Table Talk: A chocolate shop chock-full of fun

There is a real Max Brenner behind the new

Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man

, the cocoa-licious restaurant/cafe/retail store/theme park/shrine opening this week at 1500 Walnut St. (215-344-8150), on 15th Street around the corner from Butcher & Singer.

At least he's sort of real.

The chocolatier was born Oded Brenner in Israel 41 years ago and adopted the given name of company cofounder Max Fichtman.

His philosophy is that chocolate is meant to be a full sensory experience, and that by their nature, restaurants are like theater. "You go to a Godiva store and it's almost like a jewelry store," he said. "I want to be able to touch [the chocolate]."

Brenner started in the 1990s with one store/workshop and with partners now owns 28 locations - including six in Israel, 16 in Australia, two in the Philippines, one in Singapore, and two in New York. He says he decided on Philadelphia because he wanted to branch out on the East Coast and, as a transplant to New York, knew that the city was a food town because of Buddakan and Morimoto.

Chocolate and fun inform all the menus, whose per-person check average is about $17. Hours start at 9 a.m. for breakfast and segue into brunch/lunch, then into dinner and late night. There's a five-seat "chocolate bar," and there's a liquor license for adult beverages.

There are even custom plates and mugs. The Hugmug is a smooth, bean-shaped mug made to keep the hands warm. The Suckao is a mug embedded with a candle that melts chocolate pieces into a milk; the resulting drink is sipped through a straw built into the spoon.

The sweet shop sells chocolate by the pound, wrapped chocolates, and products containing cocoa, including body creams. "There's so many layers to this concept," Brenner said. "It's not just about product."

There's one other hint of artifice: Inside the entrance are enormous vats of milk chocolate and white chocolate hooked up to a series of pipes that traverse the ceiling and wind up both at the "chocolate bar" and in the retail store. They're just for show. Brenner told me that he tried piping chocolate around a store and it just didn't work.

Brauhaus Schmitz

, an old-fashioned bier hall, rolled out the barrel Monday at 718 South St. (267-909-8814) under husband-wife owners Kelly Schmitz and Doug Hagen. High-ceilinged environs are packed with light wood and exposed brick. Church pews serve as banquettes on the first floor. There are 20 beers on draft, including 16 German varieties. Waitresses wear dirndls. If you're six feet or taller, you may wish to sit on the first floor, as upstairs dining on the balcony lacks headroom. The owners smartly put the kitchen in the basement to get in more seating. Executive chef Jeremy Nolen (formerly of Bridget Foy's, Coquette) does a straight-ahead German menu, including sausages made on premises. It's open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Restaurant M

at the Morris House Hotel at 231 S. Eighth St. near Washington Square, which went through two chef-owners (Edmund Rek and David Katz) before it closed in 2007, will be coming back Monday. This time, hoteliers Michael DiPaolo and Gene Lefevre are keeping it simple - hence the name

M

. They'll use the small dining room at the 1787 colonial manor, but the focus will be on wine and drinks in the outdoor garden - arguably one of the sweetest outdoor spaces in Center City. Since they use that garden for weddings on Fridays and Saturdays, they'll open M from Sundays through Thursdays, at least through the summer. Rather than fuss with a chef, they'll put out simple small plates (empanadas, charcuterie, brushetta) from Pascual Cancelliere, who is about to open an Italian-Argentine BYO called

943

across from Villa diRoma in the Italian Market.