The restaurants we loved and lost | Let’s Eat

Nothing lasts forever. Especially restaurants. But the memories that they make last a lifetime for us.

Today, we’re launching an Inquirer series dedicated to remembering the restaurants that had a great impact on Philadelphians. We call it “The 86′d Project.”

The name comes from the restaurant term “86″ — when the kitchen runs out of a menu item. (”Eighty-six the shrimp!” the chef may say, and the servers start pushing the scallops.)

For the premiere: Zanzibar Blue, which was ground zero for Philadelphia’s jazz scene from 1990 to 2007.

🔑 This is subscriber-only content, by the way. It takes a talented team to create this kind of journalism — Lauren Schneiderman and Astrid Rodrigues shooting and editing video, Tyger Williams shooting images, Rachel Molenda curating and editing photos, Evan Weiss creating the digital display, and food editors Jamila Robinson and Joseph Hernandez keeping the copy clean. (More about Joseph later.) Plus, our print team including designer Cynthia Greer created a lovely layout for today’s paper. In other words: Support us, please. We’re even running a special on subscriptions.

📝 Have a restaurant you’d like us to feature? My list is growing. Send your tips, suggestions, and questions here.

— Mike Klein

In words, photos and video, we present the story of Zanzibar Blue. It’s where many Philadelphians got to see, in intimate surroundings, such stars as Dianne Reeves, Michael Bublé, Harry Connick Jr., Bootsie Barnes, and Regina Carter. And the food was just as important as the music. The 86′d Project starts here.

Brothers Benjamin Bynum Jr. and Robert Bynum started in the business on the ground floor, literally — sweeping up and doing odd jobs at Cadillac Club, the seminal North Philadelphia nightspot owned by their parents, Benjamin Sr. and Ruth. The Cadillac later gave way to a disco called Impulse. In the late 1980s, the brothers saw a great void in the Philadelphia nightlife scene and set about on a mission to fix it. “It was important to us that we opened a place that was mature, adult, sophisticated, and the type of place where people would want to come and spend the evening,” said Robert (at right). The brothers later opened many other restaurants, including Relish, SouthSide (a catering venue), and South Jazz Kitchen.

Zanzibar Blue’s first published review appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, under the headline “Menu takes a chance & you win.” Although the roster of chefs changed over the years, the food was never pedestrian. The Bynums shared the recipe for shrimp étouffée, and for this article Joseph cooked it at home for Lauren’s camera. “Not as labor intensive as gumbo but just as rich and peppery, this dish is a great weeknight meal when you’re craving something rustic, homey, and full of punchy flavors,” he says. See the recipe here.

At Zanzibar Blue, you got warm hospitality, hot jazz, “great elegance,” and Denzel Washington in sneakers. Longtime Bynum associates Wendy Wolf, Zoe Ashby, and Harry Hayman, as well as customers, share their memories.

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