Philly’s hottest new bars | Let’s Eat

The weather might be cold, but we can report that the Philly nightlife scene is hot. Also this week, we explore Insomnia Cookies’ new flagship store, ask chefs what they like to order at Parc, and bring you a Craig LaBan review of two boundary-pushing restaurants. Want new restaurants? How about two dozen more on the way soon.

— Mike Klein

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Deep winter usually heralds the doldrums for the restaurant industry, but so far it hasn’t dimmed Philly’s crackling bar scene. That’s Almyra in the photo above. Among the latest openings are Philadelphia’s first Black-owned brewery, a subterranean lounge/nightclub that cost $8 million, and a 12-seat bar reserved for walk-ins inside Dizengoff.

Read on for Jenn Ladd’s look at Philly nightlife.

Residencies seem to be the big new thing. They’re an economical way to do a proof of concept.

1. Chef Alejandro Martín Sánchez (shown above) is introducing Mesona, an upscale tasting-menu restaurant featuring cuisine similar to what you find at Mexico City’s Pujol and Quintonil, with an eight-week residency at South Philly’s Taco Heart (1001 E. Passyunk Ave.) from Feb. 29-April 20.

Sánchez, most recently executive chef at Mission Taqueria, will do six-course BYOB dinners at one 12-seat table, along with a few seats at a chef’s counter overlooking the kitchen, after Taco Heart’s regular hours Thursdays through Saturdays. Dinner is $110, tax included. The opening menu features squash chochoyote (masa dumplings) with uni, frijol, and blanco; tostada of mussels, adobados, tangerine chutney, roe; smoked eggplant with chichilo negro, and kefir; lobster with carrot tatemado, and turmeric; mole anisado with shiso, plantain, café; and a dessert of guava, hibiscus, au jus, rose. Book it here.

2. Chef Diana Widjojo, formerly of Hardena, will reprise her Rice & Sambal Indonesian concept at chef Joncarl Lachman’s Dankbaar (1911 E. Passyunk Ave.) starting March 14 with seatings Thursday to Saturday. There’s a six-course prix-fixe dinner with vegan alternatives ($85), a family-style Rijsttafel service on Saturdays ($100), and an Indonesian coffee program. Among possible dishes on the fixed-price menu are siomai (dumplings), pepes ikan (steamed herbed mackerel, wrapped and grilled in banana leaf); and bebek madura (duck breast confit, blackened spice paste, fresh salad, and soursop dressing).

This is an extended engagement (e.g. no end date has been specified). Tables can be booked via Resy.

3. Viraj Thomas of the itinerant Char Pizza has come in from the cold with a residency through Saturday at Paffuto (1009 S. Eighth St., South Philadelphia). He serves 4-9 p.m.

Insomnia Cookies’ new headquarters, which includes its flagship store, has opened at Broad and Chestnut Streets in the heart of Center City Philadelphia. Ariana Perez-Castells writes that customers sometimes will be asked to head upstairs to help out with “research and dough-velopment.”

Philly’s Mexican scene is pushing the boundaries — not just the geographical ones but in culinary ways. Craig LaBan heads to the new Tamalex location in Society Hill and La Ingrata in Camden to find a new generation of excellence.

Bryan and Andrea Sikora, whose restaurants on the Pennsylvania and Delaware sides of the Brandywine Valley include Hearth Kitchen, Merchant Bar, La Fia, and Crow Bar, are opening in Downingtown. The Noble Goat will be located in the new River Station development, offering an eclectic menu with a serious cocktail program. No timeline yet beyond “summer.” (The Noble Goat is not to be confused with The Goat’s Beard, now building its third location at Spring Mill Creative Campus in Conshohocken.)

Read on for news of more than a dozen restaurants on the way soon, including Mona, a splashy Mediterranean spot coming to 13th and Chestnut Streets on multiple levels.

Rhythm & Spirits’ new Center City Philadelphia location is in the shadow of City Hall. Not only will it serve breakfast through dinnertime, it will have a chocolate speakeasy.

Pho Skyline. Friends and restaurant veterans Kiet Trinh and Vincent Tran, having run an online Vietnamese food service, have made their brick-and-mortar debut in a bright and Spartan 24-seat storefront next to Roxanne in the Italian Market. Trinh didn’t have to go far to find the chef: She is his mother, Nhan Tran, who emigrated from what was South Vietnam eight years ago.

Her cooking is traditional in the 20-plus soups and pho dishes, including a warming bún bò huế (spicy beef noodle soup, shown above) and bún riêu cua (the crab noodle soup). They offer traditional beverages as well, including sea salt iced coffee, bubble milk tea, and egg soda. I’ve snagged the menu for you (in two photos — here and here). So far, delivery business has been brisk.

Pho Skyline, 910 Christian St. Hours: 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. One step up into dining room.

You may opt for the frites at Parc. Maddy Sweitzer-Lammé asked some restaurant folks what their go-to dishes are at the Rittenhouse destination.

Les Dames d’Escoffier, the philanthropic society of women in the food and beverage business, has two events open to the public: The first is Sunday from 12:30-2 p.m. at Cliveden in Germantown, where Angela Johnson will offer a Black History Month-themed program called “Memory, Hope and Resistance,” celebrating the voices of the formerly enslaved with readings. The $30 tab includes lunch. The second event is March 12, when Aliza Green hosts at Center City’s Winkel in conjunction with chef Joncarl Lachman to showcase her new book, Aruba’s Papiamento Cuisine. Proceeds will benefit the Dames’ scholarship fund, and ticket info ($125 to $230) can be found here.

Stephen Starr’s new Italian restaurant on the former site of the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Rittenhouse Square has a tentative name. What is it?

A) Stephano’s Pasta Bar

B) P’spghetti

C) Borromini

D) Attaccabrighe

Find out if you know the answer.

What’s up with Fiore Rosso in Bryn Mawr? Marc Vetri is out? — Mario

He’s been out since September. Here’s the synopsis: Backed by investors, Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin opened Fiore Rosso in summer 2022, with chef Jesse Grossman out front. Last summer, Vetri and Benjamin — with other fish to fry and pasta to twirl — moved on. Grossman now runs Fiore Rosso with general manager Iva Bruni, who previously managed Giuseppe & Sons in Center City. The assistant general manager, Ricky Rodriguez, has started what they’re calling a “wine society,” basically an in-house program dedicated to Italian wines.

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