Shore winners: Craig LaBan shares his favorite new restaurants from LBI to Margate.
Two trends: Aperitivo, that European-style late-afternoon cocktail break, is replacing happy hour here. Also, local bakeries are aiming to boost their cool factor by offering TikTok-famous dot cakes.
Frosé tips: On the drink’s 10th anniversary, wine writer Marnie Old explains which wines work.
A new age of brunch has arrived in Philadelphia, borne on the menus of chefs who are taking this long-forgotten meal seriously — but not too seriously. Kiki Aranita shows you where they’re not only breaking eggs but new ground.
🍴 Craig LaBan’s Jersey Shore restaurant reviews continue, as he shares his 2026 findings from Long Beach Island south to Margate. The gochujang carbonara and Oaxacan meatballs at the out-of-the-way Iron Room in Atlantic City, shown above, are examples of “pure fusion fun.” Catch up with Craig here.
🍴 Where else to try: Last week in Part 1, Craig showcased seven new restaurants and an ice cream shop, all on the mainland.
🍴 What’s next: Visit Inquirer.com on Saturday morning for Part 3, in which Craig reviews 11 spots from Ocean City south to Cape May, where he found 24-karat gold atop cacio e pepe risotto.
Aperitivo, a Euro drinking tradition, is overtaking happy hour as a Philly thing. Alisha Miranda writes that more bars are embracing late-afternoon menus with lower ABV cocktails and salty snacks meant for grazing.
When dot cakes hit TikTok, local bakeries weren’t sure the sprinkle-covered dessert would amount to much. Olivia Prusky writes that some shops are even outselling cupcakes as owners race to decide which viral food trends are worth chasing.
How do you choose the right wine for frosé, the summertime cocktail staple? Marnie Old explains.
When Philadelphia’s buzziest restaurants need a beautiful menu design, they call Kylie Silvestri. The creative process is like “building the puzzle pieces,” as she told Hira Qureshi.
A week of top chefs at River Twice
River Twice (1601 E. Passyunk Ave.) will revive its annual Christmas in July dinner series for a fifth year, bringing a different guest chef into the South Philadelphia restaurant each night from July 21-25. Chef Randy Rucker will begin the run with 2026 James Beard Award finalist Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate of Honeysuckle (shown above) on July 21, followed by 2026 James Beard Emerging Chef semifinalist Frankie Ramirez of Amá (July 22), Vetri Cucina’s Jacob Rozenberg and Michal Shelkowitz (July 23), Shola Olunloyo of Studiokitchen (July 24) and 2025 Beard nominee Emmanuel Chavez of Houston’s Michelin-starred Tatemó (July 25). Randy and Amanda Rucker created the series to showcase chefs during an otherwise quiet stretch of the city restaurant calendar. Details here.
The food team’s travels took us to South Philly for hand-rolled Italian noodles, to Chinatown for saucy Northern Chinese noodles, to Ambler for watermelon gazpacho, and to Atlantic City for a perfect dirty gin martini served with a blue-cheese stuffed olive and a sidecar of gummy worms.
Scoops
The Iron Oven in Southampton is planning its second location, taking the former home of Ross & Co. and Bernie’s Pub at 58 S. York Rd. in Hatboro. Sports-bar owner Alex Nalbandian thinks big: At 16,000 square feet, it’s 50% larger than his Bucks County original, which opened in 2018 on the former site of Kenny’s Bar. This Iron Oven will add a full bakery in the cellar while maintaining its phone book-size menu of 120 items. Star is a knife-and-fork-able cheesesteak (shown above) that overstuffs a pound of beef into a house-baked roll. Nalbandian said he is targeting an October opening.
At Emmett, the James Beard-nominated Mediterranean restaurant in Kensington, things are looking up. Owners Julian van der Tak and chef Evan Snyder are opening a second restaurant on the second floor. Read on for the first word about Jean, a 15-seater centered on a hearth.
Restaurant report
The roster of women bartenders who opened their own bars in South Philadelphia expands yet again. Last week, I told you about Liv Arterbridge and Gina Piccari opening the festive Mylar Bar later this summer at Ninth and Morris Streets. This week, Sam Ahern opened Lillian’s, a cozy bar/bistro across town at 19th and Mifflin. (She’s shown above, with bar manager Avdo Babic.) “I wanted something that felt like you were hanging out in somebody’s house,” said Ahern, who has set up a basic menu (try the toasts) but will rely on a series of guest chefs in the kitchen. Read on for the details.
Burrito Feliz’s shift from food truck to brick-and-mortar restaurant takes effect Sunday at 4403 Chestnut St. in University City. Miguel Nolasco is partnered with South Philly’s Brewery ARS to offer cans to go, as well as canned beer and margaritas for on-site consumption.
Briefly noted
Sarcone’s Bakery will add baseball-inspired branding next week in an All-Star Game tie-in. Apparel company ’47 Brand will take over the South Philly landmark at 758 S. Ninth St. on Monday and Tuesday with a pop-up featuring limited-edition Sarcone’s x ’47 hats and T-shirts, available with the purchase of select bakery items including tomato pie and bread, plus an on-site heat press where customers can customize gear with exclusive patches. Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. both days.
Culinary Collective, which runs commercial kitchens for culinary entrepreneurs, is teaming with Irv’s Ice Cream on an ice cream series. Each week from July 11-Aug. 7, a collective member or two will be featured in a flavor, including Mac Mart, Arsenal Coffee Roasters & the Cake Vault, Midnight Pasta, and Guilty Good Pastries. Flavors will be available for one week at Irv’s shop at 932 E. Passyunk Ave. Schedule is here.
Starr Restaurants has settled with the National Labor Relations Board over union-busting allegations at St. Alselm, its steakhouse in Washington, D.C.
Baby’s Kusina & Market in Brewerytown, which had taken a walk-in sales hit during the FIFA festivities, now says it’s temporarily closed by a flood caused by a burst pipe. Takeout is expected to resume at the end of the month as its first step back; follow its socials.
Crazy Sushi at 1837 Chestnut St. has closed after 14 years with the sale of its building, as noted on Rittenhouse Ramblings.
❓Pop quiz
Little Susie’s, the fast-growing mini-chain, offers 12 varieties of pie, plus coffee, at its five walk-up windows. One early pie flavor attempt was a dud and has never been sold. What was it?
Will Pizzeria Cusumano in Collingswood ever open? — Anthony C.
Apparently so. Back in September 2021, I reported that South Jersey pizzaiolo Sal Cusumano was planning an artisan pizzeria in a building at 872 Haddon Ave. in Collingswood. (Same article included word that Tacconelli’s Pizzeria was planning a new location in Haddon Township, and it opened in February 2023!) Zoning issues and construction tacked on years to Cusumano’s project, and now, he says, it’s down to fine-tuning the flours. He now says August.
When Franklin Fountain first opened, they made an absolutely delicious ginger ice cream — basically vanilla with bits of ginger in it. Then it went away. If you know any place else that sells it, please let me know. — Caroll D.
As a ginger-phile, I’ve been searching, too, but cannot find a comparable vanilla-ginger mix. Franklin Fountain owner Eric Berley told me that he would revive the combo (last offered pre-pandemic) someday at the Old City shop. More immediately, he is developing a combo of ginger with chocolate with Franklin sister store Shane Confectionery; there’s no release date.
Flavors change frequently. I see that the Owowcow Creamery locations in the northern burbs are dipping blackberry ice cream infused with thyme and candied ginger. The Cloud Cups locations in Kensington sell pineapple lemon ginger gelato. Malai in Rittenhouse doesn’t offer ginger, per se, but does infuse its ice creams with spices such as cardamom and mace. Perhaps Wecklerly’s will revive its ginger sesame crunch. The week-old Moment Gelato, which replaced Black Turtle Coffee just off Rittenhouse Square at 129 S. 18th St., plans to make a ginger flavor soon. Send me your ginger ice cream tips, and I’ll share with the group next week.
📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com.
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Right now, black walnuts look like small neon green tennis balls clustered on a branch. Their interiors are creamy and gelatinous.
Danny Childs, the founder of Slow Drinks — who is currently in the midst of opening his first cocktail bar, Field Day — uses black walnuts in this state for black walnut nocino, a variant of the bittersweet Italian liqueur known as amaro. “When I make amari in general, it’s always a way to showcase a certain place at a certain time,” said Childs, who forages his black walnuts from a running trail in Merchantville.
“When you’re making nocino, you pick them in June,” Childs said. “The knife can easily pierce the black walnut, as the actual nut hasn’t formed yet. It’s still a jellylike substance.”
Childs uses 151 proof vodka from Devil’s Springs in New Jersey to macerate his walnuts. His black walnut nocino is also on the menu at Almanac, featured in its cocktail the Juban District. It’s blended with Japanese whiskey, scotch, vermouth, Okinawan Kokuto brown sugar, and bitters. It’s funky and savory, and sweet without being cloying. And it has become a classic cocktail on Almanac’s menu.
And so, the Almanac team has also just gone foraging for black walnuts.
At Field Day, Childs’ black walnut repertoire will expand. “We’re going to start using the walnuts in other ways after nocino this year — to infuse wine to make nociato, and then use them to make black walnut miso.” He’s working with fermenter Jamaar Julal, previously of Honeysuckle, on these projects.
Danny Childs picks black walnuts in Merchantville.Katie Childs
Look closely, and you’ll start to see black walnuts everywhere, from shortbread cookies at Ellen Yin’s Bread Room to Randy Rucker’s sauces for seafood at Little Water.
Crisped up in a pan, the Heavy Metal Sausage’s mortadella, inlaid with cubes of smoked pork jowl and hard toasted black walnuts, emits a heady aroma of pork and socks. It is funky, distinctive, and heavenly; it tastes milder than its scent, like uncured bacon that had nestled next to a blue cheese for a few days in the fridge.
Pat Alfiero, Heavy Metal’s co-owner and butcher, sources shelled black walnuts from Ian Brendle of Green Meadow Farm in Gap, Pa., who has about 100 black walnut trees on his property. Brendle also functions as a middleman, shuttling nutmeats processed just south of Pennsylvania to chefs.
Jamaar Julal, Field Day’s director of fermentation, picks black walnuts in Merchantville.Katie Childs
“To me, black walnuts are unique, like pawpaws. If you had a hundred people eat them, half would like them and half would hate them. Pawpaws have the same unctuous floral perfume as black walnuts,” said Brendle, who now sells five to 10 pounds of shelled black walnuts every week, twice as much as when he started selling them two decades ago.
“They’re a misunderstood tree nut, for sure. But any nut or plant that can be foraged sustainably should be consumed. Anytime you can consume something that doesn’t require immense amounts of water or makes a negative impact is a step in the right direction,” said Brendle.
Black walnut trees are found in dense thickets in Fairmount Park, and on practically every farm and expansive backyard in and around Philadelphia. They’re native to the Mid-Atlantic, like hickory nuts and pecans. They swath the East Coast, growing as far north as the border with Ontario and as far south as Florida.
Every part of the black walnut contains juglone, which is toxic to many other plants, but perfectly safe for humans and animals to consume. For many gardeners and homeowners, black walnuts are a nuisance, staining hands if you gather them without gloves on, as well as the asphalt driveways on which they fall. The nuts get caught in lawn mowers and can also be dangerous projectiles, falling from great heights — the trees can grow up to 80 feet tall — denting car roofs and unlucky heads.
If nuts could talk, black walnuts would say, “No one likes us, we don’t care.”
For Alfiero, Brendle, and the others, there is an urgency to using black walnuts. Nut farming is water intensive, and the almond industry in California has repeatedly come under scrutiny for its groundwater consumption. The walnuts in a typical supermarket are the Persian or English variety. In the U.S., 99% of them also come from California. It takes about 26.7 gallons of water to grow an ounce of English walnuts.
“We’ve created so many problems for ourselves in the world, simply by being spoiled and being able to purchase, say, pistachios at the store. People grow almonds and other nuts in places that don’t naturally have a lot of water. We’ve created a market for things that don’t make sense,” said Jeremiah Langhorne of the Dabney in Washington, one of the chefs responsible for the black walnut’s current popularity on menus up and down the Northeast Corridor.
While the nuts, shelled and toasted or raw, may not be as snackable as the more common English varieties, they have a wide range of uses among Indigenous populations.
In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, wrote, “The hickories, black walnuts, and butternuts of our northern homelands have their own specific names. But those trees, like the homelands, were lost to my people.”
Though Native Americans carried black walnuts and other related nuts with them as they were displaced, “The federal government’s Indian Removal policies wrenched many Native peoples from our homelands. It separated us from our traditional knowledge and lifeways, the bones of our ancestors, our sustaining plants,” Kimmerer writes.
Native peoples were divorced from their trees, and now, chefs, distillers, and foragers are trying to form new bridges with the same wild trees.
How to use black walnuts throughout the year:
Early spring to summer: Gather the leaves
“Use the leaves in early spring when they’re just the size of squirrel’s ears,” said Robert Gustafson, a Virginia-based specialist in wild foods. This is when they can be blended and fermented into sauces.
“Our entire goal is to find what grows well around us, and be receptive to working with it,” said Isaiah Billington, who along with Sarah Conezio, is the co-owner of Keepwell Vinegar and White Rose Miso, based in Dover.
“Our black walnut bay sauce is like a Worcestershire sauce with a base made from our own apple cider vinegar,” said Billington. The recipe was unearthed from a cookbook first published in 1879 and adapted by Langhorne. It’s aged for a year with ginger, garlic, horseradish, and black walnut leaves, which Billington harvests himself. The leaves give the sauce a mildly bitter, herbal flavor. Billington had become enamored with the sauce while working at the Dabney, which now purchases it from Keepwell instead of making it in house.
Early fall: Recognizably walnuts
“This is harvest season for storehouse wild foods,” said forager Heather McMonnies, who collects the nuts using an apple picker. “This is the same time you’d collect chestnuts or hickory nuts.”
Late fall: Clogging up people’s driveways
Gardeners and homeowners are annoyed by them as far north as Canada. Making use of them culinarily can keep tons of them out of landfills.
Winter: Cheers!
It’s time to crack open that black walnut nocino that started in the summer and drink it.
Late winter and early spring: Tap the trees
“My kids got tired of homemade maple syrup and well, I have black walnut trees, and we may as well tap them and see what we get,” said McMonnies. After boiling 40 gallons of sap, sweet and molasses-like in color, she produced one gallon of black walnut syrup, incredibly light in structure and composition, with a tinge of the nut’s signature funk.
Black walnuts are divisive, but so is Stilton cheese, durian, fermented tofu, and any number of delicious things. Does divisiveness make black walnuts any less distinguished?
When chef Evan Snyder and business partner Julian van der Tak began searching for a home for Emmett a few years ago, they envisioned a restaurant that could do it all: an ambitious chef’s counter, hearth cooking, and a broad exploration of Mediterranean flavors. The Girard Avenue space they found wasn’t large enough. So when Emmett opened in early 2025, they focused on becoming a neighborhood restaurant first.
This fall, the partners plan to open Jean (pronounced “gene”), a 15-seat fireside tasting-menu restaurant above Emmett at 161 W. Girard Ave., the former home of destinations such as Modo Mio and Cadence. Rather than expand across town, they chose to build the missing piece just upstairs.
The team from Emmett (from left): managing partner Julian van der Tak, general manager Marissa Chirico, chef-partner Evan Snyder, and chef de cuisine Antonio Pizzo.Gab Bonghi
“We could have opened another restaurant somewhere else,” van der Tak said. “But the best part is, I can walk 12 steps and be in both restaurants.”
For nearly two years before opening Emmett, Snyder and van der Tak staged pop-ups while searching for a property that could accommodate both a neighborhood restaurant and a chef’s counter. They never found one.
“The original idea was always a larger restaurant that combined what upstairs will be with what downstairs became,” van der Tak said. “It was always meant to have a chef’s-counter feel and blend these cultures, but we simply couldn’t do it here because of the space.”
Rather than seeking a new location, they decided to finish the concept in the former apartment above the restaurant.
“In many ways, upstairs is the concept we originally imagined for Emmett,” Snyder said. “Downstairs became what it is because it was our first restaurant, because of the demands of the neighborhood, and because initially people didn’t yet trust us.”
Jean will center on a seven-foot wood-burning hearth, where Snyder and chef de cuisine Antonio Pizzo plan a 12-course tasting menu inspired by French North Africa — particularly coastal Morocco — and the southern Mediterranean. Emmett’s menu draws more heavily from the eastern Mediterranean and the Levant.
For van der Tak, who grew up in southern France, the menu reflects childhood memories shaped by the country’s colonizing of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Lebanon.
“Especially in southern France, those influences are deeply ingrained in the food, the personalities, and the people,” he said. “It’s essentially become part of the southern French identity.”
A tagine that begins cooking as guests are seated, and roasts over the hearth throughout dinner, will be served family-style with Egyptian flatbread, dips, ferments, and pickles after a series of smaller courses.
Snyder believes customers are ready for something more ambitious. “We’ve earned that trust,” he said. “Now we’re asking guests to trust us a little more and let us present a more ambitious experience.”
Despite the tasting-menu format, the partners insist that Jean won’t feel formal. Inspired by Henri Matisse’s Moroccan paintings, the dining room is designed as a fireside parlor with custom ceramics by Lauren Rider and Megan Stover, glassware from Philadelphia’s Remark Glass, and artwork by local artist Jacob Des.
Wine director and general manager Marissa Chirico will oversee an Old World-focused wine program alongside a small selection of batched classic cocktails. Snyder expects the menu to start around $225, though pricing has not been set.
“I don’t want to be the guy who opens charging $300 just because everyone else does,” Snyder said. “We’re still a family-run, community-driven restaurant. I don’t want people to feel gouged. I want them to leave feeling they got value.”
Construction has continued without interrupting Emmett’s nightly service. Before Jean opens, Snyder plans to preview the concept through collaborative pop-ups in other cities.
“When people hear ‘tasting menu,’ they assume you’re chasing something,” van der Tak said. “That’s not what this is. The opportunity came along, financially it made sense, and what’s important to us is that the restaurant feels approachable and never stuffy.”
The name continues a family tradition. Emmett is named for Snyder’s son. Jean is the middle name of van der Tak’s son and also honors his maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother.
“It’s just a name with a lot of family history for me,” van der Tak said. “Continuing the theme from downstairs, it’s a very deeply personal project for us. We want to carry on our family legacy and do something that’s really important and close to home.”
The golden age of brunch has arrived in Philadelphia, borne on the menus of chefs who are reinventing the genre.
All over the city, from Manong in Fairmount to dancerobot and Little Water in Rittenhouse and Rice & Sambal in South Philly, chefs who had long focused on dinner are turning their attention to brunch-specific menus, some available just one day a week. The results are dazzling.
Customers enjoying drinks and food at the bar at Manong.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
To many in the restaurant industry, the very word brunch conjures up feelings of dread. “Brunch menus are an open invitation to the cost-conscious chef, a dumping ground for the odd bits left over from Friday and Saturday nights or for the scraps generated in the normal course of business,” Anthony Bourdain wrote in his seminal memoir, Kitchen Confidential. And the stigma against the not-quite-breakfast, not-quite-lunch meal, often accompanied by endless mimosas, has endured. Until now.
For Chance Anies of Manong, brunch is an opportunity.
Wingko, cassava, and coconut pancakes on Rice & Sambal’s new brunch menu.Kiki Aranita / Staff
“I love that we’re making Spam,” said Anies. “It’s ironically the first food I got made fun of for eating at school because my dad would make me Spam and rice for lunch as a kid. I had kids calling me ‘Spam.’”
Anies is also making his own version of the processed meat, a highly labor-intensive activity compared to popping open a can. “We grind pork shoulder and smoked ham, and some other ingredients, then set the farce in a terrine mold to steam. After pressing overnight, we slice them into little Spam squares,” he said.
Manong’s house-made Spam is served on pandesal, a soft, buttery Filipino bread, in the breakfast sandwich at brunch, served seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Pandesal was the thing that got me into cooking, so having an outlet for the recipe I’ve been developing for over 10 years has been a cool full-circle moment,” said Anies.
Diana Widjojo’s Rice & Sambal on East Passyunk in South Philly has been open for two years, but only recently started serving Sunday brunch. Widjojo had toyed with starting brunch service last year, “but I didn’t market it very well.” She officially restarted brunch two weeks ago because “I thought it would be fun.”
Rice & Sambal’s brunch-specific snacks, savory items, and sweet dishes are extensive and only served on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (a la carte, no reservations taken). They range from crispy tofu to lumpia (vegetable and bamboo-stuffed spring rolls) to a Sumatran rendang that is cooked far longer than her typical Javanese rendang, so that it’s “spicier and more fragrant — I cook the curry until the coconut milk turns into oil.”
And then there are dishes like her Indonesian omelet ($17) and Wingko ($12). The omelet is stuffed with fragrant shallots and served with spicy sambal ketchup. The Wingko pancakes are made of cassava and shredded coconut and colored a deep purple with ube. No maple syrup here, but rather a little pitcher of coconut milk and a squeeze bottle of sweet palm sugar syrup are provided for you to decorate your pancakes.
There are also fun drinks like Happy Soda, served in a wine glass and consisting of coconut-pandan syrup, seltzer, and condensed milk, Indonesian coffee, and numerous tea drinks, including a deeply nourishing beras kencur ($7), made of ginger, turmeric, and rice. There’s excitement, creativity, and joy embedded in all these beverages — it’s a menu that dovetails with a rise in Indonesian cafes in Philadelphia.
In Rittenhouse, other previously dinner-focused fine-dining chefs are celebrating brunch. Little Water’s Sunday brunch (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) is spectacular. On the menu, there’s a dish of fried oysters on beef tartare, blanketed in golden hollandaise and tucked in with pickled surprises, sometimes a gherkin, sometimes another pickled vegetable, that you discover through little bites. You can also add caviar to fancy seafood, like Sweet Amalia oysters slicked with Alabama white sauce.
La Jefa’s brunch is equally marvelous, served Wednesday through Sunday (10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.). It features Guadalajaran twists on American brunch standards, like chilaquiles tucked into omelets or lengua given the pastrami treatment and layered into a sandwich. You get to wash it down with a beverage menu spiked with corn, tepache, and other fascinating ferments.
Also in Rittenhouse, dancerobot’s weekend brunch (Saturdays and Sundays 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.), has quietly become an incubator for incredible creativity, led by chef Justin Bacharach and sous chef Christina Betz, but featuring dishes from many other chefs and cooks on staff.
The sourdough pancake at dancerobot should be shared with everyone at the table.Kiki Aranita / Staff
Bucks County native Bacharach grew up with classic diner omelets, pancakes, French toast, and bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches, but these brunch stalwarts are completely scrambled up at dancerobot, where bacon, egg, and cheese are fashioned into crispy, crusted onigiri, and omelets are omurice, splayed open tableside into a blanket of egg curds, and pancakes are meant to be shared with the whole table.
“It’s an homage to fluffy Japanese pancakes,” Bacharach said. But his have more depth and oomph. They also have delightfully crispy edges. His sourdough pancakes, by the way, are made with the starter Amanda Shulman, the Michelin star-earning chef who also recently opened a restaurant serving brunch, gave him five years ago.
The Caesar salad inari at dancerobot is a riff on the “girl dinner” trend.Kiki Aranita / Staff
Pastry chef Sophie Wieber contributed cinnamon buns served with amazake-cream cheese frosting. Sous chef Drew Kornrumpff conceived a brilliant interpretation of “girl dinner” by stuffing pockets of aburaage, or fried tofu skin, with Caesar salad and topping them with ikura. Everything is original, delicious, and a little wacky.
Bacon, egg, and cheese onigiri at dancerobot.Kiki Aranita / Staff
“Brunch is a breath of fresh air,” Bacharach said. “The people are happier, the sun is out.”
Dancerobot is also leaning into the creativity brunch can offer by teaming up with chef friends in Philly and beyond, hosting brunch club events with Chicago’s Kasama and soon, Middle Child Clubhouse.
This new era of brunch is whimsical and riveting, a far cry from the dreaded services Bourdain once complained about.
All these chefs reinventing brunch have one more thing in common: They don’t have time to go out for brunch themselves. “Usually I am too tired to go to brunch,” Widjojo said. “I can’t remember the last time I did, but if I could, I would.”
For years, Sam Ahern imagined opening a place that felt less like a restaurant than a gathering spot.
Now, just a few doors from her first Philadelphia apartment, she’s done exactly that.
Lillian’s opened last week at 19th and Mifflin Streets in Point Breeze, transforming a onetime barbershop into a bistro and cocktail bar decorated like an old-fashioned living room parlor, complete with vintage furnishings and an evolving food program that will regularly hand over its kitchen to guest chefs.
Owner Sam Ahern and bar manager Avdo Babic at Lillian’s. They met while working at Fitler Club.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
“I wanted something that felt like you were hanging out in somebody’s house,” Ahern said.
Ahern took the name from her great-great-grandmother, who had a speakeasy in her basement in North Jersey and was known in the family as Diamond Lil. “The story goes that she would keep jewelry if you couldn’t pay with cash, and apparently she made her own gin,” said Ahern, who accepts cash and credit cards at Lillian’s.
The project is the culmination of a path Ahern never expected to follow. She studied graphic design and fiber arts in graduate school in Savannah, Ga., where she began helping a friend open a restaurant. Hospitality stuck.
After moving to Philadelphia in 2018, she worked behind the bar at Cicala at the Divine Lorraine, then at the private Fitler Club, before becoming bar manager at Fabrika in Fishtown.
She also put down roots in Point Breeze eight years ago. Her first apartment was three houses from where Lillian’s is now.
Three brioche toasts (anchovy, sardine, and enoki mushroom) at Lillian’s.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
During the pandemic, Ahern and friends hosted backyard supper clubs featuring rotating chefs. The dinners proved there was an audience for intimate, chef-driven experiences outside the traditional restaurant model.
When a property around the corner from her home came on the market, “it felt meant to be,” Ahern said. “At the same time, someone I knew was selling a liquor license and it also became available, so everything just fell into place.”
Rather than hire a permanent executive chef, Ahern decided to build Lillian’s around residencies. The idea, she said, is to tie the supper-club ethos into a neighborhood bar where someone can stop in for a martini and a sandwich one night, then return weeks later to discover a different chef, menu, or cocktail.
Chef Alejandro Martín Sánchez, who is location-shopping for his fine-dining restaurant Mesona, consulted on the opening menu, kitchen layout, and operations. Kitchen operations are managed by Isobella “Izzy” Ioffreda, while guest chefs rotate through for weekend or monthlong engagements.
Panzanella salad at Lillian’s.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The opening menu is intentionally concise, built around Mediterranean-inspired snacks and light meals meant to accompany cocktails. It includes mixed pickled vegetables ($5); panzanella salad ($12) with optional toppings; brioche toasts ($6 each), topped with anchovies, sardines, or enoki mushrooms; shrimp cocktail ($15 for five); a cheese and charcuterie board ($25), and sandwiches including vegetable ($13) with whipped ricotta, roasted piquillo peppers, and confit garlic; prosciutto and Manchego ($15) with house-made fig jam; and grilled chicken salad with Calabrian tomato jam ($15), topped with arugula and Parmesan on brioche toast. Desserts include flavored shortbreads ($2 each), chocolate mousse ($11) with Marsala and pretzel streusel, and olive oil cake ($13) with orange syrup, fig jam, and Greek yogurt. The menu is expected to evolve alongside the rotating chef residencies.
The residency program begins this month with Miled Finianos’ Lebanese-focused Habibi Supper Club, which is on its way to a permanent location on Passyunk Square. On July 9-11, 17-18, and 23-25, Finianos will offer a six-course ticketed dinner at 8 p.m., preceded by a public happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. featuring a more casual Habibi menu. August will be devoted to refining Lillian’s own operation before residencies resume in September.
Lillian’s at 19th and Mifflin Streets on June 30, 2026.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The cocktail program comes from Ahern’s former Fitler Club colleague Avdo Babic. Like Ahern, Babic came to Philadelphia through the arts, arriving to attend art school before discovering bartending under Katie Loeb at the Trestle Inn.
The menu leans on classic cocktails interpreted through house-made ingredients. Babic prepares his own tinctures, bitters, shrubs, syrups, and cordials, drawing inspiration from Prohibition-era recipes as well as the homemade herbal infusions his family made while he was growing up in Bosnia.
The Ms. Martinez ($15), for example, infuses Beefeater gin with osmanthus flowers and linden honey to lend floral, honeysuckle notes to the classic cocktail. Persephone’s Garden ($14) turns the martini savory through clarified pickle juice, dill, celery, coriander, black pepper, caraway, and Greek yogurt. La Molina ($16), a pisco sour, grew out of a recent research trip to Peru while incorporating a lime cordial recipe Babic has refined over several years.
“We built it around seasonal ingredients, but the foundation is classic cocktails,” Babic said.
Lillian’s, 1900 S. 19th St. Hours: 5 to 11 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Kitchen open to 10 p.m.
Unless you’re paying close attention while flipping through the extensive menu at Almanac, Old City’s Japanese American cocktail bar, you might overlook some of the painstaking work that went into it. The leather-bound book’s deep green color is meant to evoke the interior of the bar. The borders of the pages hint at the seasonal ingredients that go into each cocktail, and the thin newsprint pages depicting glassware illustrations of Almanac’s complex cocktails are meant to both be a guide and evoke opening an old book.
“Design is part of the holy trinity in the food service industry,” Silvestri said. “There’s the food. There’s the hospitality, and then there’s the design.”
Almanac’s menu, designed by Kylie Silvestri.Haridelle
Menus help set the stage for each customer’s meal, and play a big role in bringing the restaurant’s story to life.
“The second a customer sits down — before they even taste the food/beverage — they are holding a menu in hand,” she explained. “How does the menu feel, tactilely? How does it look? It all adds to the experience and helps to tell that story. So, for me, designing them is about building the puzzle pieces together in a way that connects and relays the message eloquently, from chef-owner to customer.”
Silvestri didn’t begin her career with a roster of small hospitality clients. She previously worked for startup groups and larger hospitality companies. In 2021, she started freelancing to build her own company, called Kylie Creative, where she developed branding for predominantly women-owned entrepreneurial businesses in the wellness industry.
As her clientele grew, she would pick up serving shifts at restaurants in the city, including Osteria, and build connections with industry folks. Soon, a friend at the restaurant introduced Silvestri to Amanda Rucker (River Twice, Little Water), who commissioned her to design flyers for a 2022 fundraising event to support abortion access. The following year, Rucker reached out to Silvestri for branding and menu development for Little Water.
“I naturally pivoted my design work to focus on the hospitality industry — because once you start, you never leave,” she said.
While designing menus is just a part of her restaurant branding business, the process can take up to a month for each restaurant. There are five key steps to ensure a final product that owners are happy with.
Sao menu, by Kylie Silvestri.Haridelle
First, Silvestri takes time to understand the owners/chefs’ vision for the menu. Then, she determines a menu system and layout with brand fonts and drawings. Walk-throughs of the restaurant/bar (in person or via renderings if it’s not built yet) help her connect the menu design to the physical space. Once the vision is mapped out, Silvestri likes to settle down at a local coffee shop to create the menus on Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. The final step is sharing paper stock samples with owners/chefs for feedback on design and tactility.
At Little Water, the linen-textured menu was the answer to conversations surrounding technique and locale, reinforcing the feeling of the coast with dishes offering the breadth of the Gulf to Cape Cod. An illustration of a little sandpiper sipping out of a cocktail on the drinks menu showcases the personality of restaurant owners Randy and Amanda Rucker. “We tied the design to that nautical experience and having this playfulness — Randy always says that ‘We don’t take ourselves seriously; we take our food seriously,’“ Silvestri said.
At Sao, the menu was inspired by Rachel Lorn’s family’s business down the Shore, featuring a takeout menu style that sections off the dishes in categories. There are outlines of vintage signage by Philly-based artist Darin Rowland.
Little Water menu, by Kylie Silvestri.Haridelle
For Habibi Supper Club and Field Day, the menus — like the restaurants — are still in development. On a recent Wednesday, Silvestri visited Field Day to chat with co-owner Katie Childs about the new bar’s branding and later chatted on the phone with Miled Finianos of Habibi Supper Club for his new cafe’s menu design.
The menus, Silvestri explained, are “time capsules of culture, time, and space,” so every choice, from paper stock to illustration style, is made to capture that particular restaurant’s moment.
Philly’s aim lately is on chef-owned restaurants, “or rather a focus on who is behind what,” she said, which means storytelling is more important than ever.
“Philly’s food scene is incredibly versatile. … Each story is unique to the chef/beverage professional at the heart of the concept, making it an incredible city to work in,” she said. “I will never get tired of exploring new design styles and never feel pigeonholed to follow a specific one.”
As the most popular dinner reservation times trend earlier and daycaps (aka late afternoon drinks) replace post-dinner cocktails, some Philadelphia bars and restaurants are forgoing happy hour for something with a chiller, convivial vibe: aperitivo.
A longstanding European tradition, aperitivo — which means “to open” in Italian — refers to the late afternoon and early evening hours ripe for lighter-paced drinking and snacking. While other countries have their own words for it (“apéro” in France, “la hora del Vermut” in Spain), the menu always includes fortified wines, bittersweet cocktails and liqueurs, and small bites meant to stimulate appetites.
The ritual is a natural fit for Philadelphia, the so-called “Frenchest city in America,” and its rise of Euro-American-inspired bars and restaurants. Operators are leaning into food-driven aperitivo hours to stretch out the day longer and cater to diners that are going home earlier and drinking less. Signature aperitivo drinks — classic negronis, savory vermouths, and bittersweet amaris — aren’t as heavy or fast-paced as half-priced beer and shot specials, and often come with sidecars of salty snacks, like cured meats, olives, and bread. Others, like an Aperol spritz or an Americano perfecto (a spaghett-style cocktail with beer, Vermouth, Campari, and an orange slice), tend to be lower in ABV.
People are “drinking earlier, coming right from work, and getting a small spritz, a snack, and then going to dinner,” said Benjamin Kirk, the beverage director at Michelin-key Hotel Anna & Bel, which offers an aperitivo menu three days a week at its cocktail lounge, Caletta. “You don’t see people out as late as you normally would since the pandemic.”
A cheeseburger and fries, the rigatoni all Amatriciana, and croquettes are all part of the aperitivo menu at Caletta in Fishtown.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Aperitivo is also more casual, less hurried, and lower pressure than a sit-down dinner or an after-work date. Reservations aren’t required, and it’s not uncommon to see friends popping in and out for a drink or kids joining family at the table.
“It’s a lot easier to roll into aperitivo with a stroller and get a glass of wine with kids while you are catching up with friends rather than going to a bar,” said Chris DiPiazza of the South Philly bakery Mighty Bread, which started offering aperitivo hour in August 2024.
Apéro is also “a marathon, not a sprint,” said Chloé Grigri, whose bars Superfolie, the Good King Tavern, Le Caveau, and Supérette all offer some version of late afternoon drink and food deals year-round. For Grigri, the purpose is less about pushing discounts so customers can drink more than it is about finding ways to intertwine French culture with happy hour. In Bella Vista, for example, the Good King Tavern is expanding daily apéro deals from 3 to 6 p.m. during the World Cup games (and beyond) to include discounted charcuterie, tartines, and “Frenchie-Americana” drink specials like Suze and Mountain Dew highballs and whiskey and Kronenburg citywides. “It’s the sort of thing you’d stumble across in Paris today in my opinion, but better,” she said.
The Americano? Americano!, a vermouth cocktail that’s available only during aperitivo at Caletta.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Still, prices at aperitivo tend to hover at $8 to $16 — roughly between the cost of a beer or glass of wine — which can attract customers during slower weekday business hours, said Le Virtù general manager Chris O’Brien. In the restaurant on East Passyunk Avenue’s monthly wine club newsletter, O’Brien said that 2026 has been “our busiest year on record by a long shot” with an uptick in patio reservations, where its all-you-can-eat northern Italian aperitivo events take place.
Similarly at Fishtown’s Caletta, Kirk said he’s seen a midweek bump with more guests requesting aperitivo hours even during offseason months. Grigri also noted the timing of the World Cup this summer has worked well for her businesses across the board. “Le Caveau had an immediate noticeable uptick,” in business, she said, alongside Good King Tavern and Supérette, where aperó has had a steadier and slower build. “It’s about getting people in right before our normal busy hours,” said Grigri.
Here are eight places to sip, linger, and graze al fresco for aperitivo in Philly.
Outdoor seating at Caletta, which offers an aperitivo menu from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Where to find aperitivo in Philly
Caletta
Caletta’s patio aperitivo (Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m.) transports you from a quiet Fishtown block to the Mediterranean coastline. At this hotel bar, the cocktails include split-based, lower ABV drinks that use house-made liqueur blends and fortified wines, like the “Americano? Americano!,” which includes a mix of coffee liqueur, sweet vermouth, red bitters, orange, and olive. A bonus: Your first drink comes with a complimentary salty snack dish of mixed nuts, roasted peppers, or salami with house-made focaccia.
📍1401 E. Susquehanna Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19125, 📞267-682-8253 🌐 calettafishtown.com
A selection of complimentary aperitivo snacks alongside two cocktails at Sorellina, 699 N. Broad St.Courtesy S
Sorellina
At owner Joe Cicala’s casual pizzeria in the Divine Lorraine, aperitivo is baked into the regular menu. Every table gets a few olives and tuna-stuffed peppers to snack on while deciding what to order for dinner. Italian-style bitter cocktails, imported beers, and amari anchor the bar program, though Cicala has noticed more customers ordering nonalcoholic bitter sodas — perhaps influenced by summer Euro trips, he noted.
Banshee’s dedicated aperitivo section features Spanish-style small plates of croquettas and patatas bravas, among others, plus drink specials from 5 to 6 p.m. daily. The Mediterranean-inspired bar in Graduate Hospital folds cocktails from Spain (Kalimotxo), France (Kir), and Italy (the not-discounted-but-still-excellent Spring Americano with strawberry vermouth and rhubarb aperitivo) into one concise menu. Our recommendation: Order everything, including a side of the house-made sourdough.
📍1600 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146 📞 267-876-8346 🌐 bansheephl.com
A spread of stuzzichini (bite-size appetizers from Northern Italy) at one of Le Virtú’s summertime aperitivo events.Courtesy Le Virtú
Le Virtù
For a glimpse of more communal-style aperitivo, East Passyunk’s Le Virtù hosts one-off seasonal patio gatherings throughout the summer that draw from the culture of Abruzzo, Italy, where owner Francis Cratil-Cretarola is from. Programming — typically on a Wednesday, weekend afternoon, or early evening — is lightly curated with unlimited buffet-style stuzzichini (bite-sized northern Italian appetizers) for $35 and $14 wines by the glass in collaboration with a rotating mix of producers and importers. Follow @levirtuphila on Instagram for upcoming events.
This retail shop, tasting room, and cocktail bar adjacent to the Gayborhood lets you choose your aperitivo experience — order a drink and stay awhile or buy bottled-in-state products for at-home concoctions. Either way, you can’t go wrong with its “Slayborhood Spritz,” featuring Apologue persimmon liqueur, Kyro pink gin, prosecco, and club soda or a lemon herbaceous amaro with Fast Penny Spirits Americano Bianca.
Light bites and negroni cocktails from Irwin’s aperitivo menu, which runs Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.Alli DelGrippo
Irwin’s
Nothing beats a rooftop hang — especially with classic Sicilian drinks and snacks. Irwin’s, just across the hall from Bok Bar, hosts aperitivo hour inside and out on the roof every Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. during the summer. Everything on the menu is $13 or less: Negroni cocktails, charcuterie and formaggi, anchovies, tomato pie, and eggplant caponata (a chef Michael Ferreri family recipe for an antipasto vegetable stew).
This James Beard Award-nominated South Philly bakery is home to a family-friendly aperitivo. On weekdays year-round (except Tuesdays) from 4 to 6 p.m. you can enjoy Philly-Italian bites, cocktails, beer, and wine inside or in the courtyard. Snacks highlight bread in various forms: “Mighty Munch” with baguette chips, candied nuts, and seasoned pretzel chips; focaccia; and scallop toast with fermented aji chili butter. There are easy-sippers with Pennsylvania-made spirits, too, like Char & Stave coffee Amaro and soda, a ready-to-drink sparkling wine spritz, and Mighty Bread’s own Italian semolina pilsner, Amici Del Pane.
A snack board at Supérette, a restaurant, bottle shop, and wine bar on East Passyunk Avenue.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Supérette
Supérette captures that quintessential French-style apéro energy: Customers drift in and out the door, shopping for natural wine in the bottle shop or sipping highballs at the bar. The day-to-night vibes at Chloe Grigri’s épicerie and wine bar on East Passyunk Avenue invite spontaneous meetups fueled by olives, mini-chip-filled jambon-and-beurre sandwiches, and Frenchie disco fries (aka nachos with shredded cheese, local spam, cornichon relish, and crème fraîche). Better yet: Apéro is every weekday year-round from 3 to 6 p.m.
If you’re a regular visitor to the Jersey Shore, catching up with your longtime favorite foods, chefs, and restaurants can often tell a wider story about what’s been happening in your favorite beach towns. The economic pressure of rising real estate prices has made the arrival of a sweet little BYOB like Joy & Salt on Long Beach Island a test case for the future of the small operator. The saga of ongoing attempts to revitalize Atlantic City’s Tennessee Avenue development? It just got a fresh boost from the comeback of a talented local chef. A new gem for stellar soul food, a growing audience for deep-crusted pizza, the rise of fancy iced coffee (with everything but the taste of coffee), and sage advice on how to choose the right pasta shape all added a tasty helping of color to this week’s fresh batch of restaurant reports from LBI to Margate.
The burrata with fresh basil and plain cheese pie at Queen City Crust in Beach Haven, N.J., on Thursday, June 18, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
I also delve into the Ventnorian controversy over a classic sub shop that’s been remade into an artisan sourdough bakery and touched a nerve with locals who fear their community is becoming too bourgeois. Then again, when something is as good as Florida Cuts is, perhaps it’s not simply change for the sake of trends but actual progress.
Next week: new options from Cape May to Ocean City.
The outside of Queen City Crust in Beach Haven, N.J., on Thursday, June 18, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
LONG BEACH ISLAND
Joy & Salt Cafe
With a temporary sign, and an understated location at an intersection near the ocean where drivers slingshot on and off the causeway to Long Beach Island, you could easily miss Joy & Salt Cafe. But it’s worth a stop at this low-key newcomer to Ship Bottom, a collaboration between two veteran chefs hoping to claim one of the few remaining corners of the island and make what partner Jordan Miller says is “a last-ditch effort for the charm of an old-school BYOB.”
Miller and his business partner and co-chef, Jimi Savianeso, make up for the understated location with genuine hospitality and hands-on scratch cooking. The duo met cooking on the line years ago at local favorite Black-Eyed Susans. With years of fine dining experience behind them, they are opting for a more casual approach to this diner-space and channeling good local ingredients into food they simply like to eat.
James Savianeso, chef and co-owner of Joy & Salt Cafe, working in the kitchen in Ship Bottom, N.J., on Thursday, June 18, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerThe grilled ahi tuna sandwich at Joy & Salt Cafe in Ship Bottom, N.J., on June 18, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
That could mean a flavorful chowder made from just-dug whole clams, a slice of locally fished grilled tuna on brioche glossed in house-made Japanese barbecue sauce, or a bountiful chilled shrimp cocktail tossed in a saucy Mexican-style marinade (the secret? fresh tomato juice and orange soda). The duo routinely cook fresh-off-the-boat seafood specials for dinner sourced from the nearby docks, but the menu’s default is a homey Italian touch that comes natural to Savianeso, whose North Jersey upbringing imbues his red sauce and sausage and peppers with a nonna-esque magic. That is especially evident at lunch, where Savianeso’s chicken cutlet parm drenched in super-creamy vodka sauce may well become LBI’s sandwich of the summer.
Joy & Salt Cafe, 816 Long Beach Blvd., Ship Bottom, N.J. 08008; 609-342-0794; joysaltkitchen.com
Ellis’ Chicken & Crab Cakes
Takeout can be tricky when determined diners are waiting in lines up to two hours for a seat at one of the Tide Table Group’s roster of popular restaurants on Long Beach Island (Parker’s Garage, Bird & Betty’s, Black Whale, Ship Bottom Shellfish) and in Manahawkin (Mud City Crab House, the Old Causeway Steak & Oyster House). They’ve addressed that conundrum with the creation of Ellis’ Chicken & Crab Cakes, a convenient destination for some of their greatest hits, collected in the fast-casual confines of a crisply rehabbed former antiques shop in Beach Haven that doubles as a boardinghouse for many of the company’s summer workers.
The name offers a good clue as to the specialties: the fried chicken is the same crackle-crusted, buttermilk fried bird from Parker’s Garage. The crab cakes comes in two styles, the somewhat bready OG cakes from Mud City or the baked variation from Parker’s which I far preferred, not only because they’re gluten-free, with tapioca starch for binding, but because they’re made from sweet lump crab bound with a béarnaise sauce flavored with tarragon and Old Bay. The super-plump peel-and-eat shrimp offer a worthy, non-fried option. But this kitchen’s best assets are all about the crisp. Don’t leave without a side of deep-fried green tomato tots covered in creamy drizzles of zesty pimento cheese.
Ellis’ Chicken & Crab Cakes, 208 N. Bay Ave., Beach Haven, N.J. 08008; 609-342-1100; ellislbi.com
Queen City Crust
Jersey Shore pizza has been trending toward thicker crusts in recent years, rising from the cardboard-thin rounds that have long been the boardwalk prototype to heartier, pan-baked pies with flavorful slow-fermented doughs and borders that snap with crispy cheese edges. Bakeria 1010 and Squares & Fare are two outstanding examples I’ve enjoyed in Ocean City and Somers Point, respectively. Long Beach Island has also gotten into the Detroit-style pie action with Queen City Crust, a former pop-up sensation that is now in its third year as a standalone storefront in Beach Haven.
Hot honey pepperoni pie Queen City Crust in Beach Haven, N.J., on Thursday, June 18, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Owner Troy Sambalino, who spends his offseason running the service pass at Jean-Georges in Manhattan, says the Detroit style, which involves a slower, lower-temp prebake followed by a hot flash to finish pies to order, is ideal for beach locations with the technical limitations of a standard oven. But he still manages to crank out 200 pies on a busy Friday night, good enough to earn him the No. 1 spot in a 2025 ranking of 55 Shore pizzerias by NJ.com.
Sambalino has a patient approach to his dough, which, after a two-day cold ferment, has both an impressively airy interior and a bottom that forms a delicate crisp against the olive oil-lined pan. Mozzarella and tangy cheddar are his cheese combo of choice, with the cheddar tucked near the edges forming a toasty crisp. One 10-by-13-inch pan can easily feed two to four people, but I appreciate that Queen City also sells its pies by the slice so you can taste a variety of toppings. From the cup-and-char pepperoni drizzled with hot honey to sausage with crunchy banana peppers, basil-topped puddles of milky burrata laced with bright tomato sauce, or a fusion pie of breaded chicken bits streaked with spicy Asian barbecue sauce, these pies offer hearty satisfaction when your teeth sink into their crusts.
Queen City Crust, 13504 Long Beach Blvd., Beach Haven, N.J. 08008; 609-661-7769; queencitycrust.com
Guapo’s Coffee House
As I steadily caffeinated during my restaurant research missions up-and-down the Jersey Shore, my encounters with confectionary-sounding coffee drinks that included “dulce de leche, “dot cake,” and “banana bread” in the titles made it clear that running a cafe in 2026 is as much about thinking like a pastry chef as a barista.
The Salty Dog iced coffee at Guapo’s Coffee House in Beach Haven blends salted caramel-sweetend espresso with whipped cream turned blue with spirulina. It’s become a viral hit.Craig LaBan / Staff
In general, I’m not a dessert coffee fan. But the reason I returned multiple times to Guapo’s in Long Beach Island is because their specialty drinks still taste like they also actually include coffee. Even owner Sammy Jo Alvarez’s most viral and colorful drink, the Salty Dog (named for her pup Guapo), still delivers a toasty undertow of the house blend of Ethiopian and Colombian beans, roasted to a medium hue by Yellow Dog Roasters in nearby Manahawkin. The secret to making creatively flavored drinks that still have coffee integrity, says Alvarez, a longtime local bartender before launching her roof deck-topped cafe in Beach Haven four years ago, is balance and focusing on natural ingredients. All the add-in ingredients here are made in-house, from the sea salted caramel syrup to the top layer of fresh whipped cream (aka “cold foam”) that she turns sky blue with organic spirulina. “Basically, it looks like a day at the beach inside a cup — and people love it.”
Guapo’s Coffee House, 106 N. Bay Ave., Beach Haven, N.J. 08008, 609-661-3504; guaposcoffee.com
The gochujang carbonara and Oaxacan meatballs at the Iron Room in Atlantic City, N.J. The Iron Room is hidden behind a door at Bar 32.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
ATLANTIC CITY
Nana’s Good Eats
If there’s a 20 minute-plus wait for your food at Nana’s Good Eats, it’s for a good reason: nothing hits the fryer before you order from this cheerful soul food hub, located on the pedestrian pavilion of Atlantic City’s Tanger Outlet mall. The wait is absolutely worth it, because Nana’s serves up some of the most delicious fried whiting I’ve had in recent memory, a huge portion of plump and lemon-scented fresh fillets sealed inside a delicate cornmeal crust, just as owner Samantha Prescott’s grandpa Dennis McDowell, a professional chef, taught her as a little girl. (“Most parents lead with how to tie your shoe, but my grandpa started by teaching me how to stir a pot of grits so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.”) Prescott’s cooking chops are also evident in her succulent fried jumbo shrimp, as well as every side I sampled. The mac and cheese retained the almost fluffy texture of perfectly cooked cavatappi while a balanced five-cheese sauce remained creamy, not broken or greasy. The tender braised collards were infused with the whiff of smoked turkey wings and a perky finishing tang.
The OG banana pudding at Nana’s Good Eats in Atlantic City, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerOwners Rahman and Samantha Prescott at Nana’s Good Eats in Atlantic City, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Prescott’s talent as an entrepreneur, meanwhile, answers all that savory goodness with the sweet indulgence of her first endeavor, Nana’s Good Puddin’. Prescott brought the customization concept of Cold Stone ice cream to the world of pudding in a popular dessert business she opened in 2020 in the Hamilton Mall, which she has since closed and merged into the Atlantic City Good Eats location. The build-your-own options here are vast, with 30 different base puddings (from classic flavors to white chocolate, pistachio, or Oreo cream), crunchy cookie add-ins and various different crumbles. I chose the OG banana pudding and was impressed by its banana-flavored intensity, but also by the meticulous manner in which it was constructed to order, with multiple layers of creamy pudding, crunch and vanilla wafer cookies being patiently added until, at last, it was finally handed over and I dove in spoon first.
Nana’s Good Eats, 122 N. Michigan Ave., Atlantic City, N.J. 08401; on Facebook
The Iron Room
Do you believe in do-overs? The reboot of chef Kevin Cronin’s Iron Room, Atlantic City’s favorite hidden gastropub — now in its third incarnation and second location — might be the spark that finally gives the Tennessee Avenue development some momentum. First, you have to find it. True to its speakeasy roots (the original Iron Room was located behind a liquor store) this restaurant is tucked into an enclosed back alley patio accessed through the rear door of another establishment, Bar 32 Chocolate & Cocktails. A tall green wall on one side of the 50-seat al fresco space faces an awning-covered bar where some of the best cocktails I sipped this summer — a smooth but potent Manhattan; the mezcal-washed Storm Queen — are served in antique crystal coupes inherited from Cronin’s grandmother while a retro acoustic soundtrack sets a mellow mood.
The Oaxacan meatballs at the Iron Room on Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Atlantic City, NJ. The Iron Room is hidden behind a door at Bar 32.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The small plates emerging from the shipping container kitchen are pure fusion fun, with bold flavors that resurrect some established Iron Room hits, including a thick-cut hunk of candied Nueski’s bacon, truffled udon mac and cheese, and a tamari-charred hanger steak fanned over brussels sprouts. Cronin’s new creations are equally bold. The spicy Oaxacan chorizo meatballs glazed in red salsa and shavings of Bar 32 chocolate were a favorite, along with the barbecue sauced boneless Korean-fried chicken and a rich pasta carbonara blushing with Korean gochujang spice. I would have loved the shrimp toast had the top layer of crustacean paste not been turned an unappetizing gray by the addition of black garlic. Next time, I’d consider preordering one of the menu’s large-format specials: a spatchcocked whole barbecue chicken with sides; a “big ass whole snapper” with tostones, or the Ron Swanson special (a rib eye, deviled eggs, and a flight of Lagavulin) that was also an old Iron Room “iykyk” draw. Hopefully, this time it will take.
The Iron Room, 121 S. Tennessee Ave., Atlantic City (enter through Bar32 Chocolate, and head to back alley through back door); instagram.com/ironroom_ac
Bar 32 Chocolate & Cocktails
There’s no dessert served at the Iron Room by design. The separate and independent bar that fronts it has that course covered. Nicole Callazzo’s revamp of the project formerly known as Made Atlantic City Chocolate Bar has kept the original concept’s ambitious bean-to-bar chocolate production in place as the anchor for the chocolate-themed sweets menu. While there are more sophisticated chocolatiers in the region, the quality of Callazzo’s small batch chocolates made from ethically sourced cacao, which can take up to five days to make, is satisfying in a straightforward way. You can sample a little bit of several specialties on a tiered platter, which brings multiple shades of chocolate bars, double fudge brownies, chocolate mousse, and various bonbons. Try it while sipping a martini infused with the bar’s own 60% cocoa chocolate. The baked-to-order brown butter cookie skillet is also a popular choice here, if you have an extra 15 minutes to wait. But I’d return especially for one of the Bar 32 whiskey flights, which pair three different pours of Michter’s (or Whistle Pig) whiskey with different chocolates for $40. Considering the quality of the spirits, it’s a fair deal.
Bar 32 Chocolate & Cocktails, 121 S. Tennessee Ave., Atlantic City, N.J. 08401, 609-248-6960; bar32chocolate.com
“A little bit of everything” at Bar 32 on Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Atlantic City, NJ. Bar 32 offers bean-to-bar chocolate, handmade desserts, and craft cocktails.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Moments at Scannicchio’s
Some places are all about the food. Others revel in quirky ambiance. You can get a bit of both at this Atlantic City sibling to Scannicchio’s, one of my favorite old-school Italian haunts in South Philly. The AC experience offers the split personality of two adjoined spaces: the charming intimacy of a dark corner barroom lit with Christmas lights, and a bright sports bar lounge next door where a DJ spins retro hits for a handful of dancers while spillover dinner crowds sup at high-tops in the glow of large TVs.
The corner dining room of Moments at Scanniccho’s in Atlantic City is darker and more intimate than the neighboring lounge.Craig LaBan / Staff
A tender and massive double-cut pork chop Siciliana buried beneath a zesty gravy of cherry peppers, onions, olives, and mushrooms was the hands-down highlight of our meal. The big menu also showcases several familiar favorites from the South Philly original (clams casino, a stuffed artichoke, the sausage and figs app), although it was not cooked with the same consistency and finesse. Even so, we enjoyed the experience. And I’ll especially treasure the moment our larger-than-life server (who had a bear hug for every one of the restaurant’s many regulars) offered a memorable logic for his general preference of pasta shape with entrees: “Why should I waste calories twirling spaghetti when I can just get straight to it with penne? Stab and eat! Stab and eat!” Such wisdom alone is worth the visit.
Moments at Scannicchio’s, 2647 Fairmount Ave., Atlantic City, N.J. 08401, 609-344-5338; momentsatscannicchios.com
The halibut entree at Rustico in Ventnor City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
VENTNOR
Rustico
Few restaurant couples have been able to create evocative dining experiences in small BYOB spaces through DIY design as deftly as Tanya and Petar Petrov. A veritable lemon grove on the ceiling of their debut Italian hit last year, Martina’s, conjured a glimpse of the Amalfi Coast on Atlantic Avenue. This year, they’ve turned to a closer source of marine inspiration — the bay beside their Ventnor home — for the makeover of Petar’s former Cafe Velo into Rustico, a naturalistic dinner cove that wraps diners in plastered wall montages of foraged driftwood, sea moss, and rocks. The menu is still decidedly Italian. While some Ventnorians have complained to me about menu overlap between the two restaurants, the fact that waiting lists can exceed 300 names for those hoping to get into 48-seat Martina’s means there is a legitimate demand for 80 more seats at Rustico (plus 28 more outside), where devotees can order the tried-and-true arancini, linguine with vongole, and chicken Parm.
The octopus dish at Rustico in Ventnor City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerThe inside of Rustico in Ventnor City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
The chicken Parm was the least compelling thing we ate at Rustico. An unconventional starter of grilled octopus curled over a platform of sweet potato turned out to be delicious, the potato’s soft sweetness contrasting the texture of the meat while balancing the savory tomato sauce. That dish is a legacy of Cafe Velo’s early days, when the tiny kitchen would cross-utilize ingredients between the popular breakfast and dinner menus. Rustico, which expanded both its dining rooms and kitchen, has capacity now to undertake ambitious specials like broiled lobster and linguine feasts for two (very limited nightly). A soulful short rib and shiitake ragù was a hearty winner over fresh pappardelle made by Haddon Township’s Severino, whose owner is the Petrovs’ neighbor.
Fresh seafood also remains a strength, with entrees like blackened ahi tuna with red bliss potato hash and hollandaise. A moist and meaty halibut set over two-toned purees of cauliflower and carrot was also fantastic, a special-turned-standby from chef de cuisine Lorenzo Hernandez. Of course, I ordered at the very moment this kitchen ran out of halibut. Luckily, Petar had a spare portion in the fridge at nearby Martina’s, and he retrieved it just in time for this busy kitchen not to miss a beat: “That’s the beauty of having two restaurants so close,” says Petar. “Stuff happens!”
Rustico, 6525 Ventnor Ave., Ventnor City, N.J. 08406, 609-727-0499;rusticoventnor.com
The inside of Florida Cuts in Ventnor City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Florida Cuts
Cookie Till of Steve & Cookie’s bought the half-century-old Florida Cold Cuts & Liquors deli in 2022 and began to reshape it to her vision. What was a gradual makeover the first few years, most notably upgrading the sandwiches and bottle selection, became a wholesale change this spring when Till removed “cold” from the name and replaced the classic sub shop format with an artisan sourdough bakery turning out a lineup of grab-and-go sandwiches built on two kinds of focaccia and sesame-speckled semolina baguettes. The longtime tuna salad and Italian hoagie crowd is not pleased: “Cookie really took a good thing … and turned it into something nobody needed,” a reader wrote me in a direct message on social media.
The ham and butter baguette at Florida Cuts in Ventnor City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
I loved the old corner shop’s house-baked tavern ham sandwiches as much as anyone, but I disagree. What makes a smart restaurateur like Till so invaluable is her willingness and wherewithal to take risks to do things differently. Till has a track record of creating top-notch progressive concepts people simply didn’t realize they needed until she made it happen, from a craft coffee shop in Ventnor No. 7311 to an interactive organic farm with a philanthropic mission at Reed’s Farm. There are plenty of places to get a classic sub on Absecon Island, but there is nothing like the new Florida Cuts, where lead baker Santina Renzi (a longtime key contributor at Her Place Supper Club), consultant Jon Taus, and sourdough specialist Victoria McHugh are working with Till’s partner Kim Richmond to create stellar loaves made from flour milled from local grains that result in bread with integrity and flavor. They’re used for original sandwiches that are largely outstanding, from the minimalist focaccia laced with mortadella, ricotta, and pistachios (all crackly crust and lush stuffing richness), to the freshly house-roasted turkey layered with Steve & Cookie’s signature “ugly tomato salad,” Gorgonzola, and crispy shallots. The tuna salad fragrant with lemon zest and crunchy peperoncini rings is a sleeper hit, while the ham and butter on a sesame semolina loaf can compete with Philly’s best.
Owner Cookie Till at Florida Cuts in Ventnor City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerThe soft-serve sundae with Steve& Cookie’s blueberry pie at Florida Cuts in Ventnor City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
My one disappointment was the cutlet sandwich, which didn’t have nearly enough Caesar salad inside. But there were so many consolations: a fridge case stuffed with local farmstead cheeses; focaccia flatbread topped with butter-poached clams; warm rounds of fresh-baked sesame tahini cookies; shelves stocked with quality spirits and affordable natural wines. There’s also soft-serve now, offered as a sundae layered with Cookie’s famous blueberry pie. Now I definitely need that, even if I didn’t know it before I walked in the door.
Florida Cuts, 7301 Ventnor Ave., Ventnor City, N.J. 08406; floridacuts.com
MARGATE
Tideline
The scene at Tideline on the bay behind Margate City, where full restaurant service is offered on deck to 30 moored boats and 12 Jet Skis at a time, could make anyone have yacht envy. But this splashy yearling from the family behind Tomatoes — an unabashed gesture to the city’s ever more ritzy denizens — has room on its multifloor 240-seat bar complex for everyone else to linger, nibble, imbibe, and observe. One of the area’s most spectacular bay perches for sunset views is an undeniable bonus. Given the swanky setting, the food from chef Carlo Marsini’s kitchen is a notch better than it has to be, from the generously stuffed truffled cheesesteaks and chicken Italiano cutlet sandwiches to the shot glasses stuffed with fried soft-shell crab halves dunked into an avocado green crema sparked with poblanos.
The lobster Cobb salad at Tideline in Margate City, N.J., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
I’d definitely return for the generous lobster Cobb salad and a Dockside cocktail of watermelon juice spiked with Tito’s. But don’t get too ambitious. The items we ordered from the large plate section, chicken kebabs and a $32 coffee-rubbed pork chop, were incinerated by the grill chef. The drink menu has a danger zone, too, with a cocktail called Liquid Asset. It’s made with trendy Clase Azul Gold tequila and a chile pepper but what’s spicy is the price tag of $1.1 million. That’s because this drink comes with a 39-foot speed boat. That may be the stuff yacht club dreams are made of for some, even if there’ve been no takers yet. But unsurprisingly, this land-loving mezcal fan wasn’t even tempted.
Tideline, 9317 Amherst Ave., Margate City, N.J. 08402; 609-350-6717; tidelinemargate.com
There’s something special about a thick, hand-rolled noodle. As part of its summer menu, Le Virtù’s ceppe — a chewy Abruzzese pasta shape that resembles a short and stout bucatini noodle — are made by hand and tossed in a bright squash blossom pesto. I later learned that ceppe gets its name from the wooden sticks or rods they mimic, a nice bit of pasta trivia I will stow away for quizzo. The hearty plate is topped with zucchini ragu, with a generous amount of the plant mixed throughout the dish, and mozzarella di bufala. It’s best enjoyed with a glass of wine on the restaurant’s beloved patio. Le Virtú, 1927 Passyunk Ave., 215-271-5626, levirtu.com
— Emily Bloch
Zhajiang Mian at Opera House, 112 N. Ninth St.Kiki Aranita / Staff
Zhajiang Mian at Opera House
It has taken me far too long to get to Opera House, which opened about a year ago in the former Rangoon space. Rangoon had been my favorite restaurant in Philly for years, and I was admittedly bitter about them no longer occupying that storefront on Ninth Street. Now, I’m very pleased to report that my bitterness has now been assuaged.
Opera House is bright, beautiful, sparkling clean, a visual ode to Chinese opera that specializes in Northern Chinese food. They do have some Cantonese items on the menu (that are just fine), but the real star of the show is their $14.95 zhajiang mian. Saucy, with lean ground pork and lots of slow-cooked onions, these noodles are a true celebration of handmade textures. They’re intentionally a little wonky from being hand-stretched — some parts are thinner than others — so they sop up the super umami-rich fermented soy sauce in interesting ways. Served with sides of cucumber and carrot matchsticks and roasted peanuts, it’s likely the best version of the dish I’ve had in Chinatown, and such a beautiful play on varying textures and temperatures. Opera House, 112 N. Ninth St., 267-639-2376, operahousephilly.com
— Kiki Aranita
The Girl Dinner cocktail, a clarified gin martini with a sidecar of gummy worms, at Angeloni’s Club Madrid in Atlantic City, N.J.Margaret Eby / Staff
Girl Dinner at Angeloni’s Club Madrid
Atlantic City is a weird and magical place, particularly for those of us who tend to visit in 24-hour increments. I made such a journey last weekend, and the highlight was finally getting to try Angeloni’s Club Madrid, the retro-styled Italian spot that opened in 2024 from the owner’s of the beloved Tony’s Baltimore Grill. Angeloni’s was everything I hoped it would be — part cozy dining experience, part lounge party. Case in point: a DJ somehow seamlessly incorporated Norah Jones into a dance-y set.
The menu included one of the best versions of cacio e pepe I’ve had in a long time. But the star of the show is the cocktail menu, which has interesting interpretations of classic cocktails, executed with both fidelity to the drink and total whimsy. My favorite was the Girl Dinner, a perfect dirty gin martini served with a blue-cheese stuffed olive and a sidecar of gummy worms. It shouldn’t work — blue cheese and gummy worms? — but it does. It has that kind of slightly off-kilter energy that a really fun party does, where things are always threatening to fly off the hinges but somehow stay just contained enough for a memorably good time. Angeloni’s Club Madrid, 2400 Arctic Ave., Atlantic City, N.J., clubmadridac.com
— Margaret Eby
Watermelon gazpacho at Cantina Feliz, Ambler.Michael Klein / Staff
Watermelon gazpacho at Cantina Feliz
I always look to July 4 as the unofficial start of watermelon season. This year, that feels especially fitting: Forecasters are calling for one of the hottest Independence Days Philadelphia has seen in nearly a quarter-century, making cold watermelon all the more appealing. That spirit comes through in this watermelon gazpacho from Cantina Feliz in Ambler, which leans savory rather than sweet. Cucumber amplifies the freshness, while finely diced red onion and chives add bite without overwhelming the fruit. A drizzle of verdant herb oil lends richness, and the accompanying shot of sherry gives it a nutty, tangy depth. It’s a refreshing summer starter that becomes more layered with every spoonful. Cantina Feliz, 111 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, 215-646-1320, cantinafeliz.com
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce may or may not be getting married this weekend. But the pop singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end are celebrating their impending nuptials with some philanthropy.
The couple donated $26 million to 20 charities across the United States on Thursday — including one in Swift’s hometown of Reading. Helping Harvest, a food bank that serves “seniors and adults experiencing food insecurity” in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, received $1 million from the couple.
The donation was unexpected, Helping Harvest said in a statement on Thursday, but greatly appreciated.
“The $1 million that Ms. Swift and Mr. Kelce donated to us today will be used and the impact will be exponential in allowing us to rescue more food from waste and provide more food to people in need,” Helping Harvest president Jay Worrall said to The Inquirer. “[Swift] has done the people in her home community a great service, and we thank her for it.”
Taylor Swift performs during the first of three Eras Tour performances at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Friday, May 12, 2023. .Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Swift has a history of donating to food banks, particularly when on tour. During the “Eras Tour” in 2023, Swift donated to Three Square Food Bank in southern Nevada, Food Lifeline in Seattle, and Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in San Jose, Calif., among others.
One of Helping Harvest’s largest expenses is its infrastructure, such as cold storage and refrigerated trucks for food distribution. The donation, Worrall said, would likely be invested in additional trucking or warehouse space that would allow them to store more food.
“There have been substantial reductions in federal resources for food banks over the past few years, compounded by the reductions to the SNAP programs that are being enacted right now,” he said. “The state has tried to step up in some ways, but the increase in state funding has been modest compared to the reductions in federal funding.”
Last year, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration invested $459,000 in Helping Harvest’s new community kitchen, which provides culinary training and is where meals are prepared for people in need.
In the last two years, Helping Harvest’s federal funding has decreased by a little over a third. The organization received $2,687,166 in grants awarded under federal programs, compared to $4,240,293 in 2024, according to a recent audit for the 2025 fiscal year. The organization anticipates distributing over 14 million pounds of food this year, up 3 million pounds from 2024.
A spokesperson for Swift did not immediately respond to The Inquirer’s request for comment about the donation to Helping Harvest.
While there has been no confirmation from the couple, Swift and Kelce are reportedly tying the knot on Friday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where Swift was most recently seen cheering on New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
Celebrity news publication Page Six released a video of large Sysco-branded boxes of food being brought into the venue, including lobster meat, french fries, andchicken. The Associated Press has reportedly obtained a copy of a city permit for a “special event” taking place at the venue on Friday night.
The article has been updated to include details about Swift and Kelce’s reported wedding. Staff writer Beatrice Forman contributed to this article.
