Two storied Philly restaurant spaces are getting new life, thanks to a Main Line chef duo
The spaces that formerly housed Genji and Bing Bing Dim Sum are coming back as O’Morrey’s and Tako Taco.
Chefs Biff Gottehrer and Kenjiro Omori — from Main Line destinations Refectory, the Ripplewood (home of one of critic Craig LaBan’s favorite burgers), and the chic sushi-whiskey bar Izzy’s — are developing two bar-restaurants in the city, filling noteworthy addresses.
First, they expect to open a gastropub called O’Morrey’s — a cheeky rendering of Omori’s last name — at 1720 Sansom St. in Rittenhouse. For many years, that address housed Genji, the Japanese destination created by Omori’s father, Hideo. Later tenants included SuGa, Kingyo, and General Tsao’s House.
Omori and Gottehrer intend it as an elevated cocktail bar, in the spirit of Ardmore’s Ripplewood. The target is early 2026.
The second project will be a complete transformation of the shuttered Bing Bing Dim Sum at 12th Street and East Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia. They’re calling it Tako Taco, an amalgam of Japanese (tako is octopus) and Mexican cuisines.
“We’re putting our two strongest passions together but not smashing them together,” Gottehrer said.
They plan to set up the main dining room and bar in the previously unused basement using an outside entrance down the stairs. The street level will include seating and perhaps a small sushi bar.
Gottehrer and Omori, pals since high school at Penn Charter, worked together a decade ago at the Dandelion near Rittenhouse Square. Gottehrer headed to the Main Line, while Omori remained in the Starr Restaurants orbit, serving as chef at Pod.
Ramen also may be a part of their future: They bought the high-tech ramen machine from Jesse Pryor and Lindsay Steigerwald of the Neighborhood Ramen shop as the couple decamped for Japan.
The two real estate deals have personal connections. Omori’s mother, Yuko, owns the Sansom Street property, and both Gottehrer and Omori went to school with Mackie Ermocida of Mackie’s Meals, whose family owns 1648 E. Passyunk Ave.