Staff Blog
R2L’s chef de cuisine is suddenly Devil’s Den’s new chef
posted by Drew Lazor
A rep for Devil’s Den (1148 S. 11th St.) has confirmed to Meal Ticket that Alex Ureña, the New York chef who in the fall closed his restaurant Pamplona and later signed on with Daniel Stern to run R2L, is in the thick of his first night behind the line at the South Philly beer bar. We’re told he’s going to take a little time to figure out the Den’s crowd to determine what people like before rewriting the menu with his own twists, and that this “all happened quite quickly.” No official word just yet on why Ureña left R2L, which doesn’t even open till Thursday (see the menu here), or where former Devil’s chef Allen Dann, who left the bar on Friday, has landed, but we’ll keep everyone posted.
UPDATE: “Chef Stern will be in the kitchen at R2L” is all we could get out of his peeps when tapped for comment on Ureña’s departure. Noted!
[...] Last week we reported that Alex Ureña, who was to be chef de cuisine at R2L, had left that brand-new Daniel Stern restaurant to come on board at South Philly beer bar Devil’s Den (1148 S. 11th St.). Ureña is taking his time revamping the menu, but for right now you can get an early taste of his stuff via thet Den’s happy-hour snack selection — the chef, who ran Pamplona in Manhattan, has added chickpea fries ($3), three-cheese croquetas ($5) and patatas bravas (spiced potatoes; $3) to the menu, which is available weekdays from 5 to 7 along with half-price drafts. [...]