Han Chiang, whose Han Dynasty restaurants are hits in Exton and Royersford, tells Meal Ticket he’s aiming at on or around Dec. 15 to open his third location at 108 Chestnut, in the former home of Joe’s Peking Duck Original 1984.

“I’ve always wanted to open in Philly, so when I saw a good deal, I jumped on it,” says Chiang, who won’t change much of the interior of the ready-to-go space much, at least not right away. Though these plans aren’t set in stone just yet, but the plan is to make this Han Dynasty more of a nightlife location, with weekly hot pot nights, karaoke nights and so forth. A liquor license should kick in a few months after he opens. The menu will be kept largely the same as Chiang’s other locations, the caveat being that he wants to start getting away from Americanized Szechuan cuisine and focus on a more true-to-tradition thrust.

The Swift Half in the Piazza at Schmidts is launching weekend brunch tomorrow, and it’ll run both days from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Exec chef Jessica O’Donnell says they’re starting off with a small menu to test the waters. Check out what they’ll be serving this weekend after the jump.

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Adam Ritter of frequent Meal Ticket haunt The Sidecar (2201 Christian St.) tells us that he’s just inked a deal for a second location. Located in a long-vacant bar space on the corner of Montgomery and Girard in Fishtown, his as-yet-unnamed project will be most comparable to a contemporary European bistro in both design and layout — picture a 30-seat U-shaped bar in the middle of the space, surrounded by a smattering of picnic bench-style seating. The location, which’ll be single-level to start out, is roughly twice the size of The Sidecar’s floorplan.

Right now the plan is do between 20 and 24 beers on tap, plus growlers — “It’s going to take what we do at our place and put it on performance-enhancing drugs,” says Ritter. The menu, which’ll be handled by new Sidecar chef Brian Lofink (formerly of Matyson and Brasserie Perrier), will be focused on well-crafted smaller shareable plates. The spot should be open sometime in the first quarter of 2010.

By the by, Sidecar’s plan to expand to onto a second floor is still a go.

Originally slated for Sept. 2009, former Pod chef Hiroyuki “Zama” Tanaka will open the doors of his namesake restaurant, Zama (128 S. 19th St.), this December.

The former Loie space got a chic makeover by Jun Aizaki of Crème Design Collective, the design-brain behind Jose Garces’ Amada, Chifa, Tinto, Distrito and Village Whiskey. In a June interview with Meal Ticket, Tanaka used the term “wa” — that crisp, distinct design style that’s immediately recognizable as Japanese — to describe his vision for the 80-seat eatery. Aizaki delivered an ultra-simple space with backlit, light-colored maple wooden slats framing the walls, concrete floors sparkled with with shimmery aggregates, maple wood butcher block tables and a vaulted ceiling.

Hot menu items will range from $5 to $28. Highlights include “Lob-Temp,” tempura lobster with uni sauce and teriyaki truffle; and “Sizzled White Fish,” striped bass with citrus-soy and finished with hot sesame oil.  Soups, salads and a few entrĂ©es round out the selection — look for Genmai Vegetable Spring Rolls with spinach, wood ear mushroom and pickled vegetable wrapped with brown rice paper and the cooked-tableside Zama House Tofu. More than 30 items, including maki and vegetable choices, will be available a la carte from the sashimi menu.

A full bar will be stocked with Japanese and domestic beers, a variety of sakes and wine, as well as specialty cocktails (like the Tokyo Martini, a blend of bourbon, ginger brandy, St. Germain and grenadine). More menu items and cocktails after the jump.

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Tomorrow morning at 11, roll by the corner of 11th and Fitzwater to check out Hawthornes, a new beer head’s cafĂ©/eatery from Chris Fetfatzes (of the across-the-street Bella Vista Beer Distributors Fetfatzes clan) and his girlfriend Heather Annechiarico.

BVBD is our usual go-to for harder-to-find American craft selections, and that theme’s carried over here, with around 1,000 12-ounce bottles for mix-a-sixes, but we’re most amped about Hawthornes’ growler system, which’ll pump up the 64-ounce branded containers (a $15 one-time purchase, plus a special $1.50 cap) via a special pressurized system to ensure flavor and carbonation stay intact. Fetfatzes tells Meal Ticket that the growler beer lineup will feature hard-to-find one-offs from breweries, as well as selections from spots that produce kegs only (Brooklyn’s Sixpoint, for example). Right now, you can grab beer-geek manna like Russian River Blind Pig and Damnation, Lost Abbey Red Barn and Bruery’s Mischief by the growler.

For eats (yes, you can purchase beer and drink it with your food), they’re keeping things relatively simple. There’s a selection of sandwiches — panini, ones stuffed with house-roasted meats, and grilled cheeses (like the Dankey, with fontina, mushroom and fresh sage) — plus cheese plates, soups and salads. Brunch, served Friday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., will see three-egg omelettes, crepes, French toast, pancakes and other hangover-smashing standards.

“‘Gastropub’ is an overused word,” said Carmen Cappello. “I like the phrase ‘public house.’” So that’s what the Philadelphia native, who spent the last 12 years in Atlanta as a head chef at that city’s Ritz Carlton, is calling The Wishing Well, the spot that he and boyhood pal Chris Martino are working on in the old Pat Bombino’s restaurant at Ninth and Catharine, which was owned, in part, by Al Paris. (This is not to confuse folk who’ll show up for tomorrow night’s media dinner at Public House to meet new executive chef Paris and taste his nu-pub menu).

Martino and Cappello’s dads know each other, too, and the relationship among families is something that will guide the Wishing Well at this outlying corner of the Italian Market and its surrounding neighborhood. “A lot of people around here have been telling us that they’ve been waiting for something that isn’t you typical fare,” Cappello told us, as he ran between his still-constructing Well and Isgro’s, where he was cannoli-shopping for his work crew. “Chris and I are very excited to bring a new concept to Bella Vista.” What is new, from seeing the bar, dinner and brunch menus (check after the jump), is little touches on old favorites, like adding scrapple to burgers as well as offering what might be the first shepherd’s pie on the block.

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This Craigslist listing from Friday seems to indicate that Stephen Starr’s on the hunt for an exec chef to handle a “new Latin Cuisine Concept.” We’re curious to see if this has anything to do with the restaurateur’s recent acquisition of the Midtown IV at 2013 Chestnut. Will poke around to see what’s up.

Last Friday, we teased a few photos of Percy Street Barbecue (900 South St.), which will open to the public this coming Tuesday, Nov. 17. Today we’ve got a few more shots of the Elisabeth Knapp-designed interior, as well as the opening food, beer and cocktail menus after the jump. Much more on the spot next week; for more right now, peep filmmaker Chandler Kaufman’s feature on the spot.

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Here’s your first look at Benny Lai’s new Vietnam CafĂ© (816 S. 47th St.), which’ll open to the public this coming Tuesday, Nov. 17. We dropped in as architect Jesse Gardner, the Vietnam owner and general contractor Drew Miller (fourth pic, L-R) were putting the finishing touches on the 180-seat space (formerly Abbraccio), a blown-out version of the humble 22-seat BYO Lai opened just down the block in early 2008. (There are no pressing plans for that space, at 814 S. 47th, just yet, says Lai.) Split up into multiple rooms (some are able to be sealed off for private events), the space is characterized by an abundance of natural light and a number of neat design touches from Lai’s homeland, including a decorative mock-up of a bamboo rain-water collector near the bar as you enter.

The menu here will be comparable to the one at Lai’s flagship location in Chinatown (221 N. 11th St.), but the major difference here is a spacious bar area, where they’ll be serving Vietnam’s signature cocktails as soon their liquor license kicks in in about a month’s time. There are also plans to introduce a late-night bar menu that’ll be available on weekend nights.

Lai tells Meal Ticket he’ll be open out here from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily, with plans to extend hours in the coming weeks after they get their feet.

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Jennifer Zoga’s Good Food Market (12 W. Willow Grove Ave.), the Chestnut Hill upscale grocery we first told you about in July, is opening to the public this weekend. You can meet chef Amy Kunkle on Saturday; then check out demos/samples from a number of local purveyors, including Di Bruno’s, Amy’s Organics, Bell and Evans and more. Good Food’s posted a full schedule of grand opening festivities on its blog.