How to dine out with the kids | Let’s Eat

Taking the kids out to eat? We’re sharing experts’ tips to improve the experience. Also this week, the James Beard finalists have just been released, we have ideas for Ramadan feasts, and a South Jersey chef will battle Jose Garces.

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“Dining out with kids is a minefield,” writes new-ish mom Jenn Ladd, who wrote a well-researched and (as she says) “selfishly motivated story” about the very topic. Yes, it’s stressful. Yes, there is heated debate. But she asked experts for their advice — hospitality professionals, many of whom are parents, too — and shares insights. Are your kids ready for a 5½-hour tasting menu in Paris? 🔑

The 2023 James Beard Award finalists were announced today, and it’s a fine bunch of Philadelphians. Friday Saturday Sunday, Hanna and Chad Williams’ Rittenhouse destination, is up for outstanding restaurant, while Ellen Yin of Fork, a.kitchen, and High Street is up again for outstanding restaurateur, Amanda Shulman of Her Place Supper Club is a nominee for best new emerging chef, and Philly folks have three of the five slots for best Mid-Atlantic chef: Jesse Ito of Royal Sushi, Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon of Kalaya, and Dionicio Jiménez of Cantina La Martina. The winners will be announced June 5.

The best way to eat at one of these hot restaurants? Allow Jenn Ladd to tell you a little secret.

Cristina Martinez of South Philly Barbacoa and Casa Mexico, last year’s winner for best chef, Mid-Atlantic, will be honored today with the 2023 Praxis Award from Villanova University’s Ethics Program. Given annually since 2007, the Praxis recognizes a professional or academic who exemplifies the highest ethical ideals of their profession or who has contributed to professional ethics scholarship. Martinez — who entered the United States in 2009 and with her former husband, Ben Miller, built a business based on her family’s roasted lamb recipe — is a champion of undocumented workers’ rights.

Muslims observing Ramadan forgo food and drink from sunrise to sunset. Colleague Hira Qureshi offers a dining guide to suhoor and iftar, the pre-dawn and post-dusk meals. Among the recommendations is Plov House, a recent Craig LaBan tout in Northeast Philadelphia, which is open 24 hours.

Philabundance’s Driving Hunger Away During Ramadan initiative, a partnership with State Sen. Sharif Street, aims to feed at least 200 Philadelphians a day. We have a schedule of the locations.

Coffeeshop owner Daniela de Souza needed baked goods during the pandemic, so she made ’em herself. The sweet and savory treats she enjoyed in her native Brazil got the most attention. She’s just opened Merenda Box in Conshohocken. Meanwhile, Portuguese food is enjoying a surge hereabouts, and there are a few places (including Gilda and Kouklet) to get your pastais de nata fix.

People are actually ordering Swiss on their cheesesteaks? We found a survey that says yes.

Cast your vote now in The Inquirer’s Cheesesteak Bracket. We have 16 shops vying for the spotlight.

Lokal Artisan Foods, Charisse McGill’s business specializing in French toast bites, is this year’s beneficiary of the 76ers Buy Black Program. Lokal gets a marketing plan, ads, custom content, and radio spots during 76ers game broadcasts. Catch Lokal in-arena at tonight’s Sixers-Dallas game, or the Pennsylvania Convention Center plus seasonal spots at Spruce Street Harbor Park, Cherry Street Pier, Christmas Village, and Eastern State Pen’s Halloween nights. She’s quite an entrepreneur.

The pop-up beer gardens from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society at 106 Jamestown Ave. in Manayunk and at 1438 South St. reopen for the season Saturday. New: South Street has been expanded and both will book Resy reservations for groups.

Burlington County chef Britt Rescigno, a winner on Chopped in 2019, Beat Bobby Flay in 2022, and Guy’s Grocery Games in 2023, faces former Iron Chef Jose Garces in Food Network’s Tournament of Champions. The episode premieres at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Angeloni’s II in Atlantic City will close April 30 after 42 years with the retirement of owner Alan Angeloni.

Tio Flores, the cantina at 16th and South Streets, is changing hands after 7½ years. Brothers Ken and Ed Pisarcik, who owned Las Vegas Lounge for 18 years before it closed Labor Day, plan to reopen shortly after a few odds and ends are finished. They plan no immediate changes. Founders Chris Fetfatzes and Heather Annechiarico own Hawthornes, Grace & Proper, and the QuickSip delivery service.

Kilwins, the syndicated sweet shop, has opened a branch at 143 S. 13th St. in Center City, replacing Lou Lou Boutique.

Chef Kevin Yanaga (shown above) has quit Izakaya by Yanaga and Omakase by Yanaga in Fishtown. Yanaga, the Morimoto and Zama alum, declined to explain his decision, effective immediately. Owner GLU Hospitality says it will refund customers for omakase reservations; a new chef will run that room at a later date. GLU also said the izakaya had been not been managed by Yanaga and is unaffected. For now, at least, Yanaga’s name will remain on the door.

Vedge, the plant-based destination at 1221 Locust St., is not going anywhere, despite a recent real estate flyer from Colliers International offering it for lease. Chefs-owners Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby have signed an extension through January 2024 and say they are working toward an equitable long-term solution with their landlord. The Frank Furness-designed building, formerly Deux Cheminees, itself is up for sale. (It’s owned by a limited partnership including District Attorney Larry Krasner.) Landau and Jacoby, who opened Vedge in 2011, recently opened Ground Provisions, a charming country store and dining room in old Innkeeper’s Kitchen at Dilworthtown Inn (1388 Old Wilmington Pike, West Chester), where they soon will open its front porch for natural wines, beers, and cocktails with a light snack menu Thursday-Saturday from 5 p.m. and all day Saturday.

The city is trying to find someone to run a restaurant shaped like a flying saucer. Where is it?

A) LOVE Park

B) Outside the Franklin Institute

C) FDR Park

D) Franklin Square

Find out if you know the answer.

My family and I are moving to Bala Cynwyd. Best restaurants in the area? — @brilloaj

Great area, as it’s close enough to I-76 and Martin Luther King Drive for a relatively easy hop to Manayunk, Center City, South Philly, and the river wards, and the nearby Main Line. Moments away, you have Lark (Mediterranean, with a stunning Schuylkill view) and the Landing Kitchen (casual indoor-outdoor) — the Nicholas Elmi-Fia Berisha restaurants at the Marriott Hotel that’s part of the Ironworks at Pencoyd (611 Righters Ferry Rd.). There’s La Collina, a long-established, refined Italian restaurant (37 Ashland Ave.), which brothers Bujar and Gani Daku of Bryn Mawr’s Otto by Polpo recently took over. Critic Craig LaBan recently posted on Instagram a look-see at DJ Kitchen, a Szechuan newcomer across City Avenue in the shopping center that houses a Target.

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