Plus: A Repeal Day party, a new lounge at Morimoto, and some delicious holiday happenings.
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Next of Kin / Photograph by Michael Persico, originally in Best of Philly 2023
Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. It’s Thanksgiving week, which means things in Restaurant World are pretty quiet. Still, there are a few things worth keeping an eye on, including (but not limited to) a new bar from the Next of Kin team opening in Washington Square West, Morimoto’s new lounge, and a special Seven Fishes menu from Yun Fuentes. So let’s just run through these as fast as we can, and then we can all get back to our Thanksgiving dinner prep and binge-watching Charlie Brown specials, cool? Cool. We’ll start things off this week with …
Static! On Spruce Street
Way back at the height of summer, we had a week where I had to announce the closures of four different local restaurants in a single week. We lost Mac’s, Seorabol, Tria, and Kraftwork at the very end of June and beginning of July. It was stupid hot all the time, everyone felt like they were melting, and losing four popular neighborhood spots felt like an inordinate amount of cruelty in an already rough summer.
Then, just a week later, word came down that one of those spots — the now-former Tria location at 1137 Spruce Street — was being eyeballed by a beloved cocktail bar in a different neighborhood as a possible second location. The gang from Next of Kin were looking to expand. And this spot seemed perfect because it offered them access to a whole new group of locals — and a kitchen, which is something their Fishtown spot didn’t have.
So now here we are, just a few short months later. The weather has cooled, the vibe has chilled, and NOK’s new spot, now called Static!, is getting ready to open. As far as I know, the plan was not to have a full dinner menu or anything. Just some snacks to go along with the entirely new menu of classic and experimental cocktails being put together by partners Kyle Darrow and John Grubb. One thing I’m sure of? The opening date. It’s tonight.
Yup, tonight. On November 25th, the crew will open the doors and let the new neighbors see what they’ve been working on.
“We’re a cocktail bar built by bartenders,” says the team. “No wizard, no magic tricks! Just a lot of love for this industry and even more love for the city of Philadelphia.”
A quick cruise through Static’s Instagram shows that they survived an industry night/soft open already, and that the cocktail menu looks like a greatest hits mix tape of elevated classics (a cosmo with salted plum vodka, a jumped-up Penicillin, appletinis and Clover Clubs), which is pretty much what I expected. These guys are very good at walking that line between creativity and comfort, between the familiar and the fantastic. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do at the new address.
Doors open at 4 p.m. Be there or be square.
Now, what else is happening this week?
Speaking of Cocktails …
Photograph courtesy of Ranstead Room
Looking for something interesting to do in that lull between Thanksgiving and Christmas? Need a good excuse to go out and get messy on a Friday night while still keeping it classy? Then I got the perfect party for you.
On Friday, December 5th, from 8 p.m. to midnight, the cats at the Ranstead Room will be celebrating the most important historical drinking day on the entire calendar: Repeal Day.
On December 5th, 1933, the United States ratified the 21st Amendment — the one that repealed the 18th Amendment which, for 13 years, had made it illegal to drink, manufacture or transport alcohol. Prohibition didn’t stop people from drinking, of course. And it didn’t stop bartenders from inventing cocktails. It just made the whole thing an outlaw endeavor and guaranteed that, every 10 years or so, we’d all have to put up with a bunch of speakeasy-themed fad bars attempting to capitalize on the underground vibes of this bygone era.
Anyway, Ranstead actually has a legit claim to their expertise in classic and pre-Prohibition cocktails, and they’re putting all that knowledge to good use on December 5th with a Repeal Day party that will feature a curated list of vintage cocktails, small plates, live jazz from the Jillian Ashcraft Trio. Period attire is encouraged, but not required, so if you’ve got a flapper dress you’ve just been dying to take out of the closet, this is your moment. Tickets are $150, drinks and snacks included, and you can get yours right here.
A New Menu for Village Whiskey
Pimento cheese dip, a new menu item at Village Whiskey / Photograph courtesy of Village Whiskey
Okay, so not entirely new. But I feel like the menu at Jose Garces’s Center City spot has always been so dependable and unchanging, that any change to it feels like the earth shifting beneath our feet.
For this revamp, Garces and his team have looked south for more comfort food inspirations. So the starters menu now has pimento cheese dip with sourdough toast and a warm shrimp and avocado salad. There’s hot chicken, pulled pork, and fried shrimp sliders, shrimp and grits as an entrée and bourbon-apple glazed short ribs with blue cheese and baby carrots. For dessert, it’s chess pie and lime posset.
And none of this is a huge deal, it just kinda feels like a huge deal because there was a moment in my life when Village Whiskey was one of my go-to spots in the city. I always knew what I was drinking, always knew what I was eating, never even had to glance at a menu. It was a place I’d stop when I was between things, on the way from one dinner to another, or pre-gaming an event. I’ve had more “lunch meetings” there than I can count. And now there’s shrimp and grits and pimento cheese dip? Weird.
Now, who has room for some leftovers?
The Leftovers
Chefs Yun Fuentes and RJ Smith / Photograph by Sophia Reis
I’m not sure how I missed this news when it first happened, but it looks like Morimoto has added on a new bar and izakaya to its Chestnut Street location.
For a few weeks now, The Lounge (which is what they’re calling it) has been operating upstairs at Morimoto, offering its own exclusive menu not available downstairs. They’ve got an impressive looking, Asian-inspired cocktail lineup with gin and shōchū Kawaii Coolers and black sesame-infused bourbon for the Old Fashioneds. They’ve also got two shareable cocktails (which are a welcome sight for those of us who grew up with volcanoes and scorpion bowls), a short sake list, and Hitachino Nest for those who just want a (really good) beer. There’s a very limited sushi selection (just three rolls), but a full spread of izakaya favorites — everything from spicy edamame and wagyu skewers to chicken karaage with ramen seasoning.
The Lounge is only open Wednesdays through Saturdays, but it sounds like it might be a reason to check back in at Morimoto if it’s been a while. I know I haven’t stopped by in quite some time. But I may need to break that streak.
‘Tis the season for holiday pop-up bars, so if you’re looking for something festive to do (and drink), check out this guide by deputy digital editor Laura Swartz.
And what are the holidays without cookies? If you want to show off at this year’s neighborhood cookie swap, pastry chef Angela Cicala is taking reservations for a December Christmas cookie class at Cicala. Apparently, she’s in Italy right now, picking up some new recipes. But she’ll be coming back to Philly in time to host a class on December 21st from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. And we’re not talking about just icing a few sugar cookies here. Angela will be teaching students how to make Tuscan ricciarelli, gingerbread amaretti, lemon ricotta cookies, Sicilian cuccidati and something called “Miss Frascati” which is apparently a very special cookie, made only in one small village just outside Rome.
Tickets for the class are $100. There’ll be snacks, a full bar available and you’ll walk out the door with a bunch of cookies and the recipes to take home. You can book your spot right here.
And finally this week, just one more holiday event to put on your radar. On Tuesday, December 16th, chef Yun Fuentes is doing a one-night-only collab dinner with RJ Smith from Ocho Supper Club at Bolo. They’re pitching at as a “Siete Mares” dinner — a Caribbean take on the classic Feast of the Seven Fishes — and leaning into it hard, with hamachi ceviche spiked with Scotch Bonnets and passionfruit, fried oysters topped with sautéed callaloo, lobster curry rellenos, red snapper escovitch, and suckling pig served over seafood rice with a squid ink sofrito.
There’ll also be an “Ocho Happy Hour” at Bolo’s rum bar for an hour prior to the dinner with cocktails, pinchos, and Jamaican beef patties — which are almost worth showing up for all on their own.
The cocktail party starts at 4 p.m. Dinner is at 5 p.m. Tickets are $150 a head and available right now. Get ’em here. But be fast. Seating on this is limited, and I have a feeling it’s going to sell out quick.