Messy and Picky go to Foobooz fave Southwark and Picky gets the best plate he’s had all year, the barbequed smoked pork belly served with baked beans, wilted collards, and Birchrun blue cheese sauce. [Messy & Picky]

Derek Lee has his anniversary dinner in the kitchen at Talula’s Table. [The Best Food Blog Ever]

CE Phood experiences the Little Fish Sunday prix fixe. [CE Phood]

Maria Valetta breaks down the Whiskey King experience at Village Whiskey. [Sips, Bites and Sites]

Veggicurious finally makes it to Modo Mio and finds it a “delicious steal.” [Veggicurious]

Marty Grims is set to open Chew Man Chu on Wednesday, October 28th. It’ll be classic Asian dishes prepared by chef Wong Ophaso. Ophaso has experience around the world in French and Asian restaurants.

Muffaletta, fried oyster po boys, beignets and more ‘Nalins cuisine will be available at Beck’s Cajun Cafe at the Reading Terminal Market.

The Tap House is now officially City Tap House and the 75 tap bar and restaurant is aiming for a December opening. [Daily Pennsylvanian]

Jose Garces confirms he is in talks to take over the Rae space in the Cira Centre. Farm to Table would be the concept. [The Insider]

Men’s Journal calls Philadelphia the number four beer town in the US. San Diego gets #1. [Men's Journal]

World Cafe Live is refurbing the fomrer Queen Theater in Wilmington into a 400-seat live music venue. Opening is set for 2011. [Philadelphia Business Journal]

Michael Klein reports the former Deux Cheminees brownstone on Locust Street will be reborn as a Greek restaurant, Ulysses Voyage. [The Insider]

Grey Social is a nightspot planned for Chestnut Street in Old City. The menu will include French crepes and fondue and there will be prohibition era cocktails to drink. [The Insider]

Little Fish which had been having some problems with emergency renovations has reopened. [Grub Street]

Penn’s campus dining is promising to be 33% locally sourced by 2010. [Philadelphia Inquirer via the Illadelph]

The New York Times’ Randy Kennedy comes to Philadelphia to take in some art from Fluxspace to the Mural Arts Program. He also gets some good eats along the way.

For the rest of my dining, in the spirit of the trip, I decided to stick exclusively to restaurants in Philadelphia’s unusual bring-your-own-bottle scene, a huge number of no-wine-list establishments that have sprung up partly because of Pennsylvania’s state-controlled alcohol sales system, which means smaller profits and expensive licensing costs for restaurant owners. Many of the B.Y.O.B. restaurants are tiny, run by chefs who, maybe because of the absence of a bar, put the focus intensely on the food, which can be fantastic.

Among the spots he visited:

• Hibernia Deli Coffee Shop
• Matyson
• Little Fish
• Old City Coffee
• Paesano’s

Art to Make You Laugh (and Cry) [New York Times]

You had to assume once Little Fish was named one of the best seafood restaurant’s in the country by Bon Appetit that owner and chef Mike Stollenwerk would be looking for bigger waters. And it was confirmed today by Michael Klein that Stollenwerk is taking over the old Astral Plane location at 1708 Lombard Street with fish. The liquour licensed restaurant will more than double the size of Bella Vista’s Little Fish.

Look for the first tables to be served the week after Labor Day.

Little Fish to spawn Fish [The Insider]

Little Fish gets two bells from Craig LaBan, perhaps the corner eatery is just too small to fit a third bell within its tiny confines. Also interesting is that this is the first time we can remember LaBan being critical of prices in a long time.

It isn’t perfect by a long shot, and entree prices that bob in the high $20s are a bit steep given the bare-bones setting. But Little Fish has continued to be a worthy draw, and even stepped up its game a bit since Mike Stollenwerk bought it two years ago from chef-owner John Tiplitz, whose son, Ian Moroney, also made his name there before launching his own Pumpkin.

Stollenwerk, 32, an Ocean City, N.J., native who owned Cafe Loren in Avalon for five years before heading to Philly (Davio’s, Latest Dish, Avenue B), builds his success on great ingredients. He even fetches much of the seafood himself on early-morning pilgrimages every Thursday to his favorite fishmonger in Manhattan. And there is a simplicity to the best dishes here, plus a knowing tweak or smart seasonal pairing, that allows this bounty to really shine.

Two Bells – Very Good

Little Fish [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Little Fish [Official Site]

Craig LaBan visits Little Fish on the heels of the tiny restaurant’s national accolades. Does he come to heave more praise or to pop a hole in the national hoopla?

Bon Appetit’s ranking of Little Fish as one of the country’s top seafood restaurants has sent local writers to the tiny South 6th Street eatery. Last week it was Trey Popp who belatedly made it into the restaurant and this week Adam Erace visits, finding the pint sized spot can put off cravings for summer seafood.

Swimfan [City Paper]
Little Fish calms stubborn seafood cravings [Philadelphia Weekly]
Little Fish [Official Site]

Of all the fish houses in all the land, Bella Vista’s Little Fish has been named the third best seafood restaurant in the US by Bon Appetit. We guess this means we can forget getting into the Sunday tasting dinner.

Big things are happening at this minnow-size, open-kitchen B.Y.O.B. in South Philly. Credit goes to new chef-owner Michael Stollenwerk, who’s responsible for such dishes as halibut with English pea spaetzle and scallop nage, and crab sausage with fennel and citrus salad. On Sundays, there’s a $28 five-course prix fixe that’s a steal.

Best Seafood Restaurants [Bon Appetit] via Phoodie.info
Little Fish [Official Site]

Someone once told us that an actor’s headshot should look like that actor, not like someone else, but it should look like that actor on his best day ever.

That same holds true for a first date. You’ll want to present yourself as you on your best day ever. That brings us to our first type of first date, the false pretenses kind where you don’t have much money, but you want to impress like you do.

Foobooz would never advise lying to a loved one (or even a not-yet-loved one); that’s just not the way to begin a beautiful friendship… but…. you wouldn’t go on a date without putting on some lipstick or those jeans that make your butt look particularly hot? So why wouldn’t you put some thought into how hot the restaurant you’re going to might make you look?

If you don’t have a lot of money, you’ll have to be creative. Which means: a great restaurant on an off night, a bar with a subtle and sophisticated happy hour special and a BYOB situation with a possible trip to New Jersey for supplies. Here are two suggestions for the False Pretenses: I Don’t Have Much Money, But I Want to Impress Date…

Read the rest of this entry »

This week The Bite takes you around town, highlighting great tastes at good prices from tasting menus at the likes of Matyson, Lacroix, Little Fish and Modo Mio.

The Bite: Tasting menus mean rare treats at bargain prices [Metro Philadelphia]