The area’s first Melting Pot, a Chestnut Hill fixture since 1995, is closingApril 5th. A franchise spokesperson said the Melting Pot outgrew the location with its small bar, kitchen and challenging bi-level layout. 

Melting Pot closing in Chestnut Hill, opening in Warrington [Philadelphia Business Journal]

It’s the Arianna Huffington edited version of The Bite. Take Philebrity’s advice and read about the  Restaurant Week worthy deals with a Greek accent.

Bargain eats a done deal [Metro Philadelphia]

South Philadelphia institution the Saloon is reaching out to younger neighborhood diners with a pretty good deal. On  weeknights at the bar you can  get oysters for $1 a pop, $5 house wine and a  16 oz prime porterhouse for just $20.95.

March is restaurant month in Chestnut Hill. There are several two-courses for $19.95 deals or grab two friends and get 3 Schmitters at McNally’s for under $20. More details on the Chestnut Hill Business Association web site.

We’ve gotten the details on Table 31’s $35 deal. Check out the menu after the jump.

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The majority has incorrectly guessed the last two Craig LaBan ratings, expecting three bells for Little Fish and two for Butcher & Singer. This week should be equally up in the air as LaBan heads to Chestnut Hill to check out Soul, it’s a Creole spot and we know LaBan is extra tough on those bringing Louisiana up north.

Mom is a Chestnut Hill native who’s been a stylist to the stars, daughter is a Temple film grad who and Miss Pennsylvania 2007, together they’ve created Soul, a modern Creole restaurant in Chestnut Hill.

Mom-daughter duo stirs culinary zing, creole style, in Chestnut Hill [Philadelphia Daily News]

According to PhillyBYOB.com, Chestnut Hill’s Soul will be opening this evening. Owners Samantha Johnson and Angie Brown are seemingly ahead of schedule as Table Talk had them aiming for Saturday, October 25th.

Soul BYOB Opens Tonight [PhillyBYOB.com]
Soul [Official Site]

Craig LaBan turns his eyes towards ¡Cuba!, a Cuban BYOB in Chestnut Hill and finds the promising spot missing some essentials.

At ¡Cuba!, the traditional flavors don’t go nearly deep enough, or far enough beyond, to really merit the prices. Is a simple plate of pulled roast pork shoulder, pernil asado, worth $24 because it comes with a squishy, underseasoned tamale and over-pickled green beans? Ay-yay-yay! Bacalao is traditionally rehydrated salt cod in a piquant tomato sauce. But it loses its funk in a goofy rendition here with fresh cod, a small fillet over dry, parboiled rice beneath a lurid yellow mango cream and a handful of shrimp so tiny and chewy they were hardly worth the flourish.

One Bell – Hit-or-miss

¡Cuba! [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Elisa Ludwig visits Chestnut Hill’s Cuban restaurant ¡Cuba! and enjoys the homespun, soul-pleasing cooking.”

¡Cuba! really hits its stride with a sort of Creole combo plate offered on special with a mound of moros y cristianos (white rice and black beans); a few wedges of fantastically tender, fat-fringed lechon asado (slow-roasted pork scented with oregano and lime); fried plantains (you have a choice of savory tostones or sweet maduros); and a boiled tamale whose soft cornmeal encases salty nuggets of roast pork.

Gleaming the ¡Cuba! [City Paper]
¡Cuba! [Official Site]

Elisa Ludwig heads to Chestnut Hill where she visits Bocelli to find whether the top of the Hill has a spot worth heading.

All of this would be forgivable were the food better than just average. And with a by-the-book straightforward menu like this one, the bar should be reasonably attainable. Mostly, though, the cooking is just not careful. The antipasto plate is a series of helpless vegetables cooked into mushy compliance: crumpling slices of grilled eggplant and melted squash and limp blades of roasted pepper, all swimming in more olive oil than your bread can soak up. The only things not half-dissolved are vaguely sweet carrots, a handful of olives and undercooked potato wedges. Meanwhile, perfectly good mushroom caps are crammed with a gummy filling of crabmeat, lumps of sausage, spinach and roasted pepper.

Uphill Battle [City Paper]
Bocelli [Official Site]

Craig LaBan visits Shundeez in Chestnut Hill for some affordable and tasty Persian food.

Kabobs are this menu’s best bets, which makes sense, considering it was named after a town in Iran renowned for its kabobs.

All are carefully cooked over a grill that avoids getting too hot, and come over a bed of fluffy basmati, topped with a stripe of saffron-tinged grains and melted butter.

But the secret to these meats, it seems, is in the onion juice, which provides milky zest to marinades without the onion’s pungent zap. It seems to amplify the saffron and otherwise simple seasonings in the moist chicken kabob. It also lends extra depth to a filet mignon that is flattened and grilled along the wide skewer (ours was a bit overcooked, but still tasty).

Two Bells – Very Good

Shundeez [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Shundeez Restaurant [Official Site]