Rich Nichols looks at what went wrong with Maia, the Villanova market/coffee shop/bistro/fine dining restaurant, as if all those slashes weren’t evidence enough.

A post-mortem is rarely pleasant. In Maia’s case, it is searingly painful.

The Main Liners who’d had such high hopes, even bringing the menus from their favorite Palm Beach haunts for guidance, were left feeling crushed.

Staffers broke into tears recounting the painful unraveling. And at least some of the partners were so mad, they could spit: “I was just over there cleaning up,” said Jerry Holtz of Provco, the real estate-investment group and part-owner. “And I found one of those ‘You are here’ maps, like in a mall. That said it all. This place was way too confusing.”

Like a huge souffle, Main Line’s Maia falls [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Penthouse Lounge and Grille didn’t survive very long on 2nd Street but now there’s a Penthouse Club coming to 3001 Castor Avenue near the Delaware River. The big space promises to be an opulent gentleman’s club  complete with motorcycles that descend from the ceiling onto the catwalk.

Bistrot La Minette has unveiled its spring menu. Say yes to salmon Tartare. [Meal Ticket]

Suburban friends can’t say enough good things about From the Boot. Now there’ll be two boots as the Lafayette Hill BYOB is opening a location in downtown Ambler. [The Insider]

Mango Bush has opened at the former A Peace of Sole on 4th Street just off of South. The husband and wife team are serving up Jamaican specialties. [Meal Ticket]

If we had a penny for everytime someone asked us what was going to go in the old Whiskey Dix we’d be penniless. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t happening. JD McGilicuddy’s is coming to town. [The Insider]

It’s all over at Villanova’s Maia. The sprawling cafe and restaurant has closed for good less than a year after its splashy opening. [The Insider]

Tandoori chicken pizza? That’s just one of the pies slated for the Tiffin backed pizzeria headed next door to the popular Girard Avenue establishment. [The Insider]

Meal Ticket has Ross Essner’s menus for The Blockley and Mary Oaks. Esnner was at Django before a recent stint at Taproom on 19th. You’ll find interesting options from lobster pierogies to garlic and rosemary scented slow roasted pork on the menu. [Meal Ticket]

If you like Pils style beers you’ll love Citizens Bank Park this summer. Victory Prima Pils, Sly Fox Pikeland Pils and Troegs Sunshine Pils are all on tap. [Beer Radar]

Bish Bish Cafe offers up pizzeria and Middle Eastern eats at 1740 Sansom Street. [Meal Ticket]

Fork’s Thien Ngo surfaced at Coquette about a month ago. Meal Ticket details some of the flavors he’s brought to the under $20 menu. [Meal Ticket]

Maia’s Main Line saga has taken another turn as Patrick Feury says he’s at Nectar full-time. [The Insider]

Restaurant Alba in Malvern is getting a liquor license. [Main Line Dine]

The Inquirer reports Girasole has opened at the Symphony House on Broad Street. Chef Angela Iovino has an all-female line and an Italian menu of pastas, sefood and carpaccio. Thrillist has a copy of the menu plus a couple photos of the interior, no surprise there are sunflowers. [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer / Thrillist]

The Iron Hill Brewery under construction in Maple Shade is now looking for a July 2009 opening. Chris LaPierre, currently at the West Chester location of Iron Hill will be the head brewer in New Jersey.

Main Line Today has photos of Firecreek Restaurant & Bar in Downingtown’s soft opening. The spot is amid four days of “friends and family” trial runs and should be open to the public next week. [Main Line Today]

Effie Bouikidis of Effie’s will open a new BYOB across the street from her Greek restaurant. The spot will be named Paul in honor of her father and will serve up  contemporary American sometime this summer. [Insider]

The upstairs restaurant at Maia has long been rumored to be in trouble and has finally closed. The downstairs remains open and in coming months a new space will be developed upstairs witha  new chef, cuisine and look including an outdoor bar.

We’ve heard this before. G Lounge is looking to purchase Denim as an after-hours joint. [Ice Pack, City Paper]

Di Vino Wine Bar has opened off Rittenhouse Square with a different menu than the one we published a few weeks back. The current menu tops out at $18 a plate. [Feeding Frenzy, City Paper]

We were first teased back in March about Joël Robuchon coming to town. Now he’s saying he has been in contact regarding bringing a L’Atelier to Philadelphia but nothing has been decided. [Inqlings, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Kashmir is the name behind the orange liquor license at 1921 Walnut Street. Monkey Bar owners, the Vasiliadis brothers are developing the space as another lounge. [The Insider]

In chef shakeups, Dominique Filoni is out at Parc less than two weeks after a 2-Bell LaBan review. And Terence Feury has left his brother Patrick and the rest of the partners at Villanova’s Maia. [Inqlings, Philadelphia Inquirer]

D. P. Dough is a national calzone chain that is looking to open a UCity location in late December or early January. [Meal Ticket]

The Paddock at Devon is set to take over Wayne’s John Harvard’s come next Wednesday. [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

A.D. Amorosi says a World Cafe Live in Wilmington is getting closer to reality. [Icepack, City Paper]

Craig LaBan visits Villanova’s Maia and finds the cafe, bistro, market, bar and fine-dining room is indeed many things, all of them good.

It is upstairs, though, where Maia hits its culinary mark, with a breadth of wit, technique and vivid flavors that make it a true successor to (now shuttered) Striped Bass as our modern seafood mecca.

That smoked tuna starter was a knockout, the hickory tang focusing the sweetness of raw fish against the piquance of a silky green-olive puree. But there were many other winners. A checkerboard mosaic of raw salmon, yellowtail and tuna was scattered with celery salt and glittery cubes of tart citrus gelee. Creamy coins of hazelnut-crusted foie gras came shingled with sweet warm rounds of barbecued eel. The meltingly soft double-headed prawn (actually two crustaceans joined at the tail with meat glue) reposed over a mound of creamy leeks.

There were equally stunning entrees, like the T-bone of poached halibut over fregola sarda filled with fennel and house-cured guanciale, or the crispy snapper with basiled summer beans and tender rings of oil-poached calamari threaded with chorizo slivers.

3 Bells – Excellent

Maia

Foodzings overdoes the spices at Tiffin but will be back. [Foodzings]

David McDuff revisits Maia, delving deeper into the menu and coming away feeling it is more flash than substance. [McDuff's Food & Wine Trail]

The burrito at Jose’s Tacos is a lot of delicious for Living On The Vedge. [Living on the Vedge]

A quick tour around the RSS reader reveals that spring has gotten people out and checking out spots all around the area.

The Beer Lounge has the beer highlights at Villanova’s Maia. Allagash, Ayinger, Founders and more among the draught headliners.

Chicken-Fried Caviar says there is such a thing as too much bacon in their peek into Time.

Food Country drops two reviews for the price of one at John’s Roast Pork.

There are plenty of food photos to gawk at in Foodaphilia’s birthday bash at Las Bugambilias.

Foodzings points out that Blackfish in Conshy serves a lot more than just seafood.

The Beer Lass gets a tour of the Philadelphia Brewing Co. brewery and even gets to scope where they make those slick tap handles.

Turns out the raves for Memphis Taproom extend to their vegetarian options as well.

McDuff heeds the call of the burger at the Good Dog.

David Moore and his wife dine at Collingswood’s Joe Pesce with a delicious rosé.

Philadining heads to El Balconcito in the Northeast for some Peruvian and Portuguese cuisine at reasonable prices.

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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We first mentioned Maia back in September of 2006. Well it looks like the Villanova mega-restaurant is finally going to open. They’re even hiring.

May 3rd, Patrick and Terence Feury will open the doors to their 22,000 sqft restaurant, gourmet market and espresso café with a $100 per person open house benefiting several charities.

One thousand tickets to Maia Cares are for sale. In addition to live music visitors will also have a chance to check out many of Maia’s hors d’oeuvres along with selections from Maia’s bar, wine cellar and craft beer list.

Tickets are available through Deb Connor Events (dsconnor@comcast.net).

List of the included bites and more information on the charities after the jump.

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