If your Friday plans include a bottle of wine or spirits and your usual spot is the Wine and Spirits store near 41st and Market, you’re going to have to shop elsewhere.

The store closed permanently late last week. The owner of the building reportedly no longer wants to lease to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). The PLCB is shopping around for another site in the area.

This also means that the store near 49th and Baltimore will have even longer lines.

Those who fondly remember the original West Philly Vietnam space at 814 S. 47th Street will be happy to hear that the Grill Fish Cafe (Facebook page), the third restaurant operated by Benny Lai and his family, is finally open. In contrast to its gregarious older sibling, Grill Fish offers an intimate setting and a more narrowly focused bill of fare. Being familiar with Vietnam, we expected a good meal. We were pleased to find the service attentive, the flavors bright, and the portions more than generous. Most importantly, without exception, the seafood was perfectly cooked. Someone took great care to do that fish justice; it started out fresh but the chef made it better. The Lai family definitely knows what they are doing, and the smaller size of the Grill Fish Cafe is a showcase for artisanal quality dishes inspired by traditional Vietnamese flavors and techniques.

We started with crispy shrimp ($12). Thirteen juicy shrimp lightly crusted and flash-fried with bits of bell pepper were served with an intense garlic-lime dipping sauce. The octopus ($12), sliced and tossed in a basil vinaigrette with slivered red onions, was exquisitely cooked – toothsome and silky, without a hint of the toughness you find when octopus is clumsily prepared. This is the octopus you need to order for that friend who thinks she doesn’t like it.

Next up: grilled salmon with a dark soy glaze and sautéed spinach ($16). According to my partner, who is a fish snob but not a word snob, the salmon “melts in your mouth.” I don’t know whether to credit the quality of the filet or the touch of the chef, but Matt was right: it was moist, tender all through, and suffused in flavor. The sauce was assertive, but the salmon stood its ground. Lastly, we ordered the whole grilled bronzino in a light clear lemon sauce (market price). Our server offered to fillet it for us at the table, to spare us the bones, but we declined and dug right in.

The subtle lemon enhanced the delicate taste of fresh (but not fishy) fish. With white rice and a side of bok choy ($3), we finished our meal all jacked up on protein and feeling totally satisfied. The cake selection (lemon, chocolate, and carrot) looked tempting, but we decided to save it for another day.

We were the only patrons on a Wednesday at six o’clock –we worried about the business, but we felt lucky to have enjoyed the full attention of the kitchen and staff. Grill Fish has been open less than a week; you’ll want to try it before the crowds start lining up. It’s a small place with a full bar featuring Vietnam’s specialty drinks, such as the delicious lemongrass martini ($9).

In addition to fish, mussels, and calamari, the menu offers lamb, chicken, and seasonal grilled vegetables. We’ll see if the Grill Fish Cafe becomes a destination for folks from all over town. For now, I’m psyched to know that true seafood experts are doing their thing just blocks from my house.

– Jen

Two women were robbed at gunpoint Wednesday night within an hour in separate incidents on Chester and Springfield avenues near 47th Street. A police spokesperson said they are “absolutely sure” the robberies were committed by the same people.

The first incident took place at approximately 9 p.m. A 31-year-old female was standing on the corner of 48th Street and Chester Avenue waiting for a trolley when two males walked across the street and asked her when the trolley was expected to arrive. The woman said that she looked up the trolley schedule on her iPhone and said that it would be arriving in 3 minutes. One of the men pointed a black handgun at her head and said, “Give me your phone.” The woman then threw her phone across the street, ran to a friend’s house and called the police. No injuries were reported.

The incident is the latest in a string of robberies at trolley stops in the same area.

Also on Wednesday night, at approximately 10:00 p.m., a 32-year-old woman was walking on the 4700 block of Springfield Avenue when two males approached, pulled a handgun and demanded her pocketbook. The brown leather pocketbook contained numerous credit cards, $290 in cash, an iPod Nano and an iPhone charger. The males fled on foot toward 47th Street and Windsor Avenue. The woman’s pocketbook along with most of the contents was later discovered on the 4700 and 4800 block of Windsor Avenue. Her iPod Nano, $290, and iPhone charger were missing.

The suspects are described as two black males. The first one is heavy build, 5 feet, 9 inches and 18-20 years old. The second male had a thin build was also 18 to 20 years old and had a dark complexion.

Police have said they will step up patrols in the area beginning tonight.

As many neighbors have been wondering, we are happy to report that Girl Scout cookie sales in West Philly started today. Everyone is welcome to place their order for cookie delivery, or stop by one of the cookie tables in the neighborhood.

There are currently over 3,000 boxes of cookies available, and they all need to be sold out. Proceeds from the sales will help get the girls traveling all over the city, and outside of it, for a wide range of adventures. Money will also go to support the local girl scouts’ service project – an earthworm & ladybug release in Clark Park to improve the ecology of West Philly.

Cookies are still only $3.50 a box!

Here’s more details on the cookie table locations and dates.

Fri Jan. 20 – Eastern Mountain Sports, 34th and Chestnut, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
Tue Jan. 24 – 30th Street El Stop (inside the stop at 30th & Market – not 30th Street Station), 3:30-7:30 p.m.
Thu Jan. 26 – 30th Street El Stop (inside the stop at 30th & Market – not 30th Street Station), 3:30-7:30 p.m.
Sat Jan. 28 – Clark Park “B” Park, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (weather permitting)
Wed Feb. 1 – 39th and Locust Walk, 3:30-7:00 p.m. (weather permitting)
Fri Feb. 3 – Eastern Mountain Sports, 34th and Chestnut, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
Wed Feb. 8 – 39th and Locust Walk, 3:30-7:00 p.m. (weather permitting)

For more information or to order cookies please contact Amy Kwasnicki at: kwaszilla@gmail.com.

Plans for a Subway restaurant near 46th and Baltimore are in serious jeopardy. The Zoning Board of Adjustment recently rejected a takeout certificate to an out-of-town franchise owner.

The franchise owner, who proposed a Subway location at 4533 Baltimore Ave., has 30 days to appeal the decision, which was handed down on Jan. 11.

Several community members and nearby residents protested the proposed restaurant, saying the increased traffic would affect properties adjacent to the proposed location.

Wilhelmina Herbert, president of the Garden Court Community Association, recently sent a letter notifying nearby residents of the decision and praising them for speaking out against the plans.

“Without community support this would not have been possible,” she wrote in a letter dated Jan. 18. “We have shown that we can come together to ensure the safety of our children, to protect our properties, and for the overall good of our neighborhood.  Our voices have been heard!”

The Subway franchisee’s application for a takeout certificate, which is required for any restaurant, was originally approved by the Spruce Hill Community Association in a December meeting. Herbert and others, many of whom said they were never notified of that meeting, asked that the ZBA postpone a decision in December to give them time to discuss the proposal.

Many residents who commented on neighborhood e-mail lists and an earlier story here opposed the Subway because it would have been the only chain restaurant among several locally owned businesses in that area of Baltimore Avenue. But residents who lived near the proposed locations, which has been home to several short-lived businesses in recent years, insisted that their primary concern was increased traffic.

Update (Jan. 29): Speckles has been adopted.

West Philly residents Jen and Rachel are looking for a forever home for their cat Speckles. Here’s what Rachel wrote us:

“Speckles is a young – about 8 months old – tortoiseshell cat. She was an outside cat in a colony in West Philly who was almost fully socialized when we did her TNR (trap neuter release). Then she had an infection after her spay surgery and needed to be back inside to recover and get medications. Once we brought her in for recovery and realized that she enjoyed being inside and would make a great pet we couldn’t imagine putting this sweet girl back out. Plus, now she loves to be around us, although is shy at first with strangers.

Whenever we visit her in her room (we have other cats so we are keeping her separate for now), she purrs, cuddles, and loves to get pet. I seriously would never imagine that a few months ago she was afraid of people! She is about 7-8 months old, FeLV and FIV negative and looking for a new home. We have begun to let her out with our other cats and she seems more interested in them than they are in her, so she would probably do well in a home with other friendly cats.

She has been treated for fleas, de-wormed, and been vaccinated for rabies. We are hoping to collect a sliding scale adoption fee of $25-$60.