a bar, patrons may bring their own wine.

Bond trader-turned-farmer Dean Carlson has enlisted the services of chef Andrew Wood of the Rittenhouse BYOB Russet for a seasonal restaurant at Carlson's sustainable farm in Honey Brook, about 45 minutes from Center City. The Restaurant at Wyebrook Farm (150 Wyebrook Rd., Honey Brook, 610-942-7481), which will be open from March until December, serving lunch and dinner Wednesday through Saturday and brunch and dinner on Sundays. Carlson had been hosting pop-up meals featuring the 355-acre farm's grass-fed beef, heritage-breed pork, and free-pastured chicken. You can dine inside the restored barn or in a newly expanded outdoor courtyard.

Things just hadn't been totally up to snuff at the Gaslight at 120 Market St. in Old City. Popular, yes, but several tepid reviews did not sit well with chef Jason Cichonski and partners. Then came 2 a.m. Feb. 28, when pipes in the apartments upstairs froze and burst, showering the kitchen and dining room with plenty of water. Cichonski took March to hit the refresh button. Also new is the chef. Jordan "Red" Sauter, who spent a spell at the Gaslight's predecessor, Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant, and has worked at Modo Mio, Braddock's Tavern, and Rembrandt's.

Spitalieri's, which opened on Passyunk Avenue just off South Street last April, closed.

Sweet Lucy's Smokehouse in Northeast Philadelphia donated half of the day's sales on March 25, and its employees kicked in cash, as well, from raffles of gift baskets. All told, $14,205 will go to the family of slain Police Officer Robert Wilson III, the restaurant announced.