Archive for the 'Opening Soon' Category

Our favorite moment of last year’s Beer Week had to be the Hitachino Nest tasting at Jose Pistola’s. The beers on draft were just outstanding and meeting brewer Mikio Kiuchi was pretty cool too. He seemed to genuinely appreciate our enthusiasm. An enthusiasm that included us begging everyone in our cell phone to come out and try some of these great beers.

Anyone spot Hitachino Nest on draft elsewhere?

A few weeks back we were told that Hitachino Nest was going to become available on draft. And it looks like it has happened. Today the Sidecar Bar & Grille tweets that Hitachino Nest XH Strong Ale will be pouring today.

An even bigger deal concerning the Sidecar, owner Adam Ritter has lined up a second bar, this one  at Girard and Montgomery in Fishtown. No name yet, but the “European bistro” is aiming for a first quarter of 2010 opening. [Meal Ticket]

Sidecar Bar and Grille [Official Site]

Pat Bombino’s location at 9th and Catharine is going to be reborn as Wishing Well Public House. Scrapple topped Shame burger? Oh my. [Grub Street]

Al Paris who has been involved in Zanzibar Blue, Rococo, Guru, Mantra and the aforementioned Pat Bombino’s among others is the new Executive chef at the Public House where he has installed a “great American pub menu.”

We don’t know much about Sweeties (1822 E Passyunk Ave) other than it is hosting its grand opening on the Avenue this Saturday. In addition to cupcackes, cookies, candies and nuts there will be balloons, clowns and magic.

McGillin’s 1860 IPA is now available in bottles. Only 200 cases of the Stoudt’s brewedale are available in commemoration of McGillin’s Olde Ale House’s 150th year. Look for it at Springfield Distributor, Bella Vista Beer Distributors or Fishtown Beverage. It is also available in 6-packs at both Foodery locations. The beer includes Centennial and Amarillo hops and is unfiltered, just as a beer would have been in the 1860s.

Rudi’s on Park has 44 investors and one namesake, Rudi Doeller. It’s opening in this week in Swarthmore. Aria, Hobbs Coffee and Davide’s are also coming to the borough. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

The redone Vietnam Cafe has opened at 816 S 47th Street. Meal Ticket has the pictures to prove it. [Meal Ticket]

Also opening while we were enjoying San Diego’s beaches, Lucky 7 Tavern where Aspen once operated at 25th and Aspen swung open its doors on Friday the Thirteenth. [The Insider]

Franco’s Trattoria off of Kelly Drive in East Falls is moving to the ground floor of the Presidential City Apartments on City Ave. [The Insider]

Meg Votta , chef at Sycamore in Lansdowne passed away on November 10th, 2-days before being featured in a Daily News article about successful female chefs. [The Insider]

Today saw the opening of Hawthornes at the corner of 11^th and Fitzwater. Chris Fetfatzes and Heather Annechiarico are behind the eatery, bruncherie and bottle shop. The Fetfatzes family also own Bella Vista Beer Distributors across the street.

The Space

• The corner space has been completely redone from its warehouse past.
  • Hardwood floors
  • Wood fireplace
  • Living room feel
  • Takeout and prepared foods counter
  • Chalkboard menu
  • Hours
    • 11am to 11pm Monday through Thursday
    • 8am to midnight Friday, Saturday
    • 8am to 4pm Sundays

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Percy Street Barbecue is open and is ready to serve you Texas style barbecue on South Street.

The Management Team

• Michael Solomonov
  • Acclaimed chef of Zahav
  • Partner with Steven Cook at Xochitl
  • Former executive chef at Marigold Kitchen

• Steven Cook
  • Partner in Zahav and Xochitl
  • Former executive chef at Marigold Kitchen
• Executive Chef and partner Erin O’Shea
  • Former executive chef at Marigold Kitchen
  • Brought modern southern cooking to Marigold

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Meal Ticket posts some photos of the upcoming Percy Street Barbecue. The shots don’t reveal much other than our Pavlovian response to sausage but it’s still worth a peek.

Psst: Quickie peek inside Percy Street Barbecue [Meal Ticket]

Philadelphia is getting its first Sonic Drive-in on Monday, November 16th. We have never been to a Sonic and have been puzzled for years on why they insist on advertising nationally if they aren’t a national company. Twitter buzz has been decidedly mixed.

Foobooz readers, what do you think? Yay, or nay on Sonic Drive-in coming to Aramingo Avenue in Port Richmond.

Philly gets its first Sonic [The Insider]
Sonic Drive-In [Official Site]

We updated our openings page yesterday but felt these three November openings needed to be highlighted:

• Percy Street Barbecue is targeting November 17th for their anticipated opening.
• Also on the 17th, the big new Vietnam Cafe in West Philadelphia where Abbraccio was is set to open. It’ll be BYOB for 30-days before opening their full bar on December 18th. The small space the Cafe occupies now will close after dinner on Sunday.
• And then on the 18th, Hawthornes in Bella Vista is targeting to open its doors to eager beer lovers.

Openings [f8b8z]

What won’t be a Stephen Starr restaurant? We had heard that the serial restaurateur was interested in the former Wawa at 20th and Locust but there are signs up saying a new 7-11 is coming soon.

Ristorante Panorama is aiming to get itself in the Guinness Book of World Records for its 120 wines by the glass and its wine-preserving cruivnet system. [Restaurant Club]

AOL’s Lemondrop has nominated Cosmi’s Deli as one of the four best sandwiches in the United States. [Lemondrop via Phoodie]

Michael Klein has a few more details on 500°, the upcoming burger business from Rob and Maggie Wasserman of Rouge. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Marigold Kitchen is changing its menu every month. The Colorado rack of lamb with parsnip-white chocolate puree, petite watercress salad, blood orange, pomegranate, pine nuts catches our eye. New item marked with a *. [Marigold Kitchen (PDF)]

Nectar’s Scott Morrison and Executive Chef Dan Kremin of Barclay Prime and Buddakan are partnering to open Floret in Radnor in the space that is currently Pond. There will be a lounge and restaurant menu with everything from burgers to Amish raised chicken coq au vin. Opening is set for December.

A Foobooz operative recently was able to snap these camera phone pics of the upcoming Daniel Stern project, R2L.

Under Construction

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We have also found that Daniel Stern is looking high-and-low for help. A tipster recently directed us towards this New York Craigslst ad for line cooks.

As for an opening date, playing with OpenTable yesterday revealed that you could reserve a table for December 7th. Checking back today finds the online reservations system offline for R2L, so take for what it’s worth.

R2L [Official Site]

The world’s appetite for Irish bars is insatiable. As a friend once said, to be Irish is to be able to travel the world and to know you can always get a job in an Irish bar. Maurice Collins and Liam Kelly who started the nearby Tir na Nog have opened Con Murphy’s at 17th and the Parkway.

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