Table Talk: Il Cantuccio closes
Il Cantuccio, which has held the corner of Third Street and Fairmount Avenue in Northern Liberties since 1999, is out of business.
Il Cantuccio, which has held the corner of Third Street and Fairmount Avenue in Northern Liberties since 1999, is out of business. The BYOB was the second restaurant owned by the cantankerous but lovable chef Giuseppe Rosselli of La Locanda del Ghiottone. Rosselli died suddenly in 2000 of a heart attack, and his widow ran it until February 2014, when she sold it.
Yet another White Dog
University City-bred White Dog Cafe, which branched out to Wayne in 2010, now has a third location, in Haverford Square (379 Lancaster Ave., 610-896-4556).
Owner Marty Grims, who bought the brand in 2009 from founder Judy Wicks, spent more than six months giving his closed Du Jour Market a new leash on life. The stylish restaurant sprawls over three settings - a bar and two dining rooms. Balongue Design again did the work, and local artist Jay McClellan was commissioned to accent with bold abstract dog portraits.
Haverford's menu has a few more vegetarian dishes. It serves lunch/brunch through late night daily. Menu pricing for lunch and brunch is $12 to $18, with dinner entrées $22 to $39.
Farm in the city
Farmer's Keep (10 S. 20th St., 215-309-2928) brings a fast-casual-but-healthful option to the west side of Center City. Bucks County native Josh Bullock decided to end the series of silly bars that had occupied the low-slung building at 20th and Ludlow Streets. The Farmer's Keep menu - all seasonal - is based on about 25 composed salads, leaf salads, grains, and proteins. Most include local, natural, organic, and sustainable ingredients, and everything is gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and shellfish-free.
Pick what you want and build a plate; it's priced at $10 a pound. Beverages include house-pressed juices and kombucha.
Seating is at tables and a communal table. Chef Ian Natowsky previously worked for Starr Events.
Bullock intends to finish the roof as a deck, whose stairwell will be left open and visible to those in the dining room, to bring the elements sort of indoors. The deck also will house a bar - though Bullock said it would not be a hangout, but, rather, a place to drink wine, have a bite to eat, and socialize.
What's coming
The brewpub boom is spreading to the city. While upstart Crime & Punishment in Brewerytown wends its way through a nightmarish spool of red tape, Tom Baker and Peggy Zwerver of Mount Airy's Earth Bread + Brewery are part of a deal to open a brewpub in the fall in the new 1720 Fairmount. The pub will be called Bar Hygge - pronounced hYOO-guh, taken from a Danish expression roughly translated as "cozy camaraderie." The menu will be American - a broad range of shareable plates. The brewery will be branded separately as Brewery Techne (say it TECH-nee). Like Earth Bread + Brewery's beer, Techne beer will be sold off-premises at bars.
Briefly noted
Syndicated juice/smoothie shop Robeks has opened a Suburban Square branch in Ardmore, filling the space last occupied by Crumbs Bake Shop. It's open early on weekdays for commuters.