Meal Ticket just off the phone with chef Michael Schulson, of AC’s Izakaya, who shared some info on his new Philly restaurant at 122 S. 13th Street — a 70-seat Asian small-plates restaurant called Sampan. We’ll have lots more info for you in a moment — including stuff on Schulson’s new TV show on TLC — just need a sec to organize our thoughts! More in a sec, kids.

UPDATE: OK. Phew!

“I lived [in Philly] for 10 years,” says Schulson (right), who formerly headed Pod and NYC’s Buddakan, in addition to his TV experience with the Style Network’s Pantry Raid. (He’s got a new show debuting in August — more on that below.) “My son was born in Philly. My wife is from Philly. I still own my house in Philly. I had enough of being in New York, and wanted to come back here — Philly is my home.”

After experiencing success with Izakaya in the Borgata, Schulson had plans to do a 200-seat modern Asian restaurant in Philly about a year and a half back. The faltering economy, however, gave him pause. “I [didn't] want to do a huge restaurant that [was] going to cost $4, $5 or $6 million,” says Schulson. “I wanted to come back to Philly to do food in a cool, intimate setting, with something affordable for everybody. That’s what’s important in this economy.”

The 13th Street space, across the street from El Vez and Vintage in a former kids’ store, is about 2,500 square feet. Concept-wise, the chef says he’ll draw from his experiences/travels in Asia for Sampan (that’s a Chinese plank boat), featuring dishes celebrating Japanese, Chinese and Southeast Asian traditions. Think unexpected takes on spring rolls and pad Thai, steamed pork belly buns, raw fish and the like; figure on $8 to $12 for appetizers and $14 to $22 for larger places, which checks averaging out to somewhere between $20 and $40 a head. It’ll have a liquor license, with affordable wine and sake programs. The chef hopes to have the place open by November.

Alright, onto Schulson’s new small-screen gig — August 3 will see the primetime debut of Ultimate Cake Off, a baking competition show. (The full season will kick off on August 31, right after a new Jon and Kate Plus 8.) Schulson, who serves as both the host and one of the judges, says each episode features three competing teams of four people each who are tasked with creating a 5-foot-or-taller cake for a themed special occasion — in nine hours or less. (Schulson, who’s currently out in L.A. filming, today shot an ep with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.) The cakes have to have all sorts of wacky and complicated characteristics, from mechanized parts to lighting; the winning team gets $10K.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Chef Salad, Food TV, Openings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.