First Look: Simsum and Adriatica

The Wrap-Ture: Paper beads form a room divider at Simsum, serving Mideast food with a French twist. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

by Howard Altman

First there was Asian fusion. Then there was Cuban fusion.

Welcome to the latest global culinary mélange to hit Philadelphia -- Mediterranean fusion.

This new wave comes to us from the kitchens of three of this city's top names in Middle Eastern cuisine -- Amin and Jude Bitar and Mustapha Rouissiya.

Though the inspiration for their menus start in the same spot on the globe, the motivation -- and stakes -- for the Bitars and Rouissiya are quite different.

Morocco Bound: Mustapha Rouissiya uses the influences of his homeland in Adriatica.

The Bitars kicked off this mini trend when they gutted their falafel shop on 40th Street, reopening two weeks ago as Simsum (Arabic for sesame seed) and offering a French twist on traditional Lebanese and Moroccan fare. For the Bitars, opening a full-fledged restaurant marks a huge departure from the limited offerings available at the original shop at 10th and Federal.

The break from tradition, both in menu and in name, is a result of the tremendous competition the Bitars faced, particularly from the lunch trucks patrolling the Penn campus that surrounds the restaurant.

"Everyone was offering falafels, even the pizza place," says Amin Bitar. "I always wanted to be ahead of the pack, so we are opening this as a BYOB."

Bitar says the menu was "developed in about three hours" after a conversation with chef Tom Deeney, who learned his way around French cooking under Olivier De St. Martin at Dock Street and, later, Independence Brew Pub.

"The French have had a tremendous influence in Lebanon," Bitar explains as plate after plate of sumptuous new menu items emerge from the kitchen. "I was talking with Tom and he was very excited. About three hours later, he faxed me a menu and it's pretty much what you see here."

Clearly, Bitar and Deeney are pushing the envelope. If the samples dished out are any indication, Simsum will become a prime destination for the college crowd as well as people coming to the Bridge Theater. From the curry scallop soup to the shrimp sam-bou-sik (a traditional Lebanese dumpling) to the Simsum wings (grilled, not fried, served in a harisa honey sauce) to the calamari Mik-li (almond-flour-dusted fried calamari), the tastes and textures are nothing like Bitar's, not what you would expect and heavenly. And very reasonably priced.

Adriatica, located at the corner of Chestnut and Strawberry streets in Old City, is the latest offering from Mustapha Rouissiya, the former attorney from Morocco who earned respect in Philly as chef at Rococo and Twenty Manning before opening two restaurants called Figs, one in Cherry Hill (which has since been sold) and another in Fairmount.

At 14,000 square feet, including a 5,000-square-foot basement, it is an impressive space, with windows (and, eventually, sidewalk seating) on Chestnut and Strawberry. The walls are painted purple and golden orange and golden yellow, "the colors of Morocco," says Rouissiya. And there is a 540-bottle wine cooler set into the wall of one of the dining rooms.

Where Simsum can seat 48 tops, Adriatica can seat 175 in its three dining rooms and bar with retracting dividers.

As the name implies, Adriatica is a seafood restaurant, with five different whole fish on the menu and a raw bar. The menu has some French, North African and Turkish influences, with entrees like pistachio-crusted tuna with lobster ravioli, cedar plank steelhead salmon trout and Moroccan red snapper.

The menu at Adriatica reflects Old City prices, with entrees running from $13.85 for an angel hair pasta dish to $22.90 for the incredibly yummy Adriatica Bucket: lobsters, clams, mussels and crab legs with spicy tomato and baby cheese ravioli. Adriatica also has a seafood market and gourmet shop complete with a lobster tank, offering Old City residents and workers the chance to purchase cooked and uncooked fresh seafood, something currently unavailable in the neighborhood.

"This is very exciting," says Rouissiya, looking around at the $1.2-million renovation project that should prove to be the latest Old City hot spot.

Simsum, 222 S. 40th St., 215-382-3000. Adriatica, 217 Chestnut St., 215-592-8001.