In an effort to keep the West Philly community up-to-date on happenings in the area, West Philly Local followed up on some projects we have followed over the last year. Here’s what we found so far:

First, for the most important update, Taco Angeleno is open for business! The outdoor taco joint, located at 5019 Baltimore Avenue, officially opened on Thursday, May 8 after months of delays and red tape. The grand opening party is this Friday (May 23), from 5 – 9 p.m. If Taco Angeleno’s Facebook page is any indication, it seems business is so far going well for owner Vanessa Jerolmack—even selling out of food her first weekend open. To satisfy those taco cravings, stop by Taco Angeleno from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

In other local food related news, the guys from Pitruco Pizza, the popular wood fired pizza truck often seen on the Drexel campus, who are also serving their signature fare as Enjay’s Pizza at Smokey Joe’s on 40th St, recently started a delivery service out to 50th Street for a $2 charge. “A real nice service for the neighborhood,” writes West Philly Local reader and Pitruco/Enjay’s fan Louis Tannen.

Gush Gallery co-founders Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate (Photo courtesy of Thielke and Slate).

This summer, Taco Angeleno will have a new neighbor, Gush Gallery. The art gallery space, which West Philly Local profiled in January, will open Friday, Aug 1 at 5015 Baltimore Avenue, which is currently home to a local barber shop (owners Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate get the keys to the space on July 1). On opening day, which is also a First Friday event, the duo will premiere their first group exhibit, “Embark,” which will feature local artists. There’s a chance they may open a week earlier than the exhibit’s launch date, but don’t hold them to it.

In real estate news, it seems construction of the Sedgley Apartments (pictured right) will finally be finished by next week and available to rent in June, Noah Ostroff, principal at 400 S. 45th Street, LLC., told West Philly Local. This is different than what he told us in September; when asked about the six month difference, Ostroff said there weren’t any delays, but “construction took longer than expected.”  Continue Reading

A crowd forms at The Flying Deutschman Saturday afternoon (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Chef Stirling Sowerby is all over the place.

Not in a bad way, though. Instead, as Sowerby and I are chatting in front of his food truck, The Flying Deutschman, the energetic German chef bounces between cooking on the line to mingling with customers and then back to our conversation. At one point, he even feeds a piece of his signature bratwurst to a 10-week-old grey and white pitbull mix named Sapphire.

It’s mid-day on Saturday when I stopped by Sowerby truck, which is parked on the Chester Avenue side of Clark Park. There’s a rotating line of people—some repeat customers—ordering from the Deutschman’s simple German street food menu of schnitzels, bratwursts, bockwursts, and hefty sides. It’s delicious food, and a first for the West Philly area.

Among the tacos and smoked meats, The Flying Deutschman stands out.

Chef Stirling Sowerby cooking on the line (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Launched on March 1st, The Flying Deutschman is an entirely new venture for the 55-year-old Sowerby, who’s owned restaurants back in Germany (he moved to the States 18 years ago). And being unknown territory is “kinda the reason” he dove head first into the business, he said, dropping about $120,000 into the truck. Sowerby’s also hired a few students from his alma mater, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill, to serve as his line cooks.

At the moment, he’s only stationed at Clark Park on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or 3 p.m., depending on the day), and on Tuesdays at the Navy Yard. He is currently working on other locations. But Clark Park holds a special place for him.

The Flying Deutschman’s first stop at Clark Park was his third day on the road—and his first successful day as a food truck owner. “That’s why I have some form of emotional attachment to that local[e],” Sowerby told West Philly Local.

So far, the Deutschman suits Sowerby well.

But how’s business? “I think very good, but you really should ask the customer that question,” he told West Philly Local. “For me as a chef, I look at repeat customers and those I have since day one.  If you have time just come by and try it, that’s the best way to judge food.”

We did, and this is what a couple of West Philly Local readers had to say:

@annamarya_s It’s good stuff. Hope they stick around all summer. The owner is pretty entertaining as well. — Tom Rose (@slurve) May 2, 2014

@annamarya_s @WestPhillyLocal Really good food, really good prices, entertainingly eccentric owner to boot. Recommend! — Nicholas McAvoy (@ohbadiah) May 2, 2014

But you be the judge.

–Annamarya Scaccia

As the summer approaches, some of our readers may be looking for CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) options in their neighborhood. The number of CSA programs that deliver fresh, locally grown fruits and veggies, as well as dairy, eggs, meat and other products to our area has grown, so we compiled this guide to help you navigate through some of the available options (for more, visit this page).

Also, please consider supporting local urban farms, like Mill Creek Farm, Farm 51, and Neighborhood Foods Farm. For information on local farmers’ markets and gardening options check our Civic Life page.

Greensgrow Farms Summer CSA

Schedule: mid-May through early November

Pick-up locations:

• Greensgrow West, 4912 Baltimore Avenue, Fridays 3–6 p.m.

• Lancaster Avenue, 37th & Lancaster, Thursdays 3:30–6:30 p.m.

What’s in the share? A variety of five-eight vegetables, plus fruit, and a protein choice (a dozen eggs, two cups of yogurt, a package of locally made tofu, a package of locally made seitan, or a wedge of butter). Eight times during the season, the share will include a locally made artisan cheese (vegan sub is available). Some weeks the share includes a locally made prepared food such as fresh pasta or locally made beer from Philadelphia Brewing Company.

Cost: Full share (24 weeks): $800; Half share (13 weeks): $448

Click here to sign up.

Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative

Schedule: TBA

Pick-up locations: Garden Court (5000 block of Osage Ave); Powelton Village (3700 Baring St); The Spruce St. Cafe at the Hospital of UPenn (3400 Spruce St)

What’s in the share? In the full vegetable share, you can expect to receive 9 to 12 varieties of vegetables per week. In the half vegetable share, you can expect to receive 4 to 7 varieties of vegetables per week. When abundant, fruit will be included in Full Vegetable Shares. Other options: a fruit share, which consists of 2 to 3 varieties of seasonal fruit, and other shares (bread, eggs, meat, chicken, cheese, herbs, flowers, and CSM (community supported medicine).

Cost: Full Vegetable Share: $750; Half Vegetable Share: $475. Info on other shares is available here.

Click here to sign up.

Philly Foodworks

Schedule: May 27 – October 23 (22 weeks)

Pick-up locations:

• Hibiscus (4907 Catharine St). Wednesdays 3 – 7:30 p.m.

What’s in the share: Your Choice option: You commit to spend $395 with Philly Foodworks throughout the season but what you get is entirely up to you. Choose from a variety of produce, meats, dairy items, fruits, breads, spreads and more. You do not have to buy something every week, so feel free to purchase as you choose. Mix Share option: In this option you get five produce items each week based on what is available. In addition, you receive a total of $65 in credits that can be spent throughout the season at the online market. Farmer’s Choice option: In this option you receive 10 items each week based on what local farmers have available (zucchini or yellow squash, sweet corn, cantaloupe, multi-colored peppers, heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, red or yellow onions, potatoes, basil and more).

Optional shares include: bread, eggs, jams, coffee, fruit, apothecary, cheese, bacon, flowers, and more.

Cost: Your Choice option: $395; Mix Share: $395; Farmer’s Choice: $625.

Click here to sign up.

West Philly Foods CSA

Schedule: mid-May through mid-October (22 weeks)

Pick-up locations:

Choose from one of pick up locations each Thursday:

• Walnut Hill Community Farm (46th and Market) from 4-7 p.m.
• Renewal Church (47th and Cedar Ave.)  from 5-7 p.m.
• Heritage Farms (4300 Monument Blvd.) from 3:30-6:30 p.m.
• CHOP Hospital (Abramson Research Center Lobby) from 3:30-5:30 p.m.
• CHOP Hospital (Karabots), 4:15-6:30 p.m.
• High Point Cafe (2831 W. Girard Ave.) from 3-6 p.m.

What’s in the share? The veggie & fruit share includes: Green beans, sweet corn, cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, basil,  summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, sweet potatoes, okra, sweet & hot peppers, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, cantaloupes, and nectarines. Full Share: Approx. 10-12 lbs; Half Share: Approx. 5-6 lbs. Value-added shares include: jams, artisan bread, nut butter, cheese, coffee, beer, cookies, ice cream and more.

Cost: Full fruit & veggie share: $610; Half share: $360. For more information on additional shares, click here.

Click here to sign up.

The lamb biryani (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

When I first reported on the opening of Shaban Kabab & Curry (4145 Chestnut Street), I was excited by the prospect of having a new South Asian restaurant in the area. After all, as someone who enjoys cuisine from the region, I was looking forward to tasting Pakistani food—Shaban’s specialty—for the first time.

So on Monday night, I made my way through the blistering cold to the corner of 42nd and Chestnut Streets, where Shaban Kabab & Curry set up shop. Once inside, owner Mohammad Sajad greeted me with a warm cup of ginger and milk as we sat at the window bar. The dining area is small, but cozy, made up of polished aluminum furniture, grey and bright green walls, and a wood panel wall fixture that immediately pulls your focus. While Shaban’s cuisine may be traditional, there’s definitely nothing traditional about the design of the restaurant.

Sajad and I make small talk while I wait for the dishes he’s prepared for me to taste. Since opening, he tells me, Shaban has been really busy, with Thursdays through Sundays being the busiest days. (The restaurant was empty on Monday evening save for one customer, although online orders seemed to have been racking up.) And the feedback he’s received has been mostly positive—”People just love [the food],” he says.  Continue Reading

Here’s a summary of news coming out of our neck of the woods in the past few days and a reminder on a couple of community events this week. Editor’s Note: The meeting on the potential sale of the University City High School has been postponed until Wednesday, Feb. 26.

Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building. (Archived photo/West Philly Local).

• Another hurdle has been cleared for the plan to move the police headquarters into the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building at 46th and Market Streets. Last Thursday, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell introduced two bills that would allow the city to borrow up to $250 million for the project, according to a report by Philadelphia Inquirer. The 87-year-old building has been vacant since 1983, when Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. moved out, and has been put on the endangered properties list by the Preservation Alliance of Philadelphia.

• A rally was held on Saturday, Feb. 8 to protest recent purse snatching and shootings in Philadelphia. The rally was held at 53rd and Market Streets, the site of the most recent purse snatching, when a 29-year-old woman was shot to death and her companion, a 34-year-old woman, was wounded. Dozens of people attended the event, organized by Handbags 4 Piece, and many people spoke out, including the mothers of the victims (check out the Handbags 4 Piece Facebook page for photos and videos).

• Ground was broken last week at the site of the new high-rise apartment building at 36th and Market Streets. The 28-story 364-unit mixed-use structure is a joint project of the University City Science Center and Southern Land Co., of Nashville. The project, which will also include 14,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space and parking for 200 cars and 140 bicycles, is expected to be completed in spring 2015.

• Residential burglaries are still a cause for concern in University City, according to the latest crime update released by the University City District. Over 20 burglaries took place in the area in January, which is a double of the number of burglaries in December. Three burglary-related arrests have been made. UCD also reports that there were about a dozen robberies in the area, four of them at gunpoint, with arrests made in nine of these cases. August and September were peak months for robberies in the area, with over 30 incidents reported.

• Great news for fried chicken and gourmet donuts fans: Philly’s super popular chain Federal Donuts is close to opening their location in University City. The awnings to their new shop at 3428 Sansom were recently complete:

Awnings at 3428 Sansom, complete! Nice and bright to lead you straight to lunch. pic.twitter.com/ZFpucdlUOC

— FederalDonuts (@FederalDonuts) February 6, 2014

Another tweet by Federal Donuts said that the new location is opening “very soon” but the date hasn’t been announced yet. We’ll keep you posted.

• Two meetings on the sale of vacant schools and other School District of Philadelphia properties in West Philadelphia will take place this week: on Tuesday, Feb. 11 you can learn more about the future of Shaw Middle School (54th & Warrington) and on Wednesday, Feb. 11 (postponed until Feb. 26) there will be a meeting on the potential sale of the University City High School, Drew Elementary School and Walnut Center buildings. Click here for more information. If you missed our story on the Wilson School building’s future, click here.

When Dave Fine founded Schmear It six months ago, he was on a mission to “spread some good.”

Schmear It in University City (From Schmear It’s website)

Touted as Philadelphia’s first and only bagel food truck, Schmear It is an experiment on wheels in food-meets-social impact—a model based on the social good of brands like TOMS Shoes and the customizable options of chains like Chipotle. Four days a week, Fine—who has a non-profit background—rolls through the city, selling build-to-order spreads (or “schmear”) on South St. Philly bagels while featuring a variety of local causes like The Monster Milers or Challah for Hunger every two weeks.

Since August, Schmear It has raised over $800 from sales for its featured causes—its current one being Repair the World (Facebook page), and in the future, the West Philly Alliance for Children.

“Obviously food trucks in this city are fun, flexible, very useful, [and] they’re exciting, so it made sense for this unique idea to do with a food truck, where it literally can be a vehicle for social good,” Fine, 24, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, told West Philly Local. “That is ultimately the goal of Schmear It: aside from producing really good bagels and schmear, to become a grassroots fundraising and marketing platform for local causes.”

Every Tuesday in February, West Philly bagel lovers can stop by Schmear It at The Porch at 30th Street Station from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and order their unique combination of schmears and bagel for $3 to $7. Of course there’s the signature mainstays like the Loxsmith (cream cheese, chopped lox, scallions, tomatoes and cucumbers) and Nutty Naner (peanut butter, Nutella and bananas), but adventurous spirits can customize with imagination. Pick a schmear base from cream cheese (vegan available!) to egg salad, and fold in ingredients like maple syrup, wasabi, jalapenos and apples, spreading it all on a bagel of your choice. And you can wash it all down with a cup of La Colombe coffee.

But, while Philadelphia is a booming food truck town, it’s not exactly known as a bagel city, so why launch Schmear It in the first place? According to Fine, it’s precisely because there’s a bagel-sized hole in the city’s heart—especially among us New York City transplants.

“There are a couple of bagel shops here and there [in Philadelphia], but they’re not necessarily convenient,” the Baltimore native said. “There’s certainly not prevalence and for a city that has such a booming food truck culture, why not do a bagel food truck? It sort of made sense to me.”

Editor’s Note: Apart from The Porch at 30th Street Station on Tuesdays you may be able to catch Schmear It around 42nd and Locust for brunch on Sundays and at 33rd and Arch on Saturdays. Since the locations and hours may change, we suggest following Schmear It on Twitter or Facebook.

–Annamarya Scaccia