Here come the new restaurants for September! Hope you enjoy oysters.
Also in this edition:
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Philly’s best tomato pie: Check out our favorites.
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Michelin stars in Philly? The restaurant guide is about to release its picks.
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Breadcrumb bums: We uncovered a scandal at 4C.
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News: Read on for first word of a new drive-through that sells ice cream and doughnuts.
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September always means a lot of new restaurants, and this year is no exception. There are two dozen getting ready, including Sao (the sequel from Mawn’s Phila and Rachel Lorn) and the chic Tesiny (shown above), from Lauren Biederman. Come take a look.
It’s sauce and dough — but don’t call it “pizza,” per se. It’s tomato pie. Here are some we love, including this one from Downtime Bakery (shown above).
Which Philadelphia restaurants will make the new Michelin Guide? The answer will be revealed soon enough in Philly.
Home cooks said they’ve been tasting cinnamon in 4C’s Seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs. Emily Bloch investigated and her findings are here.
Recent travels of the Inquirer’s food and features teams led to Lower Bucks County (where critic Craig LaBan enjoyed this Uzbek kebab feast) and Media for, of all the things, a meatball martini.
Scoop
Banks don’t make people happy. But scratch-made cake doughnuts, soft-serve, and La Colombe Coffee do. Tyler and Emily Gerber are opening Happy Place Homemade in a former Bank of America branch at 690 Stokes Rd. in Tyler’s hometown of Medford. They’ll use the drive-through, too. Among the items will be Happy Stacks: a combo of ice cream and doughnuts. The opening is targeted for the end of October.
Restaurant report
Fleur’s. Three restaurant veterans wanted a simple 60-seat restaurant when they set out to find a space. What they ended up buying was a five-story building.
The first phase of Fleur’s opens next week. It’s what chef-partner George Sabatino calls a “French-ish” approach to cooking — your brasserie staples (steak frites, amandine, etc.) with novel twists, like a collab with Mighty Bread’s Chris DiPiazza that has yielded a croissant stuffed with caramelized white chocolate and foie gras mousse. The Resy link just went live.
Sabatino and partners Graham Gernsheimer (left) and Josh Mann (right) have grand plans for the building on Front Street beside the El, which for a century was a furniture store. Read on for my story.
Briefly noted
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Glenn Howerton and Rob Mac will sign bottles of their Four Walls Irish American Whiskey purchased on site at two Fine Wine & Good Spirits locations: 6 p.m. Friday at Philadelphia Mills (401 Franklin Mills Circle) and 1 p.m. Saturday at Columbus Commons (1940 S. Columbus Blvd.). Bottles ($31.99) will go on sale when each store opens on the day of each signing, and the actors will not sign any items other than bottles purchased at each store.
The Hoagie Throwdown, presented by the Delicious City Podcast, will mix hoagies, wrestling, and craft beer this Sunday afternoon at Other Half Brewery in Fishtown. In a celebrity hoagie showdown, a masked Inquirer critic Craig LaBan, 6abc’s Alicia Vitarelli, and a mystery competitor will vie for glory. Among four wrestling matches will be one featuring Luigi Primo, the pizza-dough-spinning showman, taking on hometown favorite Jordan Oliver. Tickets ($49 general admission, $85 for VIP, $25 for kids 12 and under) are available here.
Steak frites are quite the thing. You have the out-of-town Medium Rare serving them in Fishtown. It’s the theme of Stephen Starr’s new Chez Frites at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. Chef George Sabatino will feature the dish at the soon-to-open Fleur’s in Kensington. And at Forsythia in Old City, chef-owner Chris Kearse has started a three-course, $45 prix-fixe steak frites lunch on Fridays, with a choice of bavette, chicken paillard, or Arctic char.
❓Pop quiz
What’s the trick to find the best pinot grigio, according to wine writer Marnie Old?
A) Look for “Tre Venezie” on the label.
B) Seek out a bottle from Friuli.
C) Look for wines from mountain appellations of Valdadige and Alto Adige.
D) Skip the Italian wines altogether and try a pinot gris.
Find out if you know the answer.
Ask Mike anything
What’s going on with Ippolito’s, the seafood shop in South Philadelphia? — Carmine G.
Closed since 2018, the retail outlet for wholesale seafood slinger Samuels Seafood Co. has shown signs of returning for nearly a year now. Owner Sammy D’Angelo now says it’s looking like mid-October. Meanwhile, he said, the family’s retail outlet, Giuseppe’s Market, is busy.
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