Rick Nichols highlights the done-up remake of the classic BLT available for $15 at 10 Arts in the Ritz Carlton.

So it has come to pass at 10 Arts, that the chef got her sandwich. The bread is thin-sliced, gently toasted sourdough. The tomato and lettuce makes for a summer salad. The floor of it is the braised pork belly, sweet and tender and porky. The bacon (another part of the pork belly) is layered on top, Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon from Wisconsin, which for my money is in the very top ranks.

The toasts are cut in three, trim Kit-Kat-shaped blocks, and spread with a spicy mustard-mayo sauce spiked with a touch of Tabasco and the paprikalike Espelette pepper long favored over black pepper in Basque cookery.

It is a makeover, indeed, and darn tasty with its side of french fries.

Last night there was an invite-only event to birth 10 Arts, the new Eric Ripert signature restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, which I was officially invited to and officially attended, but still felt like I was crashing since a) I was wearing jeans and everyone else was clad in cocktail attire and b) I have not had any plastic surgery, which seemed to be a requisite to get into this affair. I haven’t seen so many tightly pinned-back ears and preternaturally smooth foreheads since, well, the last time I walked by Rouge. But I digress…

The most important thing to know is that the food I tried was fantastic. Which is no small feat at an affair of this size and with this many schnooks snarfing down the free food as fast as the kitchen can send it out…

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Forgive us for sounding a little bit like Crazy Eddie here, but starting today, it’s pure restaurant opening madness! Madness we tell you! You can always check our regularly updated Openings feature, but we’ve highlighted the following few days of anticipated openings for you after the jump…

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Today The Bite takes a look at a few of the higher end restaurants looking to open this May in Philadelphia and also highlights the new dessert lounge menu at Bonte.
May Means New Dining Options [Metro Philadelphia]

It’s a real time Foobooz spotting as we’ve just spotted Eric Ripert and 10 Arts chef Jennifer Carroll shopping at the Reading Terminal Market.

John Mims, the man behind the popular Carmine’s Creole Cafe is promising to come on down to Center City with a new Cajun-Creole spot, Les Bons Temps on 12th Street where TPDS once lived. [Food & Drinq]

Isaac McCrimmon is looking for a cool half million to get his Heroes concept off the ground. He wants to turn the old Engine 46 Steakhouse into a comic book themed restaurant with arcade gaming and Belgian beer. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

Manayunk Tavern is the first of a slate of new Manayunk restaurants gearing to open up in the next few months. The tavern will aim to attract an older crowd than many of Main Street’s bars by plying customers with 24 microbrews and affordable comfort food. [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Philly Chit Chat was at the 10 Arts presser and has photos to prove it, including a couple of shots of what Eric Ripert’s spot will look like when complete. [Philly Chit Chat]

There’s Friday brunch on the horizon at Las Bugambilias, Saturday and Sunday too. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

Michael Klein reports Eric Ripert has named the chef de Cuisine for his 10 Arts by Eric Ripert Restaurant at the Ritz.

She’s a Philly girl, Jennifer Carroll, 33. Grew up in the city’s Somerton section — stay-at-home mom Jean and race-car owner dad Ray — and went to Mount St. Joseph Academy in Flourtown, as her Mountie classmates (1993) are proud to point out.

She went to the Catholic University in D.C. to study law, came home to St, Joe’s, and decided to try culinary school instead. She’s a grad of the Restaurant School here, followed by time in the Manayunk kitchens of Derek Davis at Sonoma and Arroyo Grille. After a year downtown at the late Avenue B, she escaped to San Francisco, where she worked at restaurants Julia (now closed) and Café Kati. She’s sous chef at Le Bernardin, basically the No. 3 in one of the top-rated kitchens in North America.

Ripert’s new chef is… [Food & Drinq]

You may have heard that Eric Ripert, one of the country’s top chefs, is opening a restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton hotel on Broad St., formerly home still home to the Grill. The Inky has the scoop on the restaurant’s name and chef:

I hear that the name will be 10 Arts by Eric Ripert, playing off the hotel’s address, 10 S. Avenue of the Arts. (I guess 10 S. Broad St. or “10 Broad” doesn’t have the same ring.) I’ve also heard that the chef whom Ripert will bring in to run it is a woman who grew up in Philadelphia. (Hence, “10 Broad” would also be sexist.)

Not to be sexist either, but Eric Ripert is HOT. Also, 10 Arts is not such a compelling name. We won’t hold it against him.

[Thanks to Michael Klein for reminding us the Grill at the Ritz is still open.]

Eric Ripert’s Restaurant’s name is… [Food & Drinq]