The venerable General Lafayette Inn in Lafayette Hill is looking for a second location in Center City.

Owner/brewmaster Chris Leonard tells us via email that they’re on the hunt for the right location. The beery details, in his own words:
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First sushi, now Southwestern? It appears that Adobe Cafe, the “Santa Fe steakhouse” high up in the hills of Manayunk, in Roxborough is coming to Passyunk Avenue.

It seems to be moving into the rather grand space that used to be Elements Lounge Sports Bar/Philly Jazz & Blu at 1919-1925 Passyunk Ave., next door to Le Virtu.

A call to Adobe yesterday for further details has not yet been returned, but check out the photographic evidence…

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The hotly anticipated Fishtown spot Memphis Taproom gets one step closer to opening. They’ve hired a chef, Jesse Kimball, formerly of LaCroix. Fancy!

Prior to LaCroix, Jesse spent two years mastering New American cuisine at Matyson, the popular 19th Street BYOB. Jesse got his Philadelphia start as an apprentice to Food and Wine’s Best New Chef 2004, Dominic Filoni at Bianca, in Bryn Mawr. He received a culinary degree and the Best Young Culinary award from the Art Institute in Philadelphia.

Sounds like a nice pedigree to us. Also, say goodbye to Spanky this Friday:

Brendan Hartranft (okay, “Spanky”) one of the owners of the Memphis Taproom, and (almost former) Nodding Head Main Man will be pouring his last beers there this Friday (2/29).  Come out to say hello and goodbye from lunchtime to 7pm.  After Friday he’ll be all Memphis Taproom, all the time.

Hiring a chef and quitting your day job? Translation: opening very soon!

Memphis Taproom [Official Site]

Oh, look! Scoop on a new bar-with-food on East Passyunk Ave. from the owner of the now-defunct Felecia’s (which has still not yet opened as Devil’s Den). It will be called Sticks & Stones, which we don’t love, but we love the idea of a new spot on E. P’unk that is neither Italian nor Mexican…

“It is not an Italian gastropub,” says owner Nicholas Miglino of Sticks & Stones, his forthcoming resto-bar at 1909 E. Passyunk Ave. What is it then exactly, Mr. Miglino? He can’t say for sure, citing thin-crust pizza, nachos, lamb burgers, roasted organic chicken and a turkey-and-stuffing sandwich that he “can’t freaking wait to make” as items that might or might not appear on his menu.

He’s anticipating a mid-April opening, if the PLCB plays nice.

Read more in Eat Beat [Philadelphia Weekly]

We just got off the phone with Vintage owner Jason Evenchik and he gave us the full, unadulterated scoop on the closing of Ludwig’s that we previously reported.

Evenchik and his partner/wife Delphine have indeed taken it over and will be reopening it sometime in March (if all goes smoothly) as Time.

The Bavarian vibe will be replaced by a sleeker look, although Evenchik says that most of the work he will be doing is cosmetic and involves mostly cleaning, painting, redecorating and, of course, “getting rid of the smell.” There will be still be beer: 20 on tap and 50 by the bottle with a focus on craft brews. Which is good news, but the even better news is the focus on brown liquors. Evenchik plans to have a superior selection of single malts, ryes, whiskeys and bourbons and hopes to make it a destination for the best Manhattans and whiskey-based drinks in town.

Food is going to be “American”, which Evenchik defines in this instance as “old school updated country club,” but is not firm yet. He’s in discussion with several chefs. There will still be live music downstairs and a lounge with DJs is planned for upstairs.

For real estate junkies: Tony Goldman bought the building, but is not an owner of or investor in Time.

As much as we’re bummed to see the quirky weirdness of Ludwig’s leave, this sounds very intriguing. Very.

Vintage [Official Site]