All the new restaurants for you this fall | Let’s Eat

Time to run down 60 restaurants preparing to open this fall. I look at the summer openings, too. Also this week, Craig LaBan reviews the bustling My Loup, Jenn Ladd visits 24/7 bars in Atlantic City and a new cider room in Chestnut Hill, and Eli Kulp unveils a cool chef’s collaboration series.

Oh, and where are you going for Center City District Restaurant Week?

⬇️ Read on for a quiz and restaurant news.

— Mike Klein

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Let’s look to the fall crop of new restaurants. I see a celebrity-chef-driven steak house coming to the ‘burbs, sweet bistros in Center City and oodles of options in South Philadelphia. This weekend, catch the debut of Cleo Bagels in West Philly, which is selling a sandwich called A Ramen Thing (shown above), whose combo of marinated egg, bamboo, pickled ginger, togarashi mayo, seaweed crisp, sesame, and scallion just might bowl you over. Also: Opening Thursday is Starbolt, a cool industrial restaurant and party space in a former ironworks on Front Street with three bars (one of which is shown below). All told, 60 new restaurants.

But wait. There’s more. I recapped about 30 restaurants that opened over the last few months, including hits like Alice in the Italian Market and The Borscht Belt in Bucks County, which has a sign reading, “No kvetching.”

The city that never sleeps is Atlantic City, apparently. Jenn Ladd visited five 24/7 bars to soak up the scene. They range from the landmark Tony’s Baltimore Grill (shown above) to the posher rooms at the casinos, one of whose bars actually rotates. You must read about Jenn’s experience with a drink called The Lucky Nucky, which is made of small-batch whiskey, amaro, and — gads! — root beer saltwater taffy.

Newlyweds Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp are riding high with My Loup, what critic Craig LaBan calls “their rollicking bistro homage to French Canadian romance on Rittenhouse Square.” Unlike Shulman’s nearby white-hot hit Her Place Supper Club, you can indeed snag a table at My Loup. Let Craig show you the trick.

Northwest Philly has a new cider destination: Chestnut Hill’s Cider Belly, which joins Young American Hard Cider down the road. Jenn found European-style dry ciders and small plates, plus Karamoor wines, Love City beers, and draft cocktails made with New Liberty spirits. Imagine holding down a 9-to-5 job, then running a bar on nights and weekends. That’s reality for the owners.

Chef Eli Kulp has cooked up a travel dinner series to bring hot national chefs to Philadelphia for collaborative dinners with local chefs. The Voi-age Dinner Series (say it “voy-AHJ”), presented by Kulp’s CHEF Radio Podcast, will host chefs to cook with Kalaya’s Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, CookNSolo’s Mike Solomonov (Zahav, Laser Wolf, etc.), Greg Vernick (Vernick Fish, etc.), and Nick Elmi (Laurel, Lark).

The series launches Oct. 16 and 17 with James Beard winner Suntaranon for dinners with chef Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai Cuisine in Los Angeles, who was just named Best Chef California at this year’s Beard Awards. (He was also a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2022.) He’s now on First We Feast’s Heat Eaters with Esther Choi and F*ck That’s Delicious with Action Bronson.

Throughout the series, a $10,000 donation will be made to an organization or cause important to each participating chef. Kalaya will donate to Philadelphia’s Liguori Academy.

Tickets for the Kalaya-Anajak Thai dinner ($250 per person, including food, tax and gratuity) are up on Resy. Future bookings are TBA.

The boutique Hotel Anna & Bel has announced its opening this winter at Susquehanna Avenue and Belgrade Street in Fishtown. A liquor license application was recorded last week, and I hear that the restaurant has a high-profile chef who wants to stay anonymous for now.

Plans for Anthos, a modern Greek restaurant from Nick Pashalis (Estia, Pietro’s Coal-Fired Pizzeria), are moving forward at the Hyatt Centric Hotel at 17th and Chancellor Streets. I first wrote about this in May 2019 when Pashalis had it opening at 11th and Sansom Streets — a project that stalled. Last December, I noted the related liquor-license application across town at the hotel. Last week, construction permits were pulled, and Pashalis hopes to open this year.

Don Barriga, a new Mexican restaurant at 703 Chestnut St. and an offshoot of the original at 45th and Spruce Streets, is applying for a liquor license.

Hawaiian BBQ — and its big plates of food accompanied by macaroni salad, white rice, and coleslaw — has come to the eastern end of South Street. Mahalo pairs Jason Chen (whose wife, Ivy, owns the nearby Jade Fashion Boutique) and his friend Alex Chen (who formerly owned a Hawaiian-themed restaurant in Maryland) at the former Tamarind Thai restaurant.

This is an outstanding value, more so when you realize that everything is cooked/grilled to order: short ribs, coconut shrimp, katsu, kalua pork, and the loco moco platter you see above, with gravy-covered hamburger patties over rice and topped with fried eggs. (That whole platter, including sides, was all of $12.95.) Musubi, saimin noodles, and Hawaiian salads studded with pineapple round out the menu.

Note that Queen & Rook, the board-game cafe around the corner on Second Street, is due to move in next door later this year.

Mahalo Hawaiian BBQ, 117 South St. Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Tuesday. Restroom is not handicapped accessible.

Riverwards Produce and Forin Cafe have collaborated on a blueberry honey wine, and the bottle-release party will be at Forin (2525 Frankford Ave.) from 5-8 p.m. Friday. They’ll sell the 50 bottles ($34) plus blueberry-themed cocktails.

Yankee Chipper in Wyndmoor has reopened as a brewpub. Originally run as a BYOB, co-owner Eric Connor obtained a brewery license and began brewing beer, which in effect allowed the restaurant to serve cocktails. And now it does. Jenn explained the process.

Restaurateur (and sometime musician) Jimmy Buffett died last weekend. Which two of his restaurants are located in Atlantic City?

A) 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill and Cheeseburger in Paradise

B) Margaritaville and LandShark Bar & Grill

C) Lost Shaker of Salt and JWB Prime Steak & Seafood

D) Brown L.A. Haze and Jimmy Buffett’s Buffet

Find out if you know the answer.

What happened at Art in the Age? Is it closed?

It’s closed for now. Arguably the city’s quirkiest cocktail bar was technically satellite tasting room for New Liberty Distillery. When that affiliation ended, Art in the Age was left high and dry. Jenn can explain the details.

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