May 25-31, 2006
Eats : Food
Feeding FrenzyAtta Turks. Siblings Ilker and Fulya Ugur lived in Manhattan before relocating to Philly to open this beautifully decorated Grad Ho BYOB. The menu celebrates the expertly seasoned foods of their native land (there's a heavy emphasis on lamb), but chicken and seafood are also well-represented. Ilker's confident that his cuisine will catch on in Phillyafter all, there's only one other Turkish restaurant in the entire city. Bite This: The hunkar begendi is pureed smoked eggplant topped with chunks of lamb or chicken.
This is not an update about the national bowl 'n' booze chain's mid-June opening in Center City. This is a test of my mettlecan I go this entire Feeding Frenzy item without making a lame Big Lebowski reference? Here's hoping. Bite This: The potato pizza pie features roasted garlic potato puree, bacon, mozzarella and cheddar. I said it, mannobody fucks with the cheeses. Hope is for cowards.
Royal Tavern's Dave Frank and Stephen Simons plan to roll out this Mexi-spot on the first of June. Miguel Aguilar (Valanni, Alma de Cuba) will take care of the kitchen. The food's sure to be great, but what's to drink? "We're going to have lots of tequila," says Simons. "Lots and lots of tequila." And I'll be having lots and lots of fistfights. Olé! Bite This: The pollo en mole negro is a mole-topped chicken breast served with tomato scallion rice and an avocado salad.
For the record, this is a barbecue restaurant, not an old-head blues guitarist. This latest installment, set to debut June 6, will be the most easily accessible for city folkother branches are located in Dickson City, Wilkes-Barre and Langhorne. Bite This: Every day, the staff maximizes tenderness by smoking its pork for up to 11 hours. The only thing I've ever maximized through 11 hours of smoking is my ability to eat 27 consecutive Butterscotch Krimpets.

