Your guide to Lenten fish fries | Let’s Eat

There’s a lot on our plate this week: Lenten fish fries, word of a one-of-a-kind culinary collaboration, a revival for Pennsylvania rye, and plenty of restaurant news, including a slew of reopenings and a comeback of restaurant weeks.

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– Michael Klein

The Lenten tradition of the Friday fish fry lives on among churches and community groups. This story by my colleague Jenn Ladd officially is making me hungry.

Upstate New York’s Stone Barns Center has started a chef-in-residence program, and the first two chefs happened to be Philadelphians Omar Tate and Shola Olunloyo, who tell food stories of West Africa and the Black American diaspora. Completing the experience at Blue Hill at Stone Barns are ceramics made by Glenside artist Gregg Moore, writes critic Craig LaBan.

In the 19th century, Pennsylvania was as synonymous with rye whiskey as Kentucky is with bourbon and California is with wine. As late as 1937, brands like Rittenhouse were still touting “that same Pennsylvania ‘rye-ier rye’ flavor.” But the industry was battered by a changing American palate. Now, a network of farmers, distillers, and one particularly determined agriculture advocate/whiskey buff are working to change that, and Jenn writes that they’re starting with the grain.

The Rittenhouse cocktail destination a.bar at 18th and Walnut has been reinvented as a bottle shop focused on natural wine and cocktails to go, and Craig thinks chef Eli Collins’ bake-at-home biscuits — offered as part of a small retail section — might be the sleeper item. I mean, just look at that breakfast sandwich he made from one.

The pandemic did a major number on the local restaurant scene, particularly in Philadelphia, where occupancy restrictions were the most stringent. But with spring on the way and the city’s recent change of guidelines, restaurateurs are getting back in the game.

Osteria, closed since December, comes back to 640 N. Broad St. on Wednesday, March 3 with Ed Pinello as executive chef, as he’s moved over from Michael Schulson and Jeff Michaud’s Via Locusta. New “from the grill” menu; the chicken liver rigatoni remains. Hours: 4-10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3-9 p.m. Sunday.

Jose Garces brings back Tinto on Friday, March 5 as Tinto Pintxo, pairing a wine shop (open noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday) with a Basque-style pintxo bar (open 4-9 p.m. Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday, and noon-9 p.m. Sunday). Initial occupancy at 114 S. 20th St. will be only six customers; outdoor dining is on the way. Menu includes paellas, olives, and other snacks; bikinis (ham and cheese sandwiches); and a new “tins-and-toast” menu. Next door at 20th and Sansom Streets, Village Whiskey, with expanded seating, reopened recently.

Among the restaurants that recently restarted are Gigi Pizza, Barra Rossa, and South Philadelphia Tap Room.

Others I’ve heard about:

White Dog Cafe in University City (March 3), Heritage (March 3), Libertee Grounds (opening indoors with food and mini-golf March 4), Jerry’s Bar (March 4), For Pete’s Sake (March 4), American Sardine Bar (March 4 as a soft reopening, March 10 grand reopening), Fergie’s Pub (March 5), Prohibition Taproom (March 5), Kensington Quarters (March 5), Vintage (March 5), Olly (March 10), Soup Kitchen Cafe (March 10), Soup Kitchen Cafe (March 10), Stratus Rooftop Lounge (March 12), Dos Tacos (March 16, delivery only), the Moshulu (March 17), Fond (March 17), The Dutch (March 17), Devil’s Den (March 18), Twisted Tail (sometime in March), Milkboy in Center City (sometime in March), Cicala at the Divine Lorraine (late March), Twisted Tail (late March), Silk City (March 31), Royal Boucherie (April 1), Choolaah Indian BBQ (early April), Southwark (May 1), and Ambra (May, with one table/reservation per night). In addition, Townsend “Tod” Wentz’s entire empire is looking at April revivals: Oloroso, A Mano, Townsend Rittenhouse, Townsend Wine Bar, and Pearl (with a new, yet-to-be-determined concept).

On the flip side: Neighborhood Ramen in Queen Village says it’s closing for about a month after this weekend. Right now, it’s dealing in ramen kits, available only by preorder.

» READ MORE: A sampling of the Philadelphia-area restaurant closings in 2020 and 2021

Restaurant week promotions, which have been largely sidelined for the last year, are also easing their way toward a comeback. This year, we’ll see the debut of a restaurant week in Northern Liberties, while Haddonfield will reprise its week for a second year. East Passyunk’s is happening right now.

Ben Bigler and Jeff Walcott of Soup Kitchen Cafe in Fishtown (coming back next week) are doing a casual vegetarian/vegan thing at Pom Pom (1425 Frankford Ave.), a bright, new cafe with a simple menu of mainly sandwiches and salads. They do an Impossible smash burger, a griddled greens melt that’s a riff on a Reuben but with kale instead of beef, and a charred-cauliflower salad. Particularly recommended is the black-bean veggie burger, which you can get with Cooper sharp or vegan “Cheddar.” Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Takeout and limited outdoor seating for now.

Rittenhouse’s Mission Taqueria will join the national tenants Starbucks, Saladworks, and Hissho Sushi as part of the food-hall options inside the two-story Giant supermarket opening March 19 at Riverwalk, 23rd and Arch Streets. Expect made-to-order tortillas from house-made masa, plus some grocery items and taco night kits.