Next-level martinis at a back-room bar | Let’s Eat

We’re going beyond the espresso martini with a look at some pretty outlandish variations. Also this week, our news includes Philly’s best pop-up meals, word of a massive restaurant auction and the Philly region’s first Eataly, your first looks at the new Enswell (from the Rival Bros. team) and Meetinghouse (at the former Memphis Taproom), and restaurant (and ice cream) scoop. And the old Beau Monde is becoming what?

⬇️ Read on for a quiz, too.

— Mike Klein

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Bartenders are taking a fresh look at the martini. They’re washing the gin, infusing the vermouth, and tinkering with ratios, ingredients, and garnishes. Gimlet-eyed colleague Jenn Ladd found one spot, in a back room in Old City, where they’re experimenting. For example: this “picnic” martini combines dry gin, tomato-infused dry vermouth, a tonic-peach syrup blend, lemon juice, saline, and olive oil. Yes, saline! She wonders: How far can they go?

How does an ambitious chef make a name or prove a concept? Pop-up events are the way to go. Hira Qureshi found seven pop-ups playing out in the next several weeks in a variety of genres.

The Lucky Well Incubator, premiering Saturday at 10th and Spring Garden Streets, is also a pop-up. Chef Chad Rosenthal has gathered four chefs and concepts — Navajo fry bread, Vietnamese grill, pasta, and barbecue — with a bar under one roof.

The digital gavel went down this morning on an online auction to sell the contents of the Bankroll sports bar at 1910 Chestnut St., already the year’s wildest restaurant-closing story. What’s to become of the space? I would not be surprised to see Barstool founder Dave Portnoy swoop in to open a companion sports bar to his Barstool at 1213 Sansom St., now that he’s back in control of the empire. No one is talking.

Some teens grumble through their summer jobs. Not Madison McGill, who’s dipping gelato and working at her mom’s snack stand. As part of Lizzy McLellan Ravitch’s “My Summer Job” series, Madison relates the high point of her day at Cloud Cups, the ice cream shop: “When you like scoop it up and make it look all pretty and stuff, they’re like, ‘Oh my God.’”

Aug. 31 will be the finale of Rione, Francesco and Alison Crovetti’s six-year-old shop specializing in Roman-style pizza al taglio at 100½ S. 21st St. They cite a slowdown in the lunch trade post-pandemic in that part of town, coupled with his desire to spend more time with family. He said he wants to support other businesses, “especially when it aligns with my love and passion for pizza. The final weeks will be business as usual. He said they will “celebrate appropriately with some fun things and specials” on the last day.

The former Beau Monde at Sixth and Bainbridge Streets, which shut down early in the pandemic, has a new owner and concept. It will become the second location of Avram Hornik’s Rosy’s Taco Bar (now at 23rd and Walnut Streets), known as Rosy’s East when it opens this fall. Beau Monde, with its L’Etage cabaret bar upstairs, was Philly’s bougiest crêperie in its day.

Umai Umai, Alex McCoy’s Fairmount sushi BYOB (see Craig LaBan’s 2009 review), is branching out after 17 years. It’s taking the corner spot at Fifth and Monroe Streets (at East Passyunk Avenue) previously occupied by Modo Mio and Plenty Cafe. With new partner Sam Shin, this location will have a full bar, plus a raw bar and sushi bar. Shin said he hopes to be open by the end of the month.

Felly Bistro on Pass, two blocks from there at Passyunk and Catharine, has closed after four years.

When Enswell was conceived more than three years ago for the lobby of The Touraine near Rittenhouse Square, it was to be an all-day cafe run by Rival Bros. coffee barons Jonathan Adams and Damien Pileggi, who had a modest cafe in that space. The pandemic intervened and the project slowly blossomed, picking up an arrangement with New Liberty Distillery.

All’s well that Enswell, I guess. It opens Thursday as a morning coffee bar, cocktail bar, New Liberty bottle shop, Rival Bros. retail store, light dinner and late-night drop-in, and — soon after — lunch and brunch destination. Lance Saunders of Stokes Architecture + Design went with Art Deco for sumptuous, high-ceilinged atmospherics evoking the era of the century-old building.

Barman Vince Stipo (Superfolie) put together a cocktail list around New Liberty’s and Rival Bros.’ offerings, and chef Andrew Farley (ex-High Street on Market and Pub & Kitchen) signed on with refined small plates. The evening menu’s “dirty shrimp cocktail” (shown below) is grilled jumbo prawns in gremolata. Oysters are among the starters. There’s a grilled peach salad with corn, shaved lardo, and pistachio, spaghetti chitarra in sungold pomodoro ($22), skate Milanese ($24), and a mini-steak in soubise and mushrooms ($28).

Enswell, 1528 Spruce St. Initial hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. for coffee and pastry, then 5-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and noon-midnight Friday and Saturday, and (tentatively) 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.

Lunch (11 a.m.-3 p.m.) will start Sept. 5. Weekend brunch (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) will start Sept. 9.

Meetinghouse is expected to open “really soon” on the former site of Memphis Taproom, at Cumberland and Memphis Streets in Kensington. This is a collab among Keith Shore (a former art director for Mikkeller), Marty West (a former director of operations at Tired Hands Brewing), Colin McFadden (a former Tired Hands head brewer), and chef Drew DiTomo (formerly chef de cuisine of Amis, and current chef consultant on Servant, the Apple TV+ series).

They’ve retained Memphis Tap’s barroom bones, lightening it up and adding wall tiles behind the bar. What’s new is a merch counter just inside the hitherto-unused side door on Memphis Street; walk in and snag canned beers to go, plus shirts and random items such as copies of Swill magazine and Garbage Pail Kids parody Craft Brewers cards.

They’re going for simplicity with just five beers: Memphis Tap holdover Orval, Guinness, and three house brews identified as pale, dark, and hoppy, respectively.

The simplicity extends to DiTomo’s menu, executed by chef Ethan Sobin. Among the dishes is a hot roast beef sandwich, the turkey club you see above, and — in keeping with the solid vegan options at this address — a vegan version of a pressed “bikini” sandwich with greens and cauliflower. Don’t miss the chocolate pot de crème, a rendition of the classic served at Dmitri’s.

Meetinghouse, 2331 E. Cumberland St. Hours: 4-11 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; 4 p.m.-midnight Friday, 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. Closed Tuesday.

Honeygrow, the Philly-based fast-casual specializing in stir-fry and salad meals, is now up to 36 locations, since last week’s opening in Langhorne (in Lincoln Plaza, at 2490 E. Lincoln Highway) and Monday’s opening in Northeast Philadelphia (12000 Roosevelt Blvd.). By the end of 2024, Honeygrow plans to add a dozen throughout greater Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Hawaii and England come together Thursday when Poi Dog’s Kiki Aranita collabs with Stargazy’s Sam Jacobson as part of her Huli Huli Summer Tour. They’ll be at Stargazy (1838 E. Passyunk Ave.) from 4 p.m. to sellout with such dishes as mochi nori fried chicken bowl, guava katsu sausage roll, and the “FrizGazy,” a pie channeling a decadent cheeseburger made using FrizWit sauce. (FrizWit is the cheesesteak created by Aranita’s husband, Ari Miller.) Details are here.

Chef Michael Stollenwerk of Medford’s Two Fish BYOB will cook a five-course, mostly seafood dinner ($150pp) at the Oval Room at the Seaview Hotel, just outside of Atlantic City in Galloway, with its executive chef, Rodolfo Correa, on Aug. 26. The collab is a benefit for Jetty Rock Foundation, a nonprofit that protects local waterways. Details are here.

Pat McHenry — kitchen manager at Lucky’s Last Chance in Manayunk, famous for its peanut butter and jelly burger — will compete on a burger-theme Aug 22 episode of Food Network’s Chopped.

You do know that Eataly plans to open in King of Prussia? Concept is all Italian — a marketplace, one or two restaurants, and a cannoli bar.

Last week’s Dîner en Blanc was a joyous evening for 5,000 people outside of the Please Touch Museum, as Zoe Greenberg reported. The event, alas, has its detractors. What don’t they complain about?

A) the traffic snarls

B) the mere fact that people must pay to bring their own food and supplies

C) the circumflex in Dîner

D) the notion that the location is under wraps till the last moment

Find out if you know the answer.

Answer to last week’s quiz

Shout-outs to the sharp-eyed Jack Doody, Laura Hill, and Randye Green, the first to correctly name the two mystery restaurants in last week’s quiz. Penang in Chinatown was the Malaysian restaurant reviewed in the 2013 Zagat Survey. The pan-Asian restaurant with the “breathtaking Buddha” and “high-energy feel” in Berwyn was Nectar — not Buddakan, as most replied. All of these restaurants are still open, incidentally: Penang and Buddakan since 1998 and Nectar since 2004.

Speaking of which: Buddakan will mark its 25th anni on Aug. 26. Throwback dishes will be added to that day’s brunch menu (ube pancakes, pandan waffles, shrimp foo young omelet, and Dungeness crab Benedict) and dinner menu (five-spice duck breast, sweet and crispy jumbo shrimp, and that banana tower dessert). Reserve via OpenTable.

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? E-mail your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com.

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