Staff Blog
Post-Easter Philly food news for y’all
What's the best cure for a glazed ham 'n' Peeps hangover? Hunting down some foodie tidbits for you and yours. As always, check out this Thursday's edition of Feeding Frenzy for more goodies.
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Tom Baker and Peggy Zwerver of the now-defunct Heavyweight Brewing Co. hope to have their Earth Bread + Brewery (7136 Germantown Ave., Mt. Airy) open by this May. Zwerver says they're currently in process of constructing their wood-burning oven, which'll be used to fire up flatbread pizzas. The menu will feature around six pizzas at a time, with one or two weekly specials; ingredients will be sourced locally, and the dough (soooo vital!) will derive from yeast cultures the couple plans on cultivating themselves. The menu will also feature salads, cold appetizers and desserts. Capacity-wise, the brewpub will be able to fit between 80 and 100. They have a license for outdoor seating, Zwerver adds, but they're going to focus their energies on getting the inside crankin' before rolling out anything al fresco.
Back in January, Baker told Joe Sixpack that the beer offerings will be session-friendly and low in alcohol — a far cry from the cult-fave "big beers" Heavyweight was known for. This still stands — they'll offer four house options in addition to local crafties from Philadelphia Brewing Co., Victory, Sly Fox and the like. Opening varieties could include a rauchbier and a low-ABV version of Heavyweight's famed farmhouse-style Biere d'Art. "[Tom] has a homebrewer mentality," Zwerver says of her hubby. "Why do the same thing all the time? He'll keep brewing different things."
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Jay Choi is planning Food & Friends Neighborhood Market (cutest ever?) for the Rittenhouse space that housed Kitchen USA (1933 Spruce St.). F&F will have a high-end feel — gourmet sandwiches and groceries, artisanal cheeses, organic produce, La Colombe coffee and more. The best news of all? One half of the market will be dedicated to takeaway beer — local, national and international choices, says Choi. No solid opening date yet, as the owner's still "doing his homework" in terms of what products he wants to carry (and waiting for his liquor license to kick in).
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| The Evenchiks |
| Michael T. Regan |
Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro co-owner Jason Evenchik, who earlier this year took over Ludwig's Garten with wife/partner Delphine, said on Friday that they're about "a week out" from having Time open in the space (1315 Sansom St.). It all depends on when they can get the health department in for inspection. The "updated country club" approach we wrote about here has been altered a bit. Chef Frank Imbarlina, formerly of Brigantine's Brass Monkey Café and Market, will take more of a "continental" approach; Evenchik gives grass-fed local beef, rabbit and caribou carpaccio (!) as examples of some of the stuff they'll be doing. (Note that the latter item will be available seasonally, i.e. not this spring or summer.)
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| Robo intern...sick of...making...Starbucks runs...KILLKILLKILL |
| machineculture.com |
Finally, in crazy concept news, we've got word of Whiz Kid Convenience Café opening in the storefront (428 South St.) that housed the Tigerlily boutique. Owner is John Shields of Shields Business Solutions — a Jersey company that provides ATM and armored car services to the banking industry. So how'd he get into the coffee game? Well, Whiz Kid will be what Shields calls a "self-service café" or "automated convenience store." One half of the space will feature a selection of those automated doohickeys that consumers have come to know and love — we're talking coin counters, DVD rental boxes and various vending machines. The other half will feature cappucino, hot chocolate and fruit slushee machines, café seating and a Wawa-style self-serve coffee area (this will be overseen by a flesh-and-blood person). Is this the future? You'll have to wait until the near future — May — to find out.
[...] Post-Easter Philly food news for y’all [The Clog] Read More:Earth Bread + Brewery, food & friends market, kitchen usa, Time, Wawa [...]