This week in Philadelphia Magazine’s Restaurant Club Newsletter.

The Making of a Menu: the Franklin
Yesterday, The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. unveiled its third drink menu — with 25 new drinks. Think creating new drinks is all about throwing stuff in shaker? Think again.

Dinner With … Rich Furino, New GM of Del Frisco’s
The Center City steakhouse has brought in a new general manager. After a surprisingly good dinner, PhillyMag caught up with Rich to talk shop on some of his challenges.

March News and Events Roundup
From dining specials to contests and classes, here are all the food-related things you need to know and do this month.

Restaurant Club [Philadelphia Magazine]

We got our grimy hands on the Spring edition of Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company’s drink menu. Isn’t it wonderful to just say Spring?

The menu is broken down into these fun sections:

Required Reading
Because we respect our elders

Easy Going
Because sometimes the path of least resistance is the solution

Sweet & Vicious
Because sometimes you want it both sweet and rough

The Flowing Bowl
Because sometimes the only answer is a punch in your mouth

Rebellious Spirits
Because America was founded on them
and progress depends on them

Booze in a Glass
Because sometimes that’s all you want or need

Franklin Drink Menu (PDF)

This week in Philadelphia Magazine’s Restaurant Club Newsletter.

• A Guide to Our Favorite Soups
  It may be March, but winter’s not over yet, so here are 10 favorite soups
• Spirits: Spin the Bottle
  Wine has found a new place in our effervescent cocktail scene
• Food for Thought: Should Restaurants Play the Yelp Game?
  A local restaurant owner recently sent out an e-mail to his best customers asking them to leave positive reviews on Yelp.

Restaurant Club Newsletter [Philadelphia Magazine]

PW’s Field Guide makes up for not mentioning a single Sazerac among its top cocktails with a list of worthwhile  renditions of the New Orleans born drink.

• Southwark
• Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co.
• Time
• Oyster House
• Parc
• Zahav

PW’s Guide to Sazerac Cocktails [Philadelphia Weekly]

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils is named one of the best beers in a can in the January issue of Bon Appetit. [Bon Appetit]

Bon Appetit names their ten best restaurant dishes for $10 or less and Paesano’s Arista pork sandwich comes in at number 3. [Bon Appetit]

The USA TODAY comes to Philadelphia looking for cost-conscious eats and shouts out to Sabrina’s, Honey’s Sit n’ Eat, Nam Phuong, Osteria and Chifa. [USA Today]

Tasting Table, an email newsletter in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco salutes Philadelphia’s “cocktail corridor” in its latest national edition. APO Bar and Lounge, Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., Southwark and Village Whiskey all make the list. Hmm, sounds a lot like a bar crawl we did Labor Day weekend! [Tasting Table]

Going out for Restaurant Week? Bring your receipt to Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co. and you get $2 off your signature cocktail.

Can a restaurant reviewer review  a place with no food. Adam Erace does just that with his look at Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., the inconspicuous subterranean bar just off Rittenhouse Square.

Air of mystery, consider yourself cultivated. Standing at that very door at 9 p.m. on a steamy Thursday, I was dreading what I guessed would be the single-malt mafia and a freezerful of douchesicles waiting on the other side. Instead, I found ad men and hipsters, lawyers and waiters on their night off, all reclining like Gatsby characters in a space as trim and chic as an Italian suit. Not a false eyelash of snobbery. Not a staff member anything less than welcoming.

Savor sophisticated cocktails under the sidewalk [Philadelphia Weekly]
Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. [Official Site]

The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. opens to the public tonight in the former Bar Noir space on 18th Street. 

The Story

• Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. was known for being the center for the largest alcohol ring in the country during prohibition.
• Max “Boo Boo” Hoff ran the ring.
• Hoff pushed 10,000 gallons of  liquor a day.

The Space

• 112 S 18th Street
• 50seats
• One bar in the back
• Proprietors LLC consulted on the interior
• Dark wood lined ceiling
• Deep red banquettes
• An interesting array of lighting fixtures
• Mural of “Boo Boo” is to be installed where the former front bar was located.

The Drinks

• Six page cocktail list presented in book form
• Categories include:
  • Revivers & Tonics
  • Island Coolers
  • Water of Life
  • American History
  • Summer Sippin
  • Martini Through Time
  • The Flowing Bowl
  • Beer
• Three kinds of gourmet ice
  • Kold-Draft
  • Nugget
  • Culinary Grade
• No vodka
• No Food

For more on the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. check out the following links.

The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. Is Not Kidding Around [Phoodie.info]
Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. [Thrillist]
No password necessary: The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. opens Thursday [Meal Ticket]
The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. Serves Up Specialty [Philly Chit Chat]
The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. [Official Site]

New York’s Death & Company might just be planning a spot in Philadelphia. According to Down By The Hipster and a commenter, the word is that a similar place is coming to Philadelphia. It’ll be called Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company and if a commenter is to be believed, it’ll be heading into the Bar Noir Space on 18th Street.

The Illadelph has some more thoughts on the matter.

UPDTATE: New York Magazine’s Grub Street has confirmation from Death & Co.’s David Kaplan that they’re headed to Philadelphia. [Grub Street]

Death & Company to Philly? [Down by the Hipster]
Death + Company [Official Site]