If the loop playing of Wham’s “Last Christmas” at CVS hasn’t given it away already, the holiday season is here, with Thanksgiving just around the corner.

For many locals, the holidays mean planning a vacation or taking a trip back home for family quality time. But for others, the season means staying put in West Philly, be it because of circumstance or because loved ones are coming to you.

Your holiday staycation doesn’t have to turn out boring, though. After all, with all the great restaurants in the area you can embark in a week-long foodie tour that will satisfy your hunger and help you taste new flavors. But our little notch of Philadelphia proper has many other great gems to keep you and/or your family entertained during the season—some popular and historic, others hidden and in need of discovery.

In order to help your staycation take flight, West Philly Local put together a short list of places to play and sleep to help you plan your local itinerary—and discover the unique personality of our neighborhood.

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2013 West Philly Local Pumpkin Carving Contest Readers’ Choice Winner Milena Velis.

On first glance, Milena Velis’s carved pumpkin seems out of place.

A thick, padlocked chain marks an X in front of a fence. In the distance, the moon rises above a school building framed by bare, gangly trees.

It’s an image in stark contrast to the werewolf, skeletons, pumpkin heads, and haunted forest that comprised the entries in West Philly Local’s 2013 Pumpkin Carving Contest. But while Velis’s pumpkin may not show a spooky motif synonymous with Halloween, it could be considered the most frightening of them all.

After all, what’s more terrifying than the School District of Philadelphia shuttering 24 schools—including local University City High School and Alexander Wilson Elementary—and laying off nearly 3,000 staff members in the face of steep budget cuts and choked funding?

The chilling implications of the public education crisis on Philadelphia and its families is largely why Velis’s pumpkin, which took two days to design and nearly three days to carve, won Readers’ Choice in the contest. To the many West Philly Local readers who voted, her pumpkin symbolized the “scariest thing” to happen to Philadelphia this year. Velis said this was her intention with her Scariest Pumpkin category entry—to memorialize what happened at the beginning of the school year.

“Part of it is just that there’s something so unbelievable about the permanent closing of schools that it does take a while to process it. That’s true for a lot of people,” Velis, a 29-year-old Cedar Park resident, told West Philly Local. Continue Reading

Early this year, it was revealed that a mixed-use high-rise tower would replace two historically designated brownstones on 38^th and Chestnut Streets, with construction completing in 2015. It seems that demolition of those two brownstones, formerly Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral’s parish house, is fast approaching, Hidden City Philadelphia recently reported.

According to Philadelphia License & Inspection records, a demolition permit was secured for the brownstones, located at 3723-25 Chestnut Street, on September 27 and updated on November 1 with an amendment for inclusion of a revised work plan. Once demolition completes, construction will begin this year on the $97 million project, developed and overseen by local firm Radnor Property Group (RPG) in partnership with the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral. The end result will feature a 25-story residential tower offering 276 apartment units, retail on the ground floor, and a fitness center.  Continue Reading

Pitruco’s Salame pizza / Photo from Pitruco Pizza’s tumblr

Chowing down on a slice of pizza while downing gulps of beer—seems like the perfect match for a college bar. At least, that’s the thought behind the Smokey Joe’s and Pitruco Pizza partnership that launched three weeks ago.

A few weeks ago Nathan Winkler-Rhodes and Jonah Fliegelman—the boys behind the sought-after Pitruco Pizza food truck—began running Smokey Joe’s kitchen, serving their signature fare as Enjay’s Pizza (a play on their names, said Smokey Joe’s owner Paul Ryan). With Rhodes and Fliegelman at the helm, Smokey’s, located at 210 S. 40^th Street will now offer a revamped menu with pizza as the star and offered in seven small or large varieties including spicy, sausage and pepper, and tomato—plays (but not direct copies) off their Pitruco menu. Chicken cutlet, meatball and fried cauliflower hoagies are also on the list of options, in addition to salads, Italian vegetable plates, and pub starters like garlic knots and artisan fries.

Ryan was looking to serve pizza and turned to Pitruco after checking out foodie reviews. In turn, he said, the duo was looking to set up a brick-and-mortar shop for their highly rated truck, so they were on board when approached by Ryan. And so far, says the owner, the partnership is “terrific.”

“The reviews of the food have been great,” Ryan told West Philly Local. “I think it’s a great match for a college bar.”

Smokey Joe’s has long sublet its kitchen to budding culinary entrepreneurs looking for a built in audience and good location without the overhead of their own space.

Fliegelman and Winkler-Rhodes will run Smokey Joe’s kitchen from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Currently, takeout is only available.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Growing up, my late Nana would always make fried chicken. Thighs, breasts, wings…no part of that bird was left out of our frying pan. And her fried chicken was delicious, crispy, and addictive.

Up until last night, I thought I had lost my taste for fried chicken after my Nana passed away in 1999. None of the fried chicken could compare to hers—whether from a fast food dive or “upscale” home-cooking joint, the crispy coated birds were just grease-bomb artery cloggers. Then I tasted Wishbone‘s classic craft fried chicken and it was like I was eight years old, chomping on a thigh during holiday dinner. With each bite I understood why the line at Wishbone, which opened last week in Lee’s Hoagie House’s former home at 4034 Walnut Street, was almost out the door when I stopped by on Tuesday night. And this person agrees.

Wishbone is co-owned by veteran chefs Alan Segel and Dave Clouser who spoke with The Insider back in June about their plans to open a shop with a “takeout, delivery, some seating, a small menu… and no pretense.”

Battered in buttermilk and pretzel crust, Wishbone’s classic fried chicken, available in dark or white meat and offered at $8.95 a pound, was tender, crispy and juicy and had a minimal aftermath of grease (there’s also a Thai coconut curry & basil special offered, which I didn’t try due to food allergies). A variety of dips are offered at $0.50 each (I tried the pimenton aioli and modern BBQ), but—while good on their own—they lack the kick necessary to a proper accompaniment to the delicious (albeit slightly salty) chicken.

While the chicken’s a production, Wishbone is not. It’s nothing more than a “quirky” take out joint done cafeteria style with an upstairs seating area and decked out in a simplified country-inspired decor (think ceramic roosters and tin watering cans with flowers). It’s in its evolving stages as the general manager Erica Hope told me, so expect a few bumps like waiting 10 minutes for more chicken or stopping by to a closed shop because the chicken’s run out. As of Thursday, Wishbone is tentatively open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with possibly later closing hours during the weekends.

– Annamarya Scaccia

Detective Joe Murray of PPD’s Southwest Detectives Division with his father at a recent family wedding (Photo provided by Det. Murray)

Use Twitter? Then you know Detective Joseph Murray of the Southwest Detectives Division (or at least you should).

Det. Murray, known around West Philly as “The Tweeting Cop,” began using message boards in 2006 as a way to connect with the community he serves. That social media engagement evolved into Twitter three years later, when the 33-year-old detective opened an account under the (retired) handle, @TheFuzz9143. Now tweeting under @PPDJoeMurray, Det. Murray updates West Philadelphians about crime, missing (and sometimes then found) pets, and even his favorite Pearl Jam album—while also opening the digital floor for tips and feedback—on a near-daily basis.

But Det. Murray’s community involvement doesn’t stop with the computer screen. Well aware that his position with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) is considered a “desk job,” the third generation police officer makes a concerted effort to also have a physical presence, whether it’s through cruising West Philly in his car, buying coffee at Green Line or Rival Brothers, popping into a few local businesses for a quick hello, or checking up on old complaints he’s received. “It’s up to me to engage people so I try to do my best,” Murray, who was promoted to detective in 2005 at 25-years-old, wrote to West Philly Local in an email.

And his efforts are noticed by the city at large. This September, Det. Murray, along with 52 other emergency responders (including Southwest colleague Lt. John Walker), received an Award of Valor from the National Liberty Museum for his valiant work nearly 14 years on the force—which includes closing the 2011 triple shooting at Lorena’s Grocery Store on the 800 block of North 50^th Street. The shooting, which resulted in the deaths of siblings Porfirio and Lina Nunez, and Porfirio’s wife Carmen—employees of Lorena’s Grocery Store—is one of Murray’s recent cases that he finds most heartbreaking among the “far too many.”

“A family from the Dominican Republic was assassinated for no reason. A robbery with nothing taken,” Det. Murray wrote to West Philly Local. “That gets my blood pressure up even typing it now. There was satisfaction when we caught the killers but that does not bring the family back.”

For Det. Murray, the cases that “help everyone involved”, though, balance the distressing ones like the 2011 triple murder. And he’s especially encouraged when he never sees a person he’s booked or their name again. “I have come across thousands of people as a detective. A lot of times I see them a few years down the line working in a restaurant or at a store. That makes you feel good to see,” he wrote.

West Philly Local had a chance to chat with Det. Murray about being honored by the National Liberty Museum, his love for West Philly, the importance of engaging the community, and—of course—donuts.

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