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Category: Food

  • Where to feast on seven fishes (or seven other things) this holiday season

    Where to feast on seven fishes (or seven other things) this holiday season

    The feast of the seven fishes, or festa dei sette pesci, has its roots in post-World War II immigration to America, when Southern Italians imported the tradition of La Vigilia — a Christmas Eve feast with no meat. La Vigilia, with its traditional consumption of baccalà, spaghetti alle vongole, and vegetables, has adapted to what we know here as an hourslong dinner with seven (more or less) fish dishes, a number that may refer to the seven sacraments.

    But the feast of the seven fishes has undergone another evolution. It is now readily embraced by chefs who specialize in other cuisines, and who sometimes take the emphasis off fish. Like Christmas itself, the feast of the seven fishes has in many cases been shifted away from its religious origins, and they now also frequently occur several days prior to Christmas Eve.

    Reservations have been going quickly for these elaborate holiday meals, and some are already sold out, like the feast at Fiorella (you can add yourself to the waitlist). Here are 12 restaurants in Philly serving special menus, celebrating the feast of seven whatevers (mostly fishes). This list isn’t comprehensive, so if you miss out on one of these reservations, keep your eye out on Philly restaurants’ Instagram pages for other feasting opportunities.

    Bastia

    Chef Tyler Akin will be serving a Sardinian-inflected feast of the seven fishes at Bastia on Dec. 21 and 22 for $125 per person, with an optional $85 beverage pairing. “We are really excited about the dishes, especially the malloreddus with pesto Genovese, swordfish, and gremolata; these are tiny Sardinian gnocchi that is a mainstay of the holidays.” Akin also promises squid ink risotto with blue crab, Calabrian chili butter, and bottarga — a dish “which truly tastes like the sea,” he said — as well as oysters with house sun-dried gooseberry mignonette. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

    1401 E. Susquehanna Ave., 267-651-0269, bastiafishtown.com

    Bistro Romano

    Bistro Romano is offering two seven fishes set menu options: one for people who want all the fish (“seven fishes tasting menu”), and others who may want to partake in the festivities but are fish-averse (“pasta & turf tasting menu”). For those who are all about the fish, the dinner commences with frutti di mare, leads into pastas like lobster ravioli and fettuccine with bay scallops and baby shrimp, crescendoes with swordfish and branzino, and ends on a tiramisu finale. For those who are anti-fish, expect veal, New York strip steak, sausage rigatoni, and bucatini with duck ragu. Both menus are $89 per person and do not include tax or gratuity. They are only offered on Christmas Eve, when Bistro Romano’s a la carte menu is otherwise not available. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

    120 Lombard St., 215-925-8880, bistroromano.com

    Chef Joe Cicala sautés blue crabs as he shows how to make spaghetti alla chitarra with crab at his restaurant, Cicala at the Divine Lorraine, in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

    Cicala

    This is the first year that Cicala will be serving a seven fishes dinner. “Angela and I believe Christmas Eve is more fun and exciting compared to Christmas Day so we usually close in order to give our staff (and ourselves) the ability to spend it with our families,” said chef Joe Cicala. “However, this year we completely forgot to turn off the reservations and when we went to do so, it turned out that we were almost fully booked. So it looks like we are staying open this year.” Cicala’s entire a la carte menu will be available on Christmas Eve, along with a “menu fisso” of five courses utilizing seven different fish (price TBD). They are still working out the full details, but reservations can be made on Resy.

    699 N. Broad St., 267-886-9334, cicalarestaurant.com

    Heavy Metal Sausage Co. owners Patrick Alfiero (left) and Melissa Pellegrino prepare for the Thursday night trattoria dinner on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.

    Heavy Metal Sausage

    South Philly’s Heavy Metal Sausage leans hard into seven fishes, so much so that for years they’ve been hosting feasts of “more than seven fishes.” This year, there are five nights of such extravagant dinners, featuring “more than 12 dishes, more than seven fishes,” from Dec. 18 to 22, with two seatings per night (6 and 8:30 p.m.). A seat at this bonanza goes for $150 per person; gluten and seafood allergies cannot be accommodated, and tickets cannot be refunded or rescheduled. Bookings can be made on Square.

    1527 W. Porter St., no phone, heavymetalsausage.com

    Yun Fuentes and R.J. Smith team up for a Caribbean approach to the Feast of the Seven Fishes at Bolo.

    Bolo

    This holiday season, Bolo chef Yun Fuentes is welcoming chef R.J. Smith of Ocho Supper Club for a one-night-only Siete Mares, a Caribbean interpretation of the feast of the seven fishes. It will be 7 p.m. on Dec. 16 for $150 per person. Expect hamachi ceviche with scotch bonnet-passion fruit salsa and uni, lobster curry rellenos, red snapper escovitch, and an island-inspired version of surf and turf, or mar y montaña: roasted suckling pig and seafood rice with clams, calamari, and squid ink sofrito. There will also be an Ocho Happy Hour in Bolo’s first-floor rum bar from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Reservations can be made on OpenTable.

    2025 Sansom St., 267-639-2741, bolophl.com

    Farina Di Vita

    Queen Village sandwich shop Farina Di Vita is running a seven fishes catering menu until Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. or until they sell out of their fried smelts, jumbo lump crab cakes, mussel gravy, salmon piccata, shrimp cocktail, Thai chili salmon, and calamari salad. Get them all or get them a la carte. Orders must be placed over the phone (ask to speak with Jason).

    250 Catharine St., 267-639-5185, instagram.com/farinadivita

    Vernick Fish

    Vernick Fish will be celebrating the feast of the seven fishes on Dec. 23 and 24 with a five-course, family-style menu for $195 per person. It includes tuna crudo, bay scallop crudo, and the Tuscan flatbread schiacciata, with osetra caviar, to start. Expect octopus skewers, fritto misto, white mussels, squid ink spaghetti, and whole roasted branzino with blue crab. A la carte options will be available at the bar. Reservations can be made on OpenTable.

    1 N. 19th St., 215-419-5055, vernickfish.com

    Tulip Pasta and Wine Bar

    Chef Jason Cichonski’s Tulip Pasta and Wine Bar will be serving their seven fishes dinner on Dec. 22 and 23 for $100 per person with an optional $55 wine pairing. The menu includes tuna carpaccio, mussel toast, prawns, baked clams, crab ravioli, squid ink pasta, black bass, and fried chocolate ravioli with gingerbread ice cream for dessert. Reservations can be made on Resy.

    2302 E. Norris St., 267-773-8189, tulippasta.com

    The “snack” course of Messina Social Club’s Feast of the Seven Fishes tasting menu in 2024.

    Messina Social Club

    Semi-private Messina Social Club, also by Jason Cichonski, with chef Eddie Konrad, is offering a six-course seven fishes tasting menu on Dec. 21, 22, and 23 for $135 per person. “There will be plays on traditional dishes, like last year we did an octopus bolognese and a series of ‘snacks.’ We always do more than seven actual fishes,” said Konrad. For dessert, Konrad has been working on a “terrine-a-misu,” consisting of ladyfingers in an “amaro-based soak that I stack, layer, press, and cut like a cake and serve with a whipped mascarpone.” Reservations can be made on Resy.

    1533 S. 10th St., 267-928-4152, messinasocialclub.com

    Fork

    Fork’s feast of the seven fishes occurs only on Christmas Eve. It’s $125 per person, not inclusive of tax and a 20% service charge. Courses include brandade toast, crispy Prosecco-battered smelts, two handmade pastas, and a choice of a family-style entree for two, like a whole roasted branzino. There will also be additional starter options for $22 each, such as fluke crudo with a brown butter pear vinaigrette and half a dozen oysters on the half shell. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

    306 Market St., 215-625-9425, forkrestaurant.com

    Liz Grothe speaks to guests at the friends and family opening of Scampi in Queen Village.

    Scampi

    Scampi in Queen Village may be named for one of those potential fishes, but chef Liz Grothe’s signature move at the holidays — this is the third year — is to serve a feast of the seven pastas, featuring lots of fishes. The menu is available on Dec. 23 (Dec. 22’s dinner is sold out), with dinner starting at 6:30 p.m. Reservations must be made via Google form, which cautions, “Do not let the lucky number seven fool you, this is at least a nine-course dinner and it takes about 2.5 hours. This is as ritzy as it gets for us.” It’s $150 per person and BYOB. Menu includes Grothe’s Caesar toast, lorighittas (small Sardinian ring-shaped pastas) with calamari and peas, spaghetti gamberi crudo (raw shrimp), smoked trout culurgiones, clam chowder gnocchi, and tiramisu for dessert.

    617 S. Third St., no phone, scampiphilly.com

    Percy owner Seth Kligerman, Percy chef Jack Smith, and Fishtown Pickle owners Niki Toscani and Mike Sicinski.

    Fishtown Pickle Project x Percy

    Fishtown Pickles will be hosting its feast of the seven pickles for the fifth year on Dec. 16 with two seatings, at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. It will be held at Kensington restaurant Percy, which recently rebranded as a diner, and thus this will be a “Diner Edition” of the celebration. Tickets are $105 per person, with $10 per ticket going to Sharing Excess. The menu is a collaboration between Percy chef Jack Smith and Fishtown Pickle Project co-founder Mike Sicinski. There will be a Hanukkah nod of a deviled egg and latke with smoked fish and pickle slaw, pumpkin soup with winter squash kimchi, corned pork belly with sweet onion pickle glaze, fermented red cabbage kraut and rye bread gremolata, antipasto made with Fishtown Pickle Dip, and a pickle-brined chicken schnitzel. In Percy’s Sound Lounge, there will be a Pickle Sundae Bar with wet walnuts (made with fermented honey), tea-pickled golden raisins, hot fudge, whipped sour cream, and fermented fruit. If the main event sells out, you can still participate in the Pickle Sundae Bar by purchasing tickets on Fishtown Pickle Project’s website.

    Percy Diner and Bar, 1700 N. Front St., 215-975-0020, percyphl.com

  • The best things we ate this week

    The best things we ate this week

    All Philly Hot Honey from Philadelphia Bee Co.

    Unlike Mike’s Hot Honey, the unsubtle chili-fired condiment whose bold heat has become a sticky fixture in local pizzerias, there’s a sneakier, more natural spice to Don’s All Philly Hot Honey. That Don would be Don Shump, who’s not only the city’s most fearless bee beard model, but also the talented apiarist behind the Philadelphia Bee Co., whose locally harvested honey is in the midst of a brick-and-mortar pop-up run through the holidays in the Old City storefront annex to the Franklin Fountain. I’ve enjoyed this hot honey because it’s infused with fresh habaneros, whose fruity heat swarms more than stings, with a warm afterglow that doesn’t obscure the high quality of the honey itself. It’s just one of several unique products harvested from hives across the city for sale at Don and Amanda Shump’s new store.

    There’s earthy “Doom Bloom” honey that’s smoky from contact with spotted lantern flies, as well as complex and distinctive honeys harvested from specific neighborhoods, including a newly released Old City edition gathered from wildflowers within buzzing distance of the Franklin Fountain’s rooftop apiary. In addition, there are hive-shaped candles, T-shirt merch, a honey soap collaboration with Vellum Street for various bars in tempting scents like hot toddy or “smoker fuel,” and even bee-themed dog toys that our pooch is obsessed with. When it comes sweet local food gifts, this is indeed, as the Shumps like to say, your “hive for the holidays.” Philadelphia Bee Co., 112 Market St. or online at philadelphiabee.com

    — Craig LaBan

    Sticky bun with amari gelato from Paffuto

    Sticky bun with amari gelato from Paffuto

    A spontaneous Friday date night led my partner and me to Paffuto for a last-minute chef’s counter reservation we nabbed. The entire meal, from the bright eggplant parm with fresh basil to the tuna crudo with Granny Smith apples, was just what we were looking for. But the unexpected star was a new dessert Paffuto is workshopping: their dayside pillowy sticky bun, warmed and topped with a heaping scoop of amari gelato made specially for the restaurant by Philly-based Cocco’s Gelato. The result is yeasty, boozy, herbal, and rich with a kiss of Fernet-Branca. I can’t wait to eat it again. Paffuto, 1009 S. Eighth St., 215-282-7262, paffutophl.com

    — Emily Bloch

    Turmeric chicken curry with rice and garlic naan at Turmeric Indian Kitchen, 1240 Spring Garden St., on Nov. 15, 2025.

    Turmeric chicken curry at Turmeric Indian Kitchen

    Handry Carvalho, who last worked at Saffron Indian Cuisine in Bala Cynwyd, is from Mumbai. Saurabh Kedwadkar, who last worked at Thanal near Logan Square, is from Karnataka, so there’s a bit of a north-south thing going at their new, casually elegant Turmeric Indian Kitchen at 13th and Spring Garden Streets (the former Satay Bistro). On these chilly days, I defy you to find a more belly-warming dish than the signature Turmeric chicken curry, reminiscent of spicy Mangalorean gassi, with cubed chicken in a rich gravy of onion, tomato, curry leaves, and mustard seed. Just as hearty is the dal makhani, the creamy Punjabi specialty of whole black lentils and red kidney beans cooked with spices, butter, and cream. Order both, spoon them over basmati rice, and get a side of garlic naan to swipe up any remaining sauce. Turmeric Indian Kitchen, 1240 Spring Garden St., 215-933-0430, turmericphilly.com

    — Michael Klein

    The celebratory sardine parcel special at American Sardine Bar.

    Sardine parcel from American Sardine Bar

    If there’s one thing American Sardine Bar doesn’t mess around with, it’s a party. And they especially love a theme party. So it was only sensible to order the entire menu of specials for their Night of the Sardine 14th anniversary and Thanksgiving eve block party. Chef Andrew Douglas’ sardine escabeche and sardine-stuffed peppers featured bright bites of pickled sardines, Castelvetrano olives, and piquillo peppers. But the star of the show was the sardine parcel: an envelope of flaky phyllo dough stuffed with artichokes and spinach, parmesan, ricotta salata, and — you guessed it — more sardines. The grown-up spanakopita prompted me to text my Greek bestie and her sister about it. They’d like a bite, so hopefully Douglas runs this one back. American Sardine Bar, 1800 Federal St., 215-334-2337, americansardinebar.com

    — Emily Bloch

  • La Maison Jaune brings French pastries to Fitler Square

    La Maison Jaune brings French pastries to Fitler Square

    For almost two years, Zahra Saeed ruminated on opening a French-style cafe that combined her two passions: delicious food and beautiful design.

    “I just love French bakeries,” said the Pakistani real estate developer, who travels to France often and fell in love with the country’s architecture and cafe culture. Six months ago, she decided to begin construction for a cafe at one of her properties in Philadelphia.

    La Maison Jaune offers pastries and hot drinks, like chocolate chaud and lattes.

    Just four weeks after its opening, La Maison Jaune is bustling with customers seeking macarons and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) from the corner shop at 22nd and Rittenhouse Square.

    The 420-square-foot cafe, marked by a bright yellow sign, is outfitted with a black-and-white checkered marble floor and large and small ornate mirrors decorated with floral arrangements. Staff help customers navigate a display case lined with classically French pastries: Think palm-sized, salted caramel- and chocolate-filled macarons de Nancy (chewy almond cookies from Nancy, France, that predate their daintier, more commonly available cousin), crumbly financiers (mini almond cakes) topped with raspberries and blueberries, and glazed lemon madeleines.

    An array of large, creamy quiches sit atop the case. Delicate China mugs are filled with rich chocolat chaud, lattes made with Rival Bros. coffee, and house-made specialty matchas. As French music plays in the background, folks nestle into the plush couches and armchairs, as well as comfy barstools pulled up to the window counters overlooking the Center City corner.

    Sitting by the window, Alessia-Daria Mazza said the pastries reminded her of home. The foreign exchange intern from Paris, who lives in Rittenhouse, recently visited the cafe after seeing it on Instagram.

    The interior was designed by owner Zahra Saeed.

    “I love the fact that there is French music,” she said. “You can find quiches and madeleines. I’ve tried the pecan pie and it’s really like one you can find in a good French patisserie.”

    The Fitler Square cafe is just the first step in a larger business venture, Saeed said.

    Pastries are currently made by an in-house chef at a rented commercial kitchen in South Philly. Saeed hopes to build out her own commercial kitchen space and assemble a larger team of pastry chefs to reach her ultimate goal: wholesale La Maison Jaune pastries across the city, plus one more cafe. (Her second space — a 1,500-square-foot Fairmount storefront inside another one of her properties — is currently under construction.)

    “I’m trying to build the La Maison Jaune brand — anybody, wherever they go, they know they can pick up our macarons, financiers, and they know it’ll be the same,” she said.

    Taking on her first food business venture has come with some challenges.

    Before the construction began on the Rittenhouse cafe, Saeed encountered pushback from the neighborhood when she presented her business idea to the Center City Residents Association (CCRA), which is involved in zoning matters in Fitler Square. As The Inquirer reported, Saeed’s proposal elicited complaints from area residents who cited fears about rodents, trash on the sidewalk, and delivery trucks clogging 22nd Street, arguing that small businesses degraded the quality of life in Fitler Square. Despite the opposition, CCRA’s zoning committee did not oppose the project.

    La Maison Jaune sits in Fitler Square.

    The previously expressed concerns have not affected business since opening, Saeed said. “So far so good — everything seems to be fine.”

    “I love seeing people hang out and notice the little details in the design,” she said. “There are such cute spots in Paris, and I just wanted to recreate that here,” she said.

    244 S. 22nd St., no phone, instagram.com/lamaisonjaune.cafe; 7 a.m.to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday, Friday to Sunday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  • Tell us your favorite dive bars in Philly

    Tell us your favorite dive bars in Philly

    There’s magic at work in Philly’s dive bars. Some are great for the memories made in their low-lit, low-key backdrops. Some have a hard, regulars-only shell that melts away the moment you plant your butt on the barstool. Others feel frozen in time — portals to an era where beers were cheap, smoking inside was allowed, and strangers could become friends over a drink or three.

    But for several years now, Philly’s dives have felt in jeopardy, with the cost of a drink rising along with real estate prices. At least one strand of dive — the smoking bar — is decidedly on the way out, evidenced most recently McGlinchey’s closure, but also stalwarts like Grumpy’s Tavern and Buckets going non-smoking earlier this year.

    It’s made us think, Why wait to celebrate something until it’s gone?

    So The Inquirer is asking readers: What are Philly’s best dive bars, and what makes them special?

    Fill out the form below to tip us off to your favorite Philly dive. If your bar makes the list, an Inquirer reporter may follow up.

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  • Popular THC drinks will soon be illegal. Companies are fighting to save the billion-dollar industry.

    Popular THC drinks will soon be illegal. Companies are fighting to save the billion-dollar industry.

    Right now, any Philadelphian 21 or older can go online or walk into a regional smoke shop and buy a THC-infused drink as potent as products in legal dispensaries.

    But soon, that might all change.

    The billion-dollar intoxicating beverage industry exploded in recent years, with THC-infused seltzers, lemonades, and teas that resemble popular products like Surfsides or White Claws. Sold in local gas stations, smoke shops, and liquor stores outside of Pennsylvania, these weed drinks deliver a cannabis high that is infused into bubbly, sweet canned beverages.

    While marijuana is still federally illegal, the hemp industry had found a way to manufacture and sell hemp-derived THC drinks across the country through a legal loophole that is soon closing.

    Last month, Congress banned all intoxicating hemp products, a slew of THC-infused smokeable, vape-able, and edible products that are derived from hemp plants but could be mistaken for actual marijuana. In many cases, the drinks are just as potent as conventional weed.

    Starting in 2027, almost all of them will be illegal, spurring a nationwide movement within the industry to save the burgeoning market.

    Arthur Massolo, the vice president of national THC beverage brand Cycling Frog, which sells its wares locally, said these restrictions will have devastating effects on the producers of thousands of hemp-derived products, like THC, but also CBD, the non-intoxicating cannabinoid popular for treating anxiety, sleep, and pain.

    Will Angelos, whose Ardmore smoke shop and wellness store, Free Will Collective, relies on THC drinks for nearly 40% of its business, is hoping for some saving grace. “We’re either looking to pivot or we’re disappearing,” he said.

    Adults share Cycling Frog canned THC drinks in this marketing photo provided by Cycling Frog.

    What are THC-infused drinks?

    Seltzers, sodas, teas, mocktails, and lemonades all infused with THC — and sometimes non-intoxicating CBD — exploded onto the scene a few years ago and grew into a billion-dollar business, said hemp market analyst Beau Whitney.

    “These drinks have transformed the hemp industry into this low-dose intoxicating health and wellness, alcohol-adjacent product,” said Massolo, who is also the president of U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a hemp business advocacy organization.

    The THC-infused drinks sold in gas stations, smoke shops, and liquor stores are supposedly formulated using legally grown hemp, which is allowed to be grown under the 2018 Farm Bill that opened the door to hemp farming in the U.S.

    Lawmakers carved out an exemption from federal drug laws for cannabis plants containing 0.3% or less of THC. These low-THC plants are considered “hemp” and are legal to grow. Cannabis plants over that THC threshold are considered marijuana and can carry felony charges if the plant is not being grown by state-licensed growers in places where adult use or medicinal marijuana is legal, like New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

    While intoxicating hemp products have enjoyed consistent growth in the past years, these THC-infused drinks have increasingly appeared in aisles of liquor stores and supermarkets in some states, allowing adults who normally don’t visit dispensaries to pick up a bottle of infused wine in the same place they grab groceries, said New Jersey cannabis lawyer Steve Schain.

    Hemp products photographed at the Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 2025.

    The ease of access to THC drinks allowed the national market to grow to $1.3 billion in annual sales, and if access continues, Whitney said, that figure could reach $15 billion in the coming years.

    This is all thanks to what Whitney calls the “FPS,” or “Female Power Shopper.” These women, ages 29 to 45, are the ones who are likely shopping for a household in grocery and liquor stores, and may jump at the chance to try cannabis products without diving headfirst into dispensaries, Whitney said.

    Women are becoming the fastest-growing demographic in the industry, and 2022 marked the first time daily marijuana users outnumbered daily alcohol drinkers. As alcohol consumption reaches historic lows, liquor stores and beer distributors have been “wonderfully buoyed” by THC drinks to keep them afloat, Schain said.

    Mary Ellen, 55, of Bucks County, who asked to not to be identified by her last name over concerns for her cannabis use and employment, said these THC drinks are the perfect way to unwind after a long day, especially for adults like her who choose not to drink alcohol. As a medical marijuana patient, she uses regulated cannabis for a variety of ailments, but also enjoys THC drinks like Nowadays’ infused mocktails that she buys at Angelos’ Ardmore store.

    “I’d rather come home and have a glass of Nowadays. That’s a lot better than having a glass of vodka or a benzodiazepine,” she said. “I’m not going to forget what I did the night before, and I’m not going to wake up feeling crappy the next morning.”

    City smoke shop exterior in the 1000 block of Chestnut Street Monday, July 21, 2025.

    What are the concerns over THC drinks?

    As the money started to roll in for THC drinks, fear among local communities and law enforcement began to grow. In the Philadelphia suburbs, the Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery County district attorneys’ offices finished a 10-month investigation into intoxicating hemp products and the local stores that sell them.

    The 107-page grand jury report speaks of a public health crisis unfolding in “plain sight” across Pennsylvania, where retailers have little to no oversight, in some cases selling actual marijuana.

    Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said the industry created a “Wild West situation” and urged state lawmakers to regulate the industry similarly to alcohol and tobacco, including age requirements, licensing, and mandatory lab testing.

    Stakeholders in the industry support regulation of some kind. While hemp-derived THC companies fear the economic collapse of their industry, Massolo and Angelos say there is concern that these products will leave overt brick-and-mortar operations known by local officials for more covert, illicit operations, similar to how these products were purchased before the 2018 Farm Bill.

    “We’ve basically traveled back to 10 seconds before the Farm Bill of 2018 was signed,” Schain said.

    Mary Ellen says the lack of regulation is a major sticking point for consumers who flock to these products, but would like some reassurance on the drinks they are ingesting.

    But, even if the ban goes into effect, she said, “people will just figure out another way for us to get it. It’ll be like a prohibition that we’ve seen in this country with alcohol and marijuana.”

    THC and CBD-infused beverages on the shelves of Free Will Collective, an Ardmore smoke shop and wellness store owned by Will Angelos. As Congress moves to ban most intoxicating hemp products, business owners like Angelos aren’t sure they will be able to keep the doors open long past 2027 if current regulations go into effect.

    Will THC-infused drinks be banned or saved by 2027?

    Now, as the industry’s yearlong grace period begins before the ban takes effect, companies are scrambling.

    The intoxicating hemp manufacturers and retailers who spoke to The Inquirer said the game plan is to offload all of the intoxicating hemp products in stock, including THC-infused drinks, flower, vapes, and even CBD products.

    Some companies will see almost their entire product catalog become illegal, in some cases dwindling from 45 products on offer down to two, Whitney said of the firms he works with. The far-reaching impact will also hurt industrial hemp products, cannabis tourism, alcohol distributors, and even the legal cannabis industry, as some of their products, including CBD, will now have to contend with these new regulations, Schain and Whitney said.

    At the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, Massolo is having daily board meetings, including on weekends, to coordinate a response to federal lawmakers. It’s now a race against the clock to remedy or claw back some of the new regulations before damage is done to the industry’s distribution pipelines, Massolo said. The group hopes to rally other industries, like traditional beverages, wellness products, and supplements, to bolster its case.

    Among the U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s recommendations to lawmakers are an extension of the hemp ban grace period to two years, raising the limit on hemp-derived THC products, and allowing states to regulate these products as they see fit, to name a few.

    Stakeholders say they want regulations to help legitimize this billion-dollar endeavor and save it from annihilation, but smaller operators like Angelos hope it’s not at the expense of small independent businesses.

    While precautions like rigorous age verification systems and lab testing are necessary, Angelos said, if regulators “overtax, or over gate-keep,” many of the smaller retailers — who he said enjoy the benefit of knowing their local government officials and community — won’t be able to compete in the market.

    “There obviously has to be standards, but I’m scared of an overcorrection,” Angelos said of the hemp ban. “It’s not just a singular choice. If you want your kids to be safe, have a mechanism where you can keep your eyes on the product.”

  • Sao brings Mawn’s ‘no rules’ energy to the oyster bar, with intriguing and delicious results

    Sao brings Mawn’s ‘no rules’ energy to the oyster bar, with intriguing and delicious results

    Philadelphians can’t get enough of Rachel and Phila Lorn. At Sao, their sultry new oyster bar on East Passyunk Avenue, diners pull up at the counter for warm corn cakes soaked in honey and bejeweled with roe, oysters splashed with Cambodian peppercorn fish sauce mignonette, and barrel-aged “Jabroni Negroni” cocktails tinged with Islay whiskey smoke to wash them down.

    Owners Phila and Rachel Lorn at Sao in Philadelphia.

    You’ll find the same high-voltage “no rules” pan-Asian cooking here that propelled this married couple’s first restaurant, Mawn, to an incredible string of local and national accolades (including a spot on The Inquirer’s Top 10 list, a new edition of The 76, a “Best New Chefs” award for Phila from Food & Wine, and a similar nod from the James Beard Foundation). Considering the constant reservation traffic jam of wannabe diners angling to nab one of Mawn’s 28 seats, why open a second restaurant with room for just 33? Surely, this couple could fill a much larger space.

    “Rachel and I have enough, we don’t need more,” says Phila, 39. “I still have that old-school mentality that we protect our family and we funnel our lives through this [little] store of ours. I never wanted to be a rock star or be recognized at Target. We just opened restaurants because that’s what we know how to do.”

    The fact they do it so well is a blessing and a curse. At Sao, the monthly scrum for tables offers the same exercise in reservation-app frustration as Mawn, and the long line for the 30-or-so walk-ins that find their way into Sao over the course of an evening understandably vexes the gift shop next door, whose manager emerged to politely redirect us from blocking her storefront on this lively stretch of Passyunk Avenue.

    The exterior of Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.
    Owner Rachel Lorn speaks with diners at Sao.

    Once inside, however, the virtues of Sao’s intimate setting are clear, as diners lean into their crudos and cocktails at candlelit banquette tables along a whitewashed brick wall hung with mirrors and stained-glass panes. Another 10 guests — in my opinion, the lucky ones — perch in the red neon glow of the bar counter, where the action unfolds on multiple stages.

    To my right, bartender Steph Liebetreu manages to simultaneously rattle a cocktail shaker in her left hand and stir a crystal decanter of martinis with her right, all while dancing in perfect syncopation to Sao’s soulful soundtrack mix of vintage R&B, Cambodian rap, and Frank Sinatra. To my left, shucker Davina Soondrum (also a talented pastry chef) festoons our icy oyster plateau clockwise from “lemon wedge o’clock” with plump Japanese Kumamotos, tiny-briny BeauSoleils from Canada, and Jersey’s finest, Sweet Amalias. Each one is oceanic perfection on their own, but they become electric when splashed with that Cambodian mignonette, or a spicy-tart jolt of Lao sauce sparked with lime and crushed cilantro stems. Amid Philly’s current boom in new oyster bars, those vivid sauces are part of what make Sao unique.

    Chef Phila Lorn places a crudo at the pass at Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.
    The dry-aged hamachi crudo at Sao.

    Front and center, meanwhile, there’s chef Phila himself butchering a whole dry-aged hamachi mid-service to serve raw with fish sauce, coconut milk, and vinegared onions — a salute to the beloved nearby soup hall, Pho 75. He’s slicing thick pink tiles of bluefin tuna and stacking them like a deck of sashimi cards doused with soy sauce and lime beneath fistfuls of roasted green chilies and crushed marcona almonds.

    As I waver on which crudo to order next (perhaps the spot prawns with brown butter and prawn-head oil?), he pours sweet and spicy orange chili jam over an ivory mound of raw scallops, apples, and pepita seeds and I have my answer: “That’s Phila’s favorite,” confides Rachel as she patrols the narrow dining room, ever-playing Tetris with seats to accommodate more walk-ins.

    The Dayboat Scallop Crudo at Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    That scallop-and-chili jam combo will be familiar to anyone who’s dined at Mawn, where Lorn workshopped many of these dishes for months. There are other overlaps here of Mawn’s greatest hits, like the crispy soft-shell shrimp in fish sauce caramel, or the awesome 20-ounce rib eye piled high with “Cambodian chimichurri,” boosted with lime juice and fermented prahok fish paste.

    One standard you must order, though, is the intricate papaya salad, a colorful crunch-fest of long beans, peanuts, candied shrimp, and shredded green papaya lashed with blasts of sour tamarind, chile, and shrimp paste. It dials your taste buds up to a certain base level of funk and sour heat before moving the conversation to more contemporary flights of fusion fancy.

    The Honey Butter Hoe Cake at Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    Sao’s menu is more an extension of Mawn’s repertoire, rather than something entirely new, with a greater emphasis on raw seafood and an even more playful approach to cooked dishes rooted in tributes to favorite restaurants. Perhaps the most memorable dish at Sao, in fact, is a direct corn cake homage to Boston’s Neptune Oyster bar, whose signature johnnycake is remade here as a warm, honey butter-soaked hoe cake enriched with dashi then topped with cool smoked trout salad and beads of roe, which Phila tends to piles onto Sao’s plates by the spoonful. The lacy crunch of that warm sweet cake against the savory pop of roe, amped by the saline burst of a supplemental scoop of caviar, was one of my favorite bites of the year.

    Sao’s menu is full of Easter eggs for the keen-eyed diner, including an irresistible tuna carpaccio topped with fried shallots, cured chile rings, and a sizzling finish of sesame oil that’s an ode to the “bronzizzle” roll at Zama, where Phila spent some formative years. There’s also a nod to the beloved late-night cutlet from Palizzi Social Club that’s transformed with Southeast Asian pickled cucumbers, Thai basil, and fish sauce caramel. The chef, who grew up just a few blocks from East Passyunk, also pays tribute to South Philly’s Italian “crab gravy” tradition with his own take, a blend of red and green coconut milk curries steeped with crab shells that comes topped with crisply fried scallops.

    The Mawn Cutlet at Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    A frequent chicken skewer special, whose meat is marinated in kreung spice paste, is grilled over binchotan coals as Phila’s nod to the weekend Khmer barbecues at the Southeast Asian Market. The mee caton is a straightforward stir-fry of velvety soft beef, Chinese broccoli, and fat rice noodles kissed with sesame oil that’s a throwback to one of the best home dishes made by his mother, Sim Khim. (I also loved the seafood rendition.)

    Nostalgia for family and neighborhood pervades every corner of Sao, from the vintage bathroom door with textured glass and wavy panes that replicates the vestibules of many South Philly rowhouses (including the Lorns’ house), family pictures, and an antique cash register from the Atlantic City Boardwalk hotel once owned by Rachel’s grandparents.

    Even the restaurant’s name channels a sense of place: It’s a phonetic representation of how Phila’s mother, a Cambodian refugee, pronounces the “South” in South Philly. Her son, famously, is also named for the family’s adopted city, although Khim and everyone else pronounce it “Pee-la.” The sign hanging out front — Sao Phila — has multiple meanings.

    An old school cash register from Rachel Lorn’s family at Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    With the added element of a liquor license at Sao, the Lorns’ business partner and close family friend, Jesse Levinson, designed an opening drink list that follows on theme. The chicory-scented, coconut-creamed Vietnamese coffee martini, Wing Phat Plaza, is named for the bustling Asian strip mall on Washington Avenue nearby. The Angkor Baby borrows a michelada from South Philly’s lively Mexican scene, then adds the Asian touches of ground Kampot peppercorns and a rice vinegar tang.

    The Wing Phat Plaza and Angkor Baby cocktails at Sao.

    Levinson says the drink menu will keep evolving as Liebetreu and her fellow bartender, Lillian Chang, begin to take creative control, supplementing the small but trendy selection of natural wines. I also expect Sao’s sake selection to take a big leap once general manager Kelly Brophy, formerly the lead omakase server at Royal Sushi, begins to share her expertise.

    Indeed, so much is still evolving here, including the tasty but limited dessert selection of crème brûlée and whoopie pies from Soondrum (when she’s not shucking shellfish), that I’m certain we’ve only seen the beginning of what Sao can truly become.

    “We’re locked and loaded for more because we have room to grow,” says Phila, referring mostly to desserts. If only they also had room to grow more seats! Philadelphia’s diners, no doubt, would quickly snap those up, too.

    Diners fill the space at Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    Sao

    1710 E. Passyunk Ave., saophilly.com; no phone, but staff responds to messages on Instagram or OpenTable.

    Open Wednesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.

    Reservations are highly suggested, but a handful of walk-in seats are available.

    Not wheelchair-accessible. There is a step up into the restaurant, as well as at the bathroom.

    About 90% of the menu is naturally gluten-free, while certain dishes that typically use the fryer (like the scallops in crab gravy) can be modified to avoid cross contamination.

    Menu highlights: Crudos (aged hamachi; scallops with chili jam); bluefin tuna carpaccio; Cambodian papaya salad; honey butter hoe cake; Mawn cutlet; scallops in crab gravy; mee caton; grilled chicken skewers; crème brûlée.

    Drinks: Cocktails are well-made with a South Philly twist (like the barrel-aged mellow Jabroni Negroni) and on-theme Asian accents, such as Cambodian Kampot peppercorns for the Angkor Baby riff on a michelada, or the chicory-flavored Viet coffee martini named after Washington Avenue’s Wing Phat Plaza.

    A neon oyster sign at Sao on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 in Philadelphia.
  • My favorite falafel in Philly

    My favorite falafel in Philly

    What makes a good falafel? Ask Marwan Alazzazy of Cilantro Mediterranean Restaurant and he’ll tell you it’s all about the perfectly browned, crispy exterior that easily tears in half to reveal a tender, herb-flecked interior.

    “Besides the recipe? It’s the hand who makes it,” Alazzazy said. “We have this saying in Egypt about any type of food that’s good, that the person making it did it with his soul — when he’s enjoying making it, it tastes different.”

    As an Egyptian, Alazzazy and his family know a thing or two about falafel; the legume-based balls originate from their motherland. But there are various techniques used throughout the Middle East to create this popular dish. In Palestine, it’s common to add veggies like onions and peppers to the chickpea batter, according to Bishara Kuttab of Bishos in Fox Chase. In Lebanon and Egypt, you’ll often find falafel that combines fava beans and chickpeas — sometimes with a little bit of baking soda, as Patricia Massoud does at Li Beirut in Collingswood.

    No matter how it’s made, falafel is about the herbs, spices, and legumes that come together to make the palm-sized rounds that are perfect on platters, in a sandwich, or as a snack by themselves.

    I ate falafel at over 20 restaurants to find some of the best Middle Eastern cuisine in Philly for The Inquirer’s 76. Turns out, the legume balls were a key factor in determining what restaurants made the cut: I found my favorites served exceptional falafel.

    While each place offers slightly different variations, what set them apart was the harmony of texture and flavor — an exterior firm enough to tap on and an herby-nutty inner mush that’s super-satisfying to sink your teeth into.

    Al-Baik Shawarma

    Dining at Sohaib Al-Haj’s Northeast Philly family restaurant, featured on The 76, means devouring a generous spread of the best Palestinian dishes in Philadelphia — especially the falafel. It’s made with chickpeas that have been soaked in water for 20 hours and mixed with spices (think cumin, coriander, salt), parsley, onions, jalapeños, and green peppers. Blended together, the mixture is rounded with a scooper then deep-fried. The crispy falafel reaches the table with a bronze exterior, and the slightly spicy, earthy light green interior dances on your tongue. Get it as an appetizer, in a sandwich, or a platter with hummus, rice, and salad.

    3217 Willits Rd., 267-703-8000, albaikshawarmaandgrill

    Li Beirut

    Over in Collingswood, Li Beirut chef-owner Patricia Massoud soaks her chickpeas for 12 to 18 hours — the minimum time to let the legumes hydrate and soften for grinding. She makes falafel according to her Lebanese father’s recipe. The cooked chickpeas get tossed in a food processor with onion, garlic, warming spices, fresh parsley, and cilantro. The key to her fluffy falafels, she said, is baking soda — it’s also how she keeps them gluten-free. Deep fried after resting in the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes, the cylinder-shaped falafel are served as an entree or a hot mezza for sharing.

    619 Collings Ave., Collingswood, 856-477-2105, libeirutnj.com

    Alamodak Restaurant

    You can smoke hookah while munching on crispy falafels in this Kensington-area restaurant. Alamodak offers a Jordanian rendition of the dish in their traditional dining room as well as their upstairs hookah lounge. Owner Francisco Ayoub’s falafels are made fresh daily using a spice mix imported from Jordan, and fried to order for a crispy outside and soft, flavorful inside that packs herby nuttiness with each bite. Order them as an appetizer, in a sandwich, or in a platter with rice and salad. Either way, there will be tahini sauce for dipping.

    161 Cecil B. Moore Ave., 267-641-5926, alamodakrestauranthookahbar.com

    Cilantro Mediterranean Cuisine

    Just off South Street, chef Dalia Soliman and her husband, Mohamed Alazzazy, serve solid falafel along with other Egyptian classics that have made the restaurant a neighborhood favorite. The falafel are made with a mix of chickpeas and fava beans and seasoned with spices imported from Egypt. The family hand-rolls, freezes, and then fries them — a method that ensures the balls don’t crumble while cooking. Get five as an appetizer or opt for the platter, which includes a choice of rice or french fries, salad, hummus, and pita bread.

    613 S. Fourth St., 267-761-9609, cilantromediterraneancuisine.com

    Bishos

    Head to Fox Chase for Palestinian falafels — warm, earthy chickpea fluff in a crisp, savory cast. Owner Bishara Kuttab said making falafels is all about the technique, ensuring the balled-up mix of chickpeas, parsley, onions, garlic, and spices are fried at the right temperature. Made to order, there are five ways to order falafel: in a hoagie, on a rice bowl, with loaded fries, in a salad bowl, or wrapped in their house-made saj bread. I recommend the last option, pairing the falafel’s nutty, earthy undertones with the soft, chewy bread.

    7950 Oxford Ave., 215-660-9760, mybishos.com

    Apricot Stone

    Vartuhi Bederian, one of the matriarchs of this Northern Liberties BYOB, is Armenian but serves crisp-tender falafels with the Syrian influences she grew up with. Chickpeas are soaked for at least 24 hours before being mixed with fava beans, cilantro, sesame seeds, and spices in a food processor. The falafels are pan-fried in a wok-style vessel and offered on the fattoush salad, as a mezze dish, and on a platter. Order takeout and get it in an exclusive sandwich with house-made tahini sauce that “just elevates the falafel itself,” said owner Ara Ishkhanian — I agree.

    428 W. Girard Ave., 267-606-6596, apricotstonephilly.com

    Flame Kabob

    In Bensalem, Flame Kabob’s falafels begin with chickpeas soaked for 15 hours. The next day they are ground with onions and spices. Owner Esmatullah Amiri adds chickpea flour to his falafel, which is how the dish is made in his native Afghanistan — it helps prevent crumbling, he said. The mix is rolled into balls using molds, frozen, and then fried. Falafel comes in a wrap, as an appetizer with hummus, and over rice.

    2814 Street Rd., Bensalem, 215-392-9400, instagram.com/flamekabobgrill

  • The days are getting darker. Pour a luxe white wine to cope.

    The days are getting darker. Pour a luxe white wine to cope.

    As the shortest day of the year grows near and night begins falling well before we pour dinnertime wine, the perfect season for savoring rich winter whites like this luxurious Sonoma chardonnay has arrived.

    The white wines we crave in warmer weather — pinot grigio, albariño, or sauvignon blanc — are almost always light in body, brisk in acidity, and typically fermented in inert steel tanks. This method is chosen to economize, of course, but has the added benefit of preserving the fresh-picked vibrancy of fruit that defines summer-weight styles.

    When it gets colder out in winter, our preferences move away from pure refreshment toward richness and the warmth that higher alcohol levels can provide, a seasonal shift that holds true even among those wine styles we serve chilled. Few wine grapes can do this gracefully, with chardonnay being the unrivaled queen of the winter whites.

    The time-honored method for enriching white wines is to ferment in barrels made of oak and to then allow the wine to continue resting there for months in contact with its yeast sediment. Not only does this process produce a plush and silky mouthfeel, but both the oak and the yeast sediments boost the wine’s flavor in complementary ways. The oak taste is most noticeable, evoking the toasted pecan and baking spice flavors we associate with cognac or bourbon, while yeast adds more subtle accents of buttered toast. When added to Chardonnay’s base flavors of golden apples and ripe pears, the effect is much like transforming fresh apples into a decadent spiced and caramelized apple cake.

    Ferrari-Carano has specialized in this rich style of chardonnay for decades and executes it brilliantly here, with an interesting twist. Where almost all of their competitors use 100% chardonnay grapes, their winemaker adds a tiny splash of fragrantly floral gewürztraminer to add flavor complexity, just as a mixologist might add a dash of orange bitters to round out their signature Manhattan.

    Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay

    Ferrari-Carano chardonnay

    Sonoma County, Calif., 14.5% ABV

    PLCB item #8704, on sale $22.09 through Jan. 4 (regularly $29.09)

    Also available at: Total Wine & More in Wilmington and Claymont, Del. ($17.99; totalwine.com), Moorestown Super Buy Rite in Moorestown ($17.99, moorestownbuyrite.com), and WineWorks in Marlton ($18.98; wineworksonline.com).

  • A classic South Philadelphia restaurant gets new life as an old-time nightclub

    A classic South Philadelphia restaurant gets new life as an old-time nightclub

    “Heaven … I’m in heaven … and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.”

    Harry Barlo, in a crisply tailored black suit, bronze tie, and matching pocket square, bopped jauntily to the Fred Astaire standard, his quartet swinging effortlessly behind him, the crowd nodding and foot-tapping.

    High Note Caffe owner Franco Borda works the room during the Nov. 8 show.

    At that moment — for a moment, anyway — Franco Borda’s right knee quit acting up. Beaming from the back of his revived High Note Caffe in South Philadelphia, Borda took it all in: 64 people dressed up for a Saturday night out, sitting in his restaurant, eating his eggplant rollatini and his son Anthony’s pizza, enjoying live music.

    “You see this?” he said in amazement.

    Borda, 64, wants to create the sort of supper club that barely exists anymore — intimate, aimed at a boomer audience, with drinks and an informal menu.

    Harry Barlo hits a note at High Note Caffe.

    It’s an all-new act for the High Note — an update on Borda’s previous restaurants at 13th and Tasker over the last 35 years.

    Borda, who grew up three blocks away, has been singing opera all his life. In the days he ran Francoluigi’s with his former business partner, he would pop out from the stove to sing an aria, and he’d bring in other amateur singers. Sometimes, Phil Mancuso, who owned Mancuso’s cheese shop, and Frank Munafo, a nearby butcher, would show up, and they’d bill themselves as the Butcher, the Baker & the Cheesemaker.

    Over the years, however, Borda found that younger diners were less interested in opera overtaking their meals. He switched gears at High Note Caffe. Jazz stayed, but opera became occasional.

    In March 2020, when the pandemic shut down the High Note and other restaurants at the outset of the pandemic, Borda stepped back altogether. He hired an engineer and an architect, removed a wall, expanded the room, slid the kitchen back, and secured assembly and entertainment licenses.

    Franco Borda embraces his wife, Teresa, to sing to her after the Harry Barlo show.

    His wife, Teresa, said she thought he was crazy. “You need knee surgery,” she reminded him.

    Borda countered: “I got 10 more years in the kitchen, you know, and I love it.”

    In 2022, Borda’s son Anthony — who started making pizzas with his pop while in kindergarten — opened Borda’s Italian Eats, a walk-up shop on the Tasker Street side of the property (now closed). That was a temporary setup until the rest of the place could be finished.

    Anthony Borda, son of High Note Caffe owner Franco Borda, with a pepperoni pizza and a white “Pavarotti” pizza (sliced tomato, broccoli rabe, and sharp provolone).

    “I really wanted to focus on the entertainment,” Franco Borda said. “We want to give people a place in South Philly where you can sit down and enjoy some jazz and eat a little bit and not get banged over.”

    Ticket prices vary but are reasonable. It’s $25 for the Dec. 12 show by the Jack Saint Clair Quartet. All told, you’re looking at a date night for just over $100, with a pizza ($20 or $25), a plate of mussels red ($18.95), $15 cocktails (White Russians! Sloe Gin Fizzes!), and a $7 tiramisu you should not miss.

    “I’m not doing this as a business,” Borda said.

    Franco Borda (right) and his son, Anthony, outside High Note Caffe.

    That much is clear. For now, he is booking only about two shows a month, with tickets sold online and no walk-ins. After the Jack Saint Clair show, vibraphonist Tony Micelli will perform on Dec. 13. On Jan. 30, George Martorano — who served 32 years in federal prison for a drug conviction before his release in 2015 — will do a one-man show to talk about his time in custody.

    Borda said the idea is to not run a conventional restaurant again, rather to provide a venue to musicians who rarely get a platform.

    Eventually, when Borda’s knee gets straightened out, he said he wants to get himself back into vocal shape, get up on stage, and do some opera.

    For now, he said, “I want to find some tenors and sopranos who want to be exposed and come out and sing their [hearts out].”

    People like Harry Barlo.

    Owner Franco Borda decoarated his new High Note Caffe with music photos and album covers.

    Barlo — born Harry Schmitt — spent 21 years on the Philadelphia police force before retiring in 1992. All the while, he sang in clubs. “I balanced show business and my other jobs because I had to eat,” he said.

    Twenty years ago, in his early 50s, he chased his dream and moved to Las Vegas, where he sang in a doo-wop group in casino lounges before switching to the Great American Songbook under the nom de croon Golden Voice Harry.

    “Las Vegas — that was the dream of a lifetime,” he said. ”Show business is a tough business. It only fed me for a while.” After returning to Philadelphia, he got into recording and, later, streaming, he said.

    Barlo said he had gigs lined up before COVID-19 dried up live music. Now a casino compliance representative with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Commission, he said he thought his performing days were over. Then he heard from Benny Marcella, a friend of Borda’s.

    Part of the audience at Harry Barlo’s performance at High Note Caffe on Nov. 8.

    Barlo said he was initially unsure about playing at High Note. “Benny said, ‘Go down and look at the place.’ So I met Franco, we talked, and Franco said, ‘Why don’t you stand on the stage and see what you think.’ When I stood on that stage, he had me. That’s the perfect room for me. I like working in an intimate setting.” Marcella helped round up the musicians, and it was showtime.

    “Are the stars out tonight? I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright. I only have eyes for you, dear…”

    Ken Moyer nailed his sax solo, backed by Bill Tesser on drums, Marty Mellinger on piano, and Steve Varner on bass. Barlo’s eyes swept the room. His kids were there, watching with their friends. “I first saw him perform when he sang to me for my 16th birthday,” said his stepdaughter Danielle DeAngelis. “And all these years later, it never gets old. He’s still amazing.” He dedicated “I’ve Gotta Be Me” to her.

    Harry Barlo’s stepdaughter Danielle DeAngelis smiles as Barlo dedicates “I’ve Gotta Be Me” to her at the High Note Caffe.

    Barlo, who is booked at the High Note for Valentine’s Day, said High Note reminded him of the rooms at the Sahara and the Stardust. “They were intimate lounges,” he said. “I’m an old-style guy — you get a lot of feedback from the audience when you’re close to them. A friend of mine who was there that night said, ‘Harry, you finally found your niche.’ He’s right. Franco’s got a great idea, and I hope it works.”

  • Stephen Starr to face union-busting charges brought by the National Labor Relations Board

    Stephen Starr to face union-busting charges brought by the National Labor Relations Board

    The National Labor Relations Board is pursuing charges against Philadelphia-based restaurateur Stephen Starr and his company, Starr Restaurants, over union-busting allegations at his D.C. steakhouse St. Anselm, according to documents reviewed by The Inquirer.

    Filed on Nov. 20, the charges are the latest development in a nearly yearlong standoff between Starr Restaurants and Unite Here Local 25, a D.C. union that represents more than 7,500 hospitality workers.

    The NLRB’s case revolves around anti-union activity that Local 25 alleges occurred in February at St. Anselm, one of three D.C.-based Starr restaurants that sought a union at the start of 2025 and the only one where workers voted to unionize.

    The complaint consolidates a set of unfair labor practice (ULP) allegations Local 25 initially filed to the NLRB on behalf of St. Anselm workers, who said that Stephen Starr and a St. Anselm supervisor directly coerced employees with false information, made promises of improved benefits if they voted against unionizing, and threatened loss of revenue if they voted for it.

    In one instance, the complaint alleges, Starr “interrogated” a St. Anselm staffer about their union involvement during a one-on-one conversation.

    A delegation of workers pose in front Stephen Starr’s D.C. steakhouse St. Anselm before delivering their union petition in Feb. 2025.

    The ULP filings were submitted to the NLRB in June. After investigating, the board’s general counsel found merit in the accusations that Starr Restaurants, Starr, and the supervisor violated the National Labor Relations Act. It is now set to bring the charges before an administrative judge on Feb. 24, 2026.

    “We are aware of the complaint and strongly disagree with the allegations made therein,” a Starr Restaurants spokesperson for St. Anselm said in a statement. “We look forward to vigorously defending this case through the litigation process.”

    The spokesperson declined to address whether Starr spoke directly with St. Anselm employees about union efforts, citing pending litigation.

    Why top Democrats are boycotting Stephen Starr’s D.C. restaurants

    “It speaks volumes about what happened at this restaurant that, given the challenges that the NLRB is facing, that [general counsel] have chosen to act on this issue,” said Benjy Cannon, Local 25’s communication director, referring to the staffing shortages the agency has faced.

    A spokesperson for the NLRB declined to comment.

    A contentious dynamic from the start

    In January, workers at three of Starr’s seven D.C restaurants announced plans to unionize with Local 25: French bistro Pastis, Parc-inspired brasserie Le Diplomate, and St. Anselm, an outpost of the upscale Brooklyn steakhouse. The Starr workers, along with employees at two high-profile restaurants affiliated with Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, would’ve ultimately added 500 members to Local 25, if the drives proved successful.

    Nearly a year later, both union campaigns remain caught up in litigation.

    A picket line outside of Stephen Starr’s D.C. restaurant Le Diplomate is led by Unite Here Local 25 after Starr Restaurants challenged a unionization vote at St. Anselm.

    Relations between Starr Restaurants and organizers there turned acrimonious almost immediately. The Washingtonian magazine reported that Starr Restaurants hired anti-union consultants from the American Labor Group to meet with St. Anselm staff. Other employees there told online publication Eater that Local 25 organizers had ambushed them at their homes and pressured them to sign cards that indicate they want to vote for union representation.

    Only workers at St. Anselm voted to unionize in February. Local 25 lost the union election at Pastis by a margin of 20 votes, and Le Diplomate’s election has been suspended indefinitely as of March.

    Stephen Starr’s D.C. restaurant workers bring their pro-union protest to Philly

    Starr Restaurants has yet to recognize the St. Anselm union and filed an objection to the results with the NLRB in February, alleging that Local 25 organizers unfairly influenced the outcome through a campaign of bullying and intimidation. The case remains open.

    What workers say

    Working conditions at St. Anselm have been a mixed bag, according to Ana Reyes, who has been a line cook at the steakhouse since 2022. The fast-paced workplace allowed her to make enough money to help put her youngest daughter through her freshman year of college, Reyes said in Spanish through an interpreter. But, she said, management often ridiculed employees who didn’t speak English, telling them to learn the language if they wanted to get questions answered about pay or scheduling.

    Greg Varney (left) and Ana Reyes, both with Unite Here Local 25, outside Starr headquarters at 134 Market St. as they work to unionize.

    Reyes, 43, told The Inquirer that she wanted to join Local 25 for respect: “Whether we speak English or not, we deserve to be respected because we’re doing the work they don’t want to do.”

    About two weeks into the union drive in February, Reyes recalled, Starr personally asked to meet with all morning-shift staffers. During the meeting, she said, Starr was “surprised to learn that we didn’t get raises each year … and promised to look into it.”

    “He made a lot of promises about sick pay, about vacation pay,” Reyes said. She added that nothing has changed to date.

    One host at St. Anselm spoke to The Inquirer on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. About four months into working there, she said, Starr asked to chat with her alone, pulling her aside in a near-empty restaurant to ask questions about any problems she had and her involvement in the union.

    Craig LaBan: Stephen Starr’s Borromini should be a showstopper. Instead, it’s a shrug.

    “I certainly felt cornered and uncomfortable,” she said. Starr “ultimately told me that supporting the union was [quote-unquote] delusional, and that if I voted no, it would be in my own best interest.” The host departed St. Anselm a month later for a full-time customer service job.

    Dennis Asaka, a St. Anselm bartender, doesn’t recall Starr making any promises about improved wages or benefits when he sat in on a voluntary informational meeting led by the restaurateur.

    In late 2024, however, Asaka recalled a new server at St. Anselm, asking to join him for Bible study at his Baptist church in Arlington. After attending a second meeting, Asaka said, the server invited him to her house to discuss their faith. There, Asaka said he was instead met by several coworkers who pressured him into signing a union card. Asaka declined.

    “I felt like I was kind of blindsided and just kind of used a little bit,” Asaka said.

    Cannon denies the union ever engaged in such conduct: “We don’t believe that there were any labor laws broken.”

    Stephen Starr (right) talks with Erik Battes, Starr Restaurants’ executive vice president of food and beverage, during at a menu-tasting for the Italian restaurant Borromini, in Philadelphia, July 1, 2025.

    What happens next?

    Unfair labor practice charges are common, said Rutgers University labor and employment law professor James M. Cooney, and cover a variety of tactics that employers or unions can use to interfere with union elections, from retaliation and coercion to promising incentives. Once a ULP is filed, a regional NLRB will launch an investigation. If the board believes there’s merit, they will issue a complaint.

    After the hearing, both parties can appeal the administrative law judge’s decision with the NLRB at the federal level, which can decide to uphold and or reject the decision. There’s no punitive damages on the table in most ULP complaints, Cooney said, only an admittance of wrongdoing.

    The five-member federal NLRB has been in a bureaucratic standstill since January, when President Donald Trump fired board member Gwynne Wilcox. The move left the independent agency without a quorum, forcing the NLRB to leave hundreds of cases in limbo.

    Regional NLRB offices were also unable to work on cases while employees were furloughed during the most recent government shutdown. The agency can also expect to lose 10% of its staff in 2026 as it faces a 4.7% budget cut.

    So, why then did the NLRB decide to wade into union drama at one D.C steakhouse?

    Because the charges are “old school, really in-your-face-type labor violations,” said Cooney.

    “These violations appear to be really egregious that the board just couldn’t overlook them. It’s true that the board isn’t moving on a lot cases, but this one may be easier for them to prove,” Cooney said. “Everybody knows you can’t threaten workers for supporting a union, and you can’t make promises. This is labor law 101.”

    Former President Joe Biden waves to the crowd gathered outside Stephen Starr’s Rittenhouse Square restaurant Parc, where he dined for lunch with his family in April 2023.

    Starr is a registered Democrat who has donated thousands of dollars to campaigns for politicians including Tom Wolfe, Barack Obama, Sen. John Fetterman, and Hillary Clinton, according to OpenSecrets.org. His restaurants are common stomping grounds for D.C’s political elite, including former President Joe Biden.

    In June, Local 25 called for a boycott of Starr’s three buzziest D.C. restaurants (all currently uninvolved in union efforts). To date, 88 members of Congress signed on, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, and Sen. Chuck Schumer.

    Cooney does not think the NLRB’s complaint has partisan motivations. “The board has been historically apolitical” at the regional level, he said.

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    Regardless, the stakes of the proceedings are high for all parties, including employees.

    If St. Anselm is forced to recognize the union, Asaka said he’d quit. “I have [health] insurance that includes dental and medical. I have a 401(k) plan. I have commuter reimbursement … I have paid vacation. Those are things that don’t really happen in restaurants,” he said. “I have everything I need.”