Emmett’s “Upscale Grandmother” Vibes Are Coming to Kensington
Plus: Ogawa's new hyper-seasonal cocktail bar, Kampar introduces two new menus, and two major restaurant closures to watch.
Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. We've just got a few quick things to get to this week, including (but not limited to) news from Kampar, an update from Emmet, two historic restaurant closures, and a famous name coming to Martha's old home in Kensington. So let's kick things off with ...
A Home for Emmett
Chef Evan Snyder has been looking for a home for Emmett for a long time.
A year and a half, actually. Since the middle of last year. And while he certainly kept himself busy with a series of pop-ups and preview dinners (at Little Fish, Paffuto, Elma, South Philly Barbacoa, Forsythia, and elsewhere), the Levantine-inspired concept with its blend of Mediterranean flavors didn't really have any one, single place to call home.
Until now.
Last week, Snyder (along with partners Julian van der Tak and Eli Silins) announced that after months and months of searching, they'd finally found the perfect location for Emmett — a cozy, 1,600 square foot, 36-seat space at 161 West Girard Street in Kensington, right on the corner of Girard and Hancock where, once upon a time, Samantha Kincaid and Jon Nodler's Cadence (which I loved when I reviewed it in 2018 , then mourned when it closed during the pandemic) did its thing.
Couple things are going to be different this time around. For one, Emmett is doing a kind of French/Italian/North African/Middle Eastern thing, liberally cut with flavors from the Levant, and leaning heavily on local producers and wood-fired cooking. We're talking matzoh ball soup with duck confit and challah toast, oxtail with Moroccan curry, lamb neck dolmades, and foie gras with winter citrus and semolina cake, plus crudos, hand-made pastas, and seasonal desserts. So there's that.
Emmett will also have a bar and a liquor license (which Cadence never did), featuring a spread of natural wines and chef-driven cocktails, which is also a bonus.
Snyder and his team are looking at an a la carte dinner menu plus an $85 tasting option to start. "Upscale grandmother" is the vibe he says he's going for — which I kinda love. Brunch service will follow as soon as the staff get settled into the new space, and, come spring, they'll even be adding an additional 24 outdoor seats on Hancock Street, bringing them up to a nice, even 60.
As mentioned, the space was Cadence up until 2021. After that, it was a vegan restaurant called Primary Plant Based. And other than some cosmetic changes, plus adding a big neon sign (and putting in the bar), Snyder and company aren't really doing much to the space. Which means the other piece of good news here is that Emmett — which Snyder named after his son, born in April of last year — is going to be opening soon. Mid-January is what they're shooting for. You can keep track of their progress on Instagram if you're so inclined.
I'm marking my calendar right now.
Ogawa Sushi Gets an Upstairs Neighbor
It was just last year that partners Vy To, Victor Ng, and Albert Zheng brought Ogawa Sushi & Kappo from Washington, D.C., to Philly. In a city in the middle of an omakase boom , the place made a splash with its luxe, high-end, two-hour, 23-course, 29-bite, $200 omakase experience. But now, the three partners who convinced Minoru Ogawa to expand his Michelin-starred restaurant to Market Street have moved in a second operation upstairs.
Almanac is being described as a "Japanese American bar" — not an American version of a Japanese bar but, rather, a place where those two drinking cultures can come together in a single expression. That means classic American cocktails, reimagined with Japanese twists. It means Japanese flavors and precise technique married to American liquors and botanicals. James Beard Award-winning author and forager Danny Childs designed the cocktail menu and is onboard as a consultant as it changes throughout the seasons. Childs (who trained as an anthropologist and ethnobotanist before turning his attention to cocktails) quite literally wrote the book on slow cocktails , and Almanac is kind of like a working model for his philosophy — a place where "once a drink is formulated, it will only remain on the menu while the ingredient is available and at its pinnacle of flavor. Once the ingredient is no longer available, the drink comes off the menu and will be replaced by something that is very much of the moment."
To that end — and in keeping with the style of its downstairs neighbor — Almanac will also be offering a "cocktail omakase," which will involve the bartender asking you a few questions about your preferences and then mixing up a custom concoction (or three) just for you.
And while I can certainly appreciate the simplicity and joy of a cold gin and tonic on a hot afternoon, I do like the idea of a "slow cocktail" bar. Here's Childs talking at length about why he's excited for the opening of Almanac:
"The program will focus on hyperlocal and hyper-seasonal ingredients that are able to tell the story of both the mid-Atlantic U.S. and Japan. We will emphasize a zero-waste approach to utilizing unique foraged and locally-farmed ingredients and transform them through age-old preservation techniques such as fermentation, infusion, pickling, shrub-making, sugar preserves, etc. While I'm so excited to share this first-of-its-kind program with the city, none of it would be possible without the team we've assembled to bring this project to life. Rob Scott, who worked under me at Farm and Fisherman during the entirety of my final year there, is the head bartender, and I can't think of a better person for this job. He is one of the most personable, intelligent, and technically oriented beverage professionals I've had the pleasure of working with. And having Vy and Victor Ng as the facilitators of this project has been an absolute joy. They've spared no expense in allowing us to outfit this space with the tools and equipment that a program of this caliber deserves. I can't wait to showcase what we've been working so hard on."
Also, there's a kitchen. So along with a martini featuring one or two hyper-seasonal flavors, you can get karaage octopus, miso-glazed chicken wings, wasabi fries, and wagyu hot dogs. Again, American bar food interpreted through a Japanese lens. There'll be five seats at the bar for walk-ins, then reserved banquette and table seating for 15. And the cost to eat at Almanac is quite a step down from Ogawa, with menu prices ranging from $7 to $18.
Almanac has been in the works for some time, apparently, so it's set to open to the public this Friday, November 15th, above Ogawa Sushi & Kappo at 310 Market Street in Old City. I'd make your reservations now if you're interested.
A Double-Shot of New Tasting Menus at Kampar
Sticking with the whole upstairs/downstairs theme we've got going here, I just got word that Ange Branca is launching a new tasting menu upstairs at Kampar.
She's calling it "Kenduri," which means "The Feast." It's an ever-changing, four-course Malaysian and Hakka-style meal for the entire table that can be done vegetarian, gluten-free, halal, or pescatarian, and the goal is to bring the Kampar community together to "experience what it's like to have a feast with their Malaysian family."
Which, I gotta tell ya, will probably be a LOT nicer than getting together with my angry, sullen, Rust Belt German-Irish family this holiday season. Plus, I can pretty much guarantee the food will be better.
Kampar's Kenduri menu will run you $75 a head and has to be ordered by the whole table. It's available starting ... now.
Meanwhile, downstairs, resident chef Reuben Asaram has just launched his new fall tasting menu. Also $75, he's doing Northern Indian cuisine threaded with Mexican influences — stuff like hariyali chicken quesadilla, spaghetti squash dosa, white korma lamb enchiladas, and naan with nopales achar. It looks like a pretty wild menu. I'm psyched to try it out.
In the meantime, who has room for some leftovers?
The Leftovers
It looks like 2025 is going to kick off with a fight for one of the best restaurant spaces in the city.
225 South 18th Street — on Rittenhouse Square, right between powerhouse Rouge and Parc, two of the most perennially popular spots in Philly — is currently the home of Devon Seafood Grill . But Devon Seafood Grill just announced that, after 25 years in operation, it will be shutting down on January 1st. And that will put a large, ideally located, turnkey restaurant space on the market for the first time since the Y2K crisis was the biggest news in the world.
According to the Inquirer , there are already lots of big-time operators circling the space. It's gonna be fun to see who brings home the prize.
Speaking of big closures, The Olde Bar — opened by Jose Garces a decade ago in Philly's historic Bookbinder's space — is done. Though it will continue to operate for the time being as an event space, it is finished as an actual restaurant. I'm guessing this will come as a surprise to many people who thought the place had closed years ago, but that now puts two really big, well-situated, former seafood restaurants on the market for 2025.
Meanwhile, in a bit of good news, remember when I told you about Martha shutting down in Kensington ? Well, that day finally came. It shut the lights out for the final time last week. But apparently the space at 2113 East York Street isn't going to stay dark for long.
Former Top Chef contender Leah Cohen and her husband Ben Byruch (who grew up in Cheltenham) will be coming to town to open a third location of their NYC-based Thai/Filipino restaurant, Pig & Khao . And honestly, after watching them tease their sisig on Instagram , I'm super psyched.
The opening is planned for next summer, so we're gonna have to wait a little while, but if you're interested in more info on Cohen, Byruch, or their New York operations, the Inky took a look at what to expect from the new restaurant when it opens.
Meanwhile, Red Owl Tavern is getting into the holiday spirit with the opening of their "Owl-idays Bake Shop," a pop-up, charitable bakery kicking off holiday operations starting tomorrow, November 13th.
Red Owl's pastry department is basically providing made-to-order desserts for all your holiday events — everything from trays of croissants and pumpkin danish to cookies by the dozen and both sweet and savory pies.
Orders have to be placed online (which you can do right here , starting tomorrow), and the kitchen needs a minimum of two days of prep time. But if you're interested, this is basically all of your holiday baking needs handled. Plus, a portion of the proceeds from the Owl-idays Bake Shop will be going to support Philabundance Community Kitchen , which, if you needed an excuse to eat more pie this holiday season, is a pretty good one.
And finally this week, there are two fun food events happening this Saturday that, if you plan accordingly, you can make a day out of it. First, Jet and Saami Somi are getting together this Saturday, November 16th, for a Georgian "Mini Supra" from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saami will be providing the khachapuri, dips, and spreads; Jet will be handling the wine; everything will be pay-as-you-go; and 10 percent of the net will be going to HIAS Pennsylvania in support of their refugee services.
The menu for this one looks good, with traditional, hot honey brie and caramelized pumpkin and smoked apple khachapuri, pkhali vegetables, and dips like cinnamon roasted squash with walnuts, roasted beetroot with pomegranate molasses, and roasted eggplant. So if you're looking for something to do early on Saturday night, now you've got plans. See y'all there.
Then, if you are new to town, visiting, or find yourself dining solo, there are two new companies focused on creating experiential dining experiences, and they're banding together for a one-night communal dinner. City Wide Social , a new dinner series geared toward creating opportunities for solo travelers (or solo diners) to hang out over an awesome meal, is teaming up with Calliope , another new dinner series founded by husband-and-wife duo Ian Moroney (previously of Pumpkin) and Sharon Thompson-Schill (Penn neuroscience professor and frequent restaurant goer). This Saturday, November 16th, City Wide Social and Calliope are inviting enthusiastic eaters to Ian and Sharon's Rittenhouse apartment for a seven-course meal featuring locally sourced ingredients. So if you're looking to meet some new friends this weekend at a private dinner party in the home of a professional chef, this is your sign to get your ticket now !
It starts at 6:30 p.m., so you can easily hit up Jet Wine Bar for some mid-afternoon khachapuri for a good cause, go for a digestion walk to Rittenhouse, and show up just in time to hang out with Ian, Sharon, and company at the City Wide Social and Calliope dinner party.
