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Category: Michael Klein

  • As Di Bruno Bros. prepares to shutter three stores, shoppers say it lost its ‘special touch’

    As Di Bruno Bros. prepares to shutter three stores, shoppers say it lost its ‘special touch’

    As word spread Friday that upscale grocery Di Bruno Bros. would shutter three of its five grocery stores in the coming weeks, many customers mourned the imminent loss but added they were unsurprised, citing a noticeable change in quality over the last few years.

    Xavier Hayden, a lawyer who lives in Narberth, said he stopped shopping at Di Bruno’s a few years ago when he noticed changes in the rolls, the bread, and other items that gave Di Bruno’s its strong reputation. “The quality went down, the taste went down,” Hayden said. “Why am I going to pay upmarket prices for a midmarket product?”

    Hayden remembers childhood trips to the Italian Market to visit the original Di Bruno Bros., which will remain open, along with its bottle shop and the store at 18th and Chestnut Streets in Rittenhouse. Its Ardmore store will close Feb. 4, while the location in Wayne as well as the shop at the Franklin Residences at Ninth and Chestnut Streets will close Feb. 11.

    Di Bruno’s, established in South Philadelphia in 1939, had become a major player on the Main Line grocery scene since opening at the Ardmore Farmers Market in 2011 and in Wayne’s Strafford Shopping Center in 2021 to complement its two stores in Center City.

    Now, the company is pulling back to focus on the Italian Market and Rittenhouse locations and its online business.

    The original Di Bruno Bros. location at 930 S. Ninth St. is one of two stores that will remain.

    The closings will affect 59 employees, said Sandy Brown, executive vice president of Di Bruno’s parent company, Brown’s Super Stores. She said the workers have been offered new jobs with the other Brown’s stores in the area, including 10 ShopRites and two Fresh Grocer locations.

    On social media, some Di Bruno’s patrons attributed a change in the store’s offerings to Brown’s, which bought an ownership stake in the company in early 2024 from the Mignucci family, which had led Di Bruno’s expansion. (It’s a complex arrangement; while Brown’s owns the stores, the Di Bruno’s brand and its packaged-product portfolio were later acquired by Wakefern Food Corp., a New Jersey-based supermarket cooperative that includes the Brown’s stores.)

    In an email exchange Friday, Sandy Brown pushed back on the Brown’s company’s role in the closures, saying Di Bruno’s was “very distressed” when her group invested. “We were the only interested party due to the numerous challenges they had,” she said. While many commenters online are blaming her company for the closings, Brown said, “I don’t think they realize the status of the brand at the time of transition.”

    Brown said the company had worked to bring back business that was lost prior to the purchase, “but that did not occur.” She added that her company had a plan to sustain Di Bruno’s but declined to share it at this time.

    Main Line customers said they were sad to see Di Bruno’s retrenchment from the suburbs, though several said the stores had slipped in recent years.

    “It used to be spectacular, delicious … extra special,” said Dana Reisbord, a professor who lives in Ardmore. Reisbord said she used to stop into Di Bruno for a chicken parmesan sandwich and other goodies. Now, she’ll venture into the city if she’s really craving Italian fare. Di Bruno’s fare is too expensive to justify, she said, having “lost that special touch.”

    Diane Fanelli, a retiree who lives in Overbrook, visits the Ardmore Farmers Market Di Bruno’s at Suburban Square a few times a month. She said she would be sad to see the store go. Although she did notice a drop-off in quality, she said it wasn’t significant enough to send her shopping elsewhere.

    “Their food is expensive. It’s very good, but it’s expensive, and everybody’s watching their budget,” said Mike Manley, a cartoonist from Upper Darby who used to patronize the Ardmore store when he was in town for doctors’ appointments.

    It wasn’t necessarily the high-end products that kept Manley coming back. It was the customer service. He liked chatting with the cheesemongers and enjoying samples. Di Bruno’s reminded Manley of his old days in West Philadelphia, when he would regularly patronize Koch’s Deli, known for friendly faces behind the counter.

    “That gains you loyal customers, but I don’t know if corporate appreciates that,” he said. (The stores had lost some longtime employees since the Brown’s Super Store purchase.)

    Earlier this week, Di Bruno notified two landlords that they would be shutting down, said Douglas Green, a principal at MSC, who handles real estate for Kimco Realty Corp. (owner of Suburban Square) and Korman Communities (owner of the Franklin). A representative of Equity Retail Brokers, which leases at Wayne’s Strafford Shopping Center, declined to comment.

    “Operations have not been what they were when the Mignucci family owned the business, and this outcome shouldn’t be a great surprise to most people,” Green said. “It’s a sad day for a very proud Philadelphia brand.”

    He suggested that Di Bruno had expanded into too much space at Suburban Square “and affected [Kimco’s] ability to diversely merchandise the farmers market. It felt like they spread themselves too thin, and the quality suffered.”

    Speaking specifically of the Franklin and Suburban Square locations, Green said both locations are in areas with “pent-up demand and limited supply, and there should be tremendous interest.” He said Kimco, with MSC, wants to “re-merchandise” the farmers market and Di Bruno’s spaces.

    “This gives us a bit of a blank canvas,” Green said. “There are cuisine types not currently represented that we’re excited about bringing to the project. Hopefully, the end of this chapter opens the door to new concepts.”

  • Some restaurateurs are coping with rising food prices by charging you less. Here’s how that works.

    Some restaurateurs are coping with rising food prices by charging you less. Here’s how that works.

    Restaurant diners are eating less, ordering fewer drinks, skipping dessert, and, in many cases, dining out less often altogether.

    For restaurants, however, the cost of doing business has not come down. Labor prices are up. So are food prices, particularly beef. Rents continue to climb. But the old solution — raising menu prices — has become increasingly risky as owners worry about alienating customers who are already cutting back.

    Korean tacos at Harvest Seasonal Grill are made with the trimmings of New York strip steak.

    This was happening at Harvest Seasonal Grill, a farm-to-table bar-restaurant with eight locations between Lancaster and Moorestown. “Every time check averages went up, guest counts went down,” said founder Dave Magrogan. “Revenue stayed flat, but we were serving fewer people.”

    Rather than raising prices further or shrinking portions, Harvest moved in the opposite direction last summer. First, the restaurants added a lower-priced, three-course supplemental menu, which Magrogan said caught customers’ attention.

    A New York strip steak with roasted potato, haricot verts, and cabernet reduction at Harvest Seasonal Grill.

    Then last fall, Harvest cut prices across the board while tweaking dishes to eliminate frippery like microgreens and most garnishes, which Magrogan said customers pushed to the side of the plate anyway.

    The seared scallops had to go. As recently as a few years ago, Harvest offered four New Bedford scallops — the picture-perfect, 10-to-a-pound “U-10” beauties — atop a pool of risotto for $34. When the wholesale price began creeping up, Harvest bumped it to $38. When another price increase took it to $43, Magrogan said, “guests complained: ‘Four scallops for $43? I don’t see the value.’”

    Smaller portions, fewer second drinks: How restaurateurs are adapting to changing consumer trends

    Harvest chief operating officer Adam Gottlieb said the company went back to its seafood supplier, who offered scallop pieces — the same scallops, though broken during harvesting — for about half the price. “Instead of putting these seared scallops on top of the dish, we sear the pieces, fold them into the risotto, and make a shrimp and scallop risotto that we can offer for $34 instead of $42,” Gottlieb said. “Guests like it more, and it sells for less.”

    Harvest also changed its prime steak. “For a while, we were buying individually cut steaks from a big farm operation with a great story behind it [Niman Ranch],” Gottlieb said. “But the prices kept climbing. We found a purveyor that sources all-Pennsylvania prime beef, and now we’re bringing in New York strip loins instead of individually cut steaks. By buying whole loins by the case, we’re able to lower the cost of the dish and use the byproduct for other menu items.”

    Harvest’s across-the-board price drop was scary at first, Magrogan said. Check averages dropped from $44 to $36 while guest counts remained flat.

    But then, word spread of the lower prices. Traffic is up 10% to 14% year over year while check averages have crept back up into the high-$30s, Magrogan said. “Revenue is up. Profitability is up. And we didn’t sacrifice quality.”

    Restaurateur Daniel McLaughlin (left) watches sous chef Silvestre Rincon break down beef for tacos and other dishes at Mission Taqueria.

    At Mission Taqueria, a second-floor cantina above Oyster House near Rittenhouse Square, owner Daniel McLaughlin has done his own version of what he calls “menu math,” weighing customer psychology against volatile ingredient costs. Like every owner of a Mexican restaurant, he accepts the yo-yo of avocado prices: When they’re reasonable, he’s doing well; when they’re high, he must absorb a loss.

    Tacos, the menu mainstay, he said, are especially tricky. Diners have firm price expectations, regardless of what the ingredients actually cost — even as beef prices are up by double digits in the last year.

    Restaurateur Daniel McLaughlin talking to customers at Mission Taqueria.

    At its opening a decade ago, Mission charged $14 for two carne asada tacos. They’re now $18 — a 29% rise, but below the estimated 47% inflation over that time.

    “Carne asada was our top-selling taco last year, but you can only charge so much for a taco,” McLaughlin said. “

    Each taco has 3 ounces of beef. “The same portion of protein somewhere else, like in a steakhouse served as an entrée, would be totally justifiable at $28 or $32,” he said. “But because it’s in a tortilla, people flinch.”

    To keep costs in check, McLaughlin and his chefs rethought the beef. Mission previously used sirloin for its carne asada but last year switched to chuck roll, a cut from the shoulder. “It actually eats better as a taco,” he said.

    The kitchen still serves seared steak as an add-on for salads, but now economizes by buying whole sides and breaking them down. Aside from the chuck roll, other cuts are used for slow-cooked dishes like barbacoa and birria.

    Korean tacos get a shake of seasoning at Harvest Seasonal Grill.

    The upshot: Mission is charging less for carne asada tacos, relatively speaking, but is making a bit more money. And traffic counts are similar.

    The menu engineering around beef trimmings has factored into Harvest’s moves, as well. Some finds its way atop the chain’s flatbreads, and even becomes the centerpiece of a new dish, Korean-style tacos. “It looks impressive, and it’s become one of our most popular items,” Gottlieb said.

    “The labor part isn’t as complicated as it sounds,” Gottlieb said. “Kitchen work has always been about minimizing waste and being smart with product.”

    A big part of the changes was to make Harvest feel accessible again, Gottlieb said. “I said to Dave, ‘I’m a middle-class guy, and I can’t afford to eat at Harvest as much as I’d like right now. It’s $100 for two people, and I can’t do that on a regular basis.’ Before the price increases, you could get in and out for about $67. The goal was to get back to that — to stop being a special-occasion restaurant and become a place people could think about for regular dining.”

    Magrogan said: “The goal is to serve more people, not fewer. You can’t price yourself out of relevance. If guests feel taken care of, they come back — and that matters more than squeezing every last dollar out of a single check.”

  • Di Bruno Bros. to close three of its five gourmet markets

    Di Bruno Bros. to close three of its five gourmet markets

    Three of the five Di Bruno Bros. locations will close in the coming weeks, the specialty grocery chain’s owner confirmed to The Inquirer.

    Maureen Gillespie, a spokesperson for Wakefern Food Corp., the New Jersey-based supermarket cooperative that acquired the Di Bruno’s brand in 2024, said closing dates were not available.

    Employees at the Ardmore Farmer’s Market location, which opened in 2011 at Suburban Square, said they were told that its last day would be Feb. 4. Staff at the locations in Wayne, which opened in 2021 in Strafford Shopping Center, and at the Franklin Residences on Ninth Street in Center City, which opened in 2013, said they were notified Wednesday that those stores would shut down Feb. 11.

    Di Bruno’s original location on Ninth Street in South Philadelphia and the two-level store at 18th and Chestnut Streets will remain.

    In a statement, Gillespie said the company was “refocusing” Di Bruno’s market strategy on “the heart of the brand”: its Italian Market and Rittenhouse locations and “growing online business.” Concentrating on the two flagship stores and online business will be “a positive reset that allows us to preserve and elevate the in‑store tradition while growing the brand’s reach in meaningful new ways,” Gillespie said.

    Jobs will be offered to every retail employee, said a Sandy Brown, executive vice president of Di Bruno’s parent company, Brown’s Super Stores, the regional grocery chain founded by her husband. The news follows this week’s announcement that Amazon Fresh stores would close, putting about 1,000 people out of work at the six Philadelphia-area stores.

    The three affected stores share the same core Di Bruno’s DNA: cheese, charcuterie, and specialty groceries. The Ardmore Farmer’s Market location is the most “grab-and-go”: a compact counter where bagels and schmear, coffee, and quick bites sit alongside the cheese-and-cured-meat staples. Wayne is more of a full-on neighborhood market with the familiar cheese and charcuterie counters plus a cafe, Roman-style pizza, and an on-site bar for wines and small plates. The outpost at the Franklin, 834 Chestnut St., is the most Center City-practical and office-friendly. It has a coffee bar, sandwich shop, and petite bottle shop — suitable for lunch runs, last-minute gifts, and commuter provisions.

    The five Di Bruno’s stores were acquired in April 2024 by corporate entities controlled by Brown’s Super Stores. Six months later, Wakefern acquired the Di Bruno’s trademark and branded products.

    At the time, Wakefern said it expected to grow the Di Bruno brand and take it “to the next level.” In December 2024, Brown’s Super Stores said it planned to open an additional 12 to 15 Di Bruno stores in the coming decade.

    Wine and cheese at Di Bruno Bros. in South Philadelphia.

    Di Bruno’s is a unit of Wakefern, whose 45 member companies own and operate more than 380 retail supermarkets. The company generated $20.7 billion in retail sales during the 2025 fiscal year, a 3.1% increase over the prior year.

    The 2024 acquisition of Di Bruno Bros. turned heads in the grocery world, as the Brown family supermarkets like ShopRite and the Fresh Grocer operate in a considerably different fashion than Di Bruno’s specialty model.

    Italian immigrant brothers Danny and Joe Di Bruno opened the first Di Bruno’s store in Philadelphia’s Italian Market in 1939. The grandsons and nephews of the founders took over in 1990 and grew the brand. In 2005, the cousins opened the first store outside South Philadelphia at 18th and Chestnut Streets.

    Clarification: A comment from Sandy Brown, executive vice president of Brown’s Super Stores, was added to this article after publication to explain that affected Di Bruno’s employees would be offered other jobs.

  • McGlinchey’s Bar, which closed last summer, is now on the market

    McGlinchey’s Bar, which closed last summer, is now on the market

    McGlinchey’s Bar, which survived decades of shifting tastes, smoking laws, and disco, is now on the market, five months after its closing.

    The asking price for the property at 259 S. 15th St. is $2.45 million, according to the listing, which is being handled by Nadia Bilynsky and Dennis Carlisle of MPN Realty on behalf of the Sokol family, which has owned the building since 1968.

    Mourning McGlinchey’s: The regulars share memories

    The family is selling not only the century-old building — with bars on two floors and a vacant third floor — but its liquor license and the McGlinchey’s name.

    For generations of regulars, McGlinchey’s was known less for reinvention than for what it refused to give up: cash-only tabs, smoking long after most bars banned it, and prices that seemed detached from inflation. It seemed to outlast trends simply by ignoring them.

    And if walls could talk, McGlinchey’s would probably ask for another shot before answering.

    Its building, on 15th between Locust and Spruce Streets, opened in 1922. For the first decade, it housed offices for the Allen-Sherman-Hoff Co. In 1932, Joseph A. McGlinchey bought it, leasing the first floor to a book and gift store called the Odd Shop, opening McGlinchey’s Restaurant on the second floor, and living upstairs.

    The bar downstairs opened in the 1950s, and Henry Sokol purchased the business in 1968. In 1976, he converted the second floor into Top’s Bar, which began as a disco, later hosted music and poetry, and eventually became an extension of McGlinchey’s itself.

    Five decades ago, the neighborhood sat on the seam between old Center City grit and the city’s new, corporate face; the clientele continued to reflect a broad cross-section of society.

    Stained-glass windows inside of McGlinchey’s on Aug. 18, 2025.

    After Henry Sokol’s death in 1985 — the year construction began on One Liberty Place, the city’s first building taller than William Penn’s hat on City Hall — McGlinchey’s was passed along to sons Ronald and Sheldon.

    Ron Sokol died in 2022, and last summer’s closing was prompted by Sheldon’s retirement.

    “It was just time,” said Sandra Sokol, Ron’s widow.

    Sheldon Sokol was the daytime manager, while Sandra Sokol said she handled administrative work behind the scenes. Douglas Sokol, Ron and Sandra’s son, worked at the bar, too.

    McGlinchey’s owner Sheldon Sokol in a 2004 photo taken for “The Regulars,” a series by former bartender Sarah Stolfa, who went on to publish the collection in a book of the same name.

    For Sandra Sokol, the bar’s meaning extended well beyond its balance sheets. “We used to joke that we had two children, but McGlinchey’s was [Ron’s] third child,” she said. “It was that important to him. He was really responsible for what it became.”

    Under Henry Sokol, she said, the business began as a more traditional restaurant and gradually evolved. “When Ronnie began hiring art students as bartenders and waitstaff, that’s when it started to shift into something more edgy,” she said. “What it became wasn’t planned. It just morphed that way, the way family businesses often do.”

    Sign at McGlinchey’s.

    That evolution extended upstairs as well. Sandra Sokol recalled visiting Top’s in its early disco days. One night, her sister, visiting from out of town, was asked to dance by a man who turned out to be a carpenter, still wearing his tool belt — hammers and all — straight from work. “It was that kind of place,” she said. “Spontaneous, serendipitous moments.”

    Those moments, she said, added up to something larger. “People would often say — and I agreed — that it was like the experience of Cheers,” she said. “It was more than a bar. More than a business. It became an institution — and in many ways, an extension of our family.”

    Even the bar’s most controversial feature — smoking — was handled pragmatically. “It was a double-edged sword,” she said. “If they banned smoking, they might gain new customers, but they would lose longtime ones.”

    A Miller High Life on the bar inside McGlinchey’s on Aug. 18, 2025.

    When Ron Sokol died, former employees turned out for the memorial. “So many people who had worked at McGlinchey’s over the years came and told me how important the bar had been in their lives,” she said. “I’m not really talking about the business side — I’m talking about the presence it had in people’s lives.”

    Among its alumni was Fergus Carey, the serial Philadelphia bar owner, who got his start in the industry there, as did his business partner, Jim McNamara. Carey said they had considered putting in an offer on McGlinchey’s, “but at this point, Jim and I have let it go in our hearts. We met so many people there — people we worked with, people we served, people who became friends. It was an important steppingstone for both of us, professionally and personally. It’s a big part of our history in this business.”

    As the property changes hands, Sandra Sokol said she hopes its identity survives the transition. “I would really like it to remain McGlinchey’s and for a new owner to keep it as close as possible to what it was,” she said. “I especially feel that way because I know Ronnie would have wanted it to continue into the next chapter.”

  • Snow effects: Restaurant Week and Girl Scout cookie sales extended

    Snow effects: Restaurant Week and Girl Scout cookie sales extended

    The recent wintry weather has prompted the Center City District to extend Restaurant Week by four days and the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania to tack two weeks onto its cookie sales season.

    Center City District Restaurant Week

    The district announced Tuesday that all 122 participating restaurants were offered the option to extend the dining promotion — which had been slated to end on Jan. 31 — to Wednesday, Feb. 4.

    As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, about 70 restaurants had opted in, with additional confirmations expected throughout the week, said spokesperson Giavana Pruiti.

    Pruiti said she checked in with restaurants Sunday and Monday, and found that many had closed due to snow and hazardous travel. Those closures prompted the district to tack on extra days to the promotion, as it did for three days in January 2015 after a threatened snow that never materialized.

    Among the restaurants that have confirmed participation in the extension are Alice Pizza, Bank & Bourbon, Barbuzzo, Bolo, Buca D’Oro, Darling Jack’s Tavern, Dizengoff, P.J. Clarke’s, Rockwell & Rose, Samba Steakhouse, Sura Indian Bistro, Vita, and Wilder.

    The ceviche trio at Bolo.

    The district recommends customers check directly with restaurants to confirm operating hours, make reservations, and verify extensions. The most up-to-date list of extended participants is being updated on the Restaurant Week website, where individual restaurant pages will note whether they are offering menus through Feb. 4. A filter allowing diners to view only extended participants is expected to be added shortly.

    The dining deals include three-course dinners priced at $45 or $60; some restaurants offer $20 two-course lunches. The district has arranged discount parking for $10 or less at participating BexPark by Brandywine Realty Trust, LAZ Parking, and Philadelphia Parking Authority parking facilities from 4:45 p.m. to 1 a.m.

    Our favorite restaurant week dishes for 2026

    More chances to buy Girl Scout cookies

    The Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania last week announced that its cookie sales season would end March 22 “since a lot of cookie booths were snowed out and the temperatures look downright frigid this coming weekend.”

    The idea, it said in a statement to Scout leaders, is to “help keep all Girl Scouts safe from the elements and give them plenty of time to reach their Cookie Season goals.”

    This year marks the debut of a rocky road-inspired cookie called Exploremores. Toast-Yays, inspired by French toast, were “retired” (in Scout parlance) to make room for it.

    Only two bakeries in the U.S. are allowed to bake Girl Scout Cookies. Here’s where Philly’s cookies come from.
  • The dive bars we love | Let’s Eat

    The dive bars we love | Let’s Eat

    Our main feature this week is a roundup of Philly’s top dive bars — where we find cold beer, warm stories, and nothing curated. We’ve mapped them out for you.

    Also in this edition:

    — Mike Klein

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Our favorite dive bars

    A good dive bar doesn’t try to impress — it just pours a drink, remembers your face, and lets the night take care of itself. We asked for ideas and got 400 responses. Here are 20 favorites in Philly.

    Young chef(s) on the move

    To think that two years ago, culinary student RJ Smith was hosting four-seat dinners for friends. On Sunday, Smith begins a six-month chef’s residency at the Rittenhouse Hotel. Read on for the story — all the more remarkable when you realize that the creator of Ocho Supper Club is a 21-year-old college senior.

    🧑‍🍳 Alex Fiorello, 28, is taking over the shuttered Il Fiore in Bryn Mawr for his third suburban restaurant. Like the others, it will carry the Alessandro’s name.

    Cheesesteaks … in Tokyo

    There’s a little bit of Philly in Tokyo: a bar called Nihonbashi Philly, where the cheesesteak is the go-to sandwich. Critic Craig LaBan happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped for a bite.

    A perfect Philly day with the big cheese himself

    Our “Perfect Philly Day” series caught up with Emilio Mignucci of the Di Bruno Bros. family. His day revolves around cheese, but when lunchtime comes around, he heads to a stand that serves “the most succulent pork sandwich.”

    The best things we ate last week

    Now that we’ve dug out our sidewalks, we’re digging dishes, like these chewy, hand-pulled lagman noodles that wowed Craig LaBan. Meanwhile, Beatrice Forman found a pizza in Queen Village that is the real MVP and Patricia Madej capped off her meal in Kensington with caramel toast.

    Scoops

    Call Your Mother, a bagel shop and “Jew-ish” deli from D.C., is coming to Fishtown, and our Emily Bloch lox up the details: stuffed bagel sandwiches, babka muffins, and a special Philly menu item or two.

    Fergus Carey and Jim McNamara of Fergie’s Pub, the Jim, and the Goat Rittenhouse, are headed to Old City for a yet-to-be-named pub at the former Mac’s Tavern.

    Haraz Coffee House — the Yemeni coffee franchise that opened its third area location last week in a former Starbucks in Flourtown and will soon open in Marlton Crossing Shopping Center under a different ownership group — has a deal in Center City. It’s seeking zoning approval at 1822 Chestnut St., next door to Boyds.

    In other Rittenhouse little-treat news, I hear that Somedays Bakery out of Queens, N.Y., has signed a lease at the former Republic Bank at 16th and Walnut, on the 16th Street side.

    Restaurant report

    Greg Vernick is having a great week. He made the James Beard semifinals for Outstanding Restaurateur and he opened the cozy Emilia, an Italian restaurant in Kensington. (Shown above is the sea scallop crudo and burrata.) Walk-ins are welcome here; read on for the rundown.

    Shiroi Hana, one of Center City’s oldest Japanese restaurants, closed Saturday after 41 years at 222 S. 15th St. Owner Robert Moon, who bought it in 1998, has decamped to his other restaurant, Doma (1822 Callowhill St.), which opened in 2010.

    Briefly noted

    Thirteen chefs and restaurants are in the running for James Beard Awards. Mark your calendars for the announcement of the finalists on March 31.

    Honeysuckle chefs Omar Tate and Cybille St.Aude-Tate (on the Beard semifinalist list for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic) will host an evening with culinary historian Jessica B. Harris, who will sign her latest cookbook, Braided Heritage, on Thursday from 6 p.m. Passed hors d’oeuvres, developed by Honeysuckle chef de cuisine Taylor Renée Threadgill, will be served, including beef boulettes with gravy aioli, wild rice-and-mustard green cakes, salt cod fritters with tomato sauce, calas fritters, cornbread dressing with marinated crab, fried catfish bites, and peanut brittle. Harris’ bestselling High on the Hog was turned into a four-part Netflix docuseries in 2021. Tickets are $135pp, bookable on OpenTable.

    Front Street Café in Fishtown will host a vegan French dinner on Thursday, featuring a fully plant-based four-course menu (think brandade with nori-poached hearts of palm; salad Niçoise; grilled broccoli steak with turnip purée and black garlic molasses; and a pear crêpe dessert) and wine pairings with each course. It’s $65pp plus 20% gratuity and 2% service charge. Reservations (required) are up on OpenTable.

    Milk Jawn will mark Ice Cream for Breakfast Day starting at 9 a.m. Feb. 7 at their East Passyunk and Northern Liberties locations with flights featuring four limited-edition, cereal-centric flavors for $12.50 apiece.

    Northern Liberties Restaurant Week is on through Feb. 8 with two dozen restos offering two-course (or more) lunches for $10, $15 and/or $20 and three-course (or more) dinners for $25, $35 and/or $45. Details are here.

    The Muhibbah Dinner series, founded by Ange Branca of Kampar, returns Feb. 16 from 6-9 p.m. at BLDG39 at the Arsenal, 5401 Tacony St. The family-style, multicourse charity dinner, benefiting Puentes de Salud, features Branca alongside chef Yun Fuentes (Bolo), Natalia Lepore Hagan (Midnight Pasta), Brizna Rojas and Aldo Obando (Mucho Peru), Enaas Sultan (Haraz Coffee House Fishtown), and David Suro (Tequilas and La Jefa). It’s BYOB. Tickets are $170pp and available here.

    Uchi will partner its Philly chef de cuisine, Ford Sonnenberg, with chef Marc Vetri to host a one-night, nine-course dinner on Feb. 26 blending Vetri Cucina and Uchi sensibilities. Highlights include A5 wagyu cheesesteak corzetti, pesce marinato with squid, shrimp, and scallop, smoked duck breast riso al salto, kurodai sashimi, and turnip nerui. A few à la carte items, including Vetri’s rigatoni, will be available. It’s $175pp plus tax/tip, with staggered seatings from 4 p.m. bookable on Uchi’s website; a portion of proceeds benefits Vetri Community Partnership.

    Cricket Club in Cape May will host a one-night, five-course pop-up dinner on March 1 honoring the cooking of the late local chef Joe Lotozo, with all proceeds benefiting the Cape May Food Bank. The menu ($188pp) revisits several of Lotozo’s specials from his time circa 1988 at the Bayberry Inn, the Congress Hall restaurant now known as the Blue Pig Tavern. Organized by his children, Eliza and Bo Lotozo — who, along with family and friends, will handle service — the dinner will be cooked by Lotozo’s former sous chef, Chris Shriver, a onetime Cape May restaurateur. The event is supported by the Cricket Club and its sister restaurant, the Mad Batter, where Lotozo, who died in 2018 at age 64, began his cooking career in the early 1970s and met his wife, Susan. Details are here.

    ❓Pop quiz

    A Southwest Philadelphia strip club is attracting attention for what?

    A) the better-than-sex cake

    B) naked fries

    C) naughty topiaries

    D) the strip-steak special

    Find out if you know the answer.

    Ask Mike anything

    Foodie living in Blue Bell here. I noted that you mentioned new places in Chestnut Hill and Fort Washington but I have not heard of any new or exciting places nearby. I don’t understand why in an affluent place like this there is such a boring array of restaurants. I frequent the old standards here and in Ambler, but nothing is really exciting, fresh, or new. Why? My theory is that Blue Bell is charming but has no real town center but rather two small shopping centers at Routes 202 and 73. — Bob

    Several factors may be at work, including your theory. Blue Bell, a slice of Whitpain Township, isn’t as walkable or dense as towns such as Ambler, Conshohocken, and Ardmore. Also, real estate is tight and expensive for independents, with few second-generation restaurant spaces to recycle and landlords seeking high rent and long-term leases. Labor is tougher in much of the burbs, where restaurants compete with hospitals, schools, corporate jobs, and other retailers for the same workforce. Also, customer patterns skew toward “known quantities” — e.g. chains. (Hence, the new Wonder in Centre Square Commons.) That makes opening a new independent restaurant feel riskier.

    Plus, much of the demand is already met — but spread out, as Blue Bellians already drive the 10 to 20 minutes to Conshy, Ambler, Skippack, Wayne, or King of Prussia, siphoning “destination dining” energy.

    Though not new, my own favorites include Blue Bell Inn, Radice, Saath Indian Grill, Su20 Sushi, and El Serape. While we’re at it, my kids are addicted to the fried chicken at Lovebird. And keep an eye on Fort Washington, where Academy Grill is taking shape st Cantina Feliz’s former location, as well as Ambler, where Dettera will give way this spring to a Mediterranean concept.

    📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

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  • At Kensington’s newest restaurant, chef Greg Vernick goes Italian

    At Kensington’s newest restaurant, chef Greg Vernick goes Italian

    Chefs’ travels inspire their menus — for example, the konbini in Japan that Jesse Ito and Justin Bacharach visited for Dancerobot and the trattorias in Italy that Stephen Starr’s team scouted for Borromini, to name two just in the last year.

    For Greg Vernick, the culinary inspiration for his first new restaurant in 6½ years — the casual Emilia, opening Tuesday in Kensington — was from a trip to Rome a few months ago with Meredith Medoway, Emilia’s chef de cuisine, and Drew Parrasio, culinary director for his restaurants.

    The bar at Emilia in Kensington.

    “I’ve been to Rome before, but never as a chef traveling with other chefs,” said Vernick, who was named last week to the James Beard Awards’ 2026 list of semifinalists for Outstanding Restaurateur. (The Cherry Hill native won Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic for Vernick Food & Drink in 2017.)

    Before they left, Vernick called chef friends like Marc Vetri, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Hope Cohen for recommendations: “Where do I need to eat? Street food, markets, trattorias, all of it.”

    Carta di musica with butter, bottarga, and roasted chili at Emilia.

    Emilia’s must-try dish came from a culinary school. Cohen’s suggestions included the American Academy in Rome. “We walked up one day thinking we’d just say hello and ended up spending the entire day there,” Vernick said. “They grow their own herbs and produce. We were eating arugula straight from the ground, picking rosemary and thyme — it felt cinematic.” Chef Sara Levi, who oversees the academy’s program, asked the three to join the students for the day’s family meal.

    “One of the dishes was a simple chicken ragù pasta — hand-cut chicken, livers, hearts, very little sauce,” Vernick said. “Light, savory, a little gamey. We didn’t even talk much while we were eating it. Later, walking back into central Rome, we all realized: That was one of the best pastas we had on the trip, and we’d eaten three to five pastas a day for three days.”

    Chefs Meredith Medoway and Greg Vernick at Emilia.

    Back home in Vernick’s kitchen, they tweaked it to “just honor the idea,” Vernick said. It’s on the opening menu as “rigatoni, ragù bianco.” It’s also Emilia’s lone chicken dish — a somewhat daring move.

    Emilia, just north of the York Street roundabout on Frankford Avenue, seats 60 in the dining room, with an additional 10 seats at the bar and 20 in a lounge area; in keeping with Vernick’s desire to make this a neighborhood place, some tables are held for walk-ins.

    Canno Design’s Carey Jackson Yonce, working with California-based designer Bob Bronstein, has the lighting set to “subdued.”

    “I wanted it to feel like the kind of place where you walk in and exhale and relax,” Vernick said. “Industry-friendly, not precious. We want to hit two markets from day one: the neighborhood and the industry. If you get those right, everything else falls into place.”

    Arranged flowers in the dining room at Emilia.

    Italian is a new turn for Vernick, who started here in 2012 with the New American Vernick Food & Drink before adding Vernick Coffee Bar in 2018 and Vernick Fish in 2019. The developers of Emilia’s building were keen on having an Italian restaurant, and Vernick’s thoughts naturally turned to Medoway, the longtime chef de cuisine at his flagship.

    The bar program focuses exclusively on Italy, with low-intervention wines, amari, spritzes, and a rotating seasonal negroni, along with Italian sodas and zero-proof cocktails.

    Sea scallop crudo and burrata at Emilia.

    Much of the menu is coursed and priced as smaller plates (figure teens and $20s). The few entree-sized dishes, such as golden tilefish ribollita and grilled sea bream, start in the high $30s; top price is $53 for crispy veal with broccoli di ciccio.

    There’s other house-made pasta on the menu, such as capellini with pesto, and radiatore in mushroom Bolognese. Much of Medoway’s cooking is centered on a 48-inch charcoal- and oak-fired grill. Each table receives complimentary breads — house-made focaccia, Mighty Bread’s sesame ciabatta, and the thin bread sticks known as grissini.

    The bar area at Emilia.

    Another anchor main course dish is rabbit Emiliana, a regional take on cacciatore from Emilia-Romagna that Medoway devised after a trip of her own. The braised rabbit is finished with roasted peppers, green olives, fresh orange, and vinegar, giving it a punchy, slightly sweet-sour profile.

    Several smaller plates lean into texture and contrast. Carta da musica, a paper-thin Sardinian cracker, is spread with soft butter, dusted with grated bottarga, and topped with a relish of fire-roasted peppers. You crack it at the table and share the shards. “It’s about breaking bread together,” Vernick said.

    A sea scallop crudo pairs raw scallop with burrata and a caper-chili vinaigrette, a combination Vernick said surprises people at first because of the similar textures. “It works, though,” he said. “It’s simple but exciting.” Grilled cabbage, blanched and then charred over the wood fire, is tossed with a colatura vinaigrette and finished with pecorino. “It reads ‘boring,’ but it eats incredibly well,” he said.

    Emilia, 2406 Frankford Ave., 267-541-2360, emiliaphilly.com. Reservations open on Resy. Hours: 5 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday, 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday to Saturday.

  • How 21-year-old chef RJ Smith went from cooking dorm dinner parties to a Rittenhouse restaurant residency

    How 21-year-old chef RJ Smith went from cooking dorm dinner parties to a Rittenhouse restaurant residency

    Less than two years ago, RJ Smith was cooking elaborate tasting menus for four people in his Drexel University dorm room. Now, the 21-year-old chef is about to step onto a far bigger stage: a 120-seat restaurant overlooking Rittenhouse Square.

    Smith’s Ocho Supper Club will begin a six-month residency at the Rittenhouse Hotel on Feb. 1, taking over the Scarpetta space ahead of construction on the Ruxton, a steakhouse from Atlas Restaurant Group due to open in 2027. Ocho’s run is expected to continue through July 26 — a month after Smith graduates from Drexel’s culinary program.

    Atlantic cod on the Ocho Supper Club tasting menu at the Rittenhouse Hotel.

    Ocho blends Afro-Caribbean flavors and fine-dining techniques. Since its premiere in April 2024, it has become one of Philadelphia’s most-subscribed underground dining experiences, solidly booking venues including Forin Cafe, Fitler Club, Yanaga Kappo Izakaya, and Bolo.

    Lanky and soft-spoken, Smith tours the dining room during each seating, explaining the menu, pouring sauces, and telling his story.

    Restaurant shakeup at the Rittenhouse

    At the Rittenhouse, Ocho will offer a $130 eight-course tasting menu upstairs and a walk-in bar downstairs with à la carte options. James Beard Award-winning drinks author Danny Childs is developing a cocktail program centered on fermentation-driven and tradition-based Caribbean drinks. (The hotel’s Lacroix Restaurant is unaffected by the residency.)

    The residency marks another “pinch me” moment for Smith, a Bay Area native who has cooked in Michelin-starred kitchens including Californios in San Francisco, Core by Clare Smyth in London, and Philadelphia’s own Provenance, as well as Jean-Georges at the Four Seasons and Royal Izakaya. Last fall, NBC’s Today show profiled Smith in a segment and brought on one of his idols, chef Daniel Boulud, who offered him a day in the kitchen of his New York City flagship, Daniel.

    Smith launched Ocho as a sophomore, offering a six-course tasting menu for $35. “For the longest time, we were losing money every service,” he said. “But I saw it as a long-term investment.”

    (He’s not the first Philadelphia chef to get their start via elaborate dorm-room dinners: Chef Amanda Shulman regularly hosted five-course dinners in her West Philly apartment while studying at the University of Pennsylvania; the meals eventually paved the way for the now-Michelin-starred Her Place Supper Club.)

    As word spread, Smith moved Ocho off campus, upgrading to a $65 experience served at a six-seat table he had bought for $200 on Facebook Marketplace. By last summer, Ocho had segued into pop-ups, backed by a small core group of friends and restaurant professionals, including an assistant chef, Sokona Diallo, and pastry chef Marly Gates.

    Chef RJ Smith working in the kitchen at the Rittenhouse Hotel to prepare for a photo shoot.

    “We’ve been consistently trying to operate as close to a true restaurant as we can without having a brick-and-mortar space,” Smith said.

    Ocho caught the attention of Gregg Skowronski, managing director of the Rittenhouse Hotel, who attended one of Smith’s dinners — after being shut out by sell-outs three times.

    Chef RJ Smith runs Philly’s hottest supper club

    “When I finally went, I was blown away by his charisma, his talent, and the food,” Skowronski said. “But what really impressed me was watching him run the kitchen — seeing what he was able to produce with such limited equipment honestly blew my mind.”

    After that dinner, Skowronski called Smith to float the idea of bringing Ocho to the hotel to fill the gap between Scarpetta and the Ruxton.

    “What he’s doing is truly unique in the city,” Skowronski said. “I felt it could elevate our culinary program and open the Rittenhouse up to a more modern Philadelphian audience.”

    Chef RJ Smith pours a sauce on the jerked duck at the Rittenhouse Hotel.

    Smith said he was stunned by the call. “The fact that he believed in me and my team enough to invite us into that space and say, ‘Do what you do and make it work,’ meant a lot,” he said.

    His team includes Alex Ifill, a Four Seasons alumna who handles the front of house. (She said she slid into Smith’s DMs several months ago to offer to oversee service.) The hotel is also supporting Smith with staffing, Skowronski said.

    The opening menu starts with an amuse-bouche or two, then segues from kanpachi to mole negro, Atlantic cod, and jerked duck, and finishes with a black cocoa tart and petits fours. Smith describes the experience as a journey through flavor, richness, and spice, shaped by his team’s African and Caribbean backgrounds and relationships with regional farmers and fishermen.

    Chef RJ Smith as a boy with his grandmother, Rusty Keilch.

    Smith credits the Oakland home of his maternal grandmother, Rusty Keilch, as the place where he first connected to cooking and hospitality.

    “Whenever we went there, everything revolved around food,” Smith said. “That’s where I really understood the importance of a home base — of sitting down to a home-cooked meal and feeling the care that comes through it.”

    But a trip to Jamaica at age 16 inspired both Ocho’s name and its approach. That’s where he got in touch with his father’s Afro-Caribbean heritage as well as the diverse food scene of Ocho Rios.

    Smith chose Drexel so he could learn the business side of hospitality.

    “I was 17, working at a two-Michelin-star restaurant, and everyone told me I was crazy for wanting to go to culinary school,” he said. “But I always felt there was something more than just being behind the line.”

    Ocho remains entirely self-funded, with every dollar reinvested into the operation. “We’re not printing money,” Smith said. “But we’re floating, and that’s gotten us here.”

    After the residency, Smith plans to open a permanent Philadelphia restaurant within 12 to 18 months; he is scouting locations near Rittenhouse Square. For now, besides the residency, his focus is on finishing school.

    “I graduate in June,” he said. “My family is coming to Philly for the first time, and I’m excited for them to finally experience what we do.”

    Chef RJ Smith in the dining room of what will be the Ocho Supper Club residency at the Rittenhouse Hotel.
  • This 28-year-old is about to open his third restaurant in the Philly suburbs

    This 28-year-old is about to open his third restaurant in the Philly suburbs

    Main Line restaurateur Alessandro “Alex” Fiorello — who is slowly growing a suburban Italian portfolio, with a Wayne osteria and West Chester pizzeria — is preparing to open a new, bar-forward concept at Bryn Mawr Village, 915 Lancaster Ave.

    The Bryn Mawr space, which opened in 2022 as the short-lived Marc Vetri-operated Fiore Rosso, most recently was Il Fiore. It closed last month.

    The bar at Fiore Rosso in Bryn Mawr, which was operating most recently as Il Fiore. It closed at the end of 2025.

    The new project will sit at the top of Fiorello’s three-tier restaurant lineup. His Wayne restaurant, Alessandro’s Wood Fired Italian, opened in 2020 as an upscale-casual neighborhood osteria with a strong takeout business and a busy dining room. Alessandro’s Pizzeria, which the self-taught chef opened in April, is positioned as a casual lunch and slice shop serving pizza, cheesesteaks, and salads.

    Fiorello grew up in the restaurant business. His father ran Fiorella’s Café in West Chester, while his mother’s family operated pizza shops in New York. Raised in Brooklyn, Fiorello worked in kitchens from a young age before returning to Chester County as a teenager.

    Fiorello said Enoteca Alessandro’s or Alessandro’s Enoteca were in the running for the name of the new Bryn Mawr spot.

    Fiorello, who said he is backed by investors, plans to maintain the restaurant’s industrial look, adding that the restaurant’s solid infrastructure would allow for a relatively fast turnaround.

    Dining room at Alessandro’s Wood Fired Italian, 133 N. Wayne Ave. in Wayne.

    “This new place will be a step up from Wayne,” Fiorello said. “Still approachable but more bar-focused, with a great bar scene.”

    The menu will remain Italian at its core, built around house-made pasta, wood-fired pizzas, and a wood-fired grill, with several signature dishes from Alessandro’s Wood Fired Italian carrying over. The new kitchen will also feature dry-aged proteins, using on-site aging refrigerators inherited with the space, and may incorporate subtle Japanese influences, including a small number of sushi-style items.

  • Philly bar legend ‘Fergie’ Carey is taking over Mac’s Tavern in Old City

    Philly bar legend ‘Fergie’ Carey is taking over Mac’s Tavern in Old City

    Fergus Carey, arguably Philadelphia’s best-known barman, is expanding his empire.

    Carey and business partner Jim McNamara, who own the popular Fergie’s Pub in Washington Square West, the Jim in South Philadelphia, and the Goat Rittenhouse, are taking over the shuttered Mac’s Tavern at 226 Market St. in Old City.

    Fergus Carey (left) and Jim McNamara, longtime business partners, at the Jim in 2022.

    Mac’s — whose ownership roster included the South Philadelphia-raised actor Rob Mac (the former Rob McElhenney) and his wife, Kaitlin Olson, of TV’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame — closed last summer after 15 years.

    Carey said the name was not final, but the concept will be a Celtic pub with Irish-Scottish food — “our usual stuff.” Opening is penciled in for the spring. He described the work ahead of them as “more of a cleanup and opening up than a full renovation.” They want to open at noon weekdays but earlier on the weekends for European sporting events.

    Carey has spent three decades shaping the city’s bar culture. Known to generations of Philadelphians simply as Fergie, his trademarks are his Irish accent, an encyclopedic memory for names, and a knack for turning strangers into regulars.

    Born in Dublin and raised on the city’s north side, Carey left for the United States in 1987 at age 24, armed with a background in hospitality and fast-food management, including a stint running a fast-food shop called Burgerland. His first U.S. stop was Houston, but he left after a few weeks because, he said, he hated it. He likes to tell the story that he arrived in Philadelphia on a Saturday night and started a job at the Cherry Hill Mall food court at 9 the next morning.

    He landed behind the bar at McGlinchey’s on 15th Street, quickly earning a reputation as a natural host.

    In 1994, Carey and business partner Wajih Abed opened Fergie’s Pub at the old Hoffman House on Sansom Street in Washington Square West, at a time when Center City nightlife was thin and new bar openings were rare. The pub’s easygoing, come-as-you-are atmosphere helped spark a revival of the neighborhood’s drinking scene.

    Abed died of cancer in 2017.

    Carey went on to play a role in launching some of the city’s most influential beer destinations, including Monk’s Café, the Belgian Café, and Grace Tavern — each helping introduce Philadelphia to Belgian ales and European café culture long before craft beer became mainstream. He also ran Nodding Head Brewery and the Fairview.