Table Talk: BeerLOVE opens in Queen Village

Beer geek and reformed lawyer Kristen Cevoli and business partner Jon Shinners unlocked the door on BeerLOVE, their bottle shop/tasting room at 714 S. Fourth St. in Queen Village.

The storefront, across from Essene market and down the block from Famous 4th Street Deli, is stocked with about 500 beers, plus a sizable list of large-format beers. They also have eight taps dispensing many one-offs. Customers can sample flights, get a full pour, or fill a growler.

Food is basically packaged bar snacks, including popcorn, plaintain chips, jerky, pickles, s'mores. Outside food is allowed. For a pastrami on rye from Famous? "IPA, definitely," said Cevoli. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

After nearly eight years, Gene and Amy Giuffi have closed their romantic French BYOB, Cochon, at Passyunk Avenue and Catharine Street in Queen Village. They're moving their hot but tiny pizzeria, Square Pie, into the Cochon space from across the street. Square Pie, whose lease is ending, will remain open at Sixth and Catharine Streets until the Cochon space is redone by early September, she said. Cochon will need minimal work. In its new incarnation, Square Pie will be more family friendly, she said.

Bon Appetit is out with 50 nominees for the best new restaurants in America, and the two picks from Philadelphia could not be more different. Dizengoff is a so-called hummusiya - an Israeli-style hummus shop in Center City (from Zahav/Abe Fisher/Federal Donuts' Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook) with picnic-style seating and a simple menu. Townsend is a polished, white-tablecloth French bistro on East Passyunk Avenue from chef Tod Wentz. The top 10 will be announced Aug. 18.

The 8,000-square-foot rooftop terrace of the shuttered Edward W. Bok Technical High School in South Philadelphia will host a pop-up restaurant Thursdays through Sundays starting Friday until Sept. 13. The developer Scout, working to repurpose the building at Ninth and Mifflin Streets into work space, is calling it Le Bok Fin - borrowing the name of the long-ago student-run restaurant, a play on Le Bec-Fin. Scout's Lindsey Scannapieco says the casual French fare includes cheese plates and charcuterie, steak tartare, and croque monsieur, priced at $5.50 to $12.50. It's open from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, and from 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays.

With the ink of Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly issue barely dry, its pick for best bartender - Jesse Cornell - is on his way out of the Vesper. He will join Joncarl Lachman and Bob Moysan at their forthcoming Restaurant Neuf, opening in the fall in the Italian Market.

Bank & Bourbon at the Loews Philadelphia has a new bourbon master - its term for head bartender. Paul Zuber got into the business through beer. Back in Philadelphia after a year in Australia, he landed a job at the Foodery in Washington Square West, where he vowed to stay till he sampled all 500 beers. He got to 280 before a customer spirited him away to tend bar for her.