Who did we spot walking towards the old Cosi at 2nd and Lombard last weekend? Yep, it’s Stephen Starr approaching his soon to be Pizza Select.

Do you like to drool? Then check out the menu Zahav is putting together for a chocolate themed dinner on Thursday, June 11th. If chocolate isn’t enough to get your salivary glands pumping, how about foie gras truffle and kobe beef tataki?

Check out the full menu of the $85 per person menu after the jump.

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Zahav and the Society Hill Towers are working together to allow Zahav to add outdoor seating in the Society Hill Towers Shopping Plaza. Zahav is looking to start patio service as soon as possible but has to work out a number of logistical issues first.

For those unfamiliar with the layout of the area, the roof-topped plaza backs up to Zahav along St. James Place and is home to a number of merchants and previously to a small super market.

Zahav has been piling up the accolades, Food & Wine, Esquire, Bon Appetit and most recently, Philadelphia Magazine named it the top restaurant. All this before turning a year old.

On Wednesday, May 20th the Israeli restaurant is throwing itself an anniversary party. Starting at 8pm there will be live Middle Eastern music, belly dancing and $5 all you can eat hummus and laffa. plus drink deals like $3 Goldstars and $5 Lemonnanas.

Zahav [Official Site]

Celebrate the birthday of Benito Juarez, Mexico’s first full-blooded Indigenous president with a feast of pre-Hispanic delicacies at Xochitl from Tuesday, March 17th through Saturday the 21st.

And just what are pre-Hispanic delicacies? Well they include things you might not normally see on a menu like grasshopper tacos, breaded veal brains, pine cones, frog legs and more. The meal is $45 per person, $65 with cocktail pairings.

Full menu after the jump.

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Rick Nichols subs for Craig LaBan and rings three bells for Zahav, the Israeli restaurant overlooking Dock Street in the shadows of the Society Hill towers. Nichols finds some gold in the regular menu but he’s quite grumpy with the the Quarter, Zahav’s back room for weekly tastings.

Zahav does so much right, so singularly and – in its rendering of a Jewish grandmother’s unforgettable chicken soup – sometimes brilliantly. It’s worth the climb up, if only to look down, indulgently, on the out-of-the-know Zahav-nots.

Three Bells – Excellent

Zahav [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Zahav [Official Site]

Adam Erace visits Zahav and enjoys a restaurant that meets the hype.

Roast chicken is done justice with an air-chilled Canadian bird, 24-hour brine, za’atar massage and 15 minutes over open coals. The result is juicy and crispy in all the right places, with sumac onions and tangy green tehina keeping your tongue at attention.

Served for two, the whole chicken is one of three entree choices for the pre-fixe Mesibah (“Party Time”) menu. Salatim (“salads”) kick off the par-tay, seven Israeli tapas that range from everyday (sauteed potatoes, mushy eggplant) to inspired (cuminy Moroccan carrots and candy-sweet roasted red peppers). Hummus follows, then two mezes of the kitchen’s choosing, entree and dessert. Request the New School, a blockbuster of fried shredded phyllo, labneh ice cream, pistachios, Valrhona chocolate and kumquat syrup. It’s as innovative as this motherland tribute gets—except on Thursday nights when Solomonov does a modern Israeli menu in the Quarter, the restaurant’s 24-seat private dining room.

Zahav [Philadelphia Weekly]
Zahav [Official Site]

The Quarter, Chef Michael Solomonov’s exploration of modern Middle Eastern cuisine at Zahav will begin dinner service every Thursday, starting on June 26th. There will be two different six-course menus: a Chef’s Tasting and a Vegetable Tasting.

Highlights include Sweetbreads with crispy chicken skin and tehina and Eggplant “Al Ha’esh” with sesame and almond puree. Sounds like at one side of the table will be grossed out by the other! The cost is $65 per person, $100 with wine pairings and seating is limited.

June 26th menus after the jump.

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Thursday, June 26th Xochitl will prepare a four course menu with three varieties of Don Julio’s tequila.

The dinner begins at 7pm and is followed by a cocktail reception. The cost is $75 per person.

Menu after the jump.

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City Paper’s cover story this week profiles the menu building experience of Michael Solomonov as he took his Zahav staff to Israel for a week of eating and more eating.

Closer to home Michael Klein chronicles the last stressful days of dealing with city agencies to get the go ahead for Zahav’s Monday opening.

Recognizing all the hard work has us really wanting to dig into the menu.

Desert Harvest [City Paper]
Week Twenty-Four: Zahav has liftoff [The Making of Zahav]