Paul opens this evening opposite Effie’s on Pine Street. Among the menu items, crab spring rolls, wild Atlantic halibut and bouillabaisse. [The Insider]

When the Penthouse Club opens August 7th, chef Bill Elmer will be cooking up more than just steaks. [Meal Ticket]

City Tavern’s Walter Staib is at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello this week filming his new TV series, A Taste of History. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Slate is now doing lunch, brunch and happy hour. Meal Ticket has the deets. [Meal Ticket]

Horizons chef Rich Landau has been selected to cook at the James Beard House. It will be the first vegan restaurant to be so honored. [The Insider]

Coo’s Sports Bar & Lounge is the name of the bar coming to the 800 block of North Broad Street. Not much else is known but the coming soon banner sports a Coors Light logo, so probably not going to have Chimay on draft.

Jim’s Soft Pretzels, a mini-chain in town is coming to South Street. [Meal Ticket]

JD McGillicuddy’s is going into the former Freehouse location in Wayne. Expect an August 1st opening. [The Insider]

Just a degree of John Mims separation away, Carmine’s in Bryn Mawr has closed and will return as Verdad, a Spanish tapas restaurant. [The Insider]

The Saxby’s at the base of the Comcast Center has closed. For now the coffee shop is serving as a promotional display for Table 31.

When Slate opened it was classified as a gastropub. But with praise from Craig LaBan and here by Philly Food and Drink, maybe neighborhood bistro is more appropriate? [Philly Food and Drink]

Phoodie calls Bridgewater’s Pub the “gem of 30th Street Station.” [Phoodie]

It’s a “small plates binge” at Pub and Kitchen. [Veggicurious]

Mmmmm, Boudin Blanc Sausage and Cajun blackened green beans at Grace Tavern. [Unbreaded]

A cold one in the fresh air? Joe Sixpack names 9 of his favorite outdoor drinking spots. [Beer Radar]

Dock Street Brewery has African-style Sudan Grass Sorghum Ale on tap and it’s gluten-free. [Gluten Free Philly]

Smiths offers sophisticated sandwiches at a sports friendly bar. [Unbreaded]

Craig LaBan may struggle classifying Slate but the kitchen is providing an identity worth noting.

My absolute favorite: a nod to the chef’s Greek heritage, a homespun revamp of lamb gyros so overdue, I can’t believe it took this long for someone to conceive it. Heat-charred slices of Paraskevas’ lamb and onion puree – spiced with poblanos and aromatic with cinnamon, cumin, and clove – come rolled inside a soft pita with fennel slaw and minty, homemade tzatziki. Opa!

On a lesser magnitude of ambition (but no less satisfying) was a thrilling encounter with chicken that wasn’t a boneless breast: an entree of apricot-glazed thighs, tenderly braised and served over Israeli couscous with tart cucumber-chive chutney.

Two Bells – Very Good

Slate [Philadelphia Inquirer]

This weekend Craig LaBan will be reviewing Slate, the gastropub on 21st between Chestnut and Sansom.

Trey Popp liked the food if not the beer, how do you believe it will fare in LaBan’s eyes?

Trey Popp rats out who’s to blame for the term “gastropub” in his review this week. And as much as we were thrilled to find the names of those responsible for such a dreadful term, the real story is that 21st Street’s Slate is kicking butt with the food half of gastropub. The beer and wine on the otherhand could use some emboldening. 

So it’s a good thing [owner Laurentiu] Muras hits the bull’s-eye in the chef department. Eric Paraskevas, Lolita’s former chef de cuisine, sallies forth from that haute-Mexican training ground with the confidence of a cook who bears watching. Working from a small menu that runs from spring rolls to seared snapper to a juicy pulled pork and cheddar sandwich, he excels at understated surprises, and during my two visits there wasn’t a single misstep.

The south-of-the-border influences are evident, but Paraskevas deftly weaves them into a broader culinary cloth. A block of seared queso fresco sits at the bottom of a panzanella salad that’s otherwise pure Tuscany: crispy bread cubes anointed with olive oil, cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers and the sparest dash of truffle emulsion — no heavy hand here, praise be — then crowned with a thicket of fried basil leaves that collapse on the tongue with a featherweight crackle. A lamb shank comes with a red onion and chayote escabeche whose acidic twang plays soprano to the meat’s murky baritone. High marks too for the accompanying parsnip purée, which got its bold flavor straight from the root, not an overdose of butter and cream.This is food that prizes honesty over artifice.

Stone’s Throw [City Paper]

Slate has finally opened after 9 months of rehabbing the former Cafe Habana. Owner Laurentiu Muras has has completed his remaking of the space and opened Thursday night.

Chef Eric Parskevas who used to work at Lolita is in the kitchen. His opening menu is after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Slate, the gastropub on 21st Street between Chestnut and Sansom finally opens tomorrow at 5pm. The Chef is Eric Paraskevas, former chef de cuisine at Lolita and prices will top out at $21. [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Mémé has gotten its liquor license and gets reviewed this Sunday in the Inquirer. Today they’re open for lunch. [Meal Ticket]

John Mims forced out from his own Mims Food + Drink by judge. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

This weekend Terence Feury officially takes over for Thien Ngo at Fork. [Icepack, City Paper]

Yesterday, The Insider posted its 2009 restaurant forecast with lots of tasty morsels from big to small. Among the new to us, S & H Kebab House will be a Turkish kabob BYOB at the former Overtures. VargaBar is the name for the Valanni backed redo of Azul. Saute and Slate are aiming to be open by the end of the month and Girasole, is not dead after all. [The Insider]

As you may have noticed in the ad to the left, John Mims, formerly of Carmine’s and Les Bons Temps is going to be opening Mims in Wayne, where he’ll be serving contemporary New Orleans comfort food.

Neil Stein to South Street? Could it be? [Ice Pack, City Paper]

Table Talk higlights the new MangoMoon in Manayunk. It’s “warm but dramatic,” featuring Thai small plates and no Pad Thai! [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Pasqual Cancelliere, who ran Butcher’s Cafe with his father before selling the spot, is coming back to 9th Street with 943 , a Argentine and Italian themed restaurant. [Meal Ticket]

Pico de Gallo is expanding but not going far. The 15th and South Mexican is opening across the street in a larger space and will be turning the existing Pico into a cheaper takeout and delivery spot. [The Insider]

We do love ourselves some crêpes, so we’re ready to check out the new Crêpe Maker in 30th Street Station. [Meal Ticket]

Matt Levin’s bistro concept has some big beef backing it. None other than Philadelphia Eagle offensive lineman, Jon Runyan. Northern Liberties is the preferred location. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Whether it’s called Mamaia or now Slate, we’re still doubting Thomases on the gastropub at the former Cafe Habana. The latest is it might be open by New Years or at least shortly thereafter. Another spot that invites skepticism is the Broad Axe Tavern which is now slated for a February or March reopening. [The Insider]

And in other it has been a long time coming news, MangoMoon is set to open Friday, December 19th and Meal Ticket has the menu. [Meal Ticket]

Could boozy gelato concoctions be in your future? Bhiladelphia suggests Capogiro could be looking for a liquor license. [bhiladelphia]

DP Dough has an opening date and a blog. February 2nd is the date for the West Philly calzonerie, http://www.dpdoughphilly.com/blog is the blog.

Seasons 52, a grill and wine bar is planning to open its first location outside of the Southeast this spring at the Cherry Hill Mall. [Philadelphia Business Journal]

Passyunk Avenue’s Triangle Tavern has closed. [The Insider]