firstlook

Cadence/K. Lounge

by A.D. Amorosi

Where is the love for the Kimmel Center, y'all? And where is the justice for its cool, clinical restaubar, the second floor's Cadence, and its lounge counterpart, K. Lounge?

As part of the Kimmel, the dual purpose C/K has been mostly missed by orchestra subscribers and the like since its autumn '02 opening. That's no surprise, though. Cadence -- a work in progress from the perspective of its design firm, Ewing Cole Interiors -- has kept a low profile. But with the recent hiring of NYC management sorts, the impending initiation of a second post-show dinner seating and a promise of dedication to the lounge-hound ideal so desirable to young sophsiticates, Cadence should be music to the ears and palates of the groovalicious set looking for coq au vin rouge, bibb salads, iced seafood towers and solo goujonettes.

It is already a sight to behold. As you exit from the elevator, your white-overhead walk will remind you of 2001. Then you'll find you're in a glass, steel and wood Metropolis, with cylindrical tiers of black marble jutting forth from floor one and the girdered glass dome above you. C/K is all velvet spaceship-shaped couches and round-backed chairs -- before you get to the bar, with black wine racks set against glowing orange glass back-panels and a white Formica bar (matching the tables throughout the lounge). Stay to your left, and you hit a VIP/private space, combining elements of the lounge (white Formica tables stretched to an egg shape to accommodate larger parties) and the restaurant (fuzzy burnt orange seating).

Lime green panels set against brick guide you into Cadence. Encased by glass-slabbed rails beside and above you, you feel as if you're flying. The floating continues whether you sit amid the long narrow rows of smoked glass rectangular tables and have a bite, or stare at Marsha Moss' series of Franco-feel-y pastel paintings of triangular "landscapes" that the staff refer to as "panty paintings." On a clear night, Cadence's balcony offers a most glorious, even breathtaking, view of the busy boulevard -- the street lights and their clinging banners, the wavy Wilma sign, the twitching blue neon of Philadelphia International Records, U of Arts, Billy Penn himself. And if there's any justice in the hep community, this crystal-clear view, inside and outside of Cadence, will strike a blue note and a red nose within.

Cadence/K. Lounge, 300 S. Broad St., 215-670-2388.