11 superior seafood shacks at the Shore | Let’s Eat

We like our fancy restaurants just fine, but it’s the casual drop-ins that make our Shore memories. This week, we head back to the beach for a roundup of seafood shacks, as well as Part 2 of Craig LaBan’s look at new Shore restaurants. Also, we share the latest on the Melrose Diner saga and bring to you the story of a remarkable chef who is giving back.

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❓ But first a quiz: Last Saturday, Amanda Shulman and Julianna Bursack of Her Place Supper Club in Center City rallied 20-plus restaurants around Philadelphia to donate proceeds from that day’s sales to AbortionFunds.org, which allocates donations to communities and clinics helping people directly affected by lack of access to abortions. According to the initial tally, how much was raised?

A) $10,024

B) $15,187

C) $21,034

D) $28,390

Read the backstory and see the answer here.

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— Mike Klein

One of the best joys of summer at the Shore is diving into a tin of fried clam strips or tipping down cold, briny oysters at a no-frills seafood shack. Contributor Regan Stephens scoured the sands from Cape May to Point Pleasant for 11 great, casual places for a feast.

Critic Craig LaBan’s annual tour of the Jersey Shore continues with a look at five restaurants north of Ocean City that have impressed him with their ability to preserve their storied legacies and remain true to their pasts while also transitioning into the future under new ownership. You’re looking at the lobster roll at Dock & Claw Clam Bar in Beach Haven, which Craig says happens to be the best on LBI. 🔒

Last week in Part 1, Craig featured six new restaurants in Cape May and the Wildwoods.

Bonus: Here is a rundown of dozens of new restos for 2022 at the Shore, as well as 11 new spots on LBI.

Need more Shore stuff? Subscribe to Amy S. Rosenberg’s “Down the Shore” newsletter, sent out every Thursday. Last week, she told us about the bougie winds of change in Ventnor. 🔒

The owner of the storied Melrose Diner and its nearby sibling Broad Street Diner has been granted demolition permits, and it’s anyone’s guess about Michael Petrogiannis’ next steps, since he is not talking publicly. Will the wrecking ball come crashing down to pave the way for redevelopment? Perhaps someday, who knows when. They’re both operating now. Something else to consider: He also could have obtained the permit to prevent at least the Melrose from being awarded a historical designation, which would stymie attempts to raze it.

Mina’s World, a West Philly cafe that drew local and national attention as a community-oriented and LGBTQ-inclusive space, has closed as internal disputes surfaced on social media. My colleague Rita Giordano said the nature of the dispute was unclear. The operators said its People Fridge would “stay in place for the moment.”

That restaurant planned for LOVE Park needs a new operator. Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran of Safran Turney Hospitality, who signed on in 2019, have opted out after weathering delays.

Good Karma Cafe has temporarily shuttered a second location, three months after its employees voted to unionize. Operator Shawn Nesbit confirmed to colleague Jenn Ladd that the location at 22nd and Pine Streets closed Friday until further notice. The one at 23rd and Walnut closed earlier this spring due to staffing shortages. Two other locations remain open.

And in bad karma news: Someone stole the South Philly Community Fridge outside the Bok in South Philadelphia. Colleague Mike Newall writes that volunteers don’t want to press charges — they just want it back.

Ariq Barrett gives me chills. The founder of Black Kidz Can Cook and Kidz Meals on Wheels had a series of health setbacks that led to him losing his housing and the ability to cook, as my colleague Stephanie Farr wrote back in January. People donated $30,000 to him after reading the story, and “I decided to give it back,” he told Stephanie. “You’ve got to pay it forward because you don’t know how you could be changing somebody’s life.”

The Painted Bride, which recently sold its Old City building, is now a nomadic arts organization. It has partnered with artists, farmers, gardeners, and foragers for a new program called Resistance Garden. It explores food politics and our relationship with nature, as contributor Shaun Brady writes, explaining this symbiosis.

Is local wine finally good? Has orange wine gone mainstream? What about canned wine? Jenn talks trends with Di Bruno Bros.’ wine manager, Sande Friedman. Rosé, by the way, is still on top of the sales chart, Friedman says. “It’s kind of like a feeling.”

About 4½ years after buying a rundown bar in Clementon, N.J., Mike and Chèrie Gillespie, with their son, Mike, have opened Essie’s, a classy bar/lounge/restaurant with live music and a Creole-influenced menu. Essie’s is a tribute to patience and a special aunt.

Chef Tony Clark, 60, a longtime chef and restaurateur (Four Seasons, Tony Clark’s, and in the photo above, The Old Grange), died June 30 from complications of a stroke he had suffered about two months ago. Services will be Friday, July 8, at McGuinness Funeral Home, 573 Egg Harbor Rd., Sewell, N.J. Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. July 9 at Holy Saviour Church, 50 Emerald Ave, Haddon Township. Read about his life here.

Chef Trevor Budny, 42, died July 3 after a three-year battle with cancer. He was an alum of high-end restaurants such as Alma de Cuba and Striped Bass in Philly before joining his friend, chef Justin Bogle, at Gilt in New York before coming back with him for the short-lived Avance that succeeded Le Bec-Fin. Then he changed gears, personal-cheffing with health and fitness in mind under the brand Guerrilla Nutrition. He also was a tireless fund-raiser for Legacy of Hope. A mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday July 11 at St. Philip Neri Roman Catholic Church, 218 Queen St., Philadelphia, followed by a reception at Fiore Fine Foods. His death notice is here.

Pollo a la brasa, that juicy, herbaceous roasted chicken from Peru, pops up here and there around the area. (There’s Sardi’s in Wynnefield and Rustika, Jose Garces’ delivery place in University City, and also Brazas BBQ Chicken on its way to 326 South St. later this summer.) Meanwhile, Henry and Blanca Noemi Pineda — who happen to be from Guatemala — are pushing the pollo at their modest, year-old H&B Peruvian Food, next to a dry cleaner’s in a small strip in Drexel Hill. It’s counter service, with a few tables; most business is takeout or delivery. The menu is on Grubhub. The Facebook page doesn’t tell you much and there’s no website or Instagram.

The chicken ($20 for a whole bird, plus $5 for two sides) is the best seller, though the restaurant offers a full Peruvian menu of seafood dishes from ceviche to fried fish, and beef dishes such as lomo saltado and tallarin verde. My tipster recommended the salchipapas, a combo of hot dogs and fries, for the kids.

The platter you see is a half-chicken plus two sides ($16). I chose the fried rice known as arroz chaufa and salsa criolla, a lime-marinated accompaniment of sliced red onions and cilantro. An agua fresca (tamarindo, horchata) and alfajores (cookies filled with dulce de leche) complete the experience.

H&B Peruvian Food, 3905 State Rd., Drexel Hill, 484-453-8156. Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.

Briefly noted

Jon Raffa and Mike Gingras’ 1911 BYOB (at 1911 E. Passyunk) offers a pasta created in collaboration with Jeanine Bruno of Homemade by Bruno. The spinach gnocchetti — featuring ricotta from Mancuso’s Cheese Shop across the street, plus pancetta, peas, and mint — is a fundraiser for Mama Mare, a nonprofit that supported Bruno after her breast cancer diagnosis. The dish is also an ode to chef Joey Baldino’s gnocchi at Zeppoli, where Gingras used to work.

Celebrating foods of their native islands, Sri Lankan-born Melissa Fernando of Sri’s Company and Puerto Rican-born Amy Rivera Nassar of Amy’s Pastelillos are collaborating on a dinner. The four-course tasting menu will be offered from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, July 15 at the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine St. It’s a partnership with the Culinary Literary Center; it’s $65 per person, and a portion of proceeds go toward the Culinary Literary Center’s programs for youth, neighborhood engagement, and English-language learning. Details are here.

Shoppers and diners are making their way back to Center City, according to a new report from the Center City District/Central Philadelphia Development Corp. Retail sales reached 94% of 2019 levels, while restaurant sales — stymied by the still-soft office-lunch trade — reached 74% of 2019 levels, says the CCD.

This just might be the best season ever for food at Citizens Bank Park, and we have at least three menu items to thank: the burnt-ends cheesesteak at Bull’s BBQ; the PBJ burger in Boardwalk Eats at Section 142; and Manco & Manco’s Pizza in Ashburn Alley.

To no one’s surprise, the thin-crust Manco & Manco pies have been a sales hit. Each game, Aramark is turning out 1,000 of the 12-inchers plus a couple of hundred 18-inchers for folks in the suites. It’s the same recipe and “sauce hose” technique used for decades at the Jersey Shore. The burnt-ends cheesesteak, a version of the sandwiches served at eateries such as Mike’s BBQ, layers creamy cheese sauce atop smoky brisket nubs on a roll. Aramark seems impressed with sales of the new burger, confirming that the idea of combining peanut butter (salty and smooth), jalapeño jelly (spicy), American cheese (creamy), and bacon (smoky) atop a brioche-bunned burger is actually delicious.

A funny thing happened on the way to the ballpark: The real world has just about caught up to concession-stand prices. The 12-inch pizza is $13.99 for a cheese, $15.49 with toppings. The PBJ burger is $13.99 and the BBQ sandwich is $15.99.

One of the better bar snacks out there are the shishito poppers at Pub & Kitchen — fan @benfileccia is all about the peppers and jalapeño cream cheese encased in a light tempura batter. To start his meal at the venerable Sagami in Collingswood, @lipnerforyou suggests the agedashi dofu. (Yes. It’s spelled dofu.) Lot of umami in the sauce, he explains, and the breading is both crispy and soggy at the same time.

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