Ansill Food + Wine has a sign in its window stating it will be closed for the remainder of the summer. Michael Klein reports the closure is more permanent than that. And just when its Korean tacos seemed poised to take off.

In a letter received by Jack Curtin, General Lafayette Inn owner Chris Leonard outlines the dire straits the brewpub is in. Although vowing to stay open, the three building complex needs money now and is looking to take on investors.

Ansill closes [The Insider]
Whoa! General Lafayette in crisis [Jack Curtin's Liquid Diet]

How much does Rick Nichols like the Korean tacos at Ansill? Well he was spotted eating the strange hybrid after his Thursday story ran about the “astonishingly good” tacos!

Tacos with a Korean twist [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Ansill Food + Wine [Official Site]

 Center City Sips comes but once a week. Enjoy these happy hour deals the rest of the time.

For more of these types of deals check out our recession specials.

Sip every day this week [Metro Philadelphia]

No Twitter and no wheels but Ansill Food + Wine is the first Philadelphia spot to get with the Korean taco trend. The bottom up fusion first came to prominence via a taco truck in Los Angeles and has already made its way to New York.

In Philadelphia, David Ansill’s Korean line cook Ann Miller has added  shortrib and braised pork belly tacos with sweet and spicy Korean chili sauce to the Happy Hour (Tuesday through Saturday – 6 to 8 pm) menu. Get them for $5 each.

Kogi Korean BBQ, a taco truck brought to you by Twitter [Los Angeles Times]
Ansill Food + Wine [Official Site]

More Photos after the jump.

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Ansill Food + Wine wants you to be a regular. Dine at Ansill and you get a coupon good for 50% off your second entree of equal or lesser value when you return for dinner within two weeks.

Gone this spring however are Monday hours where you would often spot chefs from other restaurants enjoying their day off.

But the loss of a dependable Monday night dining spot is made up for with a new Saturday night happy hour. Like Tuesday through Thursday, happy hour is from 6 to 8pm and includes $1 oysters, $5 martinis, $5 sparkling wine and $3 draft beer.

Ansill Food + Wine [Official Site]

Ansill Food + Wine is bringing back their European BBQ today and tomorrow. $35 gets you a pile of roasted pig, grilled meats and marinated vegetables for two.

London Grill has extended their $18.95 meal deal through the end of March. Choose from a Maine Lobster dinner or Steak and salad.

South Street’s underrated La Fourno is offering a sweet deal for the unemployed. Like $25 with proof of layoff and a heavy discount for those collecting unemployment. [Meal Ticket]

Blackfish in Conshohocken is offering an express lunch at their Conshohocken location. Get an appetizer and main dish or a main dish and a dessert for just $12. And then on Mondays Chef Chip Roman is offering a $45 4 course chef’s tasting with a focus on a single ingredient. It starts Monday, March 16th and will be a “A Study of Porcini.”

Table 31 has joined the hoards with their own $35, 3-course dinner.

Portofino is thanking customers who’ve kept them going for 35 years and even if you haven’t, check out their four-course prix fixe dinner for $39. Includes a beer or glass of wine too. [City Paper]

*Photo: Andy Benson

Is this how your sausage gets made? Yes! It’s also just one of many amazing behind-the-culinary-scenes photographs taken by Andy Benson.

Benson talked his way into 10 of Philly’s top kitchens, where he trained his lens on the likes of David Ansill (who is expertly butchering the porker in the shot above) of Ansill Food & Wine, Michael Solomonov of Zahav and Gene Giuffi of Cochon to name a just a few, while they worked. The results, a refreshing departure from the usual food porn photography, capture the intensity, fire and frenzy of a professional kitchen – and the laser-like focus of the chefs at the center of it all.

Benson is having an opening for his photography show, SEAR: Philadelphia Chefs in Motion on Friday March 6th at Foster’s in Old City. David Ansill will be cooking up nibbles in the open kitchen for the first hour and a half.

$25 gets you in to Ansill’s culinary demo and show and ALL of the ticket proceeds go to one of my favorite charities, Philabundance. You can buy tickets through the Chefs of Philly website.

After the jump, preview some of Benson’s work, including photos of Jim Burke of James, Michael O’Halloran of Bistro 7 and Jessica O’Donnell of Good Dog…

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A reader asked us yesterday where to find oysters in the city as we wait for the renovation of the Oyster House on Sansom Street.

It dawned on us that not only do we know a few places that offer oysters but the three that jumped to mind also offer them for just $1 a piece during happy hour.

So consider Happy Hour oysters at Ansill, Coquette or Pub & Kitchen.

Philadelphia Weekly’s Dan Packel tells the story of our most local of oysters, the Cape May Salt and some of the spots you can find it:

• Ansill Food + Wine
• Bar Ferdinand
• Butcher & Singer
• Pub & Kitchen

Heroes on the Half Shell [Philadelphia Weekly]

Philadelphia Weekly’s Field Guide lists six Philadelphia wine bars worth visiting.

Wine of the Times [Philadelphia Weekly]