Reading the Signs: New Action on Walnut Street

The 2000 block of Walnut Street has been seeing some orange sign action lately with the (potential) coming of two new restaurants in side-by-side spaces.

First, there’s the former Monkey Bar/Strongbox Lounge space at 2029 Walnut which currently has liquor license application paperwork in the window and a pending restaurant license working its way through the PLCB. No word yet on what might be going into the space.

Second, we’ve got solid information that chef Greg Vernick (ex of Jean George Vongerichten‘s Manhattan operation and, more recently, Tocqueville in Union Square) is looking at the space next door, at 2031 Walnut. There’s a pending license in his name tagged to the space, and word is that he’s already scheduling some of the many, many meetings he’ll have to sit through before making everything legal.

There’s no word yet on what Vernick might be planning for the address, but we do know that he’s officially left Tocqueville (like, within the last couple days) and is currently in Philly to focus on this new project. I don’t know a lot about the guy, but for an idea of what he was doing at his last gig–including a rather surprising, impromptu kitchen tour and lecture given to a couple of food bloggers, offered for no other reason than they asked–check out this post at Fritos and Foie Gras.

Obviously, we’ll be keeping an eye on both addresses and will have more news for you as it comes.