PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — We’re rolling this week on FYI Philly! From cinnamon buns to Banh Mi, discover delicious bites, a new Omakase experience and an eatery that satisfies a family’s dream. Plus, peek inside the “Salt Box,” meet the muse behind Vegans R Us and dig into an Oktoberfest feast!
New underground omakase brings chef’s choice sushi to Manayunk with Aogami
Chabaa Thai Bistro in Manayunk has been a popular spot from owner-Chef ‘Moon’ Krapughthong for 20 years, along with Yanako, right next door, for the last 10 years. Now she is expanding one level down, with Aogami — what she says is Manayunk’s first underground omakase bar. With head omakase chef Tom LoMonte ‘leading the counter’, artful pieces of sushi ngiri are presented in 16 courses, each chosen by the chef. Aogami is open during the week from 5-9pm, and 6-9:30pm on weekends.
Aogami | Instagram
4343 Main Street Underground
Philadelphia, PA 19127
267-297-8341
closed Monday and Tuesday
Anh Em makes lively new addition to Point Breeze for Vietnamese comfort food
Anh Em is a new spot for Vietnamese comfort food in the heart of Point Breeze. Husband and wife Victor Nguyen and Anna Huynh are both first-generation Vietnamese-Americans who grew up in the Philadelphia area. Victor heads up the kitchen, and brings years of experience in the hospitality business. He cooks up dishes both he and Anna grew up eating. They are looking forward to sharing their cultural cuisine with guests, and making it more accessible. The bar features 24 beers on tap, plus wine, and craft cocktails. Hours are 4pm until 2am every day except Tuesday, and the vibe is casual and lively.
Anh Em
1252 S. 21st Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
267-968-2395
Vegan Are Us brings plant-based comfort food to Chinatown
At Vegan Are Us in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, founder and CEO Sharonda Harris-Bunton serves up plant-based comfort food with a mission to help people live healthier lives.
Popular menu items include vegan chicken and waffles, a shrimp po’ boy made from white yams, the Philly V Steak, and hot bar favorites like General Soul Chicken, mac and cheese, and collard greens.
Harris-Bunton says her love of cooking started in the kitchen with her family. After losing loved ones to health-related issues, that passion evolved into a mission to promote healthier eating.
She built a following through social media cooking shows before opening restaurants in New Jersey and eventually bringing Vegan Are Us to Philadelphia.
Today, she continues that mission through her restaurant and her line of seasonings, juices, smoothies, and alkaline water.
Harris-Bunton plans to open a second Vegan Are Us location in Atlantic City next spring.
Vegan Are Us| Instagram | Facebook
1016-1018 Race St,
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Family-run Rieker’s Prime Meats serving up German specialties for more than 50 years
At Rieker’s Prime Meats, there’s a vast variety of German specialties, like Rauchpeitschen, which is a traditional German smoked sausage.
And co-founder Ursula Rieker can be your culinary guide. She pronounces Rieker differently than the rest of her family. She says the way she says it, “that’s the original name from Germany.”
“Our lunch meat is made with only spices from Germany. Nobody has that,” says Rieker.
She and her late husband, Walter, founded the business in 1970 before moving to the current location in 1972.
“When we started here, he built a big sausage kitchen, because he learned his trade in Germany,” she says.
It’s a tradition their son, Marcus Rieker, has continued since taking over the business 21 years ago.
They make many authentic German sausages, like their Pfefferwurst and Hungarian-style bratwurst.
“We make sausage every day, especially the fresh sausages are made every morning. Some of the smoked products we’ll make maybe every second day,” says Marcus Rieker, owner of Rieker’s Prime Meats. “I have the Oktoberfest bratwurst, you know, which has the caraway seed, marjoram and the seasoning that we get from Germany.”
Some of the sausages, like the Oktoberfest, are whiter in color because the meat mixture is veal and pork together.
“We make now unbelievable sausages,” says Ursula Rieker. “Uncooked, cooked, smoked, everything.”
The meat case displays them all, from old-fashioned knackwursts and bockwursts to liverwursts and mettwursts that Marcus Rieker calls “very traditional.”
“My son is more like a chef. He can cook very good,” says Ursula Rieker.
Her daughter, Caroline, helps customers up front, while Ursula stocks shelves in the market with all the Germany-imported accompaniments.
“Mustard is the big thing right now in Oktoberfest,” she says. “You need good pickles.”
The market also carries red cabbage and sauerkraut to round out an Oktoberfest platter.
They are also making sides in-house, literally cranking out German potato salad by the buckets. Ursula helps peel and slice the potatoes.
“Spätzle is a noodle made by hand,” she says. “And it goes with every dish.”
You’ll find ready-made foods, like beef goulash, along with customer favorites like schnitzel and roasts with triple meat.
“We do like a Black Forest chicken,” says Marcus Rieker. “We stuff it with bread stuffing with sausage filling and then we add, put bacon around the outside.”
“Should I tell you a secret? I eat lunch meat for breakfast. For lunch, a nice sandwich or soup. And for dinner, a nice slice of Leberkäse with a portion of fresh vegetables, and I’m 85 years old,” says Ursula Rieker. “Maybe we see you in when I’m 100.”
If this sounds good to you, an Oktoberfest special is available, but you have to pre-order at least three days in advance with a ten-person minimum, so round up some friends.
Rieker’s Prime Meats
Oktoberfest Special
Rieker’s Prime Meats
7979 Oxford Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19111
Hank’s Cinnamon Buns provide a huge and satisfying sweet treat
Hank’s Cinnamon Buns are huge. Owner Ronald Davis, aka Hank, runs the shop with his niece Kamore Boone. It’s the first brick and mortar for Hank and the lines are long for his decadent sweet treats.
Ron spent years working as a producer and DJ in the music industry under the name Hank McCoy. He learned to bake as a child from his mother and when the pandemic hit and the music industry slowed, he hit the kitchen and found a new calling.
He sold his cinnamon buns out of his house, then farmers markets and finally opened his own shop this fall. He stuck with Hank as the business name because, as he told us, most people don’t know that’s not his real name.
He serves a variety of flavors including the classic. He offers a sweet potato that was inspired by his mom’s sweet potato pie. Other flavors include banana nut, lemon and seasonal creations that rotate throughout the year.
Hank’s Cinnamon Buns | Facebook | Instagram
500 East Providence Road, Aldan, PA 19018
The Salt Box pairs pretzels, ice cream and super seasonal ingredients
At the Salt Box almost every ingredient is made from scratch. The eatery specializes in soft pretzels, ice cream and a full coffee program. Owner Danielle Martinelli runs the store with her son Nicholas and they start early every day.
They open at 6:30 every morning but the process starts closer to 3 a.m. Soft pretzels are the signature item at The Salt Box. They are made fresh all day. There are breakfast sandwiches served on a pretzel bun and stuffed pretzel flavors include cheesesteak, honey siracha chicken, spinach dip and more. Each filling is made from scratch.
The coffee program features cold brews with seasonal syrups made on site. They have a winery license to create sangria and you can find boozy milkshakes and coffee drinks. The Salt Box is also home to Sweet Pea Ice Cream featuring 14% buttermilk flavors that rotate seasonally.
It’s a family business focused on making everything from scratch and creating a flavor experience in Doylestown.
The Salt Box | Facebook | Instagram
5840 Easton Road, Doylestown, PA 18902
South Jersey couple creates the perfect ‘Catmosphere’ in Collingswood
A South Jersey couple has created the perfect environment for your next trip to Collingswood.
It’s known as “Catmosphere,” which is part Cat Sanctuary, and part cafe.
“We partner with Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center in Blackwood and they are the ones who provide all the cats, all the cats that we have here are adoptable. They’re fully vaccinated. The shelter does a…really great job at picking cats that would work well in this environment,” said Co-Founder, Sophia Coello.
“I struggle myself with anxiety and I really come into this place to find peace and a sense of calm. So that’s really what we try to create here and hope that we can put a smile on someone’s face,” she continued.
Also, check out their website.
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