Yogorino has its grand opening tomorrow at 20th and Locust. There’s just one smooth tart flavor and lots of toppings. Check the reversible cups. The size changes depending on what end is up. More on Meal Ticket. [Meal Ticket]

Za Vino will be the name of the pizza and wine bar concept headed to 13th and Sansom. [The Insider]

Drew Lazor has some details on Bar, the bar from Jason and Delphine Evenchik who own Vintage and Time. Bar games like foosball and MegaTouch, no food, mixed drinks in pints. [Meal Ticket]

Meritage, a Foobooz Jobs poster has hired former Susanna Foo chef de cuisine Anne Coll to run the kitchen at the Center City South restaurant. [The Insider]

Elevation Burger has opened its first Philadelphia-area location in Wynnewood. [Main Line Restaurant Guide]

Good Food Market is opening a sophisticated convenience store in Chestnut Hill. The spot will also serve $20 for-two dinners. There’ll also be delivery and curbside pickup. This people, is how you react when your Wawa closes! [Meal Ticket]

The seemingly cursed corner of Chestnut and Strawberry has claimed Korean BYOB, Meju. Now lets get those Jose Garces taco stand rumors going again! [Meal Ticket]

Pearl has closed after 16 months. [The Insider]

How do you get passersbys to notice you’ve redone your restaurant concept? Well, someone at Akoya, the newly formulated Japanese bar at Pearl, had the wise idea to post a flourescent orange sign that looks like a liquor license application in the window.

Inqlings: Lights, camera, action – checks? [Philly.com]

Teresa’s Next Door FINALLY has a web site. Here’s hoping they keep those beer lists up to date. [Liquid Diet]

We’ve known Marty Grims was bringing another branch of DuJour Gourmet to Commerce Square. But now we learn he’s going to be running the pan-Asian concept also planned for 20th and Market. [Meal Ticket]

Pearl is rebranding its first floor restaurant as Akoya. Chef Greg Garbacz will be introducing an Asian pub menu starting January 5th. There is quite the story behind the Akoya name. [The Insider]

Molecular archeologist, Dr. Patrick McGovern who was behind Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch, Jiahu and Theobroma beers has been axed by the University of Pennsylvania. [Beer Radar]

We came across this little ditty tucked into Dan Gross’s column today:

…Vice stayed limber with shots of Patron in the DJ booth with promoter Brett Perloff throughout his set. Perloff, who recently parted ways with the Stein family at Pearl (1904 Chestnut), in which he was a partner, says he’ll open a high-end boutique bottle-service bar in the Rittenhouse area next month. He was mum on a name or exact location, since the joint is another bar now.

Our first thought was, really?! Does the Rittenhouse area need another high-end bottle-service bar in this economy? Of course, then our inner Restaurant Yenta took over and we started to wonder… where exactly that Rittenhouse location might be? Where would you put it?

Dan Gross [PhillyGossip]
Chef Ari Weiswasser Leaves Pearl [KleInsider]

Craig LaBan discovers that Asian Fusion still has some life left, especially in the hands of Pearl’s Chef Ari Weiswasser.

Not that Pearl’s “pan-Asian” concept exactly offers fresh turf for an ambitious young chef to roam. The menu touches every cliche in the Asian fusion playbook, from tuna tartare to miso-glazed black cod, tempura-fried rock shrimp, and calamari salad.

But it is in the execution that Weiswasser’s pedigree shines through, his years in the rigorous kitchens of Restaurant Daniel, Gilt, Striped Bass and Le Bec-Fin giving new life and a little elegance to these old water chestnuts.

There is an extra succulence to the Peking duck spring rolls, for example, thanks to two duck preparations for the stuffing (involving lots of molten duck fat), a dash of sweet corn puree, and a finishing inner wrap of Thai basil that gives each bite an herby freshness.

Two Bells – Very Good

Pearl [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Pearl [Official Site]

Trey Popp aims to find out if Chestnut Street’s Pearl is a lounge worth having a meal in.

Chef Ari Weiswasser, whose résumé includes stints at Striped Bass and New York’s Daniel, has put together a menu that channels pan-Asian favorites through classical French technique. Appetizers find the kitchen at its best. Sumptuously crabby crab cakes were punched up with fried capers and shaved radishes, and got a cool note from a subtle lemongrass aioli. Peking duck spring rolls rang with little shreds of Thai basil.

Shell Game [City Paper]
Pearl [Official Site]

A sharp-eyed tipster cleared up the mystery of what exactly a Euro is, in the context of hospitality jobs. Via craigslist:

Pearl is hiring Barbacks and Euros (bottle service busser). Need the ability to work in a high volume bar and lounge. Please stop in and fill out an application 12pm-5pm, Monday – Friday.

Of course! “Euro” is so much more glamorous than “bottle service busser” which is way more glamorous than a plain old “busser.”

If you’ve ever been a busser, you undoubtedly know just how glamorous the job really is, no matter what you call it.

The Inquirer food section, briefly:

Eat your greens! They’re good for you!
Where there are calorie counts and carbon counts, confusion is not far behind.

Michael Klein tells us that Pearl is open, so is Blue in Green. Sansom Street Oyster House is getting a facelift.

Pearl, the 128-seat restaurant and bar at 1904 Chestnut Street is set to open this Sunday evening. Maybe then we’ll find out what a Euro is in restaurant parlance. The former Little Pete’s has been transformed into a sophisticated space that will strike the right vibe with diners downstairs and lounge patrons up.

Chef Ari Weiswasser who was most recently chef de cuisine at Striped Bass has created a menu that is Asian fusion with a French influence.

Full menu after the jump.

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Despite its pan-Asian menu (snore, snore, deep-Rip-Van-Winkle-style-snore) we are very curious about the opening of Pearl, the new nightspot in the Old Little Pete’s on Chestnut that has been in the works for what seems like an eternity. Taste Daily has a bit of intel on the chef, but the most interesting tidbit might be via this ad for a staffing event tonight…

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