Restaurant bits
Matt Levin's Rubbed the wrong way; an Israeli eatery closes; a Japanese eatery moves.
A few notes from here and there:
Chef Matt Levin weighs in on his departure from the Rubb project in Manayunk, which proceeds without him. "That was not for me," he said. "I need to be associated with people who have my best interest in mind, and that was a struggle. I wish them well." Levin said he would open a barbecue concept of his own, but first wants to get back on track with his long-back-burnered bistro, Masano. Levin says his initial investor, San Diego Charger Jon Runyan, is back in. He's mum on the location and declined to either confirm or deny that he's looking at the now-closed Coquette at Fifth and Bainbridge Streets.
Chickpeas, the Israeli-style falafel store that opened in late 2008 at 630 South St., is all locked up, the window is papered up really tidily, and the phone rings and rings. Which means it's probably out of hummus.
Sushikazu has reopened at Dekalb and Skippack Pikes in Blue Bell, and the new owner is Jay Park, who most recently ran Yama, a Japanese restaurant near the Naval Air Station in Horsham. Park's old location, 597 Horsham Rd., is now operating as Sushi 4 You.
