Rarest: Chef is going for well-done in Washington Square West

America got a taste of chef Anthony Marini's restaurant concept early last year when he won an episode of the CNBC show Restaurant Startup.

The Rarest, as it was called, was billed on the show as a restaurant featuring raw or minimally cooked food.

That was not entirely accurate, Marini says: "They took seven days of filming and encapsulated it into 44 minutes." Crudo and other raw-bar specialties figured heavily, he said, but there was more to the concept.

Tuesday, Nov. 1 is the debut of Rarest (834 Chestnut St., 215-305-8752), taking the former Palace at the Ben spot in the AKA Washington Square (the former Ben Franklin) at the corner of Ninth and Chestnut.

Marini, a seasoned Culinary Institute of America grad, describes Rarest as a modern, upscale/casual American restaurant/bar with a seasonal menu and raw bar specializing in crudo, ceviche, tartare, and charcuterie (fish, meats, and vegetables). In the early going, it will serve dinner Monday to Saturday; lunch and brunch are on the way.

Menu is broken into smaller plates (both raw and cooked, priced at $9 to $16 per). Six entree-size plates are offered, including braised chicken thigh, a double-cut pork chop, sea scallops, hanger steak for two, and vegetarian smoked cabbage; all except for the steak are priced below $30.

Marini hired two up-and-coming women for key roles: Alexandra Cherniavsky, a Garces alumna last at Amada, as general manager and beverage manager, and Marietta Carreño, whose resume includes Jamonera and Bud & Marilyn's, as executive sous chef.

Marini's past includes the former Dilullo Centro and Philadelphia Fish and Company. He later opened two restaurants in Birmingham, Ala., but gave them up during a protracted custody battle for his son, now 13. (Check the bold artwork behind the host's stand, incidentally. Steven Marini painted it.)

Rarest, incidentally, wasn't initially conceived as a splashy statement. It was supposed to be a 30-seater occupying the East Passyunk storefront now occupied by Lou Boquila's Filipino charmer Perla. The idea, Marini said, was to have no waiters. Instead, he wanted to hire "reasonably good-looking chefs" to run the food.

But with the Finleys running the catering upstairs at Ballroom at the Ben, and the AKA folks looking for a restaurant, the project moved.

Marini credits Morris Clarke of DAS Architects with the sharp, modern look that includes the restaurant/bar.

There's also a.lounge, a seating area and second bar, in the Horace Trumbauer-designed lobby, which Stephan Potts of Stanev Potts Architecture and Nicholas Cardone, the AKA design director, set up. Eddie Bruce curates the evening music within the lobby and lounge, reminiscent of how a.bar complements a.kitchen at the AKA Rittenhouse Square.

Cherniavsky says Kevin Lopez set up an ingredient-driven cocktail program - meaning, "rather than say, 'we need a vodka, Scotch or bourbon drink,' he looks at it as 'what produce and flavors remind me of fall?' and then he builds it around the ingredients. It's an exciting way to look at it."

The "85-ish bottle list" is studded with wines from all over - Chester County, France, and South American. She is big on sparkling wines and Rieslings. The bar also will pay attention to amaros - 30 of the bittersweet liqueurs, when all is said and done.