🚗 The ‘savesies’ debate | Morning Newsletter

Good morning. Sunday should start off sunny, but showers may pop up in the evening.

Should you be allowed to move an object your neighbor put down to save a parking spot? In today’s main read, we debate this Very Philly question.

Plus, get a taste of the new generation of Indonesian cafes reshaping Philly’s coffee culture.

— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Repeatedly circling the block on the hunt for a parking space is as Philly as it gets. Add the hotly debated practice of “savesies” into the mix, and it can stir up conflict among even the kindest of neighbors.

🚗 What it looks like: People mark street parking spaces with inanimate objects (like traffic cones or chairs), especially after shoveling them out from snow.

🚗 Why it’s an issue: Some believe the street parking game is best played in a first-come, first-served fashion, while others feel people are entitled to reserve the spot they worked hard to clear.

🚗 To move or not to move: In response to a reader question on the delicate matter, Philly natives Sam Ruland and Tommy Rowan say: Yes, you should move it. But there are exceptions.

🚗 Paola’s thoughts: Looking past the two obvious sides at play here, we have an opportunity to talk about a larger issue: a lack of parking spots for far too many cars.

Read my colleagues’ full verdict here. And if you have a pressing question you need advice on, we’re all ears. Send it in here.

🎤 Let’s hear from food writer Kiki Aranita on the city’s new era of Indonesian cafes blending tradition and trend:

Deep in South Philly, Griddle & Rice’s storefront is a burst of color. The fast-casual, always-crowded cafe — with its checkered tile and pop-art-inspired branding — looks a bit like what you’d get if Middle Child went Indonesian.

Just like at Middle Child, Griddle & Rice, which opened in May, serves egg sandwiches on airy bread with arugula and cheddar cheese. There’s no pork bacon here (Indonesia’s population is majority Muslim), but you can select turkey or beef bacon instead.

A new wave of Indonesian cafes is blending Western and Indonesian snacks and comfort foods with Indonesian-style coffee drinks — sometimes made with beans from literal Java and often mixed with Milo or matcha. These spots aren’t just evolving Philly’s Indonesian food scene; they’re injecting fun into the larger dining culture of the city, expanding upon the cartoon-heavy, youthful aesthetic that Martabak OK — which introduced the city to hefty, stuffed Indonesian pancakes in 2018 — helped start. — Kiki Aranita

Learn how these cafés bring playful flavors and global flair to Philly.

Somewhere in West Philadelphia, there’s an Ethiopian restaurant whose house specialty is berbere-spiced fried chicken (and whose name means “chicken house” in Amharic).

Where is it?

A) Belmont Avenue

B) Beaumont Street

C) Baltimore Avenue

D) Broad Street

Think you know? Our new (weekly!) Citywide Quest game puts your Philly knowledge to the test. Check your answer.

Hint: Burlington County borough

BERN TEMPO

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Felix Meschini who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Mike Missanelli. The Philadelphia sports radio mainstay will be back behind the microphone just a few months after leaving his post at 97.5 The Fanatic.

🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “That’s why I’m easy / I’m easy like Sunday morning.”

One more musical thing: It’s Nebraska season. Pop critic Dan DeLuca explains how the forthcoming twin releases of a new film and box set explore a pivotal period in Bruce Springsteen’s life that culminated in the 1982 “masterpiece” record.

👋🏽 Thanks for reading. Take care.