Just (Re)Listed: Modern Condo on the Avenue of the Arts

condo for sale avenue of the arts modern main living area

Ginger Woods’ reimagining of this corner condo in the Symphony House at 440 Avenue of the Arts #1609, Philadelphia, PA 19102 demonstrates that modern style can still convey a traditional sense of elegance. / Photos by Better World Photography via Coldwell Banker Realty

Just about anyone around here who follows architecture and design can recall Philadelphia Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron’s review of the Symphony House, Carl Dranoff’s Avenue of the Arts debut.

The raspberry she gave it in 2007, now in the paper’s online archives, took particular note of its Pepto-Bismol-colored exterior.

condo for sale avenue of the arts modern symphony house

The exterior of Symphony House

My beef with the building was slightly different, and back then, I only had a blog that I didn’t post to enough to voice my opinions. But my criticism was that this building so desperately wanted to be modern, but Dranoff and the architect weighed it down with Neoclassical frou-frou and a crown that turned it into a wannabe clone of the Drake nearby.

Saffron held out hope that Dranoff would get better as he went on, and he did: His Arthaus up the block, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, is a stylish modern gem. But maybe, just maybe, he might want to revisit this building someday.

And if and when he does, he might want to consult with Ginger Woods, the architect and designer of this Avenue of the Arts modern condo for sale.

Located on the 16th floor of the Symphony House, it displays the elegant yet modern verve the outside could have had. And it also has a flexible design that can adapt to different situations.

The main living space has an open design that takes advantage of the unit’s many large windows as well as an oak floor whose planks were hand-selected to create a sense of moving grain. Living and dining spaces nestle in each of the main living area’s corners.

condo for sale avenue of the arts modern dining room

Dining room

The one furthest to the southwest contains the dining room.

condo for sale avenue of the arts modern balcony

Balcony

Next to it on one side sits the condo’s intimate balcony.

condo for sale avenue of the arts modern kitchen

Kitchen

And, of course, it flows into the kitchen on the other. Woods outfitted it with top-drawer appliances that include a restaurant-quality range hood, custom cabinets from Village Handcrafted Cabinetry, and quartzite countertops that won’t burn or stain.

living room

Living room

The living room contains two conversation nooks. One of them sits next to the kitchen’s island bar.

living room

Living room

A stylish, handcrafted wet bar with a Dolomite countertop and wine fridge also serves the living room.

primary bedroom

Primary bedroom

If you peruse all the photos in the listing, you will note the presence of two bedrooms. This one’s the primary, and like the rest of this Avenue of the Arts modern condo for sale, it’s elegant and modern at the same time.

primary bathroom

Primary bathroom

And its spa-like bathroom features Dolomite vanity countertops and heated floors.

Game room (bedroom)

Game room (bedroom)

However, the data sheet says this unit has three bedrooms. This is the third one.

It connects to both the main living area and the primary bedroom. It’s outfitted here as a game room, and if you want to entertain a large crowd or have friends over for a game night, this is a good use for it. But it could also serve as a home office or a guest bedroom — just close the folding doors leading to the main living area.

Another feature that will come in handy when entertaining is the second refrigerator-freezer in the second bedroom’s closet.

building wine room

Building wine room

And you can get storage space for more wine in the building’s wine storage room.

residents' lounge

Residents’ lounge

That’s one of the more noteworthy of the Symphony House’s many amenities. You’ll also find a residents’ lounge with a fireplace and a big-screen TV.

fitness center

Fitness center

pool

Pool

There’s also an indoor pool, a fitness center, and outdoor terraces next to the fitness facilities.

buiilding lobby

Building lobby

And you might also note the more modern style of the building amenities, including the Moderne-ish lobby and the Craftsman-ish residents’ lounge.

All this, in my opinion, proves my point about the exterior. But you won’t have to look at that if you live here. Until you go out on the town to take in all the Avenue of the Arts area has to offer, that is. You could always ooh and aah at the Arthaus instead.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 3

BATHS: 2 full, 1 half

SQUARE FEET: 2,380

SALE PRICE: $1,995,000

OTHER STUFF: This unit comes with two parking spaces in the building garage. A $2,478 per month condo fee covers maintenance of the building and maintenance and use of the common facilities. This condo’s sale price was reduced by $4,000 when it was relisted on March 5th.

440 Avenue of the Arts (South Broad Street) #1609, Philadelphia, PA 19102 [Jeffrey D. Shablin and Brian Figgs | Coldwell Banker Realty]

Kevin Spacey Not Welcome in Philadelphia, It Turns Out

Kevin Spacey, who just had the Philadelphia Film Society cancel a screening of his new movie Peter Five Eight, in a 2023 photo

Kevin Spacey, who just had the Philadelphia Film Society cancel a screening of his new movie Peter Five Eight, in a 2023 photo (Getty Images)

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Kevin Spacey Not Welcome in Philadelphia, It Turns Out

We thought it was a bit peculiar when, last week, we saw that the Philadelphia Film Society was presenting the premiere of the new Kevin Spacey movie Peter Five Eight.  The event would also include an appearance by Spacey. Not that the Philadelphia Film Society isn’t allowed to do that, of course. But the Philadelphia Film Society is a nonprofit arts organization. It relies on lots and lots of funding and cooperation to exist. And Spacey has had a certain stench lingering around him ever since several men accused him of sexual misconduct in 2017.

Hell, Netflix booted Spacey from its mega-hit show House of Cards, scrambling to make a last season without him. Ridley Scott had to reshoot a movie with Christopher Plummer playing the role that Scott had already shot Spacey in. This project, canceled. That project, canceled. In short, Kevin Spacey was canceled.

Spacey has steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2022, one of those men sued Spacey for $40 million. He alleged that Spacey had molested him when he was a teenager. But a jury sided with Spacey. Then, last year, a jury in London acquitted him in a sexual assault case. And yet eyebrows go up whenever one mentions the name Kevin Spacey. So due to optics and this and that, definitely an odd choice for the Philadelphia Film Society to make.

But it turns out the Philadelphia Film Society wasn’t presenting the premiere of Peter Five Eight. The organization makes part of its money from rentals. The company behind Peter Five Eight rented a Philadelphia Film Society facility for the screening. And, well, the Philadelphia Film Society has now canceled said screening. The head of the organization told the Inquirer the screening was supposed to be private and not open to the public — and it also wasn’t supposed to be billed as a “premiere.”

Oh well. Peter Five Eight is scheduled for release this Friday. I’m just not sure where you’ll be able to see it. No local showtimes.

In a bit of Philadelphia-Kevin Spacey trivia, the actor was very much welcome here back on July 4, 2001. That’s when Philadelphia hosted a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence on the 225th anniversary of its adoption. The readers included Mel Gibson, Morgan Freeman, Kathy Bates, Michael Douglas, Whoopi Goldberg and, yes, Kevin Spacey.

Local Talent

Jerry Blavat died last year. And a lot of folks were wondering what would happen to his legendary Memories club in Margate. We now have our answer: Memories will reopen on Memorial Day Weekend under the helm of Teddy Sourias. (He’s the guy behind such Philly bars as BRU Craft & Wurst, U-Bahn and Finn McCool’s Ale House. Oh, and that nauseating Christmas-themed bar Tinsel.) No word on whether they’ll have a life-size statue of Blavat for you to take selfies with.

By the Numbers

75,000: Comic books donated to Penn’s Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. There’s definitely a joke to be made here about Penn being in need of some comic relief.

$60 million: What the American Bible Institute spent to build a Bible-focused museum in Philadelphia. It’s shutting down after less than three years. I’m told this came as quite the revelation to the many staffers losing their jobs.

51%: Portion of people applying to become a Philadelphia police officer who now pass the new physical fitness test after police lowered the standards for just what physical fitness is. Previously, about 36 percent of people passed the test. I just can’t get the image of Andy Sipowicz out of my mind.

From the Fun-Run-Hon Sports Desk …

We got your weekend roundup right here! The Sixers hosted the Hornets on Saturday and began with Tyrese Maxey, Nic Batum, Mo Bamba, Kyle Lowry and Kelly Oubre Jr. on the floor. It was Joel Embiid’s 30th birthday, and he was in the house and got a cupcake!

A strong start, and the Sixers led 27-24 at the end of the first. They stretched that out to 53-47 at halftime, but the Hornets got within one with five minutes to go in the third. Eh, we were back up by eight to start the fourth, led by …

Oops — don’t relax yet! Charlotte took a one-point lead with 8:30 left in the frame, Bamba got hit with a T, and then, in uncharacteristic fashion (we kid, we kid), the Sixers finished strong in what turned into a comfy 109-98 victory. Tonight, the Heat come to visit us, with a 7:30 tip.

How’d the Phillies Do?

Friday’s starter, Cristopher Sánchez, gave up four runs in the first three innings, and a two-run Phils flurry in the ninth wasn’t enough to close the gap. Final: Astros 5, Phils 3. In Saturday’s game, they wound up tied, 3-3, with the Marlins after nine. Tie baseball games still confuse us. Hot-hot Whit Merrifield had two hits and two RBIs in that one. It was another tie, 5-5 this time, on Sunday vs. the Blue Jays. Zack Wheeler went four innings and gave up one run on three hits and a walk; Jordan Luplow homered for us. There’s a doubleheader on the books for today, against the Pirates and the Yankees, both at 1:05.

Any Doop News?

Just the first regular-season Union match on Saturday night, against Austin FC in Austin. Daniel Gazdag scored 14 minutes in on a PK awarded for a handball, and we held that 1-0 lead going into the half. But Austin’s Diego Rubio tied it up with a header in the 55th minute — followed by Joe Gallagher scoring another one two minutes later. Damn. Woo-hoo, though — Mikail Uhre tied it at 64 minutes! Jack Elliott got slapped with a yellow card five minutes later, giving Austin a free kick just outside the box, but it sailed 20 feet over the goal. Damion Lowe picked up a yellow in the 86th, also not far outside the box, though he was as much fouled against as fouling, IMHO. No worries; Philly got the ball back and drove down, though not for a score. Seven minutes of stoppage were added, and then three on top of that, a little shoving match, and a game that ended right there: a 2-2 tie.

And in College Hoops?

Eleven-seeded Temple’s second-round Atlantic 10 tournament game vs. third-seeded UNC Charlotte Friday night got started an hour late, which wasn’t such a bad thing, since they’d played (and won) on Thursday night. Despite the extra rest, their start was super-slow — 2-for-17, in fact. But Charlotte wasn’t exactly sparkling, either; the first half had them ahead 22-17 in a real snooze cruise. In the second half, it was all Jordan Riley for the Owls; he tied it at 25 five minutes in, and before long, they went ahead, 32-27. And they kept that lead, though the final minutes got hairy, in what the announcer termed Temple’s “improbable run” and a 58-54 win!

That brought them to the semifinal on Saturday against two-seed Florida Atlantic, also, confusingly, the Owls, where they finished the first half trailing 32-25, with part of the harm courtesy of a last-second crappy foul call. They tied it up at 46 five minutes into the second half, then got on the seesaw, with our Owls showing poise and patience and playing good D. With eight minutes to go, they were up by seven, but their Owls pulled within three with four left, then tied it a minute later. Some good rebounding and a timely Hysier Miller three got our bench even more excited.

Then it was a matter of running the clock out to hold the five-point lead, but a Riley foul on a three-point FAU attempt, followed by a tie-up on Temple’s inbound pass, made it harrowing as they clung to a one-point lead. Temple’s ball, but could they get the ball inbounds? They did, and Shane Dezonie nailed two foul shots for the three-point lead, but FAU hit two foul shots, so still only one away. Dezonie, at the foul line, missed two shots, but FLU couldn’t make the layup, and our Owls moved on!

Holy cannoli, what a game. In the championship round on Sunday, the Owls were off to their usual slow start, this time against the University of Alabama Birmingham, a team that beat them by 28 points a week earlier — the game, in fact, that got the point-shaving kerfuffle going. They hung in there through most of the first, but UAB had a run late in the half and led at the break 43-27. Miller had 16 points. After that, though, it was pretty much all Blazers, though the Owls got as close as 12 points with three minutes to go. So no Cinderella comeback, just an 85-69 loss. Still, what a great tournament you gave us, Owls — hoot!

Also on Saturday, ninth-seeded St. Joe’s staged a first-half comeback against the five-seed VCU Rams to lead 25-23 at the break, but with 40 seconds left in the game, they were behind again, 63-60. Would the miracle run continue? Nah — the Hawks lost, 66-60. Still, another great, fun run. Thanks!

The Flyers also played.

A Look Inside City Fitness’s Sleek New Northern Liberties Gym

City Fitness Northern Liberties

City Fitness recently opened its eighth gym in Northern Liberties. / Photography by Kamelot Productions

A year and a half ago, National Real Estate Development broke ground on 200 Spring Garden. The 13-story building in Northern Liberties would not only feature 360 residential units, but bring City Fitness — Philly’s neighborhood-focused gym brand — back to its original block upon completion.

And on February 1st, NoLibs officially opened, marking City Fitness’s eighth location, after outposts opened in Old City and Fairmount last year.

Northern Liberties city fitness

The bilevel flagship gym spans 24,000 square feet. The first floor features City Fitness’s signature We/Fit and Burn and Focus studios for group classes, cardio and strength equipment, Olympic lifting platforms, and a recovery lounge.

city fitness

city fitness

On the second, gym-goers can enjoy a turf area for functional training and CF/Thrive, the brand’s personal training program.

city fitness

Also on the second floor is the facility’s pièce de résistance: a 75-foot heated outdoor lap pool that boasts amazing skyline views. It’ll be open year-round starting on or before Memorial Day Weekend.

Other amenities include cryotherapy, saunas, HydroMassage, full-service locker rooms, and a juice bar.

City Fitness originally opened on the very same block back in 2007, and founder and CEO Ken Davies says this is a full-circle moment for him and the brand. “Bringing our flagship to where it all began is a testament to our commitment to this vibrant community… to growth, evolution, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.”

In addition to opening the NoLibs outpost, City Fitness has partnered with the Philadelphia 76ers to become the team’s official fitness partner. Thanks to that, members have the chance to win signed merch and private training sessions with the Sixers’ strength and conditioning coaches.

If you’re interested in becoming a City Fitness Northern Liberties member, head here. Tenants of The Noble, the residential building in which City Fitness resides, will be provided membership to City Fitness Northern Liberties.

City Fitness Northern Liberties is located at 200 Spring Garden Street.

The Brewers Building a Better — and Less Toxic — Philly Beer Scene

tired hands philly beer scene

The Tired Hands diaspora that led to Philly beer scene’s revival / Illustration by Bruno Guerreiro

In May of 2021, it was like a rapture took place in the City of Philadelphia. The buildings remained in place, and so did the people. The sun rose and set, Phils fans still cursed the God who hated them, and clouds still fell as gentle rain.

What seemed to go missing was just about every Tired Hands beer tap within city limits.

Tired Hands Brewing is Pennsylvania’s most loved and hated and puzzled-over beer company of the past decade — a self-consciously eccentric brewery in the tony Philly suburb of Ardmore that makes high-octane, single-origin coffee stouts and hoppy ales the color of orange juice that might be loaded with rhubarb or graham crackers. Much more quietly, it’s also brewed some of the most subtle and lovely barrel-aged farmhouse beers to be found anywhere.

Opened in 2012 by a puckish enfant terrible named Jean Broillet IV, the brewery took wacky hold-my-beer experimentalism and hazy-IPA hype from cult status to the pinnacle of beer fame in America. James Beard took notice. So did Bon Appétit. And so did this magazine.

“Sorry for the cliché,” Philly-area beer writer and educator Tara Nurin told us last December. “But Tired Hands really did put Philly on the beer map.”

That reputation crumbled in May 2021 after a talented brewer in Maine named Brienne Allan asked an innocent question on Instagram: Who else had experienced sexism in the brewing industry?

The result was a reckoning. After a torrent of responses, her Instagram account, @ratmagnet, became an anonymized conduit for hundreds of stories of abuse and unequal treatment told by brew staff all over the country, including accusations against craft-beer titans like Vermont’s Hill Farmstead and California’s Modern Times.

If Tired Hands stood out, it was mostly for the sheer number of allegations. More than a dozen anonymous stories zeroed in on the brewery and its co-founders, Broillet and Julie Foster. Subsequent reporting by beer blog Good Beer Hunting and the Inquirer centered on Broillet’s volatility; an environment where employees felt on edge and intimidated; and a “dude-bro culture” that led to perceived inequality in hiring and treatment.

Within days of the allegations, Broillet­ agreed to step back from leadership in a now-deleted public apology. (Foster had already stepped aside two months earlier.)­ Tired Hands staff staged what looked from the outside like a coup, declaring on Instagram­ that they’d “search for new leadership to build a stronger culture here.”

Tired Hands beer taps vaporized, seemingly overnight, at bars and restaurants all over Philadelphia. An exodus of staffers that had begun well before allegations went public now appeared to accelerate.

But as brewers who’d left Tired Hands found new opportunities, a funny thing happened: The Philly beer scene got better.

The most important players among the crew who made the most famous and beloved Tired Hands beers — from that first hazy milkshake IPA to gossamer-delicate saisons — are still making some of the best beer anywhere near Philadelphia. They’re just not making it at Tired Hands.

Their landing places include the two most exciting new beermakers of the past couple years: Carbon Copy in West Philly and Meetinghouse in Kensington. The same goes for Second District Brewing, an under-the-radar South Philly favorite tucked away on a side street almost too small for cars. Still more Tired staff are now at regional juggernauts like Tonewood, Human Robot, Vault and New Trail. Soon, former Tired Hands head brewer Juliana Disanti will start a brewery called Wild Fern an hour outside of Philly, in Frenchtown, New Jersey.

Consider it the Tired Hands diaspora. And it’s one of the biggest trends shaping not just what you’re drinking right now in Philadelphia, but what it means to be a brewer in 2024.

Talk to the brewers who worked at Tired Hands in its mid-2010s heyday and you get the sense the place was like the East Village music scene of the 1970s — a troubled and reckless place where talented people just happened to coalesce for a moment and make good things. Brewers arrived for all sorts of reasons, often recruited by one another and often with long and impressive résumés already behind them.

“I mean, it was the brewery to be at,” says Ben Potts, a former head brewer at the Tired Hands cafe who left to help found Second District Brewing, which opened in early 2017. “The trajectory was really skyrocketing. … But looking back on it with everything that’s come out, obviously there were problematic things going on that nobody was really paying attention to.”

This was the 2010s, craft beer’s modern cultural peak in America — a sudsy decade that saw the number of breweries in both Pennsylvania and America double and then double yet again. Outspoken brewer-owners like Broillet became celebrities to a newly minted generation of beerhounds. The Philly beer scene — previously known nationally for legacy German brewhouses like Yuengling and Christian Schmidt and world-class beer bars like Monk’s Cafe — became known instead for Tired Hands.

“Tired Hands was Philly’s first national/international hype brewery, where people would stand in line for limited-release beers,” says beer writer Nurin.

At former South Street beer destination the Cambridge in the mid-2010s, bartender Kevin Walsh used to watch Tired fans descend from all over the city to spend “hundreds of dollars a week” on Tired Hands beers — money they might not even have.

“They would be like, ‘I don’t have any money in my account till midnight. I get paid at midnight,’” recalls Walsh, a familiar­ bearded face at beer bars all over the city who now pours at Bardot and Pub on Passyunk East. Those broke bar-goers would then drink seven orange-juice-hazy HopHands while waiting for their checks to clear.

This meant Tired Hands could often choose which bars it sold to — and which it didn’t. A Tired Hands tap became a badge of merit for elect beer bars and a selling point for some of the city’s most prominent restaurants, from Pizzeria Beddia to Michael Solomonov’s restaurant group.

Those same renowned spots were among the first to drop Tired Hands when allegations became public, Broillet confirms when reached by phone. “People stopped serving Tired Hands beer,” he says, “and then just didn’t say anything about it.”

Records on beer site Untappd show the same thing happened all over the city: Tired taps blinked quietly out of existence, like expended stars. Among the city’s respected beer bars and restaurants, we found a scant few — just Tria and Glory Beer Bar around Center City — that still serve it.

“Now, it’s like if you have it, you’re seen as the ugly stepchild,” says bartender Walsh.

Ask Philly bartenders when and why their bars stopped selling Tired Hands and you get funny answers. Some who served it insist they never did. Some say the brewery was difficult to do business with. Some just don’t want to talk about it. One bar owner says, simply, “I don’t remember when it happened. It just stopped showing up one day.”

On a visit in January, Pizzeria Beddia — long associated with Tired Hands beers — was instead pouring Meetinghouse and Tonewood. Marc Vetri’s Fiorella was serving Carbon Copy and Second District. East Passyunk’s Fountain Porter was serving Industrial Arts, Carbon Copy, Tonewood and New Trail. All were made with the help of former Tired Hands employees. But none were Tired Hands.

At first glance, and frankly also at second glance, Kensington tavern Meetinghouse is the opposite of what you’d expect from a brewer who just left the trend-chasing fervor of a place like Tired Hands.

For one thing, there are just three house beers. One is “pale.” One is “dark.” One is “hoppy.” Remove the hops, and it’s the same list you would have found at New York’s McSorley’s Old Ale House for generations. Though it opened only last summer, in the former Memphis Taproom space, the blue-tiled corner bar feels almost unstuck in time, as though it was always here to serve cold beer and hot roast beef.

But if Meetinghouse looks like beer’s past, it might also look like its future — a blueprint for where beer is headed in 2024. Even as the beer boom flatlines into business as usual and beer giant AB-InBev gets better at shouldering regional breweries out of taps and grocery stores, the number of breweries is still increasing. But they’re beginning to look a lot more like local restaurants. As with other breweries founded by former Tired Hands brewers, Meetinghouse isn’t a hype monster or production machine. It’s a neighborhood public house, designed to serve its own particular community.

Here, co-owner and former Tired Hands head brewer Colin McFadden might personally pull you one of those three house beers. And if you ask, he’ll tell you why it’s special.

With his gentle demeanor, stray-curl beard and gray-flecked hair, McFadden has the air of someone who has wandered into the woods to find peace. He speaks about his beers slowly, thoughtfully, with near-punctilious precision, until you mention something he loves — a West Coast farmhouse beer he’d almost forgotten, that whiff of sulfur when you crack an Augustiner lager in Munich. Then, he sounds like an excitable child.

“I love sulfur,” he muses. “I love sulfur when it’s right. That’s a beautiful thing. That means it’s this young expression; it probably means the hops are going to be a little more lively overall. It’s gonna taste fuckin’ better.”

meetinghouse

The bar at Meetinghouse / Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano

At Meetinghouse, McFadden is chasing a vision he almost lost over the decade he brewed at Tired Hands, pumping out hazy IPA after hazy IPA using ingredients more familiar from a child’s lunchbox — strawberries, cotton candy, cookies. It wasn’t what he wanted. He even thought about giving up beer entirely. He promised his future wife for months that he’d quit, finally deciding in April 2021 that he’d give notice to leave in July.

Then, of course, all hell broke loose. He ended up hanging around weeks longer than he’d intended, trying to patch seams and pass on everything he knew to the people who planned to remake Tired Hands in Broillet’s absence.

But finally, McFadden got out — and back to basics. Meetinghouse’s beers are simple, subdued, drinkable, and also oddly individual. They’re all made with a Kölsch yeast, trapped between ale and lager, that brings out grassy and herbaceous aromas in the hoppy beer but evokes earth and mineral from an otherwise biscuity lagered pale that ranks among the finest in the city. Or there’s that fruity-rich dark lager, which tastes somehow like blueberry Dr. Pepper.

The tavern is too small for a brewhouse, so McFadden’s recipes are made instead at South Jersey’s blazingly excellent Tonewood, whose hoppy Freshies pale has become almost a default tap at good bars in Philly. There, he shows up on brew day to work with people he knows quite well.

“One of the best things, my greatest takeaway from my time at Tired Hands, was the talent that I worked with,” McFadden says. “And some of that talent is now at Tonewood.”

A brewer, the quality-control manager, the taproom manager — all are part of a network of Tired Hands refugees who’ve fanned out across the region and country. To Industrial Arts in New York. To the Veil in Virginia. To Freak Folk in Vermont.

McFadden doesn’t much like talking about Tired Hands or its founder, a quality he shares with other former employees we spoke with for this story. (For weeks, he shut down all conversation after his former workplace’s name was mentioned.) But he lights up when talking about the brewers he worked with there. McFadden gushes about Ben Potts’s subtle creativity at Second District. About Brendon Boudwin (a “wealth of knowledge”) and Kyle Wolak of West Philly’s Carbon Copy. People who make beer he cares about. People he calls “dear, dear friends.”

Those breweries, too, are busy revising what it is to be a beer maker in Philly — devoting world-class brewing talent to beers meant to serve their own South or West Philly neighborhoods.

Potts remembers his aha moment, soon after he began as Second District’s head brewer more than seven years ago. A couple customers sat down, looked at a list full of experimental beers, and asked for the most “normal” IPA on the menu.

“A light bulb went off in my head,” Potts says. His working-class South Philly neighbors didn’t want wacky. They wanted beer-flavored beer. Yet Second District remains sneakily experimental — making what McFadden praises as “palatable, drinkable” beers that are able to contain a “level of whimsy.”

Potts makes a full-bodied Czech pils as classic as it gets, but also skater-dad themed IPAs with hops that taste like a peach farm; bracing Belgian lambics that spend years developing more character­ than an alphabet; and a tannic, tiny-bubbled French grisette that might as well be barrel-aged champagne.

Like any South Philly Italian baker, Second­ District is all about the water, specifically the mineral-rich, semi-hard water from the Delaware that brings out crispness­ and bitterness in clean and clear West Coast IPAs. Potts builds his beers around that character — the character of Philadelphia.

By comparison, West Philly’s Carbon Copy might as well be a mad science lab. “We bought a water filter sized for a brewery four times our size,” said Carbon’s Boudwin, who worked in the lab at both Tired Hands and Modern Times. Boudwin, co-brewer Wolak, and former Tired Hands chef Bill Braun opened Carbon Copy in West Philly at the end of 2022.

Boudwin and Wolak filter their water until it’s a blank palette, then build it back up mineral by mineral to match the profile they prefer. Their crisp, lemony pilsner matches the pillowy softness of water in Pilsen, Germany. The floral, modern West Coast IPAs take on the savage mineral hardness of San Diego. The real Philly flavor comes from the buried generational secret of Philadelphia lagers, the bready Christian Schmidt Brewing Company yeast that dominated Philly beer for more than a century.

But to really understand Carbon Copy, look at its tap list. Alongside their mainstay house brews, nearly half the beers Carbon Copy introduced over its first year were collaborations with other brewers. Four were made with former co-workers at Tired Hands. Perhaps tempered by previous experience, Carbon Copy showcases a fanatical devotion to what used to be called “the beer community.”

“Relationships are everything,” says chef and partner Braun, the force behind Carbon’s long-proofed, crisp, character-filled pizzas. “You can nurture them and use them in a mutually beneficial way, or you can treat them as completely disposable — and once they’re of no use to you anymore, just throw them away.”

The new crop of beermakers is small, and bare-bones. But in their own ways, they’re trying to figure out what they owe to the people who work for and with them.

Potts, at Second District, says he had a dark night of the soul watching the industry-wide allegations play out across social media, even though he’d left Tired Hands years before.

“A lot of the stuff that came out was obviously true in terms of the male-dominated aspect of it and a lot of the sexual harassment issues around the industry,” he says. The allegations led to hard conversations with his girlfriend, a former bar manager at Tired Hands. He spent moments wondering whether he wanted to be in an industry filled with “megalomaniac owners who take all the credit and all the money.”

There’s a wide perception, he says, that Sam Calagione “brews every beer at Dogfish Head, and Jean brews every beer at Tired Hands.” But if Tired Hands was a great place to be a brewer in the 2010s, he counters, a lot of that came from the gifted people you got to brew alongside — people who have now gone on to lead other breweries.

Broillet, who quietly returned to his brewery in the spring of 2022, isn’t feeling apologetic these days. Any questions about the grievances of former employees would best be directed to former employees with grievances, he tells me: “I have a full HR department, I’m still not a shithead, and I employ universally great people. And I want to put myself in that boat, too. I’m also a very good person.”

Broillet says Tired Hands is doing as well as ever. The taprooms — there are six across the city and ’burbs — are busy. He keeps opening more, expanding into a mostly suburban empire. But the formerly cool-conscious brewery is now sending its beer to places previously unthinkable, whether that’s the shelves of Lehigh Valley wholesale barn Shangy’s, or a tap next to Miller Lite at a suburban New Jersey grill. Beer writer Nurin notes that even if drinkers are happy to order Tired Hands, it’s unlikely they’ll do so in Philly outside Broillet’s own taprooms.

“In the service industry, I believe there has been an immense and permanent change,” she says. Bars and restaurants are paying closer attention to who makes the beer they sell and how those brewers treat employees.

The new breweries are paying the same attention. Second District makes collaboration beers with staff, crediting bartenders and cooks for good ideas. Meetinghouse sells handcrafted goods from its bartenders at its in-house bottle shop. At Carbon Copy, the operators of a food truck out front selling decadent chopped cheese sandwiches also found part-time work at the brewery when they needed it. A cook and brewer there, Alyston Upshaw — who also tends bar at Meetinghouse — is starting his own beer brand, Concrete Blues, out of Carbon Copy’s brewhouse.

“We’re all kind of in this together,” says Carbon’s Wolak, “and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Soon they’ll be joined by another brewery from a former colleague. Juliana Disanti, head brewer at Tired Hands until last year, hopes to start Wild Fern Brewing with partner Derek Hunter in the little river burg of Frenchtown this spring. Disanti will be brewer and bartender, and she’ll serve simple, uncommonly good beers, same as the publicans of old. When the brewery hires staff, she hopes to make it the kind of place where she’d also like to work.

“I just want to have a warm, welcoming space and for everyone to be paid fairly,” she says, “and not treated differently for being different.”

 

Published as “After the Gold Rush” in the March 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

St. Joe’s Upset Win Leads the Night in Philly Sports

st. joe's hawk mascot

St. Joe’s pulled one out vs. Richmond last night. / Photograph courtesy of St. Joseph’s University

No Philly Today today — it’s Victor’s day off — but there was so much sports action that we wanted to catch you up. The Sixers were in Milwaukee to play the Bucks last night, and they hung tight through the first quarter as Buddy Hield was hitting treys.

We were ahead 29-24 at the buzzer courtesy of a 10-0 run. And ooh, we looked fine in the second, going up by as much as 12 and closing it out ahead 61-53. But the Bucks climbed back in the third, taking a 73-72 lead with three to go before the Sixers were about to counter and end the quarter up 83-80. Could our guys hang on? The fourth was, well, back-and-forth until the Bucks went up 96-90 halfway through. Put this one in the valiant-effort category. Final: 114-105.

How’d the Phillies Do?

They had an easy 6-1 win over the Red Sox thanks to two-hit games by David Dahl and Whit Merrifield. Starter Ranger Suárez went three and two-thirds and only allowed one hit; he had five Ks but also walked four. Didn’t hurt him much, though.

And in College Hoops?

In Thursday tournament play, St. Joe’s erased a 10-point second-half deficit and pulled off the upset of the Atlantic 10 playoffs by knocking off top-seeded Richmond.

They’ll face VCU Saturday at 1 p.m. in the semifinals.

In the Big East tournament, it was sixth-seeded Villanova vs. the third-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles, and the Wildcats had the barest of leads at halftime, 29-28, with Eric Dixon leading with 13 points. They fell behind in the second half but battled back and then surged ahead on serious shooting by TJ Bamba with seven to go. They slipped behind in the late going but tied it at 58 with a minute left, played great D and got the ball back, missed their shot, lost the ball out of bounds with 2.8 seconds to go, and lost in heartbreaking fashion on a final Marquette set play, 60-58. But wait! Did the shot beat the clock? A long review, and then …

But a disputed out-of-bounds call with 23 seconds left in OT and Marquette in the lead, 67-65, gave the Golden Eagles the ball after a review. They made a two and wound up the winners, 71-65.

In simultaneous AAC action, the halftime deficit was likewise one for the Temple Owls, who trailed the SMU Mustangs 33-32; Hysier Miller led with 12. In the second half, they tied it up after trailing by 10, went on a 17-3 run to lead 53-46, and never let up. “SMU has lost its composure, and Temple has found theirs,” the announcer decreed. In the end, a huge 15-point Owls win, 75-60. On to the quarterfinals: Hoot!

They play again tonight at 9 p.m. against the Charlotte 49ers.

The Flyers also played.

This New Art Exhibit Is Low-Key the Best Free Self-Care in Philly Right Now

group hug risa puno Fabric Workshop and Museum

Whac-a-Mole game at Group Hug at the Fabric Workshop and Museum / Photograph by Laura Swartz

“As you get comfy, this space will shift gently to accept you.” Ocean sounds drown out arcade-like beeps as my “Coconut Pod” tells me I am “being cared for.” I am reclined into darkness. It is brief, but it is bliss.

No, I’m not at a new spa’s high-concept relaxation room; I’m at an art exhibit. At a donation-based museum.

I forgot to mention something: The pods only recline when others are playing Whac-a-Mole together.

“How do you build a sculpture masquerading as an arcade game to talk about care?” This is how New York-based artist Risa Puno describes her immersive exhibit, Group Hug, which just opened at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. It’s the product of her two-year residency and collaboration with the FWM Studio, and runs through July 21st. The exhibit fuses hands-on gameplay, collaboration and Puno’s cultural identity to explore the intricate web of social relationships inherent in the acts of giving and receiving care.

Upon entering the exhibit, you have a choice between two paths: Would you rather “Care For” others, or be “Cared For” by others? This initial decision sparks an immersive journey, prompting participants to consider their habitual roles or desires related to care.

The exhibit then unfolds into two distinct experiences based on the chosen path. If you picked “Care For,” you first encounter the individual elements of a Whac-a-Mole game — identifying the mallet as the “Tool For Caring” and a lit-up ball as a “Need to Be Met” — and a chance to take a few practice whacks. “Each game has its own language,” Puno explains. Next, you bring your skills to the main room, where a massive scoreboard and multi-player Whac-a-Mole game awaits. The speed intensifies, with each “hit” symbolizing a need you’ve met as a caregiver.

It’s stressful and quick — and you can’t whack ‘em all.

But playing the game activates the Coconut Pods for those who selected the “Cared For” path. The geometric pods resembling giant coconut shells, filled with green felted leaves are comfy to sit in (and cute to pose in, tbh). But they reach their full potential when they’re in reclining, ocean-sounds mode.

That’s right: While some must work together in stressful, frantic multitasking, it enables others to relax and feel cared for. It feels like parenting.

Of course, you can repeat your journey and pick the other path, allowing yourself to rest and be vulnerable after the anxiety of meeting other’s needs. “It could be an infinite loop. We could just keep caring for each other,” Puno says.

Risa Puno Group Hug

Artist Risa Puno in a Coconut Pod from Group Hug / Photograph by Carlos Avendaño, courtesy of the Fabric Workshop and Museum

This is not Puno’s first use of interactive play as a means of artistic expression. Her previous pieces included Infinite Play — a Möbius strip jungle gym representing emotional obstacles — and Please Enable Cookies, where revealing personal information earned you “points” you could cash in for actual cookies. (That one was a commentary on social media.)

“Games are challenges that we willingly take on,” she explains, making them the perfect gateway for exploring deeper issues and self-reflection right now. (Our own Victor Fiorillo plays Tetris as a mindfulness practice, and there’s actual science to back it up.)

In fact, Puno’s inspiration for the name Group Hug was a New York Times crossword clue, defining the term as a “many-person act of support or affection.”

group hug risa puno

A 20-sided die with question prompts / Photograph by Laura Swartz

She explained that her own recent experiences of caring for a family member inspired her focus. Central to Puno’s vision is the pre-colonial Philippine concept of kapwa, a shared identity and moral duty to care for others as we do ourselves. In the center of the space, Puno has reconstructed a colorful bahay kubo — a traditional Philippine, hexagon-shaped dwelling. There, a giant 20-sided die prompts more discussion questions about individual and collective wellness.

But it’s fun and vibrant and whimsical. It’s “halo halo,” Puno says, referring to the colorful dessert. It is a game, after all.

Group Hug runs through July 21st at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, located at 1214 Arch Street. The museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays, and there is a suggested donation of $5 per person. All ages are welcome.

Here’s Where to Find the Best Sicilian Food, According to This Philly Author

Irwin’s / Photograph by Isa Zapata

How do you write a delicious book — a novel that makes readers hungry as they turn pages on their couch? You have to start with eating all of the food while you write.

About five years ago I set out to write the most delicious novel I had ever created: The Sicilian Inheritance. It would be a Sicilian adventure, a murder mystery, and a romp following a Philadelphia chef tracing her roots back to Sicily. (Even though this book is set mainly in Sicily, it is also the most Philly book I have ever written.) It would also make readers salivate over plates of tuna with capers, sea urchin linguine, and honey-covered figs.

I had big plans to travel back to Sicily, to the small village of Caltabellotta (where my family is from) as well as other towns that dot the island, and find inspiration, which meant eating as much food as possible. And then … a certain virus shut the world down, delaying my culinary expedition. So I started my Sicilian adventure from memory, from the many trips I have taken to Sicily over the years, and from the grainy pictures I took in dark trattorias. But it wasn’t enough. I needed to eat in order to write this book.

Jo Piazza eating a cannoli in the name of research. / Photograph by Andrea Cipriani Mecchi

I’m gonna say something right up front, and I hope no one is offended. Sicilian food is Italian, but Italian food is NOT Sicilian. The term “Italian food” is used to describe a broad category that encompasses 20 regions that have their own distinct cuisines, and Sicilian food is as far away from red sauce and meatballs as Mother Theresa is from Madonna.

It’s a melting pot of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and North African cuisines (owing to the many groups who have conquered the island over the centuries). It’s fresh fish and vegetables simmered in couscous, tinged gold with saffron.

In Sicily, you will rarely find a pizza unless a place caters to tourists or long-haul truckers. You will get handwritten menus every day with whatever ingredients are newly harvested and available for a good price. When the restaurant runs out you are shit out of luck, but the nonna back in the kitchen will make you something else equally delicious. She might not tell you what is in it, but you will love it and want seconds and thirds. It’s almost impossible to find that stateside.

But there are Sicilian standouts in Philly if you know where to look. Here are some classics I researched for my novel, and where to find them.

Where to Get an Aperol Spritz

The “Once Bitter, Twice Shy” spritz at Cry Baby Pasta in Queen Village / Photograph courtesy of Cry Baby Pasta / Photograph courtesy of Cry Baby Pasta

Aperol spritzes are ubiquitous on the streets of Palermo, even more so now since their marketing explosion a few years ago. You can’t take two steps in the Sicilian capital without being offered a roadie for your stroll. And while I’m not a Hemingway-style writer who believes that inspiration is found in the bottom of a whiskey bottle, I think a single cocktail can offer the right amount of creativity to conquer writer’s block.

So I spent many happy hours polishing up my book’s boozy scenes (of which there are many) with top-notch spritzes. Gran Caffe L’Aquila is the winner for a straight-up old-school spritz. Other favorites include Cry Baby Pasta’s effervescent Once Bitten, Twice Shy made with Contratto instead of Aperol and prosecco, and Fiorella for their Alpino Spritz made with rosemary and amaro.

Where to Get a Classic Sicilian Meal

Irwin’s crudo / Photograph by Isa Zapata

For an entire Sicilian meal close to home I had two options: cross the river to Zeppoli in Collingswood or go to the roof of the Bok Building to Irwin’s. I called up Michael Vincent Ferreri of Irwin’s and asked him if I was missing anything on the Sicilian scene in Philly. Having formerly worked in the kitchen at Zeppoli and now running a Sicilian restaurant of his own, he assured me I wasn’t.

Irwin’s mezze — their small dishes of crudo, and swordfish with fermented chili — have taken me straight back to the beach towns lining the coast outside of Palermo, namely Scopello and Sciacca. The fish is always fresh and always simple in the best of ways. “You go to Sicily and you get this intensely high-quality seafood prepared as simply as possible,” Ferreri said. “Crudos covered in a lot of shit are not my fucking thing. I take the simplistic approach that is the same as in the Sicilian trattorias.”

While Ferreri is delivering a modern twist on Sicilian cuisine, Zeppoli over in South Jersey is as old-school as it gets. Chef and owner Joey Baldino has traveled to Sicily and has extensive experience with the cuisine, and it shows through his menu. The pesto trapanese, fusilli generously coated in an almond-pistachio pesto, rivals the ones that I have had in the actual town of Trapani; the rabbit stewed with oregano, rosemary and tomatoes is as savory as the dishes I encountered in Madonie mountain towns like Castelvetrano; and the Sicilian fisherman stew made with couscous, saffron, and everything a Mediterranean fisherman caught in his net smells and tastes like a bowl from the Egadi island of Marettimo.

Where to Get Cannoli

Isgro’s Pastries cannoli / Photograph courtesy of Isgro’s Pastries

I’ve eaten more than a hundred cannoli in the past year. My waistline can attest to it. And Isgro’s Pastries, with their cannoli based on a Sicilian family recipe, came out on top. The shell is crisp and bubbly without being too hard and brittle. They fill the cannoli the Sicilian way: with a spoon when the customer walks through the door. Sicilians do not consider cannoli cannoli unless it is filled moments before it is eaten. This is the case even in Sicilian gas stations, many of which boast the best cannoli on the island. If you go to a restaurant or bakery and they have pre-filled cannoli in their cases, walk right out the door. They’re clearly a front for something else.

The cover of The Sicilian Inheritance coming out April 2nd. / Courtesy of Jo Piazza

Jo Piazza is the bestselling author and award-winning journalist behind the upcoming novel The Sicilian Inheritance, which comes out April 2nd.

In addition to writing the novel The Sicilian Inheritance, Jo is releasing a true crime podcast by the same name where she returns to Sicily to solve her real life great-great-grandmother’s murder. In conjunction with both projects she has collaborated with the Italian Market’s own Cardenas Oil & Vinegar Taproom on a Sicilian Inheritance olive oil with oil imported by Cardenas from Sicily.

Bozo Gunmen Attempt Worst Casino Heist Ever

Suspects in Valley Forge Casino heist

Suspects in Valley Forge Casino heist

Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!

At Valley Forge Casino, Bozo Gunmen Attempt Worst Casino Heist Ever

I feel like I’ve seen similar plots play out in plenty of movies, especially from the great film-noir era. Crew of down-on-their-luck ne’er-do-wells plans a daring robbery at a bank. They think they’re going to get away with a million bucks. Or maybe more. But things don’t go according to plan, for one reason or another, and they walk away just as penniless as they were before. If they walk away at all.

It’s not exactly clear the reason, but what is clear is that things didn’t go according to plan at Valley Forge Casino on Tuesday night for two masked gunmen who attempted to pull off what will become known as the Worst Casino Heist Ever.

According to police, the two men walked into the FanDuel sports-book section of Valley Forge Casino just before 11 p.m. on Tuesday. They pulled guns. They demanded money.

The FanDuel sports book is actually the most successful sports book in the entire state. It pulled in $233.6 million in revenue last year. So maybe the geniuses with the guns did some math. Maybe they figured that if you divide $233,600,000 by 365 days in the year, you get $640,000. Theoretically, the sports book could have had that amount or more sitting around on Tuesday. And that’s not to mention the cash a guy with a gun might get from a loaded patron.

In any event, their demands for money apparently didn’t have the desired effect. Nobody — not cashiers, not patrons — gave them a cent. It’s unclear why. Fortunately, nobody was injured. All the suspects made away with, say police, is an employee tip jar containing all of $120. According to investigators, two other suspects were waiting in a getaway car. So that’s a whopping $30 per person. Plus a good stint behind bars if caught and convicted.

Ocean’s Eleven this was not.

Meanwhile, it’s fair to say that the operators of Valley Forge Casino are trying to figure out how, in a business with cameras and security everywhere, two guys with guns and masks could get as far as they did. “It just shows that people are not really on their jobs, and not really being attentive to what they’re supposed to be doing,” one Valley Forge Casino patron suggested to 6 ABC.

Controversial Main Line Billionaire Jeff Yass for Secretary of the Treasury?

Bloomberg reports that controversial Main Line billionaire Jeff Yass is on Donald Trump’s short list for Treasury Secretary, should Trump become president again.

Yass is, of course, the founder of Susquehanna International Group, a trading firm in Bala Cynwyd. He also owns a sizable chunk of TikTok — a particularly notable holding these days, given the battle in Washington over the app. (ICYMI: Trump just flip-flopped on banning TikTok after Yass intervened.) And he is both the richest person in Pennsylvania (by a lot!) and one of the biggest political donors in the entire country.

Well, as far as candidates for Secretary of the Treasury go, it can’t be said that Yass isn’t good with money, I guess.

Judging the Judge

A headline from the Inquirer: “Philly judge broke state law when she ruled on cases she hadn’t heard then left for Florida, disciplinary court says.” Apparently, you’re not supposed to do that.

Those Darn Bikes

While Jim Kenney and the previous police commissioner didn’t seem to have a clue what to do about those illegal ATVs and dirt bikes that plague Philadelphia, the new people in charge seem to have a better handle on the situation. On the first day this year to hit 60 degrees (this was a few weeks back), a special task force confiscated 15 illegal bikes. And in total so far this year, that number is up to 75.

An Important Reminder

It’s Paddy’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day — never, ever St. Patty’s Day! Philly’s favorite Irishman explains why all the fuss.

By the Numbers

$6.29 billion: Size of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s first budget proposal. The budget includes lots of funding for public safety, of course. But there’s also cash for a huge planned addition to the Central Library, the I-95 cap, and the Community College of Philadelphia. And there’s plenty of funding to clean up the city and keep it that way. As for tax rates: no increases! But also, no decreases.

28: Years the historic S.S. United States has remained docked at a pier in South Philly. (Yes, it’s the huge ship you see when you go to IKEA.) It’s the fastest ocean liner to ever cross the Atlantic, which it did in three days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes. That was in 1952. But now, the once-majestic ship faces eviction.

53,251: Residents Philadelphia lost since the start of the pandemic, according to census numbers. Now if we could only convince some of those dirt bikers to relocate! I kid, I kid.

Local Talent

Two local-talent worlds collided this week when man-of-Jenkintown Bradley Cooper made a cameo on Abbott Elementary, the hit sitcom from Philly-born-and-raised Quinta Brunson. Cooper played himself on the episode. A student brought him in for show-and-tell. The problem was, none of the second-graders had a clue who he was. The Atlantic weighed in on the cameo and why it made so much sense.

Reader Mail

In Monday’s column, I talked about Oscar-winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph of Mount Airy and local Oscar nominees Colman Domingo and Bradley Cooper, neither of whom won. But it so happens that there is another Oscar-winner among us from Sunday night’s ceremony, as one very special reader told me.

Wrote Tony Lame:

FYI, Philly had another Oscar winner: my daughter Jennifer Lame, who won best editor for Oppenheimer. She grew up here in Wynnewood and graduated from Episcopal Academy.

She recently edited the movie that’s now playing at the Sphere in Vegas called Postcard from Earth (very cool). And she’s now working with the Sphere people on some other projects for that venue. She’s done two films for Christopher Nolan (Tenet and Oppenheimer) and I’m betting he will want her for his next project whatever that may be.

I happily stand corrected!

And From the Battlin’-Back Sports Desk …

But first, the looking-forward: The Sixers play the Bucks tonight at 8 p.m. in Milwaukee. The 42-24 Bucks are in second place in the Eastern Conference; the 36-29 Sixers, who are 10-21 since losing Joel Embiid, now inhabit seventh place.

Did the Phillies Play?

They got a slow start against the Tigers yesterday, down 1-0 in the fourth on a solo homer by Matt Vierling off starter Aaron Nola, who went four and two-thirds innings this go-round. But that was all Detroit wrote, and there was a solo homer by DH Whit Merrifield in the sixth:

Followed by a three-run eighth inning …

And it all added up to a 4-1 Phils win.

Any Doop News?

Just an upcoming Saturday match against Austin FC in Austin. No word yet on a reschedule for last weekend’s rained-out match against Seattle at Subaru Park. Oh, and in case you aren’t yet on the Union bandwagon, better get with it. The team is planning to expand seating at their home base to accommodate the crush of fans.

And in College Hoops?

George Mason was within three points of St. Joe’s with a minute to go after a second-half push, but the Hawks held on for a 64-57 win on the Atlantic 10 tournament’s opening day. As their prize, the ninth-seeded Hawks get to play top-seeded Richmond today at 11:30 a.m. Meantime, in Fort Worth, the Temple Owls led UTSA at the half, 35-21, in the first round of the AAC tournament. The Roadrunners outscored the Owls in the bottom half and pulled within one with five minutes left, but the Flaco-esque Owls remained unflappable despite their tough season and got the win, 64-61.

And in the Big East tournament, Villanova, seeded sixth, got the prime-time treatment against 11th-ranked DePaul last night, tipping off at 9 p.m. as a 24-point favorite. The Wildcats got out to an early lead in what became a low-scoring affair; tournament nerves can do that to ya. Halfway through the first half, the score was all of 12-9. But DePaul fought back and took the lead with two minutes to go, 20-19, though they held it for less than a minute. At the half, the ’Cats were clinging to a paltry 27-25 lead.

Post-break, the Blue Demons, whatever those are, went ahead again four minutes in, and there was worse bad news: Doylestown’s own Jordan Longino went down with a knee blow. He was soon back on the bench, but scoring was still unspeakably sparse. Coach Kyle Neptune was trying desperately to inspire his troops, and they tied it back up with nine minutes to go, then took back the lead, 43-42, and the seesaw began. The announcers considered the close game a shocker, and it was. DePaul led by two with 40 seconds to go, and they had the ball. But in the literal last seconds, Justin Moore hit a long three, TJ Mamba tipped a steal, and it was a one-point robbery: 58-57 Villanova.

Whew. The Flyers also play.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.

Philly’s Favorite Irishman Offers Some St. Patrick’s Day Advice

Fergus 'Fergie' Carey, the owner of Fergie's Pub in Philadelphia, says he'll be hiding on St. Patrick's Day in Philadelphia

Fergus “Fergie” Carey, the owner of Fergie’s Pub, says he’ll be hiding on St. Patrick’s Day in Philadelphia / Photograph by Stevie Chris

In 1994, a young man from Ireland known as Fergie staked his claim on an Irish pub on Sansom Street in Center City. Thirty years later, Fergie’s Pub might be the most crowded place ever on St. Patrick’s Day in Philadelphia.

My real name is … Fergus Anthony Joseph Carey. My parents said, “Let’s pick an ugly name like Fergus, to give him a challenge in life.”

I grew up in … Dublin. There were seven of us in a three-bedroom house — plus my grandmother and foster babies. It was very… peaceful.

I came to America … in 1987. I was 24 and had to do fucking something with my life. Plus, the Irish economy. My pen pal’s family lived in Philadelphia and had work for me. I arrived on Saturday night by bus, and Sunday morning I was working at the Cherry Hill Mall food court at El Taco Grande.

Before I opened Fergie’s Pub 30 years ago, I was … bartending at McGlinchey’s, which is actually more smoky now than it was then, because it’s the only place to smoke.

These days, I live in … Fishtown. I had been in Bella Vista for years. But I met a girl who lives in Fishtown five years ago. And we moved in together officially three years ago. Well, technically, I moved in with her.

To get around town … I ride Indego.

My latest project is … The Jim at 8th and Morris. If we were cool, we woulda called it a speakeasy. I’m being facetious, of course. It used to be JC Chinese for years.

Fergus 'Fergie' Carey, the owner of Fergie's Pub in Philadelphia, in the early days of the bar with his original business partner, the late Wajih Abed, left (photo courtesy Fergus Carey/Fergie's Pub)

Fergus ‘Fergie’ Carey, the owner of Fergie’s Pub in Philadelphia, in the early days of the bar (photo courtesy Fergus Carey/Fergie’s Pub)

My kids are always telling me … “Stop embarrassing us.” They are 19 and 16.

The percentage of Philly bars that properly pour a Guinness is … 30.

When I’m not having a beer at one of my own bars, you will usually find me having one at … Fishtown Tavern. It’s simple. It’s well run. And they are good, nice people.

My secret to success with Fergie’s Pub is … something I don’t have a clue about. It’s certainly not because I’m fucking brilliant.

My next big project … is taking 30 or 40 people to Ireland in September. The first-ever Fergie’s Pub Tour of Ireland. And possibly the last!

The biggest change in the bar industry has been … alcoholic everything. There’s alcoholic seltzer. Alcoholic kombucha. Bars used to be for people who drank beer and whiskey.

One industry trend I’m tired of is … sober bars.

People who say Center City is dead … are totally wrong. We’re back at it.

You might be surprised to know that I … body-doubled for Barry Keoghan in Saltburn.

My secret junk-food obsession is … Popeyes.

One TV show I cannot watch is … Bar Rescue. Let’s go home after a stressful day at work to watch a stressful show about bars.

A Philly restaurant I really miss is … Stephen Starr’s Blue Angel, which closed in 2003. The perfect French place. Parc isn’t a good substitute. It’s just too big and busy for me.

On my days off, I like to … brunch at Lloyd and hear live music at Dawson Street Pub or the Twisted Tail, which has a great blues jam.

The last meal I cooked was … a beautiful rib eye from Martin’s at Reading Terminal. I asked my phone, “How do you cook a rib eye in a frying pan?” But I rarely cook. I eat out all the time.

On St. Patrick’s Day in Philadelphia, I will be … hiding.

People who call it “St. Patty’s Day” … should know that they are fucking wrong. There’s a special place in hell for them. Nobody in Ireland would ever say “Patty.” This is an example of how you say I haven’t a fucking clue without actually saying I haven’t a fucking clue. It’s Paddy’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day. That’s it.

I refuse to have a TV at Fergie’s Pub because … if you have a TV, then you gotta turn it on, and Jeopardy is on, and you can’t hear the bloody answers, even. Or you have a couple at a table on a date and the TV is behind her, and so he’s looking at sports instead of her.

When I turned 60 last year, I celebrated by … spending six weeks in Ireland.

The most famous person who’s come to Fergie’s Pub was … Shane MacGowan from the Pogues. He fell asleep at the bar.

I am deathly afraid of … what Victor Fiorillo might write about me.

One spirit I cannot drink is … fernet. What a fucking joke. Somebody like Anthony Bourdain must have said something good about it once. It’s so bad that it’s ridiculous.

My tombstone should read … “He gave it a shot.”

Published as “One of Us: Fergie” in the March 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

How Paffuto Is Reimagining a Classic South Jersey Dish

Paffuto panzerotti / Photograph by Mike Prince

Welcome to Just One Dish, a Foobooz series that looks at an outstanding item on a Philly restaurant’s menu — the story behind the dish, how it’s made, and why you should be going out of your way to try it.

For diehard panzerotti fans, there’s one name that has dominated the game for over 60 years: Tarantini. The deep-fried pockets of pizza dough stuffed with mozzarella, sauce and other fillings were originally introduced to South Jersey by Italian immigrants Paolina and Leopoldo Tarantini in 1958. Alongside their children, the two popularized the Tarantini Panzarotti (spelled “panzerotti” in Italian) through The Panzarotti Spot in Camden and food trucks their sons, Vincent and Franco, strategically parked at local high schools during lunchtime in the 1960s. But it wasn’t until the ’70s, when the brothers opened their own restaurants, Vincent’s in Merchantville and Franco’s Place in Westmont, that their legacy was solidified.

That’s right: Panzerotti are a South Jersey thing. Today, you’ll find them in pizza places all over South Jersey and beyond, but chances are, they’re likely coming from the distribution side of Tarantini’s business, where the third and fourth generations of the family now oversee production and distribution. Just like Taylor Ham is synonymous with pork roll, Tarantini is synonymous with panzerotti.

So when I heard Paffuto was selling a dish so embedded in South Jersey’s identity, I was skeptical. Is there room for more? Will they do it well?

Catherine Smith (holding a Tarantini Panzarotti) and Franco Tarantini, the original owner of Franco’s Place in Westmont, New Jersey. / Photograph courtesy of Catherine Smith

My obsession with the calzone-esque pizza pockets started in childhood. While kids in other towns were having pizza parties, my Westmont classroom was having panzerotti parties. On my 13th birthday, a limo drove me and my girlfriends the half-mile from my house to Franco’s. And as part of our Phillies pre-game ritual, my dad and I would stop by Franco’s. As an adult, I still regularly pop into Franco’s before a game (or to take advantage of the $3.47 Monday sale).

Tarantini’s aren’t the only greasy, crispy cheese pockets I’ve had. I once went as far as ordering a panzerotti in Bali simply because it was the first time I had seen it on a menu outside South Jersey. I even traveled to Puglia, Italy, where I connected with some of the Tarantini family’s distant relatives on a quest to get a taste of the original. But neither Bali nor Puglia’s compared to Tarantini’s version – both flavor profiles were a bit too “generic pizza” for me.

Having traveled the globe for panzerotti, I thought, what’s crossing the bridge to see what Paffuto has to offer?

A panzerotti from Il Ritrovo in Puglia, Italy. / Photograph by Catherine Smith

But getting my hands on one of Paffuto’s turned out to be more difficult than I expected. On my first attempt, I arrived to find the shop closed for a special event. On my second, the woman in front of me ordered the last one. (Paffuto makes them fresh each morning.) On my third visit, I was finally able to secure the goods.

A great panzerotti requires certain things. The crispy crust must hold its shape by forming a bubble or shell — it shouldn’t collapse in on itself. The mozzarella should be fully melted so that it blends with the sauce. The sauce needs to be flavorful, but not so much that it overpowers the cheese. And when it’s served, the crust should have tiny bubbles. Paffuto lives up to my high expectations.

Just like at Franco’s, theirs is served in a plastic tray lined with wax paper. The bubbly crust is the same golden brown, but here they add a sprinkling of salt. When picked up, it maintains its structural integrity, holding its shape bite after bite. The fresh and gooey mozzarella was thoroughly melted, but the sauce is different — lighter, accented with just a few chunks of diced tomatoes and a hint of lemon.

Overall, it’s a great panzerotti. It’s the same thing, yet completely different. And that’s exactly what it should be.

The dish dates to the 18th century in southern Italy. Families passed recipes down from generation to generation, developing their variations based on preference and availability of ingredients. The Tarantinis, for instance, switched the ricotta with mozzarella to appease their American customers. And now Paffuto is putting its own Philly twist on the dish.

Tearing into Paffuto’s panzerotti / Photograph by Mike Prince

When researching to create Paffuto’s menu, the three chefs and co-owners — Daniel Griffiths, Jake Loeffler and Sam Kalkut — scoured the region, sampling panzerotti wherever they could find them. They speak highly of Franco’s Place, but say they aren’t trying to compete. Instead, they see the panzerotti as a blank canvas, and they’re taking a lot of creative liberties with the dish. “What we’re making is Italian, but always a little different,” Griffith said.

There’s a breakfast version stuffed with egg and cheese, bacon and ham — a take that I never considered but am thrilled exists. They also invite other chefs to put their spin on the panzerotti. During their recent pop-up with Amy’s Pastelillos, chef Amy Rivera Nassar brought some Puerto Rican flavor to the Italian classic. And when nearby Paesano’s closed for vacation, Paffuto offered a roast pork panzerotti on special as a nod to the neighborhood. “We are trying to make sure we aren’t stepping on any toes,” Griffiths said, explaining Paffuto wants to show respect for longtime neighborhood favorites.

So, is there room for another? Of course.

Tarantini Panzarotti will always serve as my ultimate comfort food, but I’m glad to see Paffuto bring a taste of South Jersey to Philadelphia.

Editor’s note: Franco Tarantini passed away on February 27, 2024, at the age of 81. We are grateful for his contribution to the local food scene and are thankful to the Tarantini family for continuing the “panzarotti” tradition.