Clarkville growlers stand at the ready for Grand Opening Party. (Instagram photo)

Clarkville’s opening date has finally been announced, and it’s tomorrow! The Grand Opening Party for the new bar and restaurant located just across the street from Clark Park at 43rd and Baltimore, will take place on Friday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m., according to an announcement from the owners, Leigh Maida, Brendan Hartranft and Brendan Kelly.

The opening night will include “complimentary nibbles from the kitchen, a line up of flagship beers from favorite breweries, a killer draft wine list and a whole lot of big love for the neighborhood that has been so patient and supportive while this crazy space was wrangled into submission,” according to the announcement.

In addition, Clarkville will be kicking off growler sales with a keg of Russian River Pliny the Elder available for take out only in a fancy 64oz Clarkville Growler for $35.

Regular service and the full menu, which includes comfort food out of a giant double-decker pizza oven, starts on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 11 a.m.

Starting this Saturday, Clarkville will be open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. – 1 a.m. (The kitchen is open until midnight daily). Weekend brunch is coming soon, too. It will be served on Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

For more information, including menu and draft list, visit: www.clarkvillephilly.com.

Renata’s Kitchen co-owner Kate Aiq at the grand opening on Wednesday.

UPDATE (11/16/2015): Starting Monday, Nov. 16, Renata’s Kitchen will be serving dinner every night from 4 – 10 p.m. Renata’s owners are also sending a reminder that their restaurant is a BYOB!

9/24/2015: Renata’s Kitchen (formerly Café Renata) opened its doors to the public at their new location at 4533 Baltimore Avenue last night. A sizable crowd turned up to celebrate the grand re-opening of the restaurant that suffered a devastating fire at their former location near 43rd and Locust last spring.

Starting this Friday, the restaurant, which serves Mediterranean and American-style breakfast, lunch and brunch, will be open daily: Mon-Fri 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sat & Sun 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Renata’s co-owner Kate Aiq said that they’re also planning to introduce a dinner menu in a couple of months after they settle in at the new location. Also, the restaurant is currently hiring, mostly line cooks. Resumes are accepted at: jobs.caferenata@gmail.com  Continue Reading

Renata’s Kitchen owners Kate and Yasser (right) Aiq at the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll this summer.

Renata’s Kitchen (formerly Café Renata) owners Yasser and Kate Aiq are ready to open their new food-focused spot at 4533 Baltimore Avenue.

A fire heavily damaged Café Renata at 43rd and Locust last March, prompting the couple to find the new location. The grand opening party for Renata’s Kitchen is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 23, 6 – 9 p.m. Everyone is invited.

We asked Kate what customers should expect to see at the new location and what is the same and what is different about Renata’s Kitchen compared to Café Renata, a Mediterranean café and breakfast and brunch restaurant.

“The main difference this time around is that we are taking the opportunity to share more of our culinary expertise than we could previously at Cafe Renata. With our focus on food, we’re hoping to launch a dinner menu soon,” Kate wrote in an email.

We’ll let you know about Renata’s Kitchen hours and more details as soon as this information becomes available.

UPDATE: Renata’s Kitchen is hiring line cooks. Please call the restaurant at 267-275-8254.

Photo courtesy of William Street Common.

Anyone who has worked in the restaurant industry knows how unpredictable earning a living can be, especially with varying beliefs about tipping. Bottom line: for a server or a bartender, income can be completely arbitrary according to how customers are feeling at any given moment.

Restaurateur Avram Hornick wants to take the guesswork out of the tipping process with his new venture at 39th and Chestnut, William Street Common, which opened last week. He expects it to attract a crowd different from his other spots in the area, such as Morgan’s Pier.

“First, the whole purpose is social conversation,” said Hornick. “West Philly; what’s interesting about it is its diversity. I wouldn’t call it a melting pot, more like a jambalaya. The parts are separate. I would like to make the mixing of these parts possible here.”

William Street Common features long communal tables, beer garden style.  Continue Reading

We’re happy to pass along some recent news from the West Philly food and restaurant world.

Renovations Underway at Rx The Farmacy

(Left to right): Danielle Coulter, Ross Scofield, and Tim Blair.

Some Spruce Hill residents and Rx The Farmacy (Facebook page) fans may have noticed that the restaurant has been closed for several days, so we got in touch with one of the owners, Ross Scofield, to see what’s going on. Turns out they are doing renovations to the kitchen. “A lot of things/equipment in the kitchen were left over from Rx,” Ross explains. ” Now that the Farm is on a steady track, we are taking the opportunity to update our little cooking space.”

Ross and his partners, Danielle Coulter and Tim Blair, who now also manage the recently opened The Barn on Baltimore, are taking the opportunity to renovate the kitchen during the slower winter season. Ross also shared some of his plans for the busy spring season.

“Spring time is a busy time for The Farmacy with UPenn having graduation and the neighborhood coming out for the nice weather. I want to have a new outside seating arrangement in place. The Farm needs a nice, big sign out front. New plates, flatware, and glasses are all needed. The kitchen also needs to be “repositioned” to handle the volume of brunch service,” Ross wrote us in an email.  Continue Reading

The new Cedar Park Cafe location at 2035 N. 63rd St. (Photo from Yelp)

We have some good news and bad news for those of you who enjoyed a hearty, all-day breakfast at the Cedar Park Cafe on the 4900 block of Baltimore Avenue, which was heavily damaged in the Christmas Eve fire that destroyed Elena’s Soul. The bad news for Cedar Park residents and others nearby is that the cafe has relocated to north 63rd Street near the Overbrook train station. The good news is that it might come back.

The roof collapsed at the cafe’s Baltimore Avenue location when a wall fell on it as crews demolished what was left of the adjacent Elena’s Soul building. The cafe’s owners hope to return to Baltimore Avenue later this year.

Rimedio at 45th and Spruce streets. What kind of place might make it here?

Café Renata (Facebook page) on the 4300 block of Locust opens for brunch this weekend. But the Spruce Hill neighborhood is apparently losing a brunch spot as Rimedio, the Northern Italian brunch and dinner joint, has closed. A notice is posted on the restaurant’s front door at 45th and Spruce claiming that it is several months behind in rent.

Rimedio’s apparent departure (their website is offline too) has sparked some conversation about what kind of business might succeed at the 45th and Spruce location, where two businesses have opened and closed since the original Rx restaurant, which had a lengthy spell of success, changed owners in 2010.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about what kind of place might succeed there.