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Category: Food

  • Has Wawa’s food changed too much?

    Has Wawa’s food changed too much?

    This week’s question is… Has Wawa’s food changed too much?

    Stephanie Farr, Features Columnist

    In my 19 years here I’ve found Wawa has remained a consistent standard in my life, both in terms of quality and in terms of how often I eat it. I don’t think anyone would argue it’s the best food in a very foodie town but it’s never let me down.

    Tommy Rowan, Programming Editor

    Wawa lost something when they took out the meat slicers and stopped having bread delivered. In the early 2000s, at least to me, the sandwiches tasted fresher. It still had the spirit of a deli. Now it’s just like Subway. Which, hey, fine in a pinch. But I’m not going out of my way to stop anymore.

    Jenn Ladd, Deputy Food Editor

    As a Montco native, Wawa was a big part of my teenage years. Like most kids in this area, I thought of it as sort of a third space in high school — have many fond memories of sitting in or around my car or a friend’s car in Wawa parking lots in Flourtown, Wynnewood, Ocean City, etc. — and then when I went to college in Baltimore, that tether remained. I’d drive 25 minutes each way from the northern edge of Baltimore City to a Wawa in like Parkville, Maryland or something. I’d get gas, coffee, and a breaded chicken sandwich or the protein snack pack (grapes, cheese, crackers). Often, I’d round up the other Philly-area kids and we’d all go together at like 11 p.m. on a weeknight. It was a ritual.

    All of that is to say, I once held deep-seated affection for Wawa.

    The Wawa at the corner of 34th and Market Street near Drexel University will be closing in Philadelphia, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.

    But it has lost that spot in the past three or four years.

    I used to commence each long-distance road trip with a Wawa breakfast hoagie — the scrambled eggs used to be so rich, you really didn’t need cheese because they were that good and plentiful; the sausage was really flavorful; the portion so abundant, you could drive for hours without feeling the need for a snack. The last time I got a breakfast sandwich from Wawa, I gotta tell you, it was sad.

    I was sad.

    Stephanie Farr

    A road trip still doesn’t start for me until I get a Wawa Sizzli — croissant, egg, turkey sausage, and cheese — and I’ve never been disappointed. That being said, I recently got a breakfast sandwich at the flagship Wawa at 6th and Market and that one came with scrambled eggs and it was a mess! I much prefer the egg mold.

    What has gone downhill for you guys?

    Workers assemble breakfast Sizzlis during the grand opening Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 of the very first Wawa in Central Pennsylvania – solid Sheetz territory – in the Dauphin County borough of Middletown.

    Jenn Ladd

    I’ve noticed the portions have gotten kinda puny for the custom-ordered stuff, which was my jam for years. And now I think you’re better off with the grab-and-go things — the Sizzlis.

    I think Wawa putting so much focus on the “Super Wawa” format and then constantly “innovating” with the food menu has really been its downfall. Like, just keep it simple.

    Tommy Rowan

    I still think about the old Buffalo Blue Breaded Chicken Sandwich. It was a robust and crispy chicken patty. And it was slathered in that bright orange buffalo-blue cheese sauce that brought the heat AND the tang. It was unmistakable and worth the price of admission. And it came on a fresh kaiser roll, to boot.

    They have introduced new lines of chicken sandwiches in recent years, but they’re not the same.

    Jenn Ladd

    God I used to love those chicken sandwiches. They had my heart over a hoagie almost every time.

    Sherly D’Alfonso (correct spelling) wraps a Turkey, Provolone, Tomato and Lettuce Hoagie. She and two others are assembling 300 hoagies during their time making hoagies. Wawa Welcome America Hoagie Day on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. Photograph taken at the Wawa at Chestnut St. at 6th in Center City Philadelphia.

    Stephanie Farr

    I’ve actually never tried one of their chicken sandwiches, but I am mad they took the spicy cherry pepper relish off the menu. That is a GOAT hoagie topping.

    Personally, I like Wawa’s soups, particularly the chicken noodle and tomato bisque. I’m sure they come out of a bag, but they taste pretty good and it’s not something you find at similar places, like Sheetz.

    Jenn Ladd

    [shudder at the thought of bagged soup]

    Stephanie Farr

    As I assumed you would, foodie. lol. It doesn’t bother me, but my standards are pretty low.

    Evan Weiss, Deputy Features Editor

    If you all could tell Wawa to change two things back, what would they be?

    Stephanie Farr

    Just give me back my spicy cherry pepper relish for the love of all that is holy please! Also, they better never get rid of the garlic aioli. Get that on a hoagie and bring it into a public place and everyone will ask you what smells so good (it’s happened to me in the newsroom!).

    Tommy Rowan

    Bring back the slicers and the fresh bread. It would make a huge difference.

    Jenn Ladd

    I’d have them remember their roots as opposed to coming up with novelties and/or trying to compete with other convenience store chains on selection (see Wawa pizza, a repeated failure). They used to have great sandwiches and snacks. I’ll forever cherish the memory of a boss in Baltimore putting a Wawa pretzel on my desk because she had been in the Philly area earlier in the day. It was like a little love note from home. They’ve gotten too corporate, so I basically just treat it like a gas station now.

    Science Leadership Academy eleventh grader Marcos Rufino gets another piece of Wawa cheese pizza at the school in Philadelphia on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.

    Stephanie Farr

    I was talking to someone about Wawa last week, after covering the first Sheetz opening in Montco, and they said while Sheetz may have more food offerings, Wawa will still remain supreme in the Philly region because: “We’re loyal and it has nothing to do with quality.”

    Honestly, I think that’s one of the reasons I love Philly so much. Tommy and Jenn, are you bucking that trend, have you forsaken your Wawa loyalty?

    Jenn Ladd

    I don’t believe in blind allegiance.

    But also, I don’t think we should just keep giving money to an entity that doesn’t seem to be minding the quality of what it’s putting out to customers.

    Just because we are fond of it.

    Stephanie Farr

    So I take it you’re not a Phillies or Flyers fan either?

    Jenn Ladd

    Ahahaha well I’m not giving them any money, that’s true.

    Tommy Rowan

    Hahaha I will always have a special place in my heart for Wawa. And I hope it comes back around. I’m going to be thinking of that chicken sandwich for the rest of the week now.

    Jenn Ladd

    I won’t even get into how Wawa has betrayed Philadelphia proper, but that’s another reason I’m loathe to be blindly loyal to them.

    I’d love for Wawa to make a quality comeback too, truth be told, but I don’t know that I’d realize that without this conversation.

    Have a question of your own? Or an opinion? Email us.

  • A tale of two festivals: Philly Bierfest wants NYC-rooted Philly Beer Fest to stop confusing customers

    A tale of two festivals: Philly Bierfest wants NYC-rooted Philly Beer Fest to stop confusing customers

    A battle of the beer festivals is brewing in Philadelphia, and it’s set to come to a head next weekend, when Philly Bierfest and Philly Beer Fest — two completely unrelated beer festivals with names that are homophones — take place on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 28.

    This isn’t a coincidence, according to some members of Pennsylvania’s beer scene who claim the New York City-based organizers of the two-year-old Philly Beer Fest are deliberately trying to capitalize on the good name of Bierfest, a long-standing event with deep local roots.

    “It’s a very pointed move,” said Meredith Megan Rebar, the founder of Home Brewed Events, which plans major food and drink festivals in the Philly region. “They’re just doing this intentionally to mess with the event that’s been around longer.”

    The 2024 Philly Bierfest, held at the German Society of Pennsylvania at 611 Spring Garden St. The event spans two buildings and includes a food hall, beer classes, and burlesque performances, among other things.

    Philly Bierfest was created in 2013 by Northern Liberties-based nonprofit the German Society of Pennsylvania and Marnie Old, a local wine author and longtime freelance columnist for The Inquirer. It began as a way to honor the state’s rich tradition of brewing German-style beers, such as pilsners, kölsches, and lagers. With a deep bench of Pennsylvania- and Germany-based brewers — there are 45 pouring at this year’s event — the festival sells out each year, and was named one of the best beer festivals in the U.S. by USA Today in 2023. The event’s proceeds have gone to the Philly Roller Derby and Brewers of PA since its inception.

    Philly Beer Fest, on the other hand, is hosted by by Craft Hospitality, a national events company headquartered in New York City that organizes beverage festivals across the U.S., including the Philadelphia Zoo’s Summer Ale Festival. Craft Hospitality launched Philly Beer Fest at the 23rd Street Armory in 2024. Just over 30 Philadelphia-area beverage makers are featured this year, and proceeds partially benefit the Trauma Survivors Foundation.

    In 2024 and 2025, Craft Hospitality scheduled Beer Fest on the weekends immediately before and after Bierfest, which has been held on the last Saturday of February for 13 years (save for a pandemic-induced disruption).

    A Manayunk brewery closes, and a downtown Philly brewer will replace it

    This year’s identical scheduling hasn’t necessarily hurt Bierfest, Old said, noting that tickets sold out this week. But it has caused some headaches. Bierfest’s barbecue vendor accidentally showed up to the wrong venue for a site visit, and Old has spent a great deal of time confirming with vendors that they’re signed up for the right event. In past years, Old has heard from some disappointed Beer Fest attendees who showed up to their event expecting it to be the German-themed Bierfest.

    The nonprofit-run festival tried to get ahead of any confusion this year. Prior to Bierfest selling out, it had a pop-up on its website that read: “Friends don’t let friends get the wrong tickets. Share this link to ensure pals get tickets to the original, authentic Philly Bierfest and not the other similarly named event.”

    Old isn’t sure if the warnings entirely worked.

    “We don’t hear from anyone who got tickets to the wrong festival until after our event,” she said. “I don’t know what their intention is because I’m not on their team, but misleading [the consumer] does seem to be the end effect.”

    Craft Hospitality denies scheduling Beer Fest for Feb. 28 as a way to undercut its preexisting competitor. In a statement, the company attributed the scheduling snafu to the event being held at a National Guard facility, which limits scheduling.

    “Event dates are determined based on venue availability and planning logistics, and are often set by contract approximately 12 months in advance,” the statement read. “Philadelphia has an incredibly active event calendar — this year especially with the World Cup … Overlap between events is not uncommon.”

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    ‘It just feels predatory to me’

    This isn’t the first time Craft Hospitality’s Beer Fest has been accused of riding Bierfest’s coattails.

    After a Craft Hospitality employee emailed Ploughman Cider owner Ben Wenk in Nov. 2023 to gauge interest in vending at the first Philly Beer Fest — then scheduled for Feb. 17, 2024 — Wenk said his cidery would boycott all future Craft Hospitality events over what he felt was the company’s “intentional and malicious” attempt to deceive.

    Scheduling a beer festival with an identical-sounding name just a week before its established competitor, Wenk said, went too far.

    “Our people and our brand won’t be devoting any further resources towards an organization such as yours that is so brazenly and transparently willing to act in such a predatory way towards an established event like Philly Bierfest, who, by our estimation, have done nothing to deserve it,” Wenk emailed the Craft Hospitality employee in February 2024.

    Another Craft Hospitality employee replied to Wenk days later. “No one else has ever mentioned this other beer fest to me personally. Brands have just signed up fairly easily but I do see the conflict you’re pointing out. I will be looking into this,” they wrote.

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    No one followed up with him, Wenk said, and Craft Hospitality didn’t respond to questions about this interaction.

    “Why is this New York events company coming down here to Philadelphia and thinking they can get one over on us?” Wenk said. “It just feels predatory to me.”

    Ploughman Ciders, of Adams County, Pa., is boycotting Philly Beer Fest and all other Craft Hospitality events.

    Bierfest co-creator Old had also directly flagged issues to Sam Gelin, Craft Hospitality’s founder. Shortly after both beer festivals wrapped in 2024, Old learned Craft Hospitality had scheduled its 2025 Beer Fest on the same day as Bierfest. When she asked Gelin if he would consider moving his event out of concern that it would confuse customers and vendors, Old recalled that Gelin said it would be “desirable” for the events to share the date. Still, Gelin obliged. Philly Beer Fest 2025 took place one week after Bierfest.

    “After that conversation and then for this year, I didn’t think I needed to follow up with them. I assumed that they would continue choosing a different date,” Old said.

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    When she learned in September that this year’s Beer Fest was once again set for same exact date as Bierfest, Old figured it wasn’t worth reaching out to Gelin again.

    “If you’re renting your venue, it’s too late to change by that point. Six months is cutting it too close to make any changes,” she said. “And it was clear to me at that stage that [Craft Hospitality] saw having [its] event on the same date as ours as a benefit.”

    Craft Hospitality did not respond to questions about whether its founder had been contacted by Old. “Philly Beer Fest is not affiliated with Philly Bierfest,” they said in their statement. “They are separate events with different producers, different names, different socials, different formats, different pricing, different breweries, different cultural focuses, different venues, and overall different experiences.”

    Festivals with different aims

    The different vibes are part of the problem, according to Rebar, the festival organizer who specializes beer festivals.

    Bierfest typically draws “real beer enthusiasts,” who are there to drink but also to deepen their understanding of German brewing techniques and beer culture. The festival’s format includes beer seminars, a food hall showcasing traditional German eats by local makers, a German Masskrugstemmen (stein-holding) strength competition, and performances from Bavarian folk dancers.

    An attendee at the 2024 Philly Bierfest, which has been held on the last weekend of February since its inception in 2023.

    Beer Fest, said Rebar, is for people who want to party. The festival is a hodgepodge of beer, hard seltzer, and spiked tea purveyors compared to Bierfest’s lineup of respected German beermakers and Pennsylvania brewers making traditional German beer styles.

    “There’s no educational standards to it. It’s just a generic festival, and it’s not [organized] by anybody local,” said Rebar, who attended the first Beer Fest in 2024. “Philly Bierfest has been around for so long, has a really good representation, and has a very clear mission.”

    Craft Hospitality did not respond to questions about whether it would provide refunds to attendees who showed up thinking they were at Bierfest and are dissatisfied with their experience.

    And while Rebar concedes that it would’ve been difficult for Craft Hospitality to reschedule given the impact on vendors, she said the winter months are typically slow for beer-industry events.

    Philly bars open past 2 a.m.? A new push for late-night bars amid FIFA World Cup

    “There’s plenty of other weekends in January, February, [and] March when there’s not a lot going on,” Rebar said.

    Not everyone views the festivals as being in competition. Currently three local breweries are participating in both festivals: Norristown’s Von C Brewing, Broad Street Brewing in Bristol, and Triple Bottom Brewing in Spring Garden.

    Old said she didn’t force any vendors to choose between the two events. “I hate to put my vendors in an awkward situation … We do not have a problem with anyone being registered for both.”

    Triple Bottom Brewing is one three breweries participating in both Philly Bierfest and Philly Beer Fest on Feb, 28, 2026.

    Triple Bottom Brewing co-owner Tess Hart has found a silver lining to the fest-on-fest drama. The six-year-old brewery has repeatedly participated in both festivals. The dual events kick off Triple Bottom’s 16-week brewer apprenticeship program for individuals impacted by the justice system and housing insecurity, she said.

    This year’s 10-person cohort started last week, Hart said, and they’ll be staffing both festivals concurrently. The challenge, she thinks, will be rewarding.

    “We’ll be stretched a little thin on Saturday,” Hart said. “But this will be a good opportunity to get them out of the taproom and really well-practiced about talking about beer in a high-volume situation. For us, that’s a big benefit.”

  • The best things we ate this week

    The best things we ate this week

    Country-style spinach pie at Madis Coffee Roasters

    I’ve been devoted to spanakopita since growing up in Metro Detroit, where Greektown was among my favorite downtown haunts. Philadelphia has great spinach pies, too, from Zorba’s Tavern in Fairmount to Stina near West Passyunk. But lately, I’ve become obsessed with the big round pans of spanikopita served at Madis Coffee Roasters, the fast growing local trio of modern cafes owned by the Navorsidis family. Their coffee is also excellent, by the way, including a well-balanced “Four Seasons” blend that’s become a regular in my house rotation of morning brews, as well as quality pour-overs of single-origin beans.

    But the spanakopita the cafes import from Greece is one of the main reasons I frequently stop at Madis’ spacious Curtis Center location beside Independence Hall for breakfast before heading into The Inquirer newsroom nearby. Unlike the vast majority of spinach pies made in the U.S., which feature ultra-flaky and delicate phyllo, these big round pies made by Rodoula in Athens are encased in crispy waves of thicker phyllo sheets that are typical of the more rustic country style, especially when shaped into rounds.

    An imported round spinach pie made by Rodoula in Athens, this one stuffed with extra feta, is warmed to a crisp and served at Madis Coffee Roasters locations across Philadelphia.

    I give credit to Madis for warming it correctly, since I’ve had other versions of the same pie elsewhere (at a local gyro chain) where the same pastry was hastily underbaked and chewy. At its toasty, tawny prime, a crusty wedge of this pie shatters beneath fork and knife around a luxuriously soft filling of spinach, leeks, and extra cheese — a particularly creamy blend of tangy sheep and goat’s milk feta. Straight from Athens to the cradle of Liberty, it’s the spanakopita breakfast of champs. Madis Coffee Roasters, 601 Walnut St., 3527 Lancaster Ave., 1441 Chestnut St.; madiscoffee.com

    — Craig LaBan

    The sea scallop crudo and burrata served at Emilia, the Italian restaurant from Greg Vernick, in Kensington on Friday, January 23, 2026.

    Scallops and burrata at Emilia

    When Greg Vernick and Meredith Medoway were previewing the menu at Emilia, their new Italian restaurant in Kensington, they seemed proud of a dish pairing scallops and burrata in a caper vinaigrette. “That surprises people at first because of the similar textures,” Vernick said. Oh, it’s a surprise, all right. What it lacks in crunch it more than makes up for in lusciousness. The kitchen thinly slices day-boat sea scallops from Viking Village in Barnegat Light, N.J., and fans them over a puddle of burrata cheese and a vinaigrette made of capers and Calabrian chili oil. Sea salt goes on top. And here’s a tip to get the most of it: Your Emilia meal will start with house-made focaccia, Italian breadsticks, and a slice of Mighty Bread’s sesame ciabatta. Put aside some ciabatta. After you finish the scallop, you’ll use it for mop-up duty. Emilia, 2406 Frankford Ave., 267-541-2360, emiliaphilly.com

    — Michael Klein

    The Clam Posillipo pizza from Wilder.

    Clam Posillipo pizza at Wilder

    To me, Valentine’s Day has always been about celebrating the things I already love about my life — my partner, my cat, and all the restaurants I depend on for date-night specialness — so I rarely want to go some place I’ve never tried before for the holiday. That changed this year when my partner and I went to Wilder for the first time and tried a pizza so good it has converted us to wannabe regulars.

    Wilder’s clam Posillipo pizza is a take on the classic Italian American dish (and Frank Sinatra favorite) wherein littleneck clams are steamed in a light, garlicky tomato sauce. For the pizza version, Wilder sprinkles briny Taggiasca olives, breadcrumbs, and parsley atop a vibrant tomato sauce. The clams’ contribution wasn’t fishy — they created an experience more like eating a pie by the beach in the summer: fresh and a little salty, with a delectably doughy crust. Wilder, 2009 Sansom St., 215-309-2149, wilderphilly.com

    — Beatrice Forman

    A mango calamansi danish from the Sir/Mom Tour pop-up at Small Oven Pastry Shop.

    Mango calamansi danish from the Sir/Mom Tour pop-up at Small Oven Pastry Shop

    It’s still gray and cold out, but a limited-time pastry offering helped me briefly forget. As part of their “Sir/Mom Tour,” chef Mike Strauss of Sidecar Bar & Grille (and formerly Mike’s BBQ) and his wife, Eylonah Mae Strauss, staged a Point Breeze kitchen takeover last week, sharing their love of Filipino cuisine with a slate of specials served at chef Chad Durkin’s Porco’s Porchetteria/Small Oven Pastry Shop and Breezy’s Deli. I went specifically for the mango and calamansi danish — a burst of citrus and sunshine that sold out both days. The silky yellow custard encrusted in golden flaky pastry with small bites of fruit laced throughout made for a gorgeous pick-me-up. I hope we see another collab soon, but given the Strausses live in the Philippines — where they run Sugaree Gelato Bakery Cafe in Bacolod — I expect a long wait. Small Oven Pastry Shop, 2204 Washington Ave., 215-545-2939, smallovenpastryshop.com.

    — Emily Bloch

  • Tired Hands Brewing turned its original Ardmore outpost into a private event space as it navigates the future

    Tired Hands Brewing turned its original Ardmore outpost into a private event space as it navigates the future

    Tired Hands Brewing’s Ardmore Brewing Company brewpub has been turned into a private event space, for now, as its owner navigates the future of the beer company.

    Tired Hands’ Kennett Square taproom and bottle shop is permanently closed, owner Jean Broillet confirmed to The Inquirer on Thursday. Tired Hands’ Beer Park in Newtown Square also will not reopen this summer as the property’s owners are looking to redevelop it, Broillet said.

    Tired Hands’ Ardmore Fermentaria and Fishtown restaurant St. Oner’s remain open for business. The brewing company’s MT. Airy Biergarten is a seasonal operation that will reopen in the spring.

    Broillet said the decision to shift to private events at the Ardmore Brewing Company location was born out of a number of factors: having two Tired Hands locations in Ardmore was confusing for customers; ongoing construction in Ardmore created a “prohibitive environment” for doing business; and the changing landscape of brewing has prompted Tired Hands to begin reimagining parts of its business model.

    The changing face of Ardmore, and of Tired Hands

    When Broillet opened the first Tired Hands location, the BrewCafé, in 2012, he said there was little by way of interesting, high-quality food and drink in Ardmore. At the time, he said, Tired Hands’ craft beer and artisan meats and cheeses stood in stark contrast to the Wawas and Irish pubs the area was accustomed to. Now, that era is a distant memory as Ardmore blossoms as a culinary destination on the Main Line.

    Ardmore “went from zero to 60 really quickly in terms” of dining and entertainment options, said Broillet. He added that Tired Hands was a catalyst for that progress.

    In 2015, Broillet and his business partner and wife Julie Foster opened the Fermentaria at 35 Cricket Terrace, just blocks from Tired Hands’ first location at 16 Ardmore Ave.

    The Fermentaria was a major expansion for Tired Hands. It offered food options that extended beyond the BrewCafé‘s sandwich-and-salad-based menu, like steak frites and baby back ribs. It also quadrupled Tired Hands’ production capacity. At the BrewCafé, Tired Hands’ brewers were able to produce 1,000 barrels of beer annually. At the time of its opening, Broillet anticipated the Fermentaria would increase production to 4,000 barrels per year.

    Tired Hands opened St. Oner’s, a Fishtown restaurant and brewpub, in 2020.

    In the years that followed, Tired Hands opened the seasonal Biergarten in Mount Airy, the Kennett Square taproom, and the Beer Park in Newtown Square.

    In 2021, Broillet stepped down from daily operations after allegations of sexism and racism at Tired Hands proliferated on social media, including claims that women were held to different standards than their male counterparts and employees were berated or publicly humiliated for mistakes. Broillet returned to his post at the helm of Tired Hands a year later.

    Broillet said that “lots of valuable lessons, worldly lessons, were learned during that process” and that Tired Hands is doing everything it can to “prevent that from ever happening again.”

    Ardmore Brewing Co., located at 16 Ardmore Ave. in Ardmore, Pa. Owner Tired Hands Brewing Company has transitioned the brewery into a private events space for the time being.

    Changes in Ardmore, closure in Kennett Square

    While opening a second Ardmore outpost helped grow Tired Hands’ footprint on the Main Line, having “two of the same company” also made things “pretty confusing for people,” Broillet said.

    In efforts to iron out the confusion, Tired Hands rebranded its BrewCafé last spring, renaming it the Ardmore Brewing Company, upgrading its interior, and adding more food and cocktail options while cutting down its beer list.

    “The confusion was still there,” Broillet said.

    Broillet also brought on a culinary team that had extensive experience with private events. They began to host a handful of events at the brewery — retirement parties, birthdays, etc. — which were a success.

    At the same time, major construction had created a “prohibitive environment for us to do business here on Ardmore Avenue,” Broillet said. Construction on the mixed-use Piazza project and Ardmore Avenue Community Center are ongoing, both of which are proximate to Ardmore Avenue and the businesses that operate there.

    The brewery shifted to exclusively hosting private events in the last few months, a decision Broillet said he “couldn’t be happier” with.

    The brewery owner said the Ardmore Avenue location will be open to the public again in the future, but did not specify in what form.

    The taproom and bottle shop in Kennett Square will not reopen.

    Broillet said he opened a Tired Hands outpost in Kennett Square, in part, to have a presence near his family members who lived there. Though it was a “fun” chapter, Broillet said it no longer made sense to operate in Kennett Square, where Tired Hands already has a strong network of distributors that can get their beers into people’s hands without making them trek to the bottle shop.

    What comes next?

    Broillet offered assurances that Ardmore Brewing Company will open up to the public again, but said the specifics aren’t clear yet. Tired Hands also plans on expanding its Mount Airy footprint with a permanent restaurant space.

    For brewers across the country, the specter of people drinking less alcohol looms large. Sales of craft beer fell 4% in 2024, and there were more brewery closings than openings in late 2024 and early 2025, the first time in 20 years such a phenomenon had occurred. Brewerytown’s Crime & Punishment Brewing shuttered last April, with its owners citing a shifting culture around alcohol among the reasons for its closure. Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, a Philly-area craft brewing pioneer, abruptly shuttered all of its locations in September.

    Broillet said that while the changing dynamics of the industry remain on his mind, Tired Hands was not “acutely a victim of that downturn.” Sales had been down slightly over the past few years, but Broillet attributes that more to having two locations in Ardmore than to the state of the industry. He’s bullish about Tired Hands’ ability to distinguish itself and sees excitement in the changes.

    “Those sentiments have a way of just propelling you forward,” Broillet said.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Reese’s grandson accuses Hershey of degrading chocolate, making it ‘not edible.’ Is he right?

    Reese’s grandson accuses Hershey of degrading chocolate, making it ‘not edible.’ Is he right?

    The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups went viral after penning an open letter to Pennsylvania’s Hershey Company on Feb. 14. But it was far from a valentine.

    Brad Reese, 70, accused the confectionery manufacturer of hurting the brand his grandfather H.B. Reese began a century ago, cutting corners with its chocolate quality. Within the week, Reese’s post has sparked discussions about brand integrity, ingredients, and legacy.

    In a LinkedIn post, Reese said Hershey’s assortment of Reese’s products (including the valentine heart-shaped ones he had recently sampled) include different, cheaper ingredients, swapping milk chocolate for compound coatings and peanut butter for peanut butter créme.

    “How does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reese’s as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality, and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reese’s trust in the first place?” Reese wrote.

    Reese isn’t wrong. Several Reese’s products today — including the valentine’s hearts and the Easter egg-shaped versions — use chocolate-flavored coatings that cannot be legally called “milk chocolate,” a term that’s regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. It’s unclear exactly when the swaps occurred.

    The flagship Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups continue to list milk chocolate and peanuts as the first two ingredients.

    Still, the product line’s variance represents a shift across the candy industry as cocoa prices continue to rise, driven by a combination of factors, including climate-sparked changes in supply, tariffs, and labor shortages, the New York Times reports. Chocolate companies, including Hershey’s, have responded by making cost-effective ingredient swaps. The Times reported that several chocolate-forward Hershey’s candies no longer listed milk chocolate among their ingredients during last Halloween season.

    Hershey doesn’t deny the swaps, but is defending its quality.

    The company said in a statement Wednesday that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they’ve always been, with house-made milk chocolate and roasted peanuts, but that ingredients for some other Reese’s products can vary based on demand.

    “As we’ve grown and expanded the Reese’s product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes, and innovations that Reese’s fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese’s unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter,” the company said.

    A package of Reese’s Hearts is shown on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in New Jersey. (AP Photo/Pablo Salinas)

    A government database last updated in 2023 shows changes to the ratio of peanuts and milk chocolate used in Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs over the years. Three years ago, the egg chocolates had more peanuts and milk chocolate than anything else. But the current formula lists sugar and vegetable oil first — and no milk chocolate.

    Reese said he thinks Hershey has gone too far this time.

    He picked up a bag of Reese’s Mini Hearts for Valentine’s Day, but threw them away after sampling.

    “It was not edible,” Reese told The Associated Press. “You have to understand. I used to eat a Reese’s product every day. This is very devastating for me.”

    Reese’s grandfather, H.B. Reese, spent two years at Hershey before leaving to form his own company, H.B. Reese Candy Co. in 1919. The company manufactured about 12 types of chocolate, made with ingredients that included real cocoa butter, fresh cream, and freshly roasted peanuts.

    He invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in 1928. They were a hit and had wrappers included the slogan: “Made in Chocolate Town, so they must be good.” H.B. Reese died in 1956. His six sons eventually sold his company to Hershey in 1963.

    Now, Reese is waging war.

    He redesigned his personal website to take on Hershey’s ingredient swaps. The lead photo on the homepage shows an orange cap with the phrase “MAKE REESE’S GREAT AGAIN” stitched on the front. He says the website is devoted to “protecting Reese’s brand integrity.” It includes a list of news coverage his LinkedIn call-out has received to date.

    “Right now, the REESE’S story is diverging from what’s inside REESE’S products. And that divergence puts REESE’S and the legacy behind it, at risk,” Reese said on LinkedIn. “As the grandson of the man who created REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups, I’m not asking for nostalgia. I’m asking for alignment. For truth in REESE’S brand stewardship.”

  • Taking Amtrak? Now you can order Parc’s spaghetti bolognese on the train

    Taking Amtrak? Now you can order Parc’s spaghetti bolognese on the train

    Now you can order Parc en route to New York or D.C. Amtrak is rolling out dining experience with new dishes from Philly mainstays Parc, Pizzeria Stella, and Buddakan, in partnership with STARR Restaurant Group. But you’ll have to book a first class ticket on the NextGen and FirstGen Acela trains to enjoy these favorites on board.

    The three-year-old collaborative menu has been updated with a rotating selection of seasonal dishes for lunch and dinner services.

    The options include: lasagna al forno, saucy lasagna with rich ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese, from Pizzeria Stella. There’s also spiced black pepper marinated tenderloin topped with wok-tossed herbs, red finger chilies, and crispy Chinese crullers from Buddakan, or Parc’s rich, slow-simmered spaghetti bolognese with crunchy garlic toast.

    STARR Restaurant Group is led by Philadelphia-based restaurateur Stephen Starr, who recently opened his 41st restaurant, Borromini, with mixed reviews. And while he’s an operator known for fanatical attention to detail and an assortment of over-the-top restaurants, it hasn’t stopped him from getting in some hot water on occasion — he is facing union-busting charges brought by the National Labor Relations Board.

    A server pushes a bar cart down the aisle of a business class car in a NextGen Acela

    Onboard, Amtrak aims to offer the same culinary expertise enjoyed at Starr’s restaurant portfolio across Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

    “Serving elevated offerings in Acela First Class in partnership with STARR Restaurant Group adds an exceptional touch to our customers’ experience onboard on our trains,” said Eliot Hamlisch, Amtrak’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, in a statement.

    Amtrak is also debuting two new dishes by executive chef David Gottlieb. There’s a caramelized apple bread pudding for breakfast and chilled harissa salmon for lunch and dinner.

  • Old City’s latest all-day cafe doses coffee, tea, and mocktails with kava and kratom

    Old City’s latest all-day cafe doses coffee, tea, and mocktails with kava and kratom

    A new all-day lounge in Old City is betting on kava and kratom — two controversial psychoactive plants — to pull crowds away from bars.

    Old City Kava Company opened in December at 40 S. Second St., across from a Fine Wine & Spirits and a honky-tonk bar. The lounge specializes in kava and kratom mocktails intended to boost mood and lower inhibitions, not unlike knocking back of a couple drinks. The establishment’s co-owners, Luca Kobza and Adam Lagner, believe the substances can open up a new social scene in Philly — namely, one that isn’t centered on alcohol.

    “We’ve had groups of people showing up who I otherwise believe would’ve been at bars… maybe having a cocktail and then regretting it the next day,” said Kobza. Customers have told them the space is a welcome change from bars and nightclubs, Kobza said.

    Old City Kava Company co-owners Luca Kobza (left) and Adam Wagner (right) met in college at the University of Miami and ran a kava bar in Naples, Fla. before moving to Philly.

    The 1,900-square-foot lounge is designed for lingering, with 60 seats between its bar, two-top tables, and plush jeweled-toned couches. The space has a small-yet-serviceable board game collection, plus a rotating display of contemporary art for sale from Kensington’s Vizion Gallery.

    Old City Kava opens at 10 a.m. daily, serving its kava and kratom- infused mocktails alongside drip coffee from ReAnimator, teas from Random Tea Room, and a selection of pastries from wholesaler Au Fornil. By day, it largely functions as a co-working space.

    The atmosphere shifts at night. Open till midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends, the space feels cocktail bar-adjacent, with a menu of 16 kava and kratom-infused mocktails. They range from a kava-lemongrass-and-guava paloma to a kratom-kombucha-ginger beer mule and a matcha tonic shaken with kava and kratom. Lagner and Kobza have already hosted run clubs, singles events, and book clubs to highlight the spectrum of Philly’s sober-curious scene.

    The interior of Old City Kava Company at 40 S. 2nd Street.

    What are kava and kratom?

    Old City Kava sources kava — derived from the leaves of the piper methysticum, a large plant that grows in Hawaii and other South Pacific islands — from Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu and kratom from Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. They brew both as teas, adding roughly a tenth of an ounce to each mocktail.

    The lounge’s eight employees had to undergo 15 hours of in-house “kava-tending” training, which mostly involves learning how to educate first-timers. Lagner hated kava the first time he tried it.

    “It’s bitter, earthy. I was very off-put,” said Lagner. At the age of 30, he now prefers drinking it straight.

    Kava is traditionally brewed as a tea for religious ceremonies. Advocates say the substance can briefly reduce anxiety or stress.

    Kratom, on the other hand, comes from the leaves of a Southeast Asian tree and acts like a caffeine-esque stimulant in small doses and a sedative in larger ones. Users treat it as a catch-all to self-soothe pain, depression, and anxiety.

    Adam Wagner making Old City Kava Company’s Lemongrass Paloma, which swaps alcohol for kava.

    A visit to the lounge starts with a kava-tender offering samples of pure kratom or kava tea, the latter of which makes your lips tingle with a mild numbness. Despite having no real relationship with one another, kava and kratom often come as a package deal in kava bars across the U.S., which have exploded in popularity as an alternative to traditional bars during a time when fewer young people are choosing to drink.

    Both substances are contentious, having raised public concerns about addiction and other risks. Neither is currently regulated by the Food & Drug Administration, but the FDA announced plans last summer to schedule kratom as a controlled substance after an uptick in reports of synthetic kratom addiction. Sold in tiny bottles at gas stations and smoke shops, synthetic kratom isolates 7-OH, a compound that can cause intense opioid-like addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Kratom is currently banned in seven states. In December, two Pennsylvania state representatives introduced a bill that would prohibit the sale of the synthetic variety.

    ‘It latches on and doesn’t let go’: 7-OH kratom is fueling addictions across Philly

    These laws and the FDA’s plan include carve-outs for the botanic kratom from the leaf — which Old City Kava uses in its mocktails. The varieties are fundamentally different, Lagner said.

    “A lot of people conflate the two. … when they hear ‘kratom,’ they think of the products you’re seeing in gas stations,” he explained. “We serve natural kratom leaf tea how it’s been consumed safely for centuries in Southeast Asia. They’re much less potent in their natural form.”

    That may be true, but experts still have concerns about botanic kratom. According to Dr. Adam Scioli, chief medical officer of Wernersville, Pa.’s Caron Treatment Centers, botanic kratom is five to 20 times less potent than its synthetic counterpart. But it still carries an addiction risk, Scioli said, and can cause other health issues, such as nausea, high blood pressure, a racing heartbeat, and averse drug interactions, particularly when consumed with sedatives.

    “What concerns me most clinically is that kratom is often perceived as ‘natural and therefore safe,’” said Scioli. “History has repeatedly shown us that natural substances can still carry significant addiction risk, especially once commercialized.”

    A bar, but not

    Lagner, a Blue Bell native and La Salle High School grad, met business partner Kobza, also 30, when they were both students at the University of Miami. The duo would study together at kava bars on South Beach, and after graduating in 2018, opened their own, called Nektar Lab, in Naples, Fla.

    Lagner and Kobza sold their stakes in Nektar in 2022. They moved to Philly shortly after, where they found a far less vibrant scene than what they were used to in Florida, the U.S.’s kava capital. (Philly has only one other kava bar, Queen Village’s Lightbox Cafe.)

    Adam Wagner pours a shot of creamer for Old City Kava Company’s Old City Red Eye, a coffee drink that includes kava and kratom.
    Lightbox Cafe brings kava, a relaxing South Pacific drink, to Queen Village

    “Most kava bars around the country are very grungy and tiny,” said Lagner. “And there haven’t been enough concepts [in Philly] to show people that this can be a a nice alternative to the social scene that revolves around alcohol and can also fill gaps in some of the daytime third-space sort of sphere.”

    Old City Kava’s bestseller is the Old City Red Eye: kava and kratom tea shaken together with ReAnimator cold brew, oat milk creamer, agave, and vanilla syrup. “You would think the kava and kratom cancel each other out because, at face value, it’s an upper and a downer in the same drink,” said Kobza. “But in reality they complement each other. The kava takes the edge off the coffee … the [kratom] just adds a mild euphoria.”

    Kobza said first-timers shouldn’t have kava or kratom on an empty stomach, or try too many cocktails at once. (That’s what this Inquirer reporter did, and she ended up with a splitting headache plus lingering nausea.)

    The exterior of Old City Kava Company at 40 S. 2nd Street.

    Carissa Kilbury, 24, goes to Old City Kava weekly. Sometimes, she spends full workdays at the lounge, sipping a few infused drinks while at her computer. A slow drinker, Kilbury said she doesn’t feel much other than mild relaxation.

    “When I’m stressed at work, I feel a little bit less stressed, which is nice,” she said. “It feels like a bar without really being a bar. I like that vibe.”

    Old City Kava Company, 40 S. Second St., 215-402-7047, oldcitykava.com. Hours: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday; 10 a.m. – 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

  • Philip Korshak returns to South Philly. This time, bagels aren’t on the menu

    Philip Korshak returns to South Philly. This time, bagels aren’t on the menu

    Philip Korshak, the poet-baker who left town after closing his cult favorite Korshak Bagels 2½ years ago, plans to return to South Philadelphia this spring with a new, deliberately modest venture:

    Korshak Picnic Provisions will be a corner shop built around grilled hot dogs, house-made sourdough biscuits, and the idea that food is community.

    “If I had to model this place after something, it’s Mr. Hooper’s store on Sesame Street,” Korshak said. “The weird little corner shop that’s always there.”

    It’s a former animal hospital at the southeast corner of 13th and Reed Streets, across from the old Faragalli’s Bakery and Columbus Square Park. He is targeting a May opening.

    Korshak impressed both the New York Times and Bon Appétit with his bagel shop, which opened in May 2021 at 10th and Morris Streets. But success came at a price. When he closed it in September 2023, he cited financial and personal strain.

    The shop’s popularity brought pressures that clashed with his ideals. Korshak resisted automation and expansion, wary of becoming something other than a neighborhood bakery. His staff was one of the first in the city to unionize at an independent cafe. (Korshak voluntarily recognized the union.)

    “The staff would prefer to continue,” he wrote in his farewell letter, “but the changes to the process in exchange for efficiency … are not changes I think … are on brand for Korshak Bagels.”

    Bagels by Philip Korshak, whose South Philly bagel shop became a gold standard before shuttering in 2023.

    He also wrote that the shop “simply can’t function economically. And provide a living wage. And work/life balance. And reasonable prices.”

    Korshak’s path back to Philly

    After closing Korshak’s Bagels, Korshak first lived in Seattle but relocated to Austin, Texas — his previous stop before Philadelphia. He had no real plans other than working on a memoir and “spinning my wheels,” he said.

    Then the phone rang last fall. It was Pat Duffy, a friend who owned the building where Korshak used to take his pet cat for veterinary care. “He said, ‘I’ve got this spot. The neighborhood misses you. It could use your vibe,’” Korshak said.

    Korshak initially demurred. “I told him I wasn’t in town and I wasn’t ‘doing the thing’ anymore,” he said. “But just to be thought of — in that world of absurdity and hope — meant everything to me.”

    Duffy walked him through the space over FaceTime. The building, which had been outfitted to become a takeout bakery, had little more than a plumbed floor and sinks. There was no ventilation hood or even potential for a sprawling production line.

    Which was exactly what intrigued Korshak.

    “What I already knew how to do wasn’t that interesting to me anymore,” he said. “What I don’t know yet, that’s compelling.” He moved back to Philadelphia on Dec. 20, settling in Conshohocken.

    The idea for a picnic provisions shop, anchored by hot dogs, came quickly. The corner sits near a bike path, a dog run, a playground, and softball fields. Korshak imagined it as a rendezvous point before or after the park: a place to grab a soda, a cookie, a sourdough biscuit with honey from Green Meadow Farm, or a couple of hot dogs “because dinner’s in a couple hours.”

    “I’m an old guy,” the Brooklyn-born Korshak, 58, said. “I’ve had a lot of hot dogs and a lot of picnics. I like both.”

    Korshak’s reasoning is more philosophical than nostalgic. “The hot dog appealed to me because it can’t really be fetishized,” he said. “You can’t put it on a ‘best of’ list in any meaningful way. It’s ubiquitous. It transcends nationality. For me, food is the connector — it’s not the end in itself. A hot dog almost refuses to be the end in itself. It’s silly, fun, quick.”

    Korshak Picnic Provisions will offer four styles of dogs, all grilled: a standard beef or vegan dog with mustard, relish, onion, or kraut; a Coney-style dog with chili, cheese, and onions (with vegan chili available); a Chicago dog with traditional through-the-garden accoutrements on a poppy-seed bun; and a Pacific Northwest dog topped with cream cheese, fish-sauce ketchup, and cabbage. Though he has not yet selected a supplier, he plans to use all-beef dogs.

    He plans to source buns from Mighty Bread Co., around the corner, shifting away from the labor-intensive, in-house production that defined Korshak Bagels. “It’s not about the hot dog I can make — it’s about what happens when we work together,” he said. “I love baking, but I’m not interested in running big production again.”

    Beyond hot dogs, Picnic Provisions will carry crisps, crackers, jams, honeys, sodas, candy, and seasonal produce. Korshak will keep much of the product line local. He said he is talking to Rhonda Saltzman of Second Daughter Artisanal Bakery and Carol Ha of Okie Dokie Donuts about stocking some of their products. He also envisions stocking non-edible picnic goods — kites, blankets, quilts — reinforcing the shop’s central metaphor.

    There will be baking, just not at former volumes. Helen Mirren, his pet name for his long-ferment starter, will inform a sourdough biscuit and a sourdough-spiked cinnamon roll. (Korshak has been testing at the former Conshohocken Bakery, run by longtime friend Danny DiGiampietro, who hosted his first bagel pop-ups.)

    This time around, he says, the sense of risk is different.

    “It’s all exciting to me,” he said of the new venture, which will have three employees. “The only thing that scares me is if this becomes bigger than it’s intended to be — but I don’t think it will.”

    The goal, he said, is durability rather than buzz. “A friend of mine talks about being ‘hot.’ You can only be hot for so long. After that, you’re judged against whether you were hot or not. But the things people truly love aren’t hot — they’re established. They become part of the common language.”

    “I’ve been around,” Korshak said. “Philly doesn’t exist anywhere else. The people here are the reason it’s the way it is. It’s unlike anywhere.”

    He said he found it “unbelievable” that his last name means something positive to Philadelphians. “How do you not keep trying to do something worthy of that?” he asked. “The goal isn’t accolades. It’s helping someone get through their day a little better — even if you never know about it.”

    Sounding more poet than proprietor, he returned to the idea that first drew him back: movement.

    “I’m incredibly lucky,” he said. “And if you’re not moving forward, you’re not moving at all.”

  • A style of chardonnay that’s bone-dry and tart

    A style of chardonnay that’s bone-dry and tart

    Chablis is a French white wine made with 100% chardonnay grapes, but its flavor profile is nothing like the chardonnay American wine drinkers are accustomed to. Where most Chardonnays are fuller-bodied and richer in texture than other whites, Chablis is lightweight and sheer on the palate. Where the majority of Chardonnays feature some overt apple-pear fruitiness and the distinctive pumpkin spice flavors of new oak, almost all Chablis wines are bone-dry, unoaked, and a little anemic in the fruit department. Most importantly, where most Chardonnays are on the softer end of the white wine acidity scale, Chablis is famously tart — so much so that it can taste unpleasant alone, needing to be partnered with salty foods in order to taste balanced.

    All of these qualities give Chablis an austerity whose appeal is a challenge to describe in positive terms, as with the ferocious bitterness of Campari or the beach-fire funk of an Islay single-malt scotch. Like these other drinks, Chablis tends to be an acquired taste that rarely appeals to the wine novice, but nonetheless retains its prestige from generation to generation as new converts discover its charms.

    What makes Chablis so distinctive is that it is grown in considerably colder conditions than is normal for the chardonnay grape — in a zone of northern France whose climate is a closer match to that of Nova Scotia than it is to California’s. Low ripeness in the fruit grown in Chablis amplifies acidity and minerality, while suppressing fruitiness and alcohol. While most Chablis is quite pricey, petit Chablis — or small Chablis — is the name used there for modest, entry-level wines like this one. It may not have the complexity or the long finish of a superior Chablis, but makes a solid introduction to this style that is a chardonnay for chardonnay haters. Brisk, cleansing, and as dry as the desert, with flavors of crabapples and goat cheese, it makes a marvelous match for any food you might squeeze some lemon on.

    Moillard-Grivot petit Chablis

    Moillard-Grivot petit Chablis

    Burgundy, France; 12.5% ABV

    PLCB Item #100048775 – on sale for $17.99 through March 1 (regularly $19.99)

    No alternate retail locations within 50 miles of Philadelphia according to Wine-Searcher.com

  • Savú, a two-level restaurant-bar in Washington Square West, aims for dining and nightlife under one roof

    Savú, a two-level restaurant-bar in Washington Square West, aims for dining and nightlife under one roof

    Savú opened earlier this month in Washington Square West with a clear pitch: dinner and nightlife under one roof — and a retractable one, at that.

    “The concept is really about bringing a little bit of Miami and New York to Philadelphia,” said owner Kevin Dolce, the restaurant’s managing partner and founder of Hi-Def Hospitality. “There are places that do dinner and places that do nightlife. We want both in the same space, consistently.”

    The second-level dining room, and the rear bar, at Savú.

    Savú occupies the two-level space that last housed Cockatoo, an LGBTQ-friendly bar-restaurant. Dolce said Savú is aimed at everyone. The first floor is anchored by an enormous rectangular bar for walk-ins at the center of the room, with seating wrapped around it. Lounge seating lines the fling-open front windows at 13th and Chancellor Streets, where DJs spin Thursday through Sunday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., shifting the mood from dinner to late-night. Cocktails stick to standards — espresso martinis, French 75s — alongside Champagne and bottle service.

    Upstairs, two additional bars designated for customers with reservations serve a dining room outfitted with banquettes and low lighting. When weather allows, the retractable roof will open, creating an indoor-outdoor feel rare among Center City restaurants.

    The ground-floor bar at Savú, in Washington Square West.

    Savú’s address — along the restaurant row that includes Barbuzzo, Double Knot, and El Vez — has turned over in recent decades. A midcentury diner called Dewey’s once stood there, followed later by Letto Deli. The building was razed in the mid-2010s and replaced with a modern structure that reopened in 2017 as Maison 208. That concept gave way in late 2020 to Cockatoo.

    Chef Maulana Muhammad’s dinner menu signals a push toward a higher-end night out: caviar bumps paired with fries and champagne, lamb chops, grilled branzino, lobster pasta, and ribeyes.

    Chef Maulana Muhammad at Savú.

    Muhammad, a graduate of the Restaurant School, has been around the block. She interned at the old Striped Bass and spent 12 years at the Four Seasons on Logan Square under chef Jean-Marie Lacroix and his team. Through the 2010s, she ran her own restaurant, Maulana’s Café, in the Philadelphia Design & Distribution Center in Wissahickon, and then worked for Constellation Catering just before the pandemic.

    After handling production that had her and colleagues cranking out 50,000 meals a day, she stepped away from the kitchen to help operate her family’s home healthcare agency.

    Kevin Dolce with customers at Taste Cheesesteak Bar in 2024.

    Muhammad joined Savú a year ago to build the menu, after her brother, who knows Dolce, mentioned plans for the restaurant. “I like simple, good food,” Muhammad said. “I love creativity, but I want people to feel full and satisfied. I don’t want them leaving and stopping somewhere else to eat.”

    Dolce has brought in chef Dominique Shields, founder and former owner of North Philly’s Pretty Girls Cook, to oversee weekend brunch, which starts Feb. 28 with such offerings as seafood grits with fried flounder and shrimp, pancakes with fried chicken wings and honey butter, and oxtail hash along with made-to-order omelets and classic egg plates with beef or turkey bacon. In addition to the 11 a.m.-to-3 p.m. brunches, there will be a Sunday Champagne brunch from 4 to 8 p.m. that will be a ticketed, entertainment-focused event upstairs. General admission will include a drink and booths will be reservable.

    Branzino served at Savú.

    Dolce, whose background is in financial consulting, got a taste for nightlife in September 2023 when he opened Taste Cheesesteak Bar on the ground floor of the Sterling, an apartment building at 1809 JFK Blvd. It was, and still is, one of the city’s few cheesesteak shops offering DJs and a full bar.

    Dolce has been on a tear of lease-signing. In 2024, he announced plans for Enigma Sky, a three-story Thai-fusion restaurant and lounge in the former Golf & Social at 1080 N. Delaware Ave., as well as Taste Taco Bar, under the Larry Fine mural at Third and South Streets, at the former Jon’s Bar & Grille. Last year, Dolce said he was also converting the former 7-Eleven store at 1084 N. Delaware Ave., next to Enigma Sky, into Finish Your Champagne, a brunch-driven concept. Citing delays with permitting and approvals, Dolce said Taste Taco Bar is expected to open for Cinco de Mayo, with Enigma Sky and Finish Your Champagne opening by the end of the year.

    Savú waitress Dominique Antes fixes her lipstick in a restroom at the restaurant.

    “Philadelphia is about to have a huge few years: the World Cup, the city’s 250th anniversary, the MLB All-Star Game, NCAA tournaments, PGA events,” Dolce said. “Millions of people are coming, and we want to grow alongside the city and be part of that story.”

    Savú, 208 S. 13th St., 445-223-4865, savuphl.com. Initial dinner hours: 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday. Brunch (starting Feb. 28): 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Champagne brunch: 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday.

    Savú at 13th and Chancellor Streets.