Messy and Picky go to Foobooz fave Southwark and Picky gets the best plate he’s had all year, the barbequed smoked pork belly served with baked beans, wilted collards, and Birchrun blue cheese sauce. [Messy & Picky]

Derek Lee has his anniversary dinner in the kitchen at Talula’s Table. [The Best Food Blog Ever]

CE Phood experiences the Little Fish Sunday prix fixe. [CE Phood]

Maria Valetta breaks down the Whiskey King experience at Village Whiskey. [Sips, Bites and Sites]

Veggicurious finally makes it to Modo Mio and finds it a “delicious steal.” [Veggicurious]

So where would you have to eat if you were moving out of town? Femme Fermental is facing that question as she prepares to head off to pursue her PhD. in New England.

She’s doing pretty well for herself, having recently dined at the impossible to get in Talula’s Table and had the suckling pig dinner at Amada.

So if you were leaving Philadelphia for good. What restaurants and bars would be on your bucket list?

Mac & Cheese spotted the for rent sign in the window of what was to be the new restaurant from Aimee Olexy and Bryan Sikora of Talula’s Table yesterday. Now, Michael Klein has gotten the details.

The couple has not been able to secure a loan for the restaurant they had planned but are hoping to get a loan for a “more modest restaurant.”

With all of the restaurant openings being announced and Olexy and Sikora’s track record of success, we have to say we’re a bit bewildered.

Talula’s expansion plan is scaled back [The Insider]

This week in Philadelphia Magazine’s Restaurant Club Newsletter.

• Sneak Peek at Our July Reviews: Noble and Table 31
• Help a Member Out: Dining Outdoors With Your Posse
• Great Chefs Dish: Bobby Flay in UCity, Rae to Open in October?
• Snap Squad Shot of the Week
• Win Tickets to the PAWS Chefs Dinner

Restaurant Club Newsletter [Philadelphia Magazine]

Say What?

• The Savoy Deli & Produce Market off of Rittenhouse Square is probably best known for their flowers but they also sell tacos! [Drawing for Food]

Term We Love

• Chifauxtle – Term Fidel Gastro has made up to describe imitation or faux Chipotle restaurants. [Fidel Gastro]

Moyamensing Means Bird Droppings

• GetYourFooDon visits Witch American Bistro and rates it as Good. [The Witch American Bistro]
• Mac & Cheese calls Nicholas “fresh, seasonal, approachable and comforting.” [Mac & Cheese]

Jealousy is a Deadly Sin

• David McDuff dines at Talula’s Table more than anyone we know. [McDuff's Food & Wine Trail]

To Do List

• Sip a “Midtown Village” Manhattan at APO Bar and Lounge. One of 15 Manhattans they’re currently offering. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Eat dinner at Apamate. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the tapas BYOB for brunch but never been there for dinner. Maybe Mac & Cheese’s run down will be the impetus. [Mac & Cheese]
• Enjoy a drink at the Level Bar at Le Meridien when it opens in September. [The Illadelph]

Are you ready to step into the Octo? Rock Lobster which was closed all last season is coming back as Octo, complete with an octopus tank. [The Insider]

Novita Bistro on South Street has a new menu, focusing more on Moroccan dishes than their previous Mediterranean menu. [Meal Ticket]

A quiet buzz is building for Bibou near the Italian Market. Former Le Bec-Fin Executive Chef Pierre Calmels is behind the project and the menu looks promising. [The Insider]

Talula’s Table has signed a temporary lease on a corner property directly across from America’s most difficult reservation. If they get the financing, Aimee Olexy and Bryan Sikora imagine being up and running within 6 months. [Meal Ticket]

Transit hasn’t been an everyday spot for awhile now but word is it is no more. [Ice Pack, City Paper]

Flavors of the Avenue is a victim in Vince Fumo’s downfall. The festival has been cancelled as Fumo-backed Citizens Alliance has dropped out from cleanup duty. The local business improvement district can’t foot the $20,000 bill. [Inqlings, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Wegman’s Downingtown location will begin selling beer by the end of the month.

The folk behind Thai Pepper, Flavor, Azie and Teikoku in the ‘burbs is now opening Parker’s Prime, a steakhouse in Newtown Square. [Table Talk, Philadelphia Inquirer]

Tony Luke’s The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone took home the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Philadelphia Film Festival/Cinefest. [The Clog]

Rick Nichols scoops us all, with word that Aimee Olexy and Bryan Sikora of Talula’s Table will be opening a 60-seat cafe at the shuttered Kennett Cafe, just a few steps away from Talula’s.

It was in a handsome sandblasted brick building (circa 1810) with a peak-roofed second-story porch that gives it the aspect of something far more Southern: “Were you thinking New Orleans?” Sikora asked, clearly thinking that himself.

It was gutted inside, the subflooring dotted with pigeon droppings, burly, rough-hewn rafters exposed, windows covered with flimsy plywood. But in Olexy’s rendering, there was a wall of wine bottles at one end, a whirl of tables and counter seating looking in at Sikora sweating it out in the open kitchen.

In the basement, the concrete floor would be broken out and lowered six inches for a cozy wine bar.

To further whet the appetite here’s another recent rehash of dinner at Talula’s Table.
Coming Together: An Evening at Talula’s Table [Best Food Blog Ever]
Talula’s Table [Official Site]

Dish + Bitch hit up Cafe Lift for some dishing, bitching and of course brunch. [Dish + Bitch]

Across the street and owned by the same peeps as Cafe Lift is Prohibition Taproom. Phoodie.info gives it the once over. [Phoodie.info]

Martha Stewart bails on Talula’s Table and David McDuff gleefully steps in for the a seat in the kitchen. [McDuff's Food & Wine Trail]

Living On The Vedge hits up Argan Moroccan Cuisine before we even knew it was there. [Living n The Vedge]

Tapas in Wilmington? Wilmington has an area dubbed LoMa? Mac & Cheese reveals the truth. [Mac & Cheese]

I Am Beer Wise makes the long trek to the Sidecar Bar for New Holland beers and “zestful comfort food.” [I Am Beer Wise]

David Snyder has his first review for City Paper today and it is at the hardest table to get in America, Talula’s Table.

A key factor that sets Talula’s apart is the care Sikora and Olexy put into sourcing their ingredients. Like many area chefs, Sikora stays fresh and local. But the couple take it a step further — clipping fresh tarragon from their personal garden for the rich summer squash lobster tart; foraging a local trail for epazote, a pungent Mexican herb Sikora uses to make oil that accompanies a mushroom and goat cheese papusa, a humble tower of maitake and white beech mushrooms and cakes made from masa harina, a traditional Mexican flour.

But there’s a bigger reason Sikora’s food stands out: He has an innate ability to construct dishes that excel on two levels simultaneously. On one hand, he’s able to create a forum on a plate that allows each ingredient to grab a bit of the spotlight — their identities are surprisingly clean and crisp, each component delicately expressing its voice at just the right time. But as the flavors continue to layer, they roll into one clear, unifying composition. The result: dishes that are remarkably deep without sacrificing simplicity.

Talula’s Table [City Paper]
Talula’s Table [Official Site]

Philadining has been to Cantina Dos Segundos a few times already and has plenty of raves for the kitchen. [Philadining Blog]

The Beer Lass recaps the Mexican Beer Dinner she enjoyed at Iron Hill West Chester. [I'll Have Another Stout]

We are seriously starting to dislike David McDuff. He goes to Talula’s Table more than we visit our parents. He was there again and has the pictures to prove it. [McDuff's Food & Wine Trail]