Credit: Brightnoon Pictures, LLC

When Yao Nunoo first arrived in the United States from Ghana 16 years ago, the then 22-year-old African was building his life as a struggling immigrant artist.

He was a nomad in a strange land, passing through city after city before settling in West Philly in 2002. For 11 years, the now 37-year-old screenwriter/actor has thrived in his “home away from home,” blending into the motley crew of arts and culture alive west of the University of Pennsylvania. With a handful of small productions, a full-length feature, and acting credits under his belt, Nunoo has forged a name for himself in the community—one further elevated by his recent African Film Development Awards’ (AFDA) “Best African Actor in Diaspora” nomination for his role as Ghanaian National Police Inspector Boniface Koomsin in the Ghana-based thriller, The Destiny of Lesser Animals.

“It’s wonderful and flattering to be nominated,” said Nunoo. The AFDA take place June 29 in Tanzania. “The idea behind the African Film Consortium coming up with the AFDA is about contributions to the medium in Africa or about Africa that supports African development and progress. That focus makes the recognition doubly awesome.” Continue Reading

Organizers of Make Music Philly, the inaugural free citywide music festival taking place June 21, have announced its first confirmed events and West Philly Local has the skinny on what’s going on in our neck of the woods.

So far, the following local venues are participating in the all-day music jubilee:

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South Street
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Sheena Grier (pop, R&B, soul)

XPN Free at Noon, 3025 Walnut Street
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.: Southside Johnny & The Poor Fools (rock)

World Café Life, 3025 Walnut Street
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: September Call-Up (indie-folk, indie-rock)
4 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Cult Choir (experimental, indie-folk, soul)
5 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.: Keepin’ the Family (bluegrass, folk, indie-folk)
6 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.: This Way to the Egress (cabaret, gypsy, roots)

University of Pennsylvania, Music Building, 201 S. 34^th Street
2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Wesley Skold (world, Bossa Nova)
3 p.m.-3:45 p.m.: Classical Revolution Family (classical, other)
3:45 p.m.-4:15 p.m.: Matt Chylak (singer-songwriter)
4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: The Chairman Dances (indie-rock, art rock)

The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street
8 p.m.: JACK Quartet (classical, experimental, other)

The Porch at 30^th Street Station, 2955 Market Street
7:50 am – 8:30 am: Scot Sax (singer-songwriter)
8:15 a.m.: Kyo Daiko (Japanese drum group)

People interested in checking out the different Make Music Philly events can search either a listing of city venues or a city map on the festival’s continually-updated website. There’s also still time for artists and venues to register as an official MMP event before it unveils next Friday.

As West Philly Local first reported in April, Make Music Philly is the city’s first entrance into Make Music Day, a global do-it-yourself music celebration that began in France in 1982 and made its way to the states in 2006. The June 21 festival will take place across Philly from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

–Annamarya Scaccia

As you may know, a new version of Rx will return this summer when new owners and chefs Ross Scofield and Danielle Coulter reopen the restaurant at 4443 Spruce Street in mid-July.

Under the new moniker Rx The Farmacy, the culinary couple and The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College graduates will revamp the once-busy corner BYOB that closed in 2011 into a home-style farm-to-table eatery. Their brunch, lunch and dinner menus will feature a smorgasbord of fresh ingredients tapped from Pennsylvania and New Jersey farm networks, and sausage and bacon made in-house. They’ll also steer away from GMO-saturated products, opting for peanut oil instead of the much-maligned corn and canola oils.

In other words: box pasta and frozen fish need not apply.

Don’t expect the “farm-to-table” catchphrase to monopolize Rx The Farmacy’s attention, though. It’s more of a lifestyle than an attraction—a hushed marriage between local, healthy, sustainable food and the laid-back dining experience. But if you consider Scofield’s childhood in Woodstown, New Jersey, this inconspicuous approach makes sense. After all, growing up in South Jersey’s farming community meant harvesting fresh vegetables right in his Greek family’s own backyard and using them in every meal. Continue Reading

The future site of Dunkin’ Donuts on 41st and Chester (Photo: Annamarya Scaccia/West Philly Local)

A sixth Dunkin’ Donuts will call West Philly home this fall when the franchise opens its doors at 4116 Chester Avenue, just a block north of fellow coffee chain Starbucks.

The new location, which was proposed in February, is taking over the vacant warehouse space on the ground floor of 4100 Chester Avenue, a multi-tenant building housing offices for the University of the Sciences and Veteran Affairs. Once open, Dunkin’ Donuts will operate on the relatively quiet residential block Sunday through Saturday from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“We feel that this stable use will provide a great amenity to the office staff and students in the building, as well as to our neighbors and the community,” said David Hess, vice president of acquisitions for Posel Management Company, which owns and manages the property on 41^st Street and Chester Avenue. “More importantly, it will add ‘eyes on the street’ and pedestrian activity to a block that can be lonely at night.”

The Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee approved the Dunkin’ Donuts site after the franchisee and their associates met with immediate neighbors on Apr. 9 to hear concerns, per SHCA’s request. According to Zoning Committee Chair Barry Grossbach, those concerns were then turned into a proviso, attached to the approval agreement, that the owner and property management must adhere to once Dunkin’ Donuts is operating. Among the issues to address: trash removal and pick up, exterior accessory signs, litter maintenance, security, and hours of operation.

Zoning-wise, the space, which has been empty for at least 10 years, was already zoned for a coffee shop, said Grossbach. The only matter the Zoning Board of Adjustment had to tackle was whether it would grant a special exception for a takeout restaurant, which the ZBA did on April 17.

Although the construction of the new Dunkin’ Donuts location has been met with little fanfare, some West Philly residents have taken to the UCNeighbors forum to express their opinions. One poster, Valerie, wrote “from an environmental and traffic point of view, as well as how it affects the residential quality of our neighborhood, Dunkin’ Donuts is not a good idea,” while another, Jon, counters: “Having been in this neighborhood when there was actual blight, such as abandoned housing on many blocks, I think we can handle a Dunkin’ Donuts. Baltimore Avenue seems to have survived the introduction of a Subway, for its part.”

-Annamarya Scaccia

Proposed draft drawing of Babylon Bistro’s storefront.

Although West Philly’s home to several excellent ethnic restaurant spots, there’s still a void of one menu offering plates that satisfy a broad range of palates. And that’s a gap Aksum Cafe and Seeds Gallery owner Saba Tedla plans to close when she opens her second eatery, Babylon Bistro at 5021-5023 Baltimore Avenue in Spring 2014.

According to Tedla, Babylon Bistro will cater to neighborhood folk who like ethnic fare but also want their “basic American food” (think specialty sandwiches). The contemporary menu as envisioned will offer small and large plate portions much like Aksum, but will cover an eclectic variety of regions and concepts that serve a diverse community.

While a lack of a “range of selection of menu” was a common complaint Tedla heard in two community discussion forums she held in developing the bistro’s concept, another was the lack of brunch and breakfast options. To that end, she plans to open Babylon Bistro for breakfast daily, as well as offer brunch on the weekends. As for serving alcohol, Tedla said the idea is to operate a BYOB spot on the onset, and that pursing a liquor license is “a long-term objective.”

“As a resident of the neighborhood, I am focused on the business void of the community and the advantage is having a better understanding of the neighborhood business needs,” she said.

But Babylon Bistro won’t only check off the food boxes. The combined lower area of 5021 and 5023 Baltimore Aves will come to a sprawling 2,000 square feet, making the bistro the second largest restaurant in the immediate neighborhood and the first largest on the Baltimore corridor, said Tedla. She plans to implement an open floor plan in Babylon’s scheme with floor-to-ceiling bi-fold doors that’ll serve as windows—a chic décor that “completely opens the space” and can comfortably sit 75-100 patrons without much of a wait.

Although Tedla has a strong vision in mind for Babylon Bistro, she does note the menu and concept are still in the development stages, and will be fully fleshed out once a chef is identified. She is currently interviewing potential candidates, as well as pursuing other options.

Craig King of Ventures Abby Real Estate also plans to operate a restaurant at 5037 Baltimore Avenue, not far from Babylon’s pending home. While King hasn’t returned interview requests, we do know from Cedar Park Neighbors it will possibly be a 75-seat sit-down restaurant with weekend music entertainment.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Folks who’ve strolled through Clark Park’s north circle on Sunday are probably wondering why people were whipping and rolling around shiny orbs. Well, we have your answer: they’re playing pétanque.

Every Sunday, players from West Philly to as far as Harrisburg gather to try their hand at the French sport of “boules” (or “balls”) as members of the new Philadelphia Pétanque Meetup group, the first of its kind in the city. Originated in 1900s, pétanque (pronounced ‘pay-tonk’) is a teamed game in which players toss metal globes in hopes of landing it as close to the “cochonnet”—a smaller wooden ball—as possible. According to Bill Craig, one of the Meetup’s organizers, pétanque is a “growing phenomenon” at the park, with the group sometimes drawing nearly 20-30 athletes a game.

“Pétanque is a game that appeals to men and women, old and young, all races and ethnic backgrounds, [and] professional backgrounds,” said the 43-year-old architect who launched the Meetup with West Philly residents Delphine Dahan and Matt Pagett in December. “The game is a bridge of sorts that links a very wide variety of people who would otherwise probably not interact with each other.”

Photos by Annamarya Scaccia/West Philly Local

When West Philly Local stopped by Clark Park on May 26 to check out the game, we found a diverse clutch of 12 pétanque players sectioned into three games laughing and engaging in light-hearted repartee while focused keenly on their next move. The social banter—meets—competitive spirit is due in large part to the sport’s pace and close proximity, said Craig, allowing a “nice sense of friendship and community” to form.

“I haven’t really been able to pinpoint why, but pétanque has a beguiling ability to relieve stress and allow one to relax,” he said. “It seems to be the perfect combination of cerebral and physical, not excessively taxing in either way but sufficiently engaging and demanding to be consistently stimulating and enjoyable.”

According to Craig, the organizers hope to establish an official Philadelphia pétanque club in the near future, joining other large metropolises like New York, Austin and Portland—all of which have clubs listed as members of Federation of Pétanque U.S.A, the game’s official governing body. There are also plans in the works to host a weekend-long local pétanque tournament in the fall, said Craig.

Philadelphia Pétanque meets every Sunday at 11 a.m. in Clark Park’s north circle, and every Wednesday or Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on University of Pennsylvania’s campus at 40^th and Walnut Streets. To join or RSVP for a game, visit https://www.philadelphiapetanque.com/.

– Annamarya Scaccia