A Foobooz operative recently was able to snap these camera phone pics of the upcoming Daniel Stern project, R2L.

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We have also found that Daniel Stern is looking high-and-low for help. A tipster recently directed us towards this New York Craigslst ad for line cooks.

As for an opening date, playing with OpenTable yesterday revealed that you could reserve a table for December 7th. Checking back today finds the online reservations system offline for R2L, so take for what it’s worth.

R2L [Official Site]

Adam Erace enjoys the details as he eats and relaxes at Snackbar.

As a former sous chef at Zahav, 27-year-old Taus brings a clear culinary focus that has eluded snackbar. The menu feels very American, very loose and likeable, with a collection of plates that are neither small nor large. Taus’ food is suited to grazing, but fortunately the servers don’t get all mathematical about your order. Start slow and order more when you get hungry again, seems to be the practice here, echoed by Makar, who says he actually encourages staff not to turn tables.

Eyes on the Guise [Philadelphia Weekly]
Snackbar [Official Site]

Craig LaBan reviews Mt. Airy’s new bistro, the Wine Thief and despite a shaky first visit he finds enough improvement in subsequent visits to award the spot two-bells.

The “Thief Roll” is one of [Chef Jared] Cohen’s most addictive dishes, medallions of tuna maki that wrapped ruby-raw fish inside a ring of seaweed and the flash-fried crisp of a sesame crust, over spicy streaks of wasabi cream. The halibut ceviche was so zippy in its citrus marinade, I only wish there’d been more of the fish tucked into the martini glass of citrus and lacy peppers.

There was an outstanding fried chicken, whose tawny crust crackled with the unexpected savor of lemon and celery. It came with a pudding of crumbled corn bread, niblets, and peppers that was decadently ribboned with custard set oh-so-barely to order.

Wine Thief deserves a reprieve [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Wine Thief [Official Site]

Square 1682 is the new restaurant at the base of the Palomar Hotel at 17th and Sansom.The name is inspired by William Penn who founded Philadelphia in 1682 and his plan for a “green countrie towne” comprised of five squares.

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Craig LaBan heads to Bethlehem this week, not following a star but towards Bolette, a New American restaurant in an old Inn. A restaurant that really impresses LaBan, likening Lee Chizmar’s and Erin Shea’s local-focused endeavor to an early Django.

And then there is the food, which is as skillfully dedicated to local ingredients as any I’ve tasted lately. What beforehand was the relatively untilled resource of the Lehigh Valley’s artisan farmers – many of whom have sold to Manhattan’s finest restaurants for years – has proved to be Bolete’s gold mine of inspiration.

Three Bells – Excellent

Bolette [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Bolette [Official Site]

Adam Erace visits Sonata and if he has one bit of advice for chef Mark Tropea,  it’s go easy on the sauce.

At times during my dinner at Sonata, it was like Tropea couldn’t help himself, that add-more reflex that afflicts lots of young chefs. It’s a real shame, since mostly he’s doing fresh things with quality ingredients at friendly prices. His pan-crisped pork belly, brined for 24 hours and cooked sous-vide for 12 more, came correct with opposing textures, and I loved the little spheres of compressed Fuji apple and the deeply autumnal calvados molasses—even if the latter tattooed the plate in passé diner-dessert squiggles.

Sonata [Philadelphia Weekly]

NoVi at 20th and Hamilton is now open. The former Tiedhouse is an upscale yet casual spot with 3 big plasmas for sports staring and 10 standard sounding taps pouring.

Thrillist has all the nitty-gritty.

NoVi [Thrillist]

Craig LaBan has plenty of good things to say about the interior and the service at Noble American Cookery but feels the food needs to tone it down a notch.

There’s so much to like about this restaurant in concept, from the airy, contemporary look to the unique tulip-shaped wineglasses to its mission of redefining modern American cooking with local, seasonal inspirations. And the plates are so artfully done, I expected to love Noble until the moment my fork put that art into action, only to find so many of the dots just didn’t connect. This restaurant certainly has the ability to improve its disappointing rating in my year-end revisits. But for now, the great ingredients and good instincts don’t add up enough to culinary success. This may simply be a case of a talented cook trying too hard. It can’t be easy to live up to the pedigree of a place that so self-consciously calls itself noble.

One Bell – Hit or Miss

Noble American Cookery [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Noble American Cookery [Official Site]

Adam Erace has a moment at Noble American Cookery as the foie gras melts on tongue and the setting sun shines through the front windows. Unfortuantely the moment is killed when he gets his hefty bill. But Erace finds other things along the way worthy of praise, especially the drink program.

[T]he curl of citrus unleashes its essential oils in the Vesper, a martini coined by Sir Ian Fleming in 1953’s Casino Royale . Smooth and subtly floral, the lemon-accented blend of Bluecoat gin, Penn 1681 vodka, Lillet Blonde and orange bitters was as beguiling as its namesake, Bond babe Vesper Lynd, and among the most beautifully balanced cocktails ever to pass these lips.


Noble American Cookery [Philadelphia Weekly]
Noble American Cookery [Official Site]

Trey Popp finds that Noble: An American Cookery is more than a trend chasing restaurant built on environmental correctness. He finds it to be an excellent place to eat and drink.

[I]t would be hard to recommend any dish ahead of the grass-fed short rib, braised all day with veal stock and lemons. The outside was so exquisitely crispy and caramelized you’d wonder if someone had gone over it with a blowtorch. Yet beneath that outer eighth of an inch, the interior strands slid apart from one another at the merest prod. A relish of fava beans and parsley attempted to bring some garden balance into the mix, but the sweet onion rice pudding ensured a plate that couldn’t have been richer had it been cast out of gold bullion.

 Ain’t That America [City Paper]
Noble: An American Cookery [Official Site]