Check out 12 sandwiches we love | Let’s Eat

Thursday is National Sandwich Day, and we get into full-on bread mode for a guide to our favorites, and some of yours. Also this week, critic Craig LaBan looks back at 25 years of Fork restaurant, we watch the dim sum carts roam the dining room at a new banquet hall-size restaurant, get inside the new Honeysuckle Provisions, and we get into pumpkin drinks.

The Phillies are in the World Series! Check out these 10 bars and restaurants where you can watch the Phils and the Eagles (remember them?) outdoors, as some of the posher bars in town have added TVs.

➡️ Attention, restaurateurs and caterers: If you’re planning special Thanksgiving menus, share them with us right now for inclusion in a guide.

➡️ Attention, restaurateurs offering outdoor dining: We’re also gathering info on cool-weather setups. Share your info for a guide.

⬇️ Read on for restaurant news and a quiz.

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National Sandwich Day is Thursday, so let’s sing the praises of some fine local specimens. I submit to you the Banh Mi Op La, which features two eggs, bacon, sausage patties, house pickles, herbs, eggplant pate, and aioli on a baguette at The Breakfast Den. Dig in to our sandwich guide here.

Through good tines and bad, you might say, Fork has been a key part of Philly’s restaurant scene since 1997. Critic Craig LaBan attended a recent Fork alumni dinner and came away with the observation that Fork’s true magic is greater than any menu: “It’s about the intrinsic power of hospitality, teamwork and the restaurant as a source of community. The one constant driving that mission from Day One has been the extraordinary Ellen Yin.” Read his story here.

Years in the works, Honeysuckle Provisions has opened in West Philadelphia to focus on nourishment and reclamation of Black food traditions and cultural aesthetics. I visited with chefs Omar Tate and Cybille St.Aude-Tate to hear about their mission and their love story.

With 700 seats, there’s usually not a huge wait for a table at the new Grand Palace restaurant in South Philadelphia. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, the carts roll through the rooms, allowing you to pick and choose for a fun dim sum experience.

How about seven spots to drink your pumpkin: hot or cold, with coffee or whiskey, in Philly. My colleague Hira Qureshi is all about the idea of a pumpkin toddy or martini at Moriarty’s, as well as the frozen pumpkin spice latte at Bagels & Co.

Adam Volk and Brandon Chamberlain are in the first week of service at Redcrest Kitchen, filling the space at Sixth and Bainbridge Streets in Queen Village (next to Bistrot La Minette) that was previous occupied by Bainbridge Street Barrel House. This smartly appointed, warm-vibed bar-restaurant was a year behind; you may recall that mere weeks after the lease-signing in July 2021, a city water main flooded it out.

Volk and Chamberlain, who own Esme and The Exley in New York, also have a small grocery section, including fridge, near the host stand as an amenity for their neighbors. They also plan to offer fried chicken (to go only) from that area; Volk previously operated Redcrest Chicken on Passyunk Square.

They’ve brought in chef Evan Snyder, whose tight but moderately ambitious modern-American menu includes a few shares (winter squash toast, a couple of pastas, a cacio e pepe made with radish) as well as five entrees. Among them is this luxuriant lamb belly with fennel, yogurt, carrots, and dates.

Redcrest Kitchen, 625 S. Sixth St. Hours: 5-10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday 5-10 p.m. Sunday.

Briefly noted

Chef Scott Morozin says he will bow out of his Verbena BYOB in Kennett Square at the end of December. “No crying,” he wrote on Facebook. “I cooked through the last several years against everything. Our wins are true.” He has yet to share his next step.

Nourish, Sarah Scandone’s health-food restaurant (which lost its previous two locations to fire), resurfaced this week at 177 W. Girard Ave. — two blocks from the Engine 29 firehouse at Fourth and Girard.

Mac Mart, the Rittenhouse mac-and-cheese shop, has backed off Sunday hours, citing “a messy mix of reduced foot traffic, increased crime in the city, and staff shortages.” Owners are looking at Sundays as family time.

Some celeb gossip: Twin sisters Maya and Kala Johnstone hosted Eagles QB Jalen Hurts last weekend at their FoodChasers’ Kitchen in Elkins Park. Broadcaster Taylor Rooks (right) interviewed Hurts for a Thursday Night Football segment. Spotted around town, meanwhile, were Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins at Little Nonna’s in Washington Square West on Oct. 24, third baseman Alec Bohm at Prime Rib in South Philly on Halloween night, and Yankees retiree Derek Jeter lunching at Wilder near Rittenhouse on Nov. 1.

We don’t have mushroom for a lot more info today, but our correspondent @t_hinke_pr raves about this portobella saltimbucca from Jerry’s Bar in Northern Liberties, with its prosciutto, sauteed spinach, fried leek, fontina, and sherry sage. Meanwhile in Kensington, @thompsonschill was grooving on the salt-and-pepper wings at The International, which get a pop of serrano and aji verde.

A classic South Philly restaurant reopens on Nov. 2 after a long shutdown for repairs. Its name:

A.) Rocky’s

B.) The Boom Boom Room

C.) Villa Di Roma

Check your guess here.

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