Enswell opens in Rittenhouse with coffee, cocktails, bottles for sale, and food all day

More than three years ago, Rival Bros. coffee barons Jonathan Adams and Damien Pileggi heard from Giuliano Pignataro, their landlord at the Touraine near Rittenhouse Square.

Pignataro’s mother-in-law, who lives upstairs, had told him that while she enjoys coming down to the cafe for a cappuccino in the morning, she would love to have a glass of wine at night. “He’s like, is there a way we can do that?” Adams said. “’Is there a way we can get some sort of like partial [liquor] license?’”

There was a way, through a feature in the Pennsylvania liquor code that allows distilleries and breweries to sell their products off-site. (The law has also helped such restaurants as Tulip Wine Bar in Fishtown and Yankee Chipper in Wyndmoor.)

Last week, affiliated with New Liberty Distillery, Rival Bros. opened Enswell in its space in part of the Touraine’s lobby.

Enswell took on a wider scope during its 39 months of development. It’s now a morning coffee bar, cocktail bar, New Liberty bottle shop, Rival Bros. retail store, light dinner and late-night drop-in, and — in a few weeks — will also offer lunch and brunch. Lance Saunders of Stokes Architecture + Design went with Art Deco for the sumptuous atmospherics (20-foot ceilings) that evoke the era of the century-old building. There’s a counter displaying the bottles offered for sale, and a five-seat bar. Thirty seats are inside, 18 outside.

It offers cafe service till 11 a.m. When there’s full service (such as at lunch and dinner), the Wi-Fi signal is cut off. Pileggi and Adams intend Enswell for eating, drinking, and socialization, not web browsing.

Chef Andrew Farley (ex-High Street on Market and Pub & Kitchen) signed on with refined small plates and a yakitori grill. The evening menu includes a “dirty shrimp cocktail” ($20), grilled jumbo prawns in gremolata. There’s a grilled peach salad ($14) with corn, shaved lardo, and pistachio; spaghetti chitarra in sungold pomodoro ($22); skate Milanese ($24); and a mini-steak in soubise and mushrooms ($28).

Vince Stipo, an owner of the nearby boîte Superfolie, put together a cocktail list around New Liberty’s and Rival Bros.’ offerings, including classics and coffee-infused full- and zero-proof drinks, plus local beer and wine. Examples: the Haymaker (a riff on the espresso martini featuring Rival Bros. Whistle & Cuss espresso, house orgeat, coffee liqueur, Kinsey bourbon, and a vanilla froth), the Good Hope gimlet (Powderhorn vodka, rooibus grapefruit cordial, and pink peppercorn), and the No.2 Old Fashioned (brown butter-washed Scotch and bitters).

The name, incidentally, is a pun from boxing, whose imagery is part of Rival Bros. branding.

An enswell is a piece of cold metal applied to a boxer’s face to reduce swelling. “Essentially, Enswell food and drink is here to relieve pressure,” Adams said.

All’s well that Enswell.

Enswell, 1528 Spruce St. Initial hours: 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for coffee and pastry, then 5 to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and noon to midnight Friday and Saturday, and (tentatively) 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. Lunch (11 a.m.-3 p.m.) will start Sept. 5. Weekend brunch (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) will start Sept. 9.