Caviar on pizza?! Shrimp in cocktails?! | Let’s Eat
EMei is on the move again, New York Bagels wants to rebuild, and those googly-eyed delivery robots have found themselves in the crosshairs.
Caviar on pizza and literal shrimp in cocktails. What will they think of next? (And do they need to?)
Also in this edition:
Expansion: Dan Tsao, owner of EMei restaurant, has bought a third destination: the shuttered Irish Pub in Rittenhouse.
Bagel shop woes: An investigation continues into the second explosion at New York Bagels.
Tiffin transition: The popular Indian restaurant chain makes a big move at age 20.
Robots: Does Philly need to regulate the delivery vehicles? And is foie gras on the way out?
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$55 for a slice of pizza? What is it, topped with caviar? Actually, yes. We tried this new offering at Marina’s Pizza, a newcomer on Fishtown’s restaurant roe row. Read on for our take.
Food-inspired martinis are part of a new cocktail collection at Vernick Fish. Kiki Aranita scouted out the literal shrimp cocktail (shown below) and drinks inspired by endive salad and sardine toast.
Dan Tsao of Chinatown destination EMei has been on a shopping spree lately, buying old-time restaurants with an eye toward opening them with Sichuan stylings. His third deal in less than a year is the long-closed Irish Pub at 20th and Walnut. Here’s our exclusive.
Black Sheep Pub in Rittenhouse caught fire the other night, and prospects for its reopening in time for the FIFA games are iffy.
Come to Scampi in Queen Village for chef Liz Grothe’s jokes — says critic Craig LaBan — and stay for the obscure pastas, Filipino-themed tiramisu, and (see above) luscious Oklahoma burger.
As investigators probe the cause of the second explosion at Overbrook Park’s New York Bagels in 2½ months, owner Rayyan Kayyali vows to return. As he told Beatrice Forman and me, a missed alarm made the baker late for work on the morning of May 10 — and it likely saved his life.
Delivery robots are in the crosshairs of politicos who think they’re a safety issue, report Ximena Conde and Jake Blumgart. They’re considering regulation.
Foie gras is again on the chopping block in City Council, and Kiki Aranita asks why now.
We feasted on Greek meats in Newbold, tuna carpaccio near Rittenhouse Square, Aztec broccoli under the El, and enjoyed a very good sandwich at the airport.
Scoop
Here’s more on No Name Hospitality’s plans for 1526 Sansom St., the two-level restaurant space that’s hosted a slew of concepts over the years, including Goldie, Bagels & Co., Rooster Soup Co., Chika, and (as we old-timers remember) Charlie’s Water Wheel. As I told you last month, No Name is installing a luxe upgrade to its Old City restaubar Frame in the lower level. No Name says Frame Midtown —– as this will be known —– will be more elevated all around when it opens in early summer. Upstairs, Shay’s Steaks & More has closed after a year, and No Name is switching that idea to a ghost kitchen called Revolution House Pizza & Steaks based at the No Name-owned Revolution House at Second and Market Streets. This will make way for a new late-night concept.
Restaurant report
Vegetarian South Indian dishes and tasty filter coffee star on the menu of the homey, new Bengaluru Cafe, which has come to Northern Liberties by way of Fairfax, Va.
Kabobeesh, in its new West Philadelphia location, is serving a version of the New York chopped cheese sandwich with a Pakistani spin, Hira Qureshi writes. The owner makes it clear she’s not taking credit for it.
Briefly noted
Tiffin, which revolutionized Indian delivery 20 years ago, has closed its flagship location on Girard Avenue. Founder Munish Narula explains who a relocation was part of his plan.
A perfect Philly day for restaurateur Ellen Yin includes a ride on an Indego bike. (Especially when she comes to a Fork in the road.) Beatrice Forman chats her up for a charming interview.
Sending warm thoughts to chef Nick Kennedy, an owner of Defined Hospitality (Suraya, Kalaya, Pizzeria Beddia, Picnic, Condesa, et al.), who was diagnosed with stage 3 diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma. After a scare, he learned it’s treatable, perhaps even curable. “I feel guilty and selfish and weird saying this,” as he told Kiki Aranita, “but if you could pick a cancer, it’s a good one to have.”
Tiffany’s Bakery opens Saturday at 4254 Main St. in Manayunk with a giveaway of 500 cupcakes from 2-7 p.m.
Honeysuckle chefs/owners Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate will host their annual daytime Juneteenth Cookout on June 21 at Plowshare Farms in Pipersville. The family-friendly event features a whole-hog cookout, seasonal dishes inspired by the African diaspora, music, games, farm tours, and planting activities. Tickets (on OpenTable) are $75, or $100 with round-trip bus service from Honeysuckle.
Carpenters’ Hall (320 Chestnut St.) will host an after-hours 1776 food-and-drink tasting on May 30 built around colonial-era flavors with French-American influence, plus cooking demos and tastings from historical chef Justin Cherry and storytelling from chef/distiller Paul Menta. On the pour list: colonial rum aged in chestnut wood barrels, Pennsylvania rye, and a Benjamin Franklin–style molasses spruce beer, all served inside the 1774 site of the First Continental Congress and, in December 1775, the room where Benjamin Franklin secretly met with a French spy. Tickets ($250) include a limited-edition Colonial Rum collector bottle cast from a 1780 mold, fermented with yeast sourced from a 260-year-old birch tree at Valley Forge. Proceeds support the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a veterans-service charity. Info is here.
❓Pop quiz
Saturday Night Live gave a recent plug to what iconic Philly food company?
A) Bassetts
B) John’s Roast Pork
C) Zitner
D) Angelo’s Pizzeria
Find out if you know the answer.
Ask Mike anything
What’s happening with Schmaltz, the Jewish-inspired spot coming to 18th and Wharton? — Josh O.
It’s been a minute (actually, nine months) since Jeremy Asch and Abby Armstrong announced their plans for Schmaltz, at the former Pharmacy in Point Breeze. Asch tells me it should be good to go for early June. Asch tells me that the menu will include a latke, egg, and cheese sandwich on an English muffin; spicy pickle-brined crispy tofu sandwich with arugula and fennel; cheese blintzes with jam and sour cream; and Caesar salad with gribenes. But no bagels! “I may source some in the future, but I was adamant about not becoming a bagel shop.” BYOB then! Follow on Instagram.
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