From Ellen Yin’s Italian aperitivo bar to a restaurant built around a community recipe contest, August’s opening calendar reflects the breadth of Philadelphia’s dining scene. Here’s what’s expected to debut this month — and what’s still to come.
Note that in most cases, opening dates will not be locked in until shortly before the debuts.
Christina McKeough (left) and Ellen Yin outside Bar Cicci.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Bar Cicci (1620 Sansom St., Rittenhouse): Ellen Yin’s all-day aperitivo bar, located next to Uchi, is targeting a mid-August opening. In sum: 30 seats, espresso and pastries in the morning, sandwiches by day, and spritzes, cicchetti, and small plates by night, all in a Milan-inspired space complete with a vintage Lambretta scooter out front.
Cecilia (266 E. Fourth St., Bridgeport): The crew from Blue Bell Inn in Blue Bell and Horsham’s Copper Crow has revamped Taphouse 23 into a modern American bar-restaurant with a comfort-food menu and massive patio sporting a wood-burning oven. It’s targeting a late-month opening.
La Bandera is the signature cocktail at Mixteca.Courtesy of Apres Cru
Mixteca (2113 E. York St., East Kensington): Billed as a neighborhood agave bar and restaurant, this New York City import from hospitality veterans Jeff Bell and Victor Lopez is headed to the former Martha space, with an opening later this month. The roughly 100-seat venue will spotlight tequila, mezcal, Bacanora, and raicilla with 10 margarita variations, agave twists on classic cocktails, and zero-proof drinks alongside contemporary Mexican fare featuring handmade tortillas, ceviche, tacos, and family-style pork al pastor.
Recipe Philly’s recipe judges are (from left) Clara Park, Josh Moore, and Jennifer Carroll.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Recipe Philly (1401 Arch St., Center City): Local home cooks take the spotlight at this restaurant at Broad and Arch Streets built around a public recipe competition, with winning family dishes earning a permanent spot on the menu alongside the cooks’ stories. Opening Aug. 13, the concept blends restaurant, community cookbook, and reality-show competition into one distinct experience.
Toll Man Joe’s (1141 Pine St., Washington Square West): Returning to Philadelphia nearly five years after its pandemic closure, this sports bar will take the former location of the long-running Mixto. Founder Lori Penrose aims to open later in the month to catch football season.
Vons Chicken is set up with a counter and table seating.Michael Klein / Staff
Vons Chicken (1714 Washington Ave., South Philadelphia): This South Korean-rooted chain, big on the West Coast, opened last weekend in a Point Breeze strip mall next to AutoZone with a roomy dining area offering counter service. Menu includes crispy Korean fried chicken as well as oven-roasted chicken slicked with sauces, plus sides such as kimchi fried rice and tteokbokki. Local franchisee Thao Le, who first tasted Vons in California while visiting family, has assorted restaurant experience, including serving at Pietro’s Italian in Center City. Ever crave a beer with fried chicken? Vons secured a liquor license and stocks mostly local bottles in a fridge.
Looking ahead
Restaurants targeting September debuts include the Fishtown and Rittenhouse locations of Washington, D.C.-rooted bagel chain Call Your Mother; the all-day bar-restaurant Eggcetera Haus, filling the former Redcrest at Sixth and Bainbridge Streets on the Queen Village/Bella Vista line; and the New Orleans-inspired Philly Po Boy at Front and Berks Streets in Kensington. The Fishtown opening of Adda, the edgy Indian restaurant from New York’s Unapologetic Foods, is targeting October.
A new study shows it is possible to tap the earth formore efficient heating and cooling for two Philadelphia School District buildings at once, providing a potential path to cleaner energy.
If such a system is ever installed, it could serve as a template for other clean energy efforts.
Philadelphia Gas Works set out last year out to examine whether it was technically possible to build a geothermal HVAC system that would serve both the John F. McCloskey Elementary School and the Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Center in East Mount Airy.
Findings were released on Wednesday.
The study estimated that a closed-loop geothermal system for these facilitieswould cost about $19 million. But that could drop to $11 million with federal tax credits.
With the tax credits, a geothermal system would be less expensive to install than a traditional HVAC system for the two properties.
Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, built in 2010, has geothermal heating and cooling. Although PGW supplies gas to the school, it was not involved with the geothermal system.
At McCloskey,PGW paid for the study and worked in collaboration with the schooldistrict and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. PGW, which is owned by the city, is the largest municipally owned gas utility in the country.
“PGW is committed to helping the City of Philadelphia lead to a clean energy future,” said Elliot Gold, vice president of corporate planning at PGW.
The McCloskey school, which was built in the early 1950s, and Emanuel rec centerare next to each other on the same roughly six-acre property with a combined 77,000 square feet of interior space. Though Philadelphia Parks and Recreation operates the rec center, it is on district property.
A closed-loop geothermal system is essentiallya big heat pump that uses the constant underground temperature through buried pipes. A mixture of water and environmentally safe antifreeze ispumped through the loop, creating a large heat exchanger that can be used to heat and cool a building. The heat exchanger is set to either absorb or eject heat.
A new study shows that it is feasible to install a new geothermal HVAC system to serve the John F. McCloskey Elementary School and the Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Center in East Mount Airy. Frank Kummer
An ‘ideal partnership’
Victoria Flemming, executive director of the school district’s office of environmental management and services, said the study is a positive step that aligns with the district’s GreenFutures Plan.
The McCloskey school currently has an aging oil-based heating system and no central air-conditioning, she said.
“It is using heating oil, which has low energy efficiency and has a high impact to air quality,” Flemming said. “So I think those were the two things that made this kind of an ideal partnership.”
During periods of extreme heat, the school is forced to pivot to virtual learning and cancel student activities, she said.
The shared property between the school and rec center would give a geothermal project an even higher impact, she noted.
Seen at the John F. McCloskey Elementary school are (from left) Teresa Fleming, COO of the School District of Philadelphia; Victoria Flemming, executive director of the office of environmental management and services for the district; Neal Babcock of Alderson Engineering; and, Elliott Gold vice president of corporate planning for PGW.Frank Kummer
Less expensive than a traditional system
Bucks County-based Alderson Engineering conducted the study.
To install a geothermal system, conditions underground needthe right combination of thermal conductivity and geology. Neal Babcock, a principal with Alderson Engineering, said the site meets those conditions.
Geothermal systems might be more expensive up front, he said, but in the long run are less expensive to operate and maintain.
Currently, geothermal systems are eligible for the federal Investment Tax Credit. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 terminated credits for solar and wind projects but preserved credits for geothermal systems.
“Geothermal systems reduce the total energy consumption to heat and cool the building,” Babcock said. “Instead of burning fossil fuels like natural gas, they use the cool temperature of the ground to be less extreme than the air temperatures or needing to burn fossil fuels.”
Compressors for the geothermal system studied would be powered by electricity, not natural gas.
Environmental and advocacy groups have been critical of PGW’s reliance on natural gas, saying the utility needs to diversify its energy portfolio and reduce greenhouse gases that help heat the earth.
PGW said the study is part of its efforts to do that.
Neal Babcock of Alderson Engineering discusses the feasibility of installing a new geothermal HVAC system to serve the John F. McCloskey Elementary School and the Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Center in East Mount Airy.Frank Kummer
Will it ever get built?
The study was just a first step. There is no time frame to install such a system, nor is funding in place.
And it is unclear who would own the system. That is important because the tax credits would apply only to a single-owner system.
Gold, the PGW vice president, said that although some of the challenges might seem steep, the utility is serious about clean energy projects.
“We’ve completed the feasibility study, which is good news,” Gold said. “It tells us that this is favorable and that there are no definite technical showstoppers.”
He said the next steps include addressing who would own the system, the cost, and a timeline.
That timeline would likely include the tax credits for geothermal units, which are set to phase out in 2034 and 2035.
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Who would pay for it?
The school district typically finances such projects through its capital spending plan for its 300 buildings.
If it owned the geothermal system and had to pay for it, that could mean balancing it against the needs of making fixes at other schools.
The district has said it wants to spend $3 billion on upgrading facilities but can pay for only $1 billion now.
For instance, conditions at Southwark Elementary in South Philly are so dire that kids are begging City Council and the district for fixes, such as working bathrooms and pest control. They are supposed to get them in 2032.
Teresa Fleming, the district’s chief operating officer, said the district is still evaluating the study and must considerthe long term.
She said a program like geothermal has the potential to “yield energy savings and greater efficiencies throughout the district.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to change the date the findings were released.
Police found a man engulfed in flames along Kensington Avenue Friday morning in what fire department officials called a “non-suspicious” fire.
Police responded to the 3400 block of Kensington Avenue Friday morning for a report of a screaming person. Upon arrival, a person passing by said a 34-year-old man was found on the ground engulfed in flames.
Philadelphia Fire Department medics responded to the scene and transported the man to Temple University Hospital, where he was placed in critical but stable condition.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation by the East Detective Division, but the Fire Marshal’s Office ruled the fire to be “non-suspicious.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the East Detective Division or submit an anonymous tip through the Philadelphia Police Department’s tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
Gluten-free pizzas are generally less than exciting, as Craig LaBan notes, with textures ranging between pressboard and Styrofoam. At Barclay Pies, it’s not like that at all. Even the mozz sticks and their conventional pizzas are well worth a stop.
Wild Yeast Bakehouse, Wayne’s new sourdough bakery, has a living room vibe, writes Jenn Ladd. That makes sense, because the founder started baking out of his living room.
Saif Manna started baking during the pandemic in his Temple dorm room. He’s opening a brick-and-mortar home for his Levantine and Palestinian pastries, and tomorrow is the first day.
Ba Le Bakery in South Philly is practically synonymous with the city’s bánh mì scene. Now, writes Kiki Aranita, a third generation is expanding the business dramatically.
Two Sweet Boutique has had an interesting problem in its new location in Washington Township, writes Sarah Nicell. It’s selling out. Want that banana pudding? Get there early.
After four decades, The Frog Commissary Cookbook remains a Philadelphia icon — “our book,” says one acolyte. Contributor Devra Ferst takes a stroll down memory lane and winds up at the Commissary’s original location, where the current restaurant occupant bakes its carrot cake.
Oroshi, a new omakase restaurant at Broad and Lombard Streets, is part of a minitrend of faster, less expensive omakase experiences. The lights are bright and the decor is spare, but Kiki Aranita walked away happy after 90 minutes.
Here’s a twist: Local food brands such as Philly Pretzel Factory are working to accommodate consumers who are eating less and “protein-maxxing,” Olivia Prusky writes.
Craig visited an old fave — Porcini in Rittenhouse — and found the pastas have not lost a beat even after three decades. And yes, it’s still a BYOB.
Scoops
Chef Nic Macri and restaurant-ops specialist Suzanne O’Brien are proving you’re never too old experienced to open your first restaurant. They’re partnering with Stephen Simons on a spot just off 13th and Sansom in Washington Square West, and Macri describes the menu as “Philadelphia cooking with an Italian accent.”
Anh Em, a Vietnamese bar-restaurant and bar from husband-and-wife team Victor Nguyen and Anna Huynh, is aiming for an Aug. 8 grand opening at 1252 S. 21st St. in Point Breeze, the former Madira. Nguyen, a longtime Philadelphia hospitality veteran who bartended at Mad Mex in the late 1990s, co-owned a Chinatown bubble tea shop in the early 2000s and later spent 15 years managing Tango, is realizing a longtime goal of opening his own place. The roughly 45-seater will pair Vietnamese comfort food (pho and bánh xèo alongside home-style dishes) with a 20-seat bar pouring 24 local drafts and a small cocktail list.
Andorra Kitchen & Tap will join Andorra Shopping Center’s $32 million glow-up by Federal Realty, possibly in the fourth quarter. Spanning 6,900 square feet in the former Applebee’s, the restaurant is positioning as an all-day neighborhood gathering place serving breakfast/brunch, lunch, and dinner, with a full bar and dedicated coffee area for the morning. Owner Emmanouil Lagoudakis says he was drawn to Andorra-Roxborough for its “wonderful energy.”
Restaurant report
333 Belrose, one of the Main Line’s old-guard restaurants, has reopened after a dramatic renovation that flipped the bar with a dining room, opening up the layout. The menu is still “nothing too cerebral, nothing too crazy,” as chef Ross Essner told me, adding that there’s one dish he will never take off the menu.
Toll Man Joe’s, whose South Philly run was abbreviated by the pandemic, will resurface at the former Mixto on Pine Street near 12th. The owners hope to get the sports bar open in just a few weeks.
Pomelo Rooftop Terrace, atop the new Brandywine hotel in Radnor and counterpoint to Merrick’s Tavern off the lobby, will grand-open Aug. 8. It’ll be open year-round with indoor-outdoor seating. Weekend brunch begins Aug. 22.
The region’s last Brio Italian Grille, in Cherry Hill’s Towne Place at Garden State Park, closed abruptly Monday, two months after its Marlton location shuttered. The site 42Freeway joined the Facebook account A View From Evesham in first reporting that steakhouse Fogo de Chao will occupy the Cherry Hill location, citing township permits. A rep from Fogo declined my request for comment.
Briefly noted
Flash back to 2023, when chef Dionicio Jiménez and Mariangeli Alicea Saez of Cantina la Martina, La Baja, and the Cantina on the Go locations went to Mexico with Inquirer critic Craig LaBan and photographer Jessica Griffin for articles that won a James Beard Award in 2024. The restaurateurs are using part of that trip as inspiration for a five-day excursion to Oaxaca they’re planning for Oct. 30–Nov. 4. (LaBan and Griffin, who also met with Tequilas’ David Suro for a lesson in mezcal and tequila production during that 2023 trip, will sit this one out.) Limited to eight guests, the experience will feature family celebrations, cultural traditions, home-cooked meals, a private mezcal tasting, artisan visits, and special dinners, including one from Jiménez himself. It’s $2,000pp plus airfare. Details via cantina@cantinaonthego.com.
Nine Philadelphia bartenders will throw down Patrón Tequila-based cocktails in the Dirty Rocks Cocktail Competition from 3-7:30 p.m. Sunday at Fringe Bar (140 N. Columbus Blvd.). Attendees will determine the winner among Matt Welch (R&D), Kari Rosenfeld (Bourbon & Branch), Kevin Castro (Soufiane at the Morris), Roland Bui (Com.Unity Consulting), Damian Langarcia (Drams by Damian), Chris Harrop (Known Associates), Tony Jimenez (Static), Jackie Miller (Fringe Bar), and defending champion Jessica Stark (Trestle Inn). Also: a DJ, pizza truck, food and drink specials. Admission ($20) includes three tasting votes; VIP tickets are $45 and include a welcome cocktail, gift bag, and 10 votes. Cocktails: $5-$12. Tickets via DirtyRocks.com.
2nd Street Festival returns to Northern Liberties from noon-10 p.m. Sunday, transforming the stretch from Spring Garden to Girard Avenue into a festival with more than more than 50 restaurants and food trucks, 10 beer and cocktail gardens, two live music stages, and family activities.
❓Pop quiz
Name the brand that Wawa has partnered with on a hot-selling tote bag.
Owner Rayyan Kayyali sounded discouraged but not defeated when we caught up yesterday, more than two months after a gas explosion destroyed his Overbrook Park bagel bakery on the very morning of its reopening following another blast in March. He said he is waiting for a new burner pipe for the oven, and “so far, I haven’t seen a dime” from the insurance company. Meanwhile, lords Jeffrey Gladstone and Andy Rubin of Herbert Yentis & Co. say they have not charged him rent since the first explosion. Kayyali vows to rebuild and reopen.
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Philadelphia Managing Director Adam K. Thiel, a top mayoral appointee who supervises many of the government’s day-to-day operations, is resigning from his job in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, the mayor announced Tuesday.
Parker said Thiel is leaving his city role to “reenter the private sector” after serving as managing director for about 2½ years.
Thiel will be replaced byCarlton Williams, a longtime city official who currently leads the Philadelphia Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. Williams, 57, will assume oversight of a 550-person staff and a vast portfolio of city operations, including health agencies, homeless services, the streets department, parks and libraries, prisons, and the fire department.
Parker praised Williams’ work implementing new initiatives such as twice-weekly trash collection, and she called him “the individual with all of the attributes the position requires.”
“Whenever we’ve had a crisis of any kind in this city, he has been on my speed dial,” she said.
The transition, Parker said, will take place over the next “four to six weeks.” It was not immediately clear who will lead the Philadelphia Office of Clean and Green Initiatives.
New Philadelphia Managing Director, Carlton Williams speaks at the podium after being announced by Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, left, during a news conference at City Hall in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Thiel, 54, has been the city’s managing director since Parker took office in January 2024. Prior to being appointed to the role, Thiel spent eight years as the city’s fire commissioner under former Mayor Jim Kenney.
In the early days of Parker’s tenure, Thiel emerged as a key crisis manager, often flanking the mayor when she responded to emergencies. He was the face of the administration’s strategy in Kensington, where Parker campaigned on ending the sprawling open-air drug market that has persisted in the neighborhood for decades.
Details of Thiel’s new job were not immediately clear. He is a major in the Army Reserve, and he has worked as a consultant and an adjunct professor, in addition to his role as managing director. His city salary is $310,000, and last year, he made more than half a million dollars in additional income through his other jobs, according to his financial disclosure.
Managing Director Adam Thiel, center, gives an update on the Northeast Philly plane crash, during a press conference on Tuesday Feb 4, 2025 at the Fire Administration Building in Philadelphia, Pa.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Since Thiel joined the Reserve in August 2024, he has been one of the administration’s least visible senior officials and was frequently on leave. He did not oversee the response to a January snowstorm that was the city’s worst in five years — despite emergency services falling under his purview — and parts of the Kensington strategy are now led by other offices.
The Inquirer reported in February that Thiel was absent for a total of about five months last year. Of that, six weeks were for military leave — the maximum the city covers for employees — and an additional 13 weeks were for general paid leave, according to city records obtained by The Inquirer. A spokesperson for Thiel said he used most of that time off for military service.
Thiel refused to discuss his role in the Army Reserve with The Inquirer. A spokesperson for the Army said Thiel is a major assigned to a civil affairs unit based in Staten Island, N.Y. Last year, the Army Reserve paid Thiel about $32,600, according to his financial disclosure paperwork.
In addition to his jobs with the city and the Army, Thiel has worked on the side as a consultant. Last year, he earned $390,000 as president of Pantheon Global Strategies, an opaque company with little in the way of an online footprint. Thiel has in the past refused to discuss the business in detail.
He also earned $120,000 last year from FACETS Consulting LLP, an Arizona-based firm that is publicly advertised as a fire safety consultancy. Thiel is a founding partner.
Philly city managing director Adam Thiel in the bowels of the stadium during the France vs. Iraq 2026 FIFA World Cup Group 1 soccer match at Philadelphia Stadium on Monday, June 22, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Thiel has said his consulting work takes fewer than 10 hours per week and did not interfere with his responsibilities as Philadelphia’s managing director. When The Inquirer first reported on Thiel’s consulting work in 2024, he would not disclose his clients but said he followed the city’s ethics guidelines related to conflicts of interest.
Before coming to Philadelphia in 2016, Thiel worked in a variety of firefighting, disaster response, and emergency preparedness roles around the country, including as Virginia’sdeputy secretary of public safety and homeland security.
He is the third top official to leave Parker’s administration since she took office in January 2024. Former chief deputy mayors Aren Platt and Sinceré Harris, the architects of Parker’s mayoral campaign, each left their postsfor jobs in politics outside government.
In some administrations, the managing director has been the mayor’s clear No. 2, while other mayors have preferred for power to be concentrated among deputy mayors or other staffers in their office.
Under Parker, chief of staff Tiffany W. Thurman is seen as the mayor’s top adviser and the central figure in her administration. Parker has called Thurman her “chief air traffic controller.”
She has also placed the execution of much of her agenda on Williams’ shoulders. Earlier this year, he oversaw the city’s response to a major snowstorm, despite that work in the past falling squarely in the managing director’s scope.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker walks along Kensington Avenue with Adam Thiel, managing director of city, on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Mayor Parker took the El to attend an event in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer
Still, Thiel oversaw a large team, and the leaders of more than 30 city agencies and offices reported to him.
One of his major initiatives was coordinating the administration’s efforts to improve quality of life in Kensington. Thiel’s office worked to expand homeless shelter and recovery bed space throughout the city, and he led the development of the Riverview Wellness Village, a city-run recovery house in Northeast Philadelphia that dramatically grew the city’s capacity to house people with substance use disorder.
Williams recently toured parts of Kensington alongside Parker and other administration officials to get a sense of the challenges ahead. He said Tuesday that his goal is to be accessible to all residents and to look at the delivery of city services “through the eyes of everyday residents.”
“You just don’t take these jobs because of the glamour,” he said. “You take the job because you believe that you can make a change.”
Staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.
Before it became one of Philadelphia’s busiest bakery pop-ups, Manna Bakery operated out of a Temple University dorm room.
Now, after five years of overnight baking sessions, sold-out farmers markets, and long lines for Levantine and Palestinian pastries, chef-owner Saif Manna is opening his first brick-and-mortar bakery in Kensington — a mile and a half from campus.
Manna Bakery opens Thursday at 110 W. Berks St., the former Essen Bakery. This caps a whirlwind year for Manna, 27, who married his college girlfriend, Stefaniya Surikova, earlier this year. They’re expecting their first child.
Manna’s rise has the familiar outline of a pandemic success story, although the traditions reach back generations. He said his grandfather’s family lived in Yafa (also known as Jaffa) but left in 1948 after their house was bombed during the Nakba, the mass displacement of Palestinians in the Arab-Israeli war, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from areas that became part of Israel.
His grandfather headed first to Cyprus and then to Lebanon, studied medicine in England, and made his way to Kuwait to practice.
Manna was born in California and raised in Dubai before moving to the United States to attend Texas A&M University on a Division I tennis scholarship. After transferring to Temple, he began baking cookies during the pandemic while living in a dorm. Encouraged by Surikova — also on Temple’s tennis team — in 2021, he started selling them online before expanding into pop-ups and the Rittenhouse, Headhouse and Clark Park farmers markets.
As demand grew, Manna baked overnight at nearby Char Pizza before outgrowing the space.
Since Manna never lived in the Levant, he describes his business as a third-culture bakery. He said his shop’s logo, a dandelion flower, is a nod to a belief popular in China that equates Palestinians with dandelion seeds that can thrive anywhere they land.
Manna has followed a path blazed by the recent crop of independent bakeries such as Kouklet, Second Daughter, Machine Shop, Copihue, and Majdal, growing from home kitchens, pop-ups, and farmers markets into storefronts. Manna said he would keep his farmers market stops.
Stefaniya Surikova serves customers at Manna Bakery.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
His new bakery’s roomy kitchen includes a window where customers can watch the bakers. Manna is still awaiting his chairs and tables for the 60-seat cafe.
Weekday fare will feature many of Manna’s signatures, including manakeesh, chicken sumac buns, fatayer, cardamom buns, Basque cheesecake, seasonal cakes, and his pistachio chocolate chunk and extra-brown butter chocolate chunk cookies. Weekends will bring an even broader selection.
The coffee program, featuring beans from Seekers Coffee in Princeton, includes drinks flavored with rose, cardamom, tahini, dates and saffron, along with Manna’s grandmother’s orange blossom lemonade.
Jerusalem bagels (ka’ak al-quds) hang on hooks behind the counter at Manna Bakery.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The shop has been redesigned with warm stone finishes, a small souk stocked with Levantine spices and pantry goods, and a rear room intended for future baking workshops, classes and private events.
For a soft opening last week, Manna and Surikova recreated their farmers market display, laying pastries across sheets of craft paper.
Among them were savory offerings such as the open-faced herby cheese fatayer and the banadoura manakish — a tomato-topped Levantine flatbread. Ka’ak al-Quds, the oblong, sesame-seeded Jerusalem bagels, hung from hooks behind the counter.
A smaller version of those bagels will eventually become Manna’s egg, cheese and za’atar breakfast sandwich. “That’s something I grew up eating,” Manna said. “My mom used to make me that before school.”
Dillon Assfalg, a line cook at Char who watched Manna’s overnight baking sessions firsthand, said the quality of his pastries stood out from the beginning. He describes himself as a cheesecake fan and ranks Manna’s lemon-and-orange-blossom Basque cheesecake among his favorites.
Saif Manna working on a pavlova for a customer at Manna Bakery.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
“Whenever he’d leave fillings at Char after his middle-of-the-night baking sessions, I’d eat them all the time,” Assfalg said. “They were always super good.”
Manna isn’t rushing to turn it into a full-service café. He hopes to add options such as slow-roasted lamb sandwiches for brunch, followed by baking workshops, cooking classes and supper clubs before introducing several nights of dinner featuring the Palestinian dishes he grew up with. But those plans can wait until the bakery is firmly established.
“Long term, I definitely have aspirations. I love cooking as much as baking, so I think people will see more of that from me,” Manna said. “Would I like to have a restaurant one day? Absolutely. But right now my focus is making this bakery the best it can be and continuing to deliver the quality people expect. We’ll go from there.”
Manna Bakery, 110 W. Berks St. Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday to Sunday.
Manna Bakery is about a half-block from the Berks Station of the Market-Frankford Line.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Manna’s tip for home bread bakers
Saif Manna shared one of his favorite tips for home bread bakers: use an autolyse. The technique calls for mixing only the flour and water for about a minute, then letting the shaggy dough rest for an hour or two before adding the remaining ingredients.
“When you come back, it’ll almost look like someone kneaded it for you,” he said. “It’s like magic. During that rest, the flour hydrates and the gluten begins to develop naturally.”
Only then does he add the salt, yeast, sugar and, if needed, oil before kneading. “You’ll end up with a much smoother, more beautiful dough, and you’ll never want to skip that step again,” he said.
The method also reduces mixing time. “People ask, ‘Why do you do it if you have these beautiful mixers?’” Manna said. “If you mix dough too long in a machine, you can overwork it. Bakers sometimes call it ‘bleaching’ the dough. We let it rest through the autolyse, then add the rest of the ingredients and finish the mixing in the machine. Because the gluten has already started developing, we can reduce the machine mixing time and preserve more of the flavor.”
A well-known activist and founder of a Kensington anti-violence nonprofit was charged with aggravated assault and related crimes for attacking a woman with a box cutter during an argument on a SEPTA train last week, authorities said Thursday.
Rosalind “Roz” Pichardo, 48, was taken into custody days after the July 17 assault, which left the victim in critical condition with deep lacerations to her face and chestthat required more than 70 stitches to close, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case.
Pichardo is the founder of Operation Save Our City, a nonprofit that offers social services to people who have experienced grief, addiction, or trauma from exposure to violence, according to the group’s website. She also runs “Sunshine House,” a storefront on Kensington Avenue where people in addiction can drop in for meals, clothes, and other forms of support.
She has been involved with other anti-violence and victim services organizations throughout the city and has received at least two city grants for her work.
Last week, one day before the assault, Pichardo touted a $20,000 grant that Operation Save Our City received from the Philadelphia Office of Public Safety.
And in 2024 and this year, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office awarded Pichardo’s organization $25,000 and $10,000, respectively, through its violence prevention microgrant program.
Pichardo declined to comment Thursday. No attorney for her was listed in court documents.
Around 9 p.m. Friday on an eastbound SEPTA train near Eighth and Market Streets, prosecutors say, Pichardo assaulted a woman with a box cutter. They said the conflict began when the two women argued on a platform at the transit agency’s 15th Street Station.
The victim told investigators Pichardo “got smart with her” after she asked a man who was blocking a platform bench to move so she could sit down, according to an affidavit of probable cause for Pichardo’s arrest. She said she, in turn, “got smart” with Pichardo.
During the spat, the victim said, Pichardo complained about “how rude young people are” and called her entitled for asking the man to move.
The women then boarded the train, where the argument continued, and they “both got in each other’s face and started fighting each other,” the woman told investigators, according to the affidavit.
At some point during the scuffle, the woman said, Pichardo pulled out a box cutter and assaulted her. She told investigators she felt warmness on her face and felt “a lot of blood.”
The attack left the woman with severe lacerations on her cheeks and her chest that,in addition to needing stitches, required surgery to help her regain muscle movement, the documents said.
Pichardo was taken into custody by SEPTA transit police but released the same evening.
Investigators said technical issues initially prevented them from viewing surveillance footage captured within the train car, but they later recovered footage from an adjoining car that showed portions of the incident.
On Wednesday, Pichardo was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, possessing an instrument of a crime, reckless endangerment, harassment, and disorderly conduct.
She was released from custody after posting 10% of $25,000 bail, court records show.
The case will be handled by the attorney general’s special prosecutor for mass transit, a position created by the state legislature to address what Republican lawmakers said was the failure of District Attorney Larry Krasner to prosecute violent crimes on or near SEPTA properties.
A spokesperson for Krasner’s office declined to commenton the case and referred questions to the attorney general.
Pichardo appeared to address the matter in cryptic posts on Facebook, where she frequently promotes her activist work to her 23,000 followers.
On July 18, one day after the assault, she posted a photo of a SEPTA train car with the caption: “Lord please give me strength to get through this pain.”
And on Wednesday evening around 9 p.m., she updated followers: “I’m Good .. I’m Home and trusting the process . My head is up..”
In addition to founding Operation Save Our City in 2012 and later Sunshine House, Pichardo has worked as a lead educator with the harm reduction nonprofit Prevention Point and as a trauma victims advocate in Temple University Hospital’s emergency department.
Staff writers Ellie Rushing, Aubrey Whelan, and Jillian Kramer contributed to this article.
Here’s your first look at Recipe Philly, where home cooks — not pro chefs — contribute the recipes to create the menu. It’s also the basis for a reality series, filming now in advance of the restaurant’s mid-August opening.
Tattooed Mom has hosted countless drag shows and burlesque performances since it opened on South Street in 1997. But the city has shut down those events (but not the bar itself) over a missing assembly license. Getting one could take six months, its owner tells Beatrice Forman.
River Twice on East Passyunk is expanding next door, and that means a real bar, more seating, and new opportunities to eat one of our favorite burgers.
Critic Craig LaBan visits Terra Grill, a newcomer from globetrotting chef Laurent Tourondel in Northern Liberties’ Piazza Alta, where he found “a textbook chophouse vibe” and a “something for everyone” menu. Read on for his review.
The food team caught up with a tasty chicken biscuit sandwich in Plymouth Meeting, hot dogs in Bella Vista, loaded fries in Northern Liberties, and a winning bowl of gyu-don from a food truck.
Scoops
Eggcetera Haus will replace the shuttered Redcrest Kitchen at Sixth and Bainbridge Streets, likely in the next few weeks. Husband-and-wife team Rey Tamaka and Vina Kencana will operate the all-day bar-restaurant. Tamaka, who spent the last six years as head chef at an Old City brunch restaurant, will oversee a modern American menu spanning breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while Kencana will manage operations. Breakfast will feature specialty coffee from Philadelphia’s Vibrant Coffee Roasters, with dinner service adding pasta, steaks, cocktails, and comfort food. Hours will be 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Queen Village/Bella Vista will get another all-day option next spring when Sabrina’s Cafeopens at Fifth and Bainbridge, down the block from mainstay Famous 4th Street.
Sabrina’s Cafe — speaking of which — is behind a new venture aimed at the late-night crowd. Spence De Abreu, the 21-year-old son of Sabrina’s founders Robert and Raquel De Abreu, is hoping for a late-July opening of Big Spence’s, a sandwich operation at 1816 Callowhill St., a few doors from the Art Museum-area Sabrina’s. It will run via delivery services and pickup (no seating), offering six sandwiches at launch, with additional menu items expected over time. Initial hours will vary, with service planned as late as 2 a.m. during the fall, when college students are back. Opening is tentatively scheduled for July 29.
Scampi, chef Liz Grothe’s Queen Village Italian-ish restaurant, has added a beverage program in partnership with Northeast Philly winemaker Camuna Cellars. The tie-in allows spirits and beer options from Pennsylvania producers, including Fell to Earth vermouthery. BYOB is OK, with a $15-per-bottle corkage fee. Scampi also has collabs planned for August: Percy (at Percy) on Aug. 21; Habibi Supper Club (at Scampi) on Aug. 23; and an Italian American pasta night with chef Wyatt Piazza at Kiddo on Aug. 30.
Chimney Rustic Ales closed its brewery in Hammonton, N.J., in June 2025, in anticipation of opening in Philadelphia. Brewmaster/owner Dan Borrelli is seeing light at the end of a city-permitting tunnel, so he’s looking at a late-2026 opening at 2153 E. Lehigh Ave. in Kensington. Borrelli said this location will have a full kitchen and a chef (to be named later) serving what he calls “elevated bar food, with some seafood mixed in.” Borrelli had a seafood truck called Minnow Seafood Co. “We’re not trying to earn a Michelin star,” he said. “We just want to serve food that’s a little more upscale than you’d typically find at a brewery or neighborhood bar.” He specializes in lagers but also offers IPAs — because “they make up about 60% of the market, so you kind of have to have them.”
Chibanos has opened at the former Effie’s in Washington Square West, and Delco-raised owner Evan Fong Jaroff expresses his Chinese-Cuban background through pressed sandwiches, fried yuca, flan, and croquetas. Beatrice Forman tells a fascinating story of food and culture.
Call Your Mother, the D.C. bagel-sandwich chain, has signed a third Philly lease before the first shop even schmeared its first bagel.
EMei’s Dan Tsao is taking over a fourth landmark restaurant location — the home of Old Original Bookbinder’s — as part of the Sichuan restaurant’s ambitious expansion.
Briefly noted
Townsend on East Passyunk Avenue has been closed since early May after extensive water damage from a fire next door. Chef/owner Tod Wentz has swung part of the French menu to Oltremare, his Mediterranean seafooder at 2121 Walnut St. “Townsend at Oltremare” offers a hybrid menu from Townsend executive chef Alex Nissley through at least the end of the summer.
Baby’s Kusina & Market in Brewerytown returns Thursday, two weeks after a plumbing issue caused a flood. One change: Dinner service has been paused for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Baby’s will do a popup at 11 a.m. Monday at Farina Di Vita (250 Catharine St.) with a roast pork adobo sandwich.
Hop Sing Laundromat (1029 Race St.) is pricing all cocktails at $12 for the summer, discounted from $17-$21; it’s open from 5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.
❓Pop quiz
Local bartenders have been foraging recently for what prized ingredient to make amaro?
🚗 Winners! Last week’s quiz asked you to guess how many miles Craig LaBan put on his car while scouting restaurants for his Jersey Shore dining package. We had a tie — the total was 1,034 and two readers guessed 1,000, so I ordered a runoff. Jan D. of Norristown submitted “1,005” (29 miles under) while Ed H. of Philadelphia offered “1,066” (32 miles over). What’s 3 miles among friends? I’m sending Inquirer swag to both, along with my sincere thanks for reading.
Please update us on a couple of bakeries, like Manna near Norris Square and Del Buono’s, where McMillan’s was in South Jersey. — Scot T.
Saif Manna, adding a brick-and-mortar location at 110 W. Berks St. in Kensington, is aiming for a soft-opening of Manna Bakery tomorrow, followed by a grand opening on July 30. Meanwhile, the PR machine is revving up for the opening of Del Buono’s, in a partnership with Al DiBartolo’s custom-cake studio DiBartolo’s Kakery, at 15 Haddon Ave. in Haddon Township’s Westmont section. Soft opening is planned for mid-August, with an Aug. 29 grand opening tied to Haddon Township Summer Music Festival.
📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.
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My Uber driver could be forgiven for becoming a tad disoriented as we gingerly approached Terra Grill. After all, this newly cobbled stretch of Germantown Avenue in Northern Liberties has not appeared on a Philadelphia map since the 19th century, when the massive Schmidt’s Brewery rose here in 1860 on 14-plus acres east of North Second Street.
The legendary brewery is long gone, closed in 1987, demolished in 2000, and replaced in 2007 by developer Bart Blatstein’s original Piazza project, which supercharged gentrification of this once-industrial neighborhood. The mixed-use development quickly sputtered after an ownership change in 2013, just as nearby Fishtown and Kensington began to thrive.
Can Terra Grill help revive the Piazza dream? I’m not convinced a steakhouse alone will do the trick, even if it’s something different for Northern Liberties. (Remember the short-lived “vibe dining” of meat-forward SIN?)
But the development’s current owners, Post Brothers, clearly hope this modern American grill will help restore at least some of the neighborhood’s shine. It’s a $6 million anchor for the Piazza Alta, a new 1,100-unit high-rise complex targeted to families, not just the “frat boys in backwards trucker hats” that Post CEO Michael Pestronk said occupied the Piazza during its decline under their predecessor, Kushner Cos., whose tenure saw falling rents and shuttered retail storefronts.
The exterior of Terra Grill on July 9 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The fact that there are people blithely wandering across our car’s path as we approach Terra Grill’s landscaped facade is both confusing and deliberate. Post Brothers has resisted adding road striping to the avenue (a technically private stretch now open to the public) to “prevent it from becoming a speedway.” The unmarked stones are meant to foster a street-facing, Euro-style pedestrian plaza.
Recruiting a nationally known chef for this project in Laurent Tourondel is also part of the strategy to give the neighborhood an upscale, Center City-esque aura — signaling that this once-edgy neighborhood has a new polish on top of its existing gastropubs (Standard Tap, North Third), cutting-edge vegan cooking (Pietramala), brunch spots (Honey’s Sit ‘N Eat, Cafe La Maude) and standout BYOBs (Pera, Apricot Stone). With an apartment boom bringing thousands of new residents and median incomes skyrocketing over the last decade, the affluence and density is suddenly there to potentially support something fancy like Terra Grill, whose entrees hover in the mid-$30s before you even touch the $50-plus prime steaks.
The interior of Terra Grill on July 9 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Is it a particularly adventurous place to dine? Not especially. But that may not matter. The restaurant exudes a textbook chophouse vibe, with circular booths clad in cushy black leather, a marble-topped bar, dark wood accents, walls of wine bottles, and hot pans of fresh, salt-speckled Parker House rolls served with little crocks of whipped miso-garlic butter.
There are culinary twists on classic cocktails to spark the meal, like the Quick & Dirty, an entry-level dirty martini washed with tzatziki yogurt and piqued with giardiniera brine, or the Golden Hour white Negroni, infused with red and golden raspberries as a nod to Philly’s Clover Club.
The Crazy Bird and Quick & Dirty cocktails at Terra Grill on July 9.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
It’s the bar program’s nod to the kitchen ethos of the French-born Tourondel, a respected chef based out of New York best known for BLT Steak (which he no longer owns) and BLT Fish, which briefly held one Michelin star and is now closed. Tourondel has since evolved into a management chef for hire, having opened 58 restaurants, from Kazakhstan to Panama, over the course of his career. He now operates 12 locations under his company, from Manhattan (L’Amico) to South Beach, where we recently dined on a delicious and stylish rendition of steak and eggs for brunch at LT Steak & Seafood.
Terra Grill is large, with 139 seats inside and 50 on the patio, alongside the chef’s cozier and more casual Roman-inspired Scusi Pizza. But the menu is essentially straight off the Tourondel rack: quality ingredients in familiar dishes treated with a thoughtful flourish or a seasonal touch. In other words, something for everyone.
The grilled octopus at Terra Grill.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
I especially enjoyed Tourondel’s octopus starter, coiled into a thick ring with its tentacles pointing out over a hash of crushed fingerling potatoes bright with lemon, olive oil, espelette aioli, and black dots of cured-olive purée. A baked crab cake is meaty and fresh, and fun to eat from the shell that it’s been stuffed back into.
Beside such successes, though, there are some fusion dishes that felt off-key, like the fried calamari with sweet chili dip, or the chimichurri-dabbedshort ribs wrapped in bao buns whose puffy hinges had gone stale. A luxe hot dog encasedin puff pastry with Gruyère and sauerkraut would have been delicious had its Wagyu dog not been so dense and rubbery. (Just as with burgers, a Wagyu pedigree does not make a hot dog better.) A tuna tartare stuffed into a flower-like bloom of shaved watermelon radishes beneath an avocado dome was flavorful and satisfying. But a mizuna salad draped with yuzu-dipped slices of yellowtail was awkward to eat and a waste of good fish.
The prime rib eye with dauphine potato puffs and grilled asparagus at Terra Grill.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The entrees are naturally headlined by the steaks — all high-quality prime grade (except for the Angus filet mignon) and properly cooked over the live flames of a hardwood grill, served simply with the sauce and side of your choice. The 22-ounce rib eye was the ultimate beefy cut of the four options, and also the most expensive at $98. The entry-level skirt steak wasn’t huge for $52 (and oddly, more expensive than the signature dish at Tourondel’s Skirt Steak in Midtown Manhattan), but the 10-ounce flap of black garlic-marinated beef glazed in hoisin was delicious, especially with crispy croquettes of dauphine potato puffs on the side.
The bar at Terra Grill restaurant, 1099 Germantown Ave.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Considering designer Olya Volkova’s attention to fostering the clubby comforts of a swank dining room, it’s a shame the mood is so often squashed by the glaring flash of big TVs behind the central bar. It speaks to a personality conflict this fledgling restaurant is still trying to resolve: Is Terra Grill a special-occasion destination, or a chic weekly hangout for neighbors to watch the Phillies over a $28 burger?
I’d actually come back for that prime beef burger encrusted with seven different kinds of peppercorns and topped with molten raclette cheese — if only they manage not to overcook it next time.
I can also see returning for the excellent branzino, which gets butterflied and crisped skin-side down over the wood fire and served with a seasonal garnish — a lemon-soy salsa verde in spring, and now a summery puttanesca of blistered tomatoes with capers and olives. That fish is a fair deal at $36. However, even the chef conceded the entree of head-on red shrimp was “a little small” when I sent him a picture of my plate with three crustaceans for $36.
The grilled branzino puttanesca at Terra Grill.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The rigatoni in lamb Bolognese is understandably popular with Terra’s regulars, both hearty and flavorful for $28. But it also feels random on a menu that has few other Italian flourishes — even if Tourondel’s adjacent pizzeria, Scusi, is right next door.
With its blond wood, aperitivo hour, and appealing menu of salads and pies (many available by the slice), Scusi could very well be just the affordable counterpart Terra needs. But its thin-crusted Roman pies were so strangely heavy from a blend of grains, including bran, that the dough was leaden and tough. My weighty slice of sausage and pepperoni was also incinerated.
Two slices of pizza at Scusi, located in the Piazza Alta in Northern Liberties.Craig LaBan / StaffScusi Pizza next door to Terra Grill.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Having previously enjoyed Tourondel’s Neapolitan-style Sag Pizza in the Hamptons, I know he’s capable of good pies. But Scusi’s troubled crusts reflect one of the perils of having a remote-control chef conducting from out of state.
Even more difficult than executing recipes, though, is finding the soul of a cookie-cutter concept, such that it feels like it fits the fabric of a place. Of course, in a literal blank slate like the Piazza Alta, the right restaurant can help set that tone. I did enjoy much of my food here, including the whimsical finale of a caramel popcorn sundae with a tableside chocolate sauce drizzle.
There are good ingredients in place. And the service is friendly enough (despite some rushed pacing with the starters). But there is still a paint-by-numbers corporate energy to Terra Grill.
The caramel popcorn sundae at Terra Grill.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Maybe its stride will come with more customers: The restaurant was less than half full during my visits. Perhaps they will materialize if the neighborhood gains the kind of momentum its developers hope to conjure — including the promise of an undisclosed local star chef slated to take a prime space across from Terra. Tourondel’s restaurants alonedo not carry the gravity to fully animate this recently revived stretch of Germantown Avenue, but Terra could complement a broaderscene. Just like the chaotic, slow-motion traffic patternsoutside the restaurant’s doors, it feels like a work in progress.
Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday; until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m Saturday and Sunday.
Entrees, $28-$98.
Wheelchair accessible.
A little over half the menu items are gluten-free, with several others being easily modified with care to avoid cross contamination. Fried items are not available.
Menu Highlights: Parker House rolls; fried calamari; lemon chicken parm sandos; grilled octopus; stuffed crab cake; grilled branzino; Terra burger; prime steaks (skirt; strip, rib eye); potato puff dauphine; caramel popcorn sundae.
Drinks: Creative takes on classic cocktails with culinary twists are front and center, including a tzatziki-washed riff on a dirty martini and the rummy Crazy Bird tinged with bitter Campari. The sub-50 label wine list covers multiple styles with a balance of big names (Whispering Angel, Jordan) and lesser-known options (Decibel, Txakoli rosé). There are solid choices by the glass at $20 and under.
The interior of Terra Grill on Thursday, July 9, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
A man was critically injured and a dog was killed when someone opened fire in Kensington on Sunday evening, authorities said.
The incident happened just after 10:45 p.m. in a lot on the 2400 block of Kensington Avenue, according to police.
Police arrived to find the man shot multiple times in the legs and abdomen, and officers transported him to Temple University Hospital, where he was placed in critical condition.
A dog was found dead in the lot, and officers determined the animal had been shot.
Police have not identified a suspect or a motive in the shooting, and they continue to investigate.
