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Coffee to cocktails in Society Hill | Let’s Eat

Also: A Thai BYOB in South Philly and a coffeehouse in Lower Bucks County.

Bloomsday adapts a candlelit atmosphere at night.
Bloomsday adapts a candlelit atmosphere at night.Read moreMICHAEL KLEIN / Staff

The South Street area now has its second all-day restaurant, as Bloomsday Cafe across from Head House Square in Society Hill has joined Queen Village’s Hungry Pigeon. Also this week, I check out a Thai BYOB in South Philly that’s been making a lot of noise and, on the more peaceful side, a low-key coffeehouse in Lower Bucks.

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Michael Klein

New day dawning at Bloomsday Cafe

Across from the Head House Square shambles, Bloomsday Cafe has been building an audience in the last six weeks with daytime operation, and it’s now running on all cylinders with the addition of dinner and its bottle shop.

Zach Morris and chef Kelsey Bush, owners of Haverford’s Green Engine Coffee Co., start the day at 7 a.m. with house-baked pastries, a light breakfast menu, Rival Bros. coffee, and coffee cocktails. Lunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m; there’s limited service from 3 to 5 p.m. Dinner is 5 to 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Sunday hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sample menus are at the website.

Like its namesake, Bloomsday (414 S. Second St.) sent Morris and Bush on a two-plus-year odyssey, gutting the former Cafe Nola. Morris — whose varied past includes work designing stormwater systems as well as serving as director of education at the Wine School of Philadelphia (turning water into wine, as it were) — opened Green Engine in 2015 with Bush, a chef who trained at the Culinary Institute of America.

Ambit Architecture called for a working fireplace and a room for events, including Morris-led wine classes. There’s a vertical living moss wall, similar to the one at Green Engine.

Tim Kweeder (ex-Petruce et al., Kensington Quarters) oversees the full bar, which seats eight. He offers more than 60 bottles, 15 by-the-glass selections, and two tap wines, plus beer, cider, and cocktails.

More info is here.

This Week’s Openings

Dino’s Backstage & the Celebrity Room | Glenside

The supper club, which closed June 22, says on Facebook that it’s coming back with a lighter menu and entertainment on July 17 (soft opening).

Rai Rai Ramen | Mount Laurel

This Japanese BYOB has replaced CHUlicious at 1200 S. Church St.

This Week’s Closings

Chocodiem | Historic District

Chocolatier, a yearling at the Bourse, has closed its shop.

Dilworthtown Inn | West Chester

Signs point to a closing after 40-plus years; management has not returned messages.

Famous Toastery | Exton

Franchisee has pulled the plug on this two-year-old breakfast-luncher in Main Street of Exton.

Majolica | Phoenixville

Early warning I: Dec. 7 will be the finale of Andrew Deery’s BYOB after 15 years, as he wants to change courses.

Park Plates | Elkins Park

Early warning II: After five years, the last night of Owen Lee’s American BYOB will be July 27.

Where we’re enjoying happy hour

Urban Village Brewing Co., 1001 N. Second St., 5-7 p.m. Monday-Friday

Thin-crust pizza and beer come together deliciously at this lively, industrial-look brewpub in the Piazza in Northern Liberties, and its roominess lends itself perfectly to happy hour with coworkers, inside or out (on the patio). The 11 house beers cover a good range of styles, and the 4-ounce pours for $2 make sampling a must.

Happy-hour deals include $4 beers (mostly 16-ounce pours), $10 pizzas, $5 gin and tonics, and $6 house wine.

That HH special, by the way, knocks six bucks off the tab for most pizzas. Try the Penelope (house-made pepperoni, mozzarella, house-made ricotta, and basil pesto) and/or the Tara (a vegetarian pie topped with truffle cream, mushrooms, pickled banana peppers, mozzarella, cream, and pecorino).

And while they’re not on the HH menu, you’ll want to try the Chubbies ($7), chewy fried bites that are a cross between a pretzel and bagel. Though you get a cup of mustard, splurge $2 for the cheese sauce.

Where we’re eating

Kalaya, 764 S. Ninth St.

A Thai restaurant without pad Thai on the menu? Chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon and business partner My-Le Vuong have boldly ramped up the ambition — and the heat — at their BYOB, which shares a block with Ralph’s Italian restaurant and Angelo’s Pizzeria, just north of the Italian Market.

It’s quite the scene, and a happy crowd puts the din in dinner. That blue dish above is not the product of the Instagram age. They’re dumplings colored by butterfly pea flowers. Bring friends, beers, and earplugs.

Menu hits include the tod mun pla (fried fish cake with sweet chili sauce), the kua kling nua (flaming-hot toasted beef curry), the kang gai khao mun (chicken curry), the pad prik king hed (dried Thai red curry), and the moo pad kapi (wok-fried pork). Lots of heat here.

N.B. Inquirer critic Craig LaBan will weigh in with a review next weekend.

Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Book it on OpenTable.

Johnson Hall Coffee House, 3 Hulme Ave, Hulmeville

Alex and Eriola Covrljan may be novices to the food world, but they know what they like in a coffeehouse.

They have rehabbed a 19th-century stone building across from William Penn Fire Company in the bucolic Hulmeville Borough of Lower Bucks, installing a comfy, sunlight cafe serving coffees from Lancaster’s Square One and made-to-order Liege waffles, panini, and sweet and savory crepes that are worth a detour if you’re bound for Sesame Place or Oxford Valley Mall.

Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily.

Dining Notes

Yes, it’s hot. Here are Craig LaBan’s favorite water ice destinations.

Sunday, July 21 is National Gelato Day, and Gran Caffe L’Aquila in Rittenhouse will give out scoops of its baked apple pie flavor from 2 to 4 p.m.

Center City District Restaurant Week returns Sept. 15-27 with 100-plus restaurants offering package deals at lunch and dinner. (It’s still early yet; the website is not ready.)

University City Dining Days, for that matter, is July 18-28.

Craig LaBan’s Q&A does not appear today.