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Author: Michael Klein

  • Philly’s hottest new pizzerias, plus 4 others we’re eagerly awaiting

    Philly’s hottest new pizzerias, plus 4 others we’re eagerly awaiting

    “Philadelphia has no good pizza” is one age-old chestnut that needs to be put to rest, as so many pizzerias, such as the expanding Angelo’s, Beddia in Fishtown, Pizzata in Rittenhouse and South Philadelphia, and Sally near Fitler Square, are raising the local game. The Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs have plenty of quality, too — for example Brooklyn Original in Haddon Heights, Verona in Maple Glen, Pizza West Chester, and Johnny’s on the Main Line.

    Here are 11 prime pizzerias that have opened in the last several months, as well as intel on four others on the way.

    Suburban Philadelphia pizzerias

    Anomalia Pizza

    Deena Fink and Frank Innusa traded careers in show biz to entertain on an entirely different stage: a slice shop across from the Fort Washington Regional Rail station. Their drunken grandma pie is a thing of beauty: a crispy, almost buttery-bottomed square topped with fresh mozzarella and ribboned with a thick, creamy vodka sauce amped with pancetta. Read on for their story.

    Anomalia, 414 S. Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington, 215-628-3845, anomaliapizza.com

    Barclay Pies

    Gluten-free arugula pizza from Barclay Pies.

    TJ Hunton and Daniel Romero, whose immediate family members have celiac disease, are behind this cheery newcomer in Cherry Hill’s former Season’s Pizza offering gluten-free crusts (using Caputo’s GF flour) along with a line of conventional pies, plus other stuff (chicken tenders, wings, fries, cookies) that are gluten-free from inception. The lineup: five red pizzas (plain, pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, and a vegan margherita featuring cashew milk mozzarella cheese by Miyoko’s Creamery) and four whites (arugula, mushroom, broccoli, and buffalo chicken). Allergen info and protocols are up on their Instagram. Plain and pepperoni slices are available over lunch.

    Barclay Pies, 450 E. Marlton Pike, Cherry Hill, N.J., 856-712-1900, instagram.com/barclaypies

    Eataly

    Pizza Margherita at La Pizza & La Pasta restaurant at Eataly in King of Prussia Mall.

    The Italian marketplace opened earlier this month in King of Prussia Mall with two pizza options: a sit-down experience in the restaurant with well-crafted, puffy-crusted Neapolitans, as well as a counter with Roman-style pizza by the slice.

    Eataly, 160 N. Gulph Rd., King of Prussia, 484-806-2990, eataly.com/us_en/stores/king-prussia

    Genova Pizza 2 Go

    Grandma pie from Genova Pizza 2 Go, 748 Sicklerville Rd., Williamstown, N.J.

    Pizza from a gas station? Since it’s Jersey, of course it’s full service at this new branch of Audubon’s Genova Pizza, tucked inside Marathon Gas. The grandma pies, with their crispy, olive-oil-slicked crusts, and the thicker-crusted Sicilians are the big draws. Bonus: Brothers Ali and Omar Doukali are planning yet another location, in Sicklerville, according to South Jersey Food Scene.

    Genova Pizza 2 Go, 748 Sicklerville Rd., Williamstown, N.J., 856-422-9101, genovaspizza2go.com

    Gloria Sports & Spirits

    Chef Brad Daniels checks a Rocky pizza at Gloria Sports & Spirits, 1500 Main St., Warrington, on Oct. 20, 2025.

    It would be far too easy and wildly inaccurate to brand the sprawling Gloria in Central Bucks’ Shops at Valley Square “a sports bar.” Yes, the bar is ringed with TVs and there are two golf simulators and a shuffleboard table. Happy hour is on from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays. But Gloria’s pedigree explains why this is right up there with the best bar pizza in the northern burbs.

    It’s led by Vetri alumnus Brad Daniels, who with his partners also owns the acclaimed, high-end Tresini in Spring House, turning out light but sturdy-crusted 13-inch rounds with quality toppings. And not the same old. Take the saganaki, a riff on the Greek fried cheese. Daniels slices and preserves lemons, and lays them alongside mozzarella, feta, garlic, and oregano for a sweet-tart flavor bomb. The “brock party” gets plenty of shaved broccoli, along with ricotta sauce, roasted garlic, and mozzarella. The red pies get just enough Bianco di Napoli sauce, and he uses fior di latte on them instead of generic mozz.

    Gloria Sports & Spirits, 1500 Main St., Warrington, 215-792-7013, gloriasportsandspirits.com

    Johnny’s Pizza, Wayne

    Pizzas from Johnny’s Pizza’s Bryn Mawr location.

    This week’s big Main Line pizza news is John Bisceglie’s soft-opening phase of a second Johnny’s Pizza, in a strip center near the farmers market in Wayne. It’s a companion to his Bryn Mawr original, which appears in The Inquirer’s 76 for his 20-inch cheesesteaks and “unforgettable pies both thick and thin(ish), rectangular and round, red and white.”

    Johnny’s Pizza, 369 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, 610-915-0200, instagram.com/johnnyspizzabrynmawr

    Knot Like the Rest Pizzeria

    Owner Gary Lincoln demonstrates the kiosk ordering system at Knot Like the Rest Pizzeria in Pine Hill.

    Gary Lincoln’s latest South Jersey pizzeria, which opened less than two months ago, is assuredly knot like the rest. It’s all online for delivery, and walk-in customers must head to two kiosks for their slices and pies — no ordering from a counterperson. Punch in your order, perhaps a Pickle pizza (pickles, bacon, cheddar, mozzarella, ranch dressing), a “Zinger” (secret sauce, steak, banana peppers, mozzarella, American cheese), or a Knotty Vodka, with its edges ringed with garlic knots. Eat at the counter or a few round tables. Lincoln also owns New Wave Pizza in Turnersville and All About the Crust in Woodbury.

    Knot Like the Rest Pizzeria, 1193 Turnersville Rd., Pine Hill, 908-382-7960, knotliketherest.com

    Philadelphia pizzerias

    15th Street Pizza & Cheesesteak

    Sauce is applied to a pizza from 15th Street Pizza & Cheesesteak.

    A decade ago, Andrew and Michael Cappelli took over the shuttered pizzeria next door to their cigar shop on 13th Street near Locust — popularly known as Gay Pizza — and reflagged it Pizzeria Cappelli. It still rocks till 4 a.m. Last summer, feeling that Rittenhouse needed a slice shop for the wee-small hours, they opened a companion in the former Starbucks at 15th and Latimer. At 15th Street Pizza & Cheesesteak, serving a variety of thin-crust slices till 3 a.m., the hits include the white garlic with ricotta and anything topped with Buffalo chicken. Do not skip the garlic-Parm wings.

    15th Street Pizza & Cheesesteak, 254 S. 15th St., 267-357-0769, instagram.com/15thstpizzaandcheesesteak

    Italian Family Pizza

    Owner Steve Calozzi holds a slice of a 24-nch tomato pie at Italian Family Pizza.

    Bucks County-bred Steve Calozzi moved to Seattle for a while and ran pizzerias there before returning to Bucks. Now he’s working out of the former Subway shop at 17th and the Parkway, across from Friends Select School, and his specialty is the Trenton-style (cheese on the bottom) 24-inch pizza, available whole and by the slice. Order the meatballs and the cannoli, too.

    Italian Family Pizza, 1701 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., 215-801-5198

    Puglia Pizza

    Roman pizzas from Puglia Pizza, 901 South St.

    Last time I checked in with Cosimo Tricarico, he was running the quaint Caffe Valentino in Pennsport. But after it closed in early 2021, even his phone number died. Recently, I heard that a Cosimo was running a fine new pizzeria at Ninth and South. One and the same. Although he still owns Valentino’s building, Tricarico and his girlfriend had decamped for his native Puglia, where they had kids. Now they’re back here, and Tricarico is mixing it up in pizza world — football-shaped Romans as well as traditional rounds. Don’t miss the sfilatini, which are thin, pressed baguette sandwiches with fillings like meatballs and vegetables.

    Puglia Pizza, 901 South St., 215-449-0100, pugliapizza.com

    Rhythm & Spirits

    Trevi spicy pepperoni pizza at Rhythm & Spirits.

    Though not a pizzeria by any stretch, this new bistro inside the Suburban Station building (aka One Penn Center) has five excellent pies — all 14-inch rounds. The reds get a sauce made of San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes.

    Of particular note is the Funghi, whose wild-mushroom mix gets a topping of Dijonnaise, fresh mozzarella, and rosemary gremolata.

    Wild mushroom pizza with Dijonnaise at Rhythm & Spirits, 1617 JFK Blvd.

    Rhythm & Spirits, 1617 JFK Blvd., 267-239-2280, rhythmandspirits.com

    Pizzerias we’re looking forward to

    Cerveau, opening in the next few weeks at 990 Spring Garden St., will be a cicchetteria serving shareable pizzas, pastas, and small plates with Mediterranean flavors. Chef/co-creator Joe Hunter was among the partners at the former Pizza Brain, which closed last year.

    Lillo’s Tomato Pies, the Trenton-style pizza purveyor from Hainesport, Burlington County, is supposedly close to opening in Gloucester City at the former Thomas Murphy’s Pub (157 S. Burlington St.) after a protracted liquor-license process.

    Tomato pie from Lillo’s Tomato Pie, 2503 Marne Highway, Hainesport.

    Marina’s Pizza, a slice shop expected next month at 1425 Frankford Ave. in Fishtown, will be the pro debut of Mason Lesser, whose maternal grandfather, Angelo Lancellotti, owned dozens of shops in the area over the years.

    Pizzeria Cusumano, backed by Sal Cusumano of the Angelo’s Pizza shops in Berlin and Voorhees, is finally back on track for its opening at 872 Haddon Ave. in Collingswood. Cusumano, not willing to share a projected opening date, said work has just begun, more than four years after he signed an agreement to buy the building.

    Some pizza gossip

    Maybe this is non-pizza gossip, but Vince Tacconelli of the Tacconelli family’s New Jersey branch says he is looking at a December opening of Bar Tacconelli, a 50-seat Italian cocktail lounge on the former site of Versa Vino, 461 Route 38 in Maple Shade. He and partners Stacey Lyons (ex-Attico) and Greg Listino (the restaurant-equipment firm Rosani) plan to offer oysters, charcuterie, fried bites, and pastas — served late into the night, with a focus on craft cocktails. But no pizza, as it’s four minutes from Tacconelli’s Maple Shade location.

  • This new Montco pizzeria features a must-try grandma pie

    This new Montco pizzeria features a must-try grandma pie

    “Anomalia” might be a mouthful. But so are the pizzas in the display case at Anomalia Pizza, the New York-style slice shop that opened last month across from the Fort Washington SEPTA rail station, in what had been Little Italy for two decades.

    The thin-crusted, 18-inch rounds are generously topped, though the crispy, sturdy bottoms can stand up to all the blistered cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and olive oil layered atop the bruschetta pie, for example. Red pepper pesto gives sweet balance to the rib-eye, Cooper Sharp, and caramelized onions on the Italian Stallion. Close your eyes and take a bite of the plain red-sauce pizza, and you could almost believe you’re in Brooklyn and not a mile off of Route 309 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

    The drunken grandma pizza at Anomalia Pizza, 414 S. Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington.

    The world needs to know about Anomalia’s drunken grandma, a crispy, almost buttery-bottomed square topped with fresh mozzarella and ribboned with a thick, creamy vodka sauce amped with pancetta. Other hits include the stromboli and the uncommon mozzarella in carrozza — basically, a mozzarella stick in sandwich form (cheese tucked inside bread, crusted with bread crumbs, and fried).

    There are no actual sandwiches for now.

    The owners, Long Island native Deena Fink and Florida-born Frank Innusa, had a classic meet-cute: An opera singer, she went to New York University to study musical theater, and he moved to Manhattan to become an actor. They met while working at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, she tending bar and he waiting tables.

    “Oh, you’re an actor?” Innusa said, parroting a joke that probably dates to vaudeville. “What restaurant?”

    “Most actors get out of the business when they land a TV show,” said Innusa, 40, as he topped a plain pie last week while a gaggle of kids from nearby Germantown Academy awaited their orders. “I kind of fell out of love with acting — and fell in love with restaurants.”

    Frank Innusa and Deena Fink at their pizza shop Anomalia in Fort Washington.

    He and Fink were married in 2018 and a year later moved to Florida for a change of pace. Innusa enrolled in a motorcycle-mechanics program, but COVID-19 made hands-on training impossible. “I still had to pay full tuition,” he said. “So I stopped — and that’s when I really started cooking.”

    Cooking, he said, became an obsession. “I’d wake up thinking about it and go to sleep thinking about it,” he said. “I hadn’t felt that since acting.”

    Innusa’s father had made pizzas and calzones at home, but with social-distancing restrictions in place, the fascination stuck. “He was reading the books, watching the videos, testing dough,” Fink said. “So much dough testing.”

    Stromboli await the lunch rush at Anomalia Pizza.

    Innusa filled a notebook with flavor combinations and textures, she said. That experimentation now shows up as Anomalia’s “pizza of the week.”

    Back in New York after the pandemic, Innusa got his first pizzeria jobs at King Umberto and West End Pizza on Long Island, while Fink, now 33, managed and performed at the Duplex, the West Village cabaret where she performed years before.

    Rather than add to the roster of New York pizzerias, they looked toward Philadelphia, which had long appealed to them as “a smaller city with a big food scene,” Fink said. “Fifteen minutes outside the city, there are trees and deer. That balance really drew us.” They moved to Chestnut Hill, and Fink took a job nearby at Chestnut Hill Brewery at the Market at the Fareway.

    A mozzarella in carrozza at Anomalia Pizza in Fort Washington.

    Their original 10-year plan for Anomalia was a food truck, but they learned that the owners of Chicko Tako, the market’s Korean-fusion stand, were selling their other business, Little Italy.

    Innusa said he wanted to name the shop Anomalisa, after the 2015 movie. “But Deena said, ‘It doesn’t mean anything,’’’ Innusa said. She suggested anomalia, Italian for “anomaly” and pronounced “a-nom-a-leah.”

    “We want to be different from the norm, not the usual,” Innusa said.

    Anomalia Pizza, 414 S. Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington, 215-628-3845, anomaliapizza.com. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.

    Anomalia in Fort Washington.
  • A baker’s ode to Chile opens in downtown Ambler

    A baker’s ode to Chile opens in downtown Ambler

    Compared with other Latin American communities in the region, the Chilean crowd is quite small — by many estimates, in the low thousands.

    But Cote Tapia-Marmugi knows that this is a passionate audience eager to get a taste of the homeland 5,000 miles away.

    Alfajores at Copihue Bakehouse.

    When she was about 10, Tapia-Marmugi’s family emigrated from Santiago to Westchester County, N.Y., where they frequented Los Andes Bakery, in nearby Sleepy Hollow. “Even if it’s a couple of hours away, you drive to it and it’s a thing that you do,” she said. “You spend your Sunday afternoon eating and buying all the goodies that you miss from home. You go, you have empanadas, you buy stupid amounts of junk food, and then you go home happy, and you do it again in a couple of months.”

    How Ambler Borough is on the way up

    She has created a similar destination a hundred miles south in downtown Ambler. Last month, she opened Copihue Bakehouse, named after Chile’s national flower and pronounced “ko-pee-way.” Along with local customers strolling Butler Avenue, she’s meeting Chileans who drive into town to order empanadas or the pastry known as tortas mil hojas, and sit at one of the few tables.

    Those visits can run for an hour. “We chit-chat for a while, they tell me about where they’re coming from and what part of Chile they’re from, and they find out my background. Then they sit and order one thing, then they get up and browse a little bit, order some more and sit,” said Tapia-Marmugi, 40, whose husband, David Marmugi, a Venezuelan-born engineer, joins the conversation when he’s there.

    Sometimes the food hasn’t even hit the case before it’s sold. Last weekend, she had made a batch of the flan-like semolina pudding called sémola con leche. “I didn’t even put it out, and people were like, ‘Oh, my God. You have this?’ and they scooped it right up,” she said.

    A ladder shelf is stocked with groceries at Copihue Bakehouse in Ambler, Pa.

    The selections in the cases are ever-changing and subject to sell out. The most popular items on the savory side are baked cheese empanadas as well as the cheese-and-onion empanadas known as pequén, served with pebre, a hot sauce made of coriander, tomatoes, parsley, chopped onion, oil, and vinegar. Tomato toast comes out on her house-baked Irish soda bread slathered with tomato and a sprinkle of salt and oregano, as well as traditional avocado toast — a popular South American snack long before Americans bougie-fied it.

    You’ll find manjar, a sort of dulce de leche, in many desserts, such as the intensely rich lucuma cups (crispy meringue pieces in a creamy cup full of the fruit known as lucuma and whipped cream); the tortas mil hojas (flaky layers of pastry alternating with manjar and walnuts); brazo de reina (a sponge cake rolled with manjar and covered in coconut); and alfajores (thin, crunchy cookies with manjar in the center). She also sells various scones; cakes such as kuchen de nuez; pies (notably a buttery-crusted lemon meringue); and brown-butter chocolate chip cookies.

    The counter of Copihue Bakehouse.

    Along with teas and coffee from Càphê Roasters are mate, cafe helado, and mote con huesillo — traditionally a summertime drink made with peaches cooked in sugar, water, and cinnamon, and, once cooled, mixed with cooked husked wheat berries.

    Tapia-Marmugi, whose family moved to Lansdale, Montgomery County, when she was a teen, came up as a cake baker. She won an episode of Netflix’s Sugar Rush, as she ran Mole Street Baker out of her home when she lived in South Philadelphia. In 2021, she joined Ange Branca’s pandemic incubator, Kampar Kitchen, to develop her savory cooking and also worked at the restaurant Kampar.

    Table seating in the window of Copihue Bakehouse.

    Since Tapia-Marmugi is vegetarian, so is everything she makes. “There won’t be any meat on the menu, which I know will [annoy] a bunch of Chileans,” she added, laughing. “But that’s just how I grew up.”

    The walls of the sunny shop are filled with her framed photos. A rack is stocked with Chilean snacks, like the gummy candies called guaguitas; ramitas, a crunchy wheat stick; and Super 8 chocolate bars.

    “This is kind of my ode to Chile — the food memories. I want people to go inside and feel like they’ve just stepped into a little piece of South America.”

    Copihue Bakehouse, 58 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, copihuebakehouse.com. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday to Sunday.

  • Five years ago, he was a lawyer. Now he’s opening his eighth restaurant, and he hasn’t quit his day job.

    Five years ago, he was a lawyer. Now he’s opening his eighth restaurant, and he hasn’t quit his day job.

    In 2020, Dallas litigator Kevin Kelley had a 10,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of his building that had been vacant for a year.

    With the pandemic in full swing and no takers, Kelley built it out himself as a restaurant serving Southern comfort food and modern cocktails in upscale, TikTok-able environs.

    “People came, they enjoyed it, and …” Kelley paused. “I was in it.”

    Five years later, Kelley is in Center City Philadelphia to open his sixth Kitchen & Kocktails by Kevin Kelley, after locations in Chicago, Washington, Charlotte, and Atlanta. The Philadelphia restaurant, with 300 seats including a 25-seat bar, 50-seat private dining room, and a staff of 125, opened Saturday on the ground floor of the Cambria Hotel, at 225 S. Broad St.

    It’s joining a collection of vibey, out-of-town restaurants on South Broad, including Loch Bar, Steak 48, Leo at the Kimmel Center, and the forthcoming Mr. Edison at the Bellevue.

    Cooks work in the open kitchen at Kitchen & Kocktails, as viewed from the mezzanine.

    Kelley also owns Kanvas Sports & Social, a sports bar, and Club Vivo, a nightclub, both in Dallas. By this time next year, he said, he expects to open six more Kitchen & Kocktails, and he isn’t ruling out a restaurant in King of Prussia, where he first looked before leasing the former Del Frisco’s Grille at the Cambria.

    And to think — Kelley said — “if somebody had been willing to pay a small lease, I might not have opened a restaurant. But you know, God is good.”

    Roses cover the walls in the stairwell at Kitchen & Kocktails.

    Early interest spiked after a social-media blitz last month drove people to OpenTable. In only the first 24 hours, the restaurant booked 2,840 reservations, Kelley said.

    Customers step into the sleek, high-ceilinged reception area, decorated with greenery, next to a wine tower. Staff greets everyone with a “welcome home,” Kelley said. The jade blue onyx marble bar is front and center next to an open kitchen. At a preview party recently, influencers deftly balanced their cell cameras and LED lights while climbing the stairs to the mezzanine through a gauntlet of red roses. Kelley also hosted nonprofit groups, including Mothers in Charge, which supports families who have lost children to gun violence.

    Lamb chops and deviled eggs are prepared for a preview dinner at Kitchen & Kocktails.

    The menu includes shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, jerk lamb chops, fried catfish, and vegan bowls, served at lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The average dinner check, Kelley said, is about $75, including a drink or two. Even with white tablecloths, Kelley insisted that the restaurant is not fine dining: “I want a restaurant that everyone can dine in. Be the best of yourself, dress nice, bring your lady, but we want to be affordable for everyone.”

    Diners take their seats at the new Kitchen & Kocktails.

    Kelley has not given up his legal work. From Philadelphia this week, he said, he logged into a Zoom hearing to close out a multimillion-dollar settlement for clients in Texas. “But hospitality is my passion and the future,” he said, adding that he sees it as an extension of his legal work. “I’ve learned that people need to be cared for,” he said. “They need to be treated with respect. There is power in serving people.”

    Kelley, 48 — who started his law firm at age 26 and still owns 100% of his companies — speaks often about Black entrepreneurship and ownership. “I believe diversity is extraordinary,” he said. “In order for us to learn from other cultures and for other cultures to learn from us, there have to be Black entrepreneurs.” His wife, Deseri, founded a company that designs luxury handbags.

    Drinks on a table during a preview of Kitchen & Kocktails.

    His company’s leadership is intentionally diverse. “My restaurant looks like I would want America to look like — where everybody’s represented,” he said. “My CFO is a Black female. My director of operations is a white male. I want to make sure that I give everybody an opportunity — Black, white, brown — because I think everybody should give Black people an opportunity as well,” he said. “I don’t want to be a Black man who has power that doesn’t give other people a chance.”

    The Kitchen & Kocktails idea came to him from 2014 to 2019 as he shuttled between Texas and Spain while his sons played soccer at elite youth academies in Europe.

    Diners attend a preview of the new Kitchen & Kocktails.
    The exterior of the new Kitchen & Kocktails restaurant.

    “I ate a lot of tapas, a lot of pan con tomate, and jamón, but I missed Southern food: fried chicken, blackened shrimp,” he said. “I said, ‘When I come back to America full time, I’m going to open my own restaurant so that I can enjoy what I miss.’”

    Kevin II is now a 20-year-old junior and Kristian is a 19-year-old sophomore, both student-athletes at Princeton University. “They played at Cornell University [in Ithaca, N.Y.] on Saturday, won that game [2-0, with one goal by Kristian], drove back that night with their team, and then on Sunday they came to the restaurant and worked a full day,” Kelley said. “Afterward, they rode back to Princeton to get back to their schoolwork.”

    Kelley’s first restaurant opened in August 2020 as True Kitchen & Kocktails, but he dropped the “True” because of what he called a trademark concern. He said his team suggested that he add his own name “because they believe in my sacrifice and my investment in them.”

    Kelley said his name on the shingle represents accountability. “I take great pride in that,” he said. “As long as I have my ownership, everything is my responsibility, good and bad.”

    Kitchen & Kocktails by Kevin Kelley, 225 S. Broad, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Brunch: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends.

  • Ellen Yin opens the Bread Room, a cafe and pastry hub around the corner from High Street

    Ellen Yin opens the Bread Room, a cafe and pastry hub around the corner from High Street

    When James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Ellen Yin moved High Street from Old City into the corner of Ninth and Chestnut Streets four years ago, she and her crew set up a small production bakery and takeout space alongside the restaurant.

    Almost from the start, Yin said, the 300-square-foot bakery has been “bursting at the seams.”

    Everything fromage Danish is a savory option at the Bread Room.

    The solution: Take over a storefront around the corner on Chestnut Street — also part of the Franklin Residences — to open the Bread Room. It’s a cafe, workshop, and pastry hub in a light-filled, industrial-meets-farmhouse space with 14-foot ceilings and expansive windows, designed by longtime collaborator Marguerite Rodgers Interior Design. The grand opening was Oct. 20.

    The Bread Room, joining a rush of new bakeries and cafes in the region, is led by head chef Christina McKeough and head baker Kyle Wood, who are producing dozens of handmade viennoiseries and baked goods daily.

    Baked goods at the Bread Room.
    Blueberry basil Pop-Tart at the Bread Room.

    The pastry lineup includes grown-up Pop-Tarts in flavors such as strawberry, bergamot, and kumquat cream cheese; crullers topped with tahini, honeycomb, or candied fennel; and morning buns scented with cardamom and brown butter.

    On the savory side are baked egg cheese Danishes, pastrami Reuben rye croissants, and sandwiches like a muffuletta on sesame focaccia, cold roast sirloin with horseradish cream, and watercress on a rustic roll. Each day will also bring a house-milled local grain miche, sold by the pound, and High Street’s whole-grain sourdough loaves.

    Seating at the Bread Room.

    The Bread Room’s space, which briefly was a location of Bryn & Dane’s about five years ago, “was a glorified retail space being used as storage,” Yin said.

    By day, the Bread Room will operate as a bakery and cafe with vintage benches and a communal table once owned by Albert Barnes, the Philadelphia art collector and scientist. In the evening, it will become what Yin calls a community-driven workshop and event space, hosting small group classes (subjects include sourdough 101, lamination, and pizza making) and private gatherings for up to 30 people.

    Turkey sandwich on a seeded pullman at the Bread Room.

    “We’ve had huge demand for classes — bread, pizza, lamination — and this will allow us to expand those for adults and children,“ Yin said. ”People are really looking for an experience, and this creates that opportunity.”

    The Bread Room, 834 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107. Starting Oct. 20, hours will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends.