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]

Forgive us for sounding a little bit like Crazy Eddie here, but starting today, it’s pure restaurant opening madness! Madness we tell you! You can always check our regularly updated Openings feature, but we’ve highlighted the following few days of anticipated openings for you after the jump…

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Zahav, the Israeli restaurant from Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook is opening to the public on May 5th and is now accepting reservations via OpenTable.

Zahav’s web site also has the menu available for download (PDF).

Zahav [Official Site]

Next Friday, April 25th Zahav will be open to the public for a reception in conjunction with a photographic exhibition by Michael T Regan. The event is from 6 to 9pm and is free to attend. NOTE: This is just a sneak peek. The actual restaurant opening will happen in the first week of May. [Food & Drinq]

In other Zahav news, The Making of Zahav blog has the drink menu and Philly.com has a video on just how three of those cocktails came to be, including GM Max Shapiro’s Philadelphian take on the Manhattan, the 6th Borough.

Zahav [Official Site]

In chronicling the construction of Zahav Michael Klein asks a question we’ve often wondered, what do you do when you’ve hired your staff but then the opening gets delayed?

Well Zahav owner and chef Michael Solomonov came up with an interesting way to keep his hired hands busy. He’s had them rework the menu at one of his favorite watering holes, 12 Steps Down.

Less than two weeks after the idea first came to Solomonov in the middle of a sleepless night, 12 Steps customers were eating chicken wings cooked in duck fat and tossed with pickled mango sauce, macaroni and cheese with New York State cheddar and Fried Calamari Salad with carrot-miso dressing.

Week Twenty: A 12 Steps Program [The Making of Zahav]

It’s a special Monday edition of Quick Bites with lots of news and notes.

Ashoka Palace is the new spot taking a run at 38 S 19th St. It will serve northern Indian cuisine. We wish owner Kinder Jit Singh better luck than what met Bootsie’s, Sabor and Cha Cha Sushi. [Food & Drinq]

The Clog has the rundown on Fishtown’s Memphis Taproom from the taps (American craft, Belgian, German and English) to the food (it is a Polish neighborhood isn’t it?). Get a sneak preview of sorts this Saturday as Memphis Taproom will be pouring the beer at Unbridaled, an interesting bridal expo this weekend. [The Clog]

The restaurant at the Victory Brewing Co. has temporarily gotten smaller as they continue to renovate the brewery and brew pub. More photos at their site. [Victory Brewing Co. via The Brew Lounge]

The first Philadelphia Brewing Co. beer has made it into the fermenter. Brewer Deane Browne has the details. [Fermental]

Zahav has a logo. Check it out. [The Making of Zahav]

And finally, today’s the day Ugly American gets their draft system installed.

The Making of Zahav and Alison’s New Restaurant each have posts detailing the the trials and tribulations of designing a new restaurant that works for staff and customers as well as evokes the right ambiance.

Raising the Bar [Alison’s New Bar]
Week Eight: Meet the designer [The Making of Zahav]

Marigold Kitchen is getting a new chef and a new menu with some southern flair in the new year.

Erin O’Shea will be introduced as executive chef January 2nd replacing Michael Solomonov who will be focusing on his latest endeavor, Zahav.

O’Shea’s cuisine will be inspired by Southern ingredients but will also be modern with some subtle French influences. She will serve traditional Southern items like country ham from Edwards of Surry, VA, and grits from Byrd Mill, a small-scale producer that has been stone-grinding corn into grits in Ashland, VA, since 1740.

Menu highlights after the jump.

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Big news coming out of West Philadelphia’s Marigold Kitchen. Michael Solomonov will be handing the reigns over to Erin O’Shea in January so he can concentrate on Zahav. O’Shea will bring a “modern Southern” touch to the Marigold menu.

Some dishes: Turnip soup with Virginia ham biscuits; seared cornbread with creamy collards and Virginia wigwam ham, topped with a sunny side up egg; pork tenderloin with creamed collards and house-pickled peaches; Virginia stone-ground grits with shrimp; chicken liver toast with house-pickled celery and fig jam; scallops with tapioca pearls, mussels, and sweet potatoes; and chicken with house-made cornbread, pear stuffing, braised cipollini onions and mustard greens.

Chef change at Marigold [Food & Drinq]
Marigold Kitchen [Official Site]

Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook are opening another restaurant, Zahav at the base of the Society Hill Towers in what was Sfizzio as recently as a few nights ago. Cook owns Marigold Kitchen where Solomnov is executive chef and they are both owners in Xochitl, the higher-end Mexican restaurant on Headhouse Square. Zahav will focus on Israeli-Mediterranean cuisine and have room for over 100 diners plus a ten person bar. Opening night is still at least four months away.

But what’s most interesting is Cook and Solomonov are opening the doors to Michael Klein who will be chronicling the journey from design, to construction and eventual opening via a blog, The Making of Zahav on Philly.com.

A restaurant is born, and you will be there [Philadelphia Inquirer]
The Making Of Zahav [Philly.com]
Zahav Restaurant [Official Site]