Opening of Bank and Bourbon

The new restaurant at the Loews Hotel features a dining room hidden behind a bookcase and a "bourbon master."

Bank and Bourbon is the new restaurant in the Loews Hotel, which formerly housed the eatery Sole Food. The space is beautiful with its wood beams, low light fixtures, and exposed piping. It will remind you of visiting a farmhouse, right down to the very down-home diner-like tableware.

Located on the ground floor of Philadelphia’s iconic PSFS building, Bank and Bourbon has its own entrance, which Sole Food did not. There’s a main dining room, with two adjacent private dining rooms. During busy times, movable walls will expand the dining area into these rooms. (Inside one of these rooms is a hidden dining room behind a book shelf.) Chef Thomas Harkins, who helmed Sole Food, will also run Bank and Bourbon, but the menu is new, as is the open kitchen, which can be seen from the dining room.

Some 350 invited guests dined on samplings of the menu which included steak, pork and grits, and the most delicious salmon I’ve ever had. There were also delectable desserts and a charcuterie spread. I would be remiss not to mention the new adjacent lobby, which was carved out of the space originally used for Sole Food. It’s beautiful, comfortable, and you can also order food from the B&B menu, as well as a smaller bar menu. There’s also wifi and large-screen TVs to watch your favorite sports event. One more thing: don’t miss the butterscotch ice cream, with chocolate covered popcorn topping. It’s the best dessert in Philadelphia right now.

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HughE Dillon covers parties, events and more for Philadelphia magazine’s The Scene. You can follow him on Twitter at @iPhillyChitChat and visit his daily online social diary PhillyChitChat.com.