Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

Spring in Philadelphia means more than baseball and cherry blossoms: It also means brand-new BYOBs, gastropubs, a biergarten, a raw bar, a noodle bar and the list goes on. Among the crowd of culinary creators are a number of second, third and beyond acts by some of the region’s hottest restaurateurs. And, as is appropriate in the warm weather, there’s news on the ice cream front too. Here’s what’s cooking in Philly this spring:

Recent Openings:

• Northern European cuisine, including smoked fish, smørrebrød, bitterballen and lots of beets, get their day in the sun thanks to Chef Joncarl Lachman’s

Spanning from Broad to 10^th Streets and from Market to Pine Streets, Midtown Village is the lively center of downtown Philadelphia. Other neighborhoods converge here, but Midtown Village—a new but buzzing city enclave—maintains a distinct personality thanks to a business boom that includes independent shops and restaurants, small cafes, alfresco tables along every sidewalk and a rainbow street sign-lined Gayborhood. On the neighborhood’s western border lies a district appropriately named for its place as Philadelphia’s performance hub: the Avenue of the Arts, which runs along Broad Street from City Hall to Lombard Street. The wide stretch is home to

Graduate Hospital goes by many names (Center City South, South of South, G-Ho), which is fitting for a neighborhood that draws its personality from the people inside it: young transplants, born-and-raised neighbors, hip urban professionals, craft beer crowds and more. In recent years, the area stretching from Lombard Street to Washington Avenue and from Broad Street to Gray’s Ferry Avenue has accumulated a healthy dose of restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and markets that reflect the area’s residential and cool vibe.

Restaurants & Bars:

• Balkan Express Restaurant – This family-run bring-your-own-bottle (BYOB) spot serves up Mediterranean fare that’s both wallet-friendly

Philly may be best known as the City of Brotherly Love, but sisters from Center City to New Hope have plenty of reasons to celebrate the LGBT-friendly nightlife scene. Women’s parties and exclusive nightclubs have put Philly on the map for lesbian life after dark. Here’s a look at where the girls eat, drink and party:

Bars & Nightclubs:

• Sisters – Philadelphia’s longtime lesbian nightclub attracts women of all ages Tuesday through Sunday with live entertainment, DJs, Thursday night karaoke and some of the best happy hour specials in the Gayborhood. The tri-level club features three bars, a restaurant

Long-considered one of the toniest neighborhoods in the city, Rittenhouse Square isn’t just an enviable address. Along its sidewalks—many of which boast seating for alfresco dining and drinking in the warm months—residents and visitors find high-end stores; locally owned boutiques; small galleries; renowned museums; cafes; beer, wine and cocktail bars; and restaurants of all kinds. And, of course, the one-block Rittenhouse Square is more popular with sunbathers, readers, families, artists and even dogs than city founder William Penn ever could have imagined. With a number of hotels also in the area, this neighborhood remains an out-of-towner favorite.

Restaurants, Bars &

Every resident knows (and secretly loves) Will Smith’s Fresh Prince of Bel Air lyric “In West Philadelphia, born and raised … ” Not obvious from the 1990s theme song is the dynamic culture that thrives inside the large area—due to historic characteristics, large educational and research institutions and new developments and residents.

Separated from Center City by the Schuylkill River, West Philadelphia resembles a microcosm of the city itself, with a number of smaller, distinct neighborhoods inside it. Many of its attractions and events—community gardens, Ethiopian restaurants, offbeat performances and the like—were created to benefit the people living in the

Once considered working-class suburbs, the tree-lined South Philadelphia neighborhoods of Queen Village and Bella Vista have spent the past decade establishing themselves as some of the city’s most stable and vibrant places to live, work, dine, shop—and generally hang out. Small, mostly historic townhouses and a mix of new and well-established businesses make up these side-by-side neighborhoods. Residents both new and old are passionate about maintaining pocket parks and patronizing independent merchants and restaurants. The districts’ busiest byways are the open-air Italian Market on South 9^th Street and the west-to-east-running South Street, which needs its own neighborhood overview.

Directly

Philadelphia, aptly dubbed the City of Brotherly Love, caters to lovers looking to reenergize their relationships at cultural sites, romantic eateries, outdoor attractions and other swoon-worthy spots. Couples can make it a weekend—or longer—by booking special hotel packages, some of which are romantically themed, on visitphilly.com/hotels. One popular deal, the Philly Overnight® Hotel Package comes with two nights and free hotel parking.

Here are a few suggestions for embracing the region’s romantic side:

Cozy Cuisine:

• After a day in the Chester County countryside, foodies favor the Birchrunville Store Café, a bring-your-own-bottle (BYOB) spot known for its contemporary French-Italian

Philadelphia welcomes 2013 with a host of new and notable restaurants and bars. The big trends this winter? Italian cuisine and pizza, cocktails and coffee, and existing restaurants updated with new looks and concepts. From neo-Southern cuisine in Conshohocken to a Fishtown pizzeria from a local expert—along with a slew of new openings coming this spring—Philly’s kitchens runneth over. Here’s a look at some of the exciting flavors worth sampling now:

Tasty New Openings:

• Zahav’s Michael Solomonov enters the Main Line dining scene with the upscale glatt kosher restaurant Citron and Rose, where the delicacies include mushroom knishes with

Like its hip neighbor Northern Liberties, Fishtown has quickly become one of the coolest sections of Philadelphia, thanks to an influx of quality restaurants, inventive bars, impressive music venues and forward-thinking art galleries. Philadelphians have found new and innovative uses for the Fishtown section of the city ever since William Penn made peace with the Lenape Indians there in what’s now Penn Treaty Park. It’s the only place in the city where, in the same evening, someone can buy a custom-made guitar, drink craft beer while playing Tetris, eat stellar Yugoslavian food and visit the world’s only pizza museum. Fishtown’s

For years, insiders have flocked to South Philadelphia’s East Passyunk Avenue for its restaurants, particularly its red-gravy Italian spots. The neighborhood surrounding the avenue—a diagonal interruption to Philadelphia’s grid layout—has enjoyed revitalizations in recent years, creating a sort of renaissance for the thoroughfare itself. Visitors who stroll down Passyunk (pronounced pashunk by those in the know) find eclectic boutiques, coffee shops, vintage clothing stores, gastropubs, excellent Mexican and sushi fare, as well as the amazing Italian eateries that first made this street famous—not to mention the two across-the-street cheesesteak rivals, Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks. Generally, the area

The green and lively Washington Square looked very different a couple hundred years ago. After city founder William Penn set the land aside for a public park, Philadelphia used it as a burial ground and as an animal pasture. Today, the park, located just steps from Independence Hall, attracts picnickers, families, sunbathers and history buffs, and the neighborhood that sprouted to the south and west has enjoyed a similar reawakening. Exciting nightlife, independently owned galleries, celebrity chefs and the famed Jewelers’ Row keep the area between 6^th and 10^th Streets and Chestnut and Pine Streets buzzing day and

Getting to the diverse and historic neighborhoods of Chestnut Hill, Germantown, Mt. Airy and West Oak Lane is a cinch via SEPTA, Philadelphia’s public transportation system. Check bus and regional rail schedules at septa.org before heading off to explore these vibrant enclaves in the northwest section of the city.

Chestnut Hill (via the Chestnut Hill East/West train lines or the #23 Bus):
With a higher elevation than the rest of the city, Chestnut Hill was once a vacation spot for those who wanted to escape the summer heat of the lower-lying parts of the city. Today, the neighborhood’s eclectic

Autumn’s here, and with it comes pumpkins, apples and a whole season’s worth of restaurant openings in Philadelphia and The Countryside®. On the list are some fresh concepts from seasoned cooks, convivial spots for cocktails, an artisan pie bakery, upscale Asian cuisine and a slew of places to slurp ramen. A couple New York mega-chefs are making their Philadelphia debuts, and both of them have Stephen Starr ties. The just-unveiled Fette Sau in Fishtown specializes in barbecue, and still to come, Peter Serpico, a top name in the influential Momofuku empire, will serve up serving cutting-edge Korean cuisine at Serpico,

Once considered Philadelphia’s favorite up-and-coming neighborhood, Northern Liberties has officially arrived, evidenced by the international restaurants, respected gastropubs and trendy boutiques—all this while maintaining the artistic vibe that made it so cool in the first place. The warehouses that populate the former manufacturing district found new life as condos, galleries, stores and restaurants, and along with newly designed buildings, the area enjoys a pleasant mix of older functional and modern design. Two shopping/dining/art/entertainment plazas helped make Northern Liberties an accessible and thriving area: Liberties Walk and The Piazza at Schmidts.

The neighborhood lies north of Old City, and its borders

Long known as the edgiest street in Philadelphia, South Street welcomes more than just hippies these days. Shoppers searching for a statement-making look, visitors hungry for a real Philly cheesesteak and music lovers who want to catch an up-and-coming band head to the storied boulevard. Add ethnically diverse restaurants, bars that keep the party going long after dessert and galleries and performance spaces, South Street has evolved into the place where everyone meets. Over the past decade, the development of the east side of South Street spread west of Broad Street, but the traditional definition of the district (depending who

Located just next to Independence Mall, where the country’s Founding Fathers declared liberty and built a free nation, Old City still boasts charming cobblestoned streets and plenty of 18^th-century charm—along with an independent streak that’s evident in everything from its owner-operated shops to its edgy art scene. People love the neighborhood for its fashionable boutiques, great restaurants, eclectic galleries and theaters and vibrant nightlife. Its proximity to the Liberty Bell, Penn’s Landing and the Ben Franklin Bridge make Old City a favorite for out-of-towners as much as for the residents who call it home.

Restaurants & Bars:

Just near the renowned institutions that line the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia’s Fairmount and Spring Garden neighborhoods are often lumped together and dubbed the “Art Museum area,” but the personalities of these laid-back districts separate them from nearby Center City.

Fairmount easily stands on its own as a destination in Philadelphia. Despite its proximity to downtown, the residential neighborhood is considered a sort of urban suburb, thanks to the friendly residents and atmosphere. What to do here? Eat, drink and tour the former prison-turned-attraction. Wedged between the cultural powerhouses of the Parkway and the better-known Fairmount, Spring Garden distinguishes itself

When choosing a restaurant in Historic Philadelphia, the key word is choice. In fact, there are so many restaurants, cafes and bistros that discerning diners could eat out all 108 days of summer without ever hitting the same spot twice. After a long day of touring, hungry visitors can take an adventurous turn by sampling Chifa’s Latin/Asian menu, dine in elegance at Union Trust Steak House or join the bring-your-own-bottle (BYOB) revolution at longtime favorite Chloe. Here are just a few places where diners can please their palates:

Asian & South Asian:

• Aqua – Those in the know order

Philadelphia and The Countryside® is blooming with an exciting crop of new restaurants this spring. From refined Greek eats in a mod Center City atmosphere to a locavore’s paradise in Blue Bell to inexpensive, freshly made Lebanese fare in West Philly, the options for great meals are endless. Here’s a look at some of the newest dining hotspots in town:

Marquee Openings:

• Sibling owners George and Vasiliki Tsiouris bring stylish Greek dining to Midtown Village with Opa. Menu offerings at the sleekly designed resto-bar include zimi, or baked feta-cheese-filled pita; striped bass over sauted spinach paired with a garbanzo