Philly’s Newest Hotel Bar/Restaurant, Patchwork, Is Serving Up Mid-Atlantic Fare and Pretzel-Bun Sandwiches

Patchwork at Hyatt Centric Center City | Photo by Chris Devern

Happy Monday, everyone. Welcome to the Foobooz Weekly News Round-Up. We have a few quick things to get through — a couple openings, some pickle news, two updates from the big leagues and a final farewell to one of the city’s most beloved French restaurants — so let’s get started.

We’ll kick things off this week with one of the two new kids on the block: a brand-new hotel restaurant promising oysters, pretzel-bun sandwiches and a taste of the Mid-Atlantic on Chancellor Street.

Patchwork at Hyatt Centric Center City | Courtesy Patchwork

A Patchwork Affair 

The Hyatt Centric Center City (which, yes, is a very weird name) is the first of Hyatt’s “lifestyle brand” hotels to open in Philly. It’s got everything you could want in a hotel — beds, a roof, doors that lock — but also Peloton bikes in the fitness center and fancy hair dryers in every room. (That’s the “lifestyle” part.)

And now, it has a restaurant, too. Opened last week, Patchwork (which is also kind of a weird name) is a combination bar, restaurant and grab-and-go market with breakfast, brunch and dinner service offering a local take on the flavors of the Mid-Atlantic region. We’re talking Cape May oysters, burgers with onion marmalade on cambozola brioche buns, blackened salmon with sunchoke tostones and leek chimichurri. And what’s more Philly than leek chimichurri?

No, I’m kidding. The place is making as much of a swing for locality as any other hotel restaurant does. There’s New Liberty gin and Dad’s Hat rye behind the bar, breakfast sandwiches mounted on pretzel rolls, and the exec chef, Jonathan Dearden, did time at the Red Owl Tavern at the Hotel Monaco in Old City, so he’s not coming to Philly cold. Plus, the burger really does look pretty good.

Patchwork has a bar that’s open nightly, slinging original cocktails made with Philly booze, and its 24-hour market area has sandwiches, salads and a coffee bar. It is, in all ways, a hotel restaurant — well-funded, well-appointed, not entirely of its place — but it’s new and it’s open and, in this day and age, that’s still something to celebrate.

Moving on…

Photo by Erik Weber

Getting Ugly in West Chester

Once upon a time, there was a restaurant in Lansdale that served me one of the best sandwiches of my life: a brisket-dip sandwich with gouda and horseradish that I still remember fondly to this day. The restaurant was called Stove & Tap, and it was run by a Starr expat named Justin Weathers who, with his partners, would go on to open several more restaurants around the Main Line, including two more Stove & Tap locations in Malvern and West Chester. The West Chester one is what we’re concerning ourselves with today. Because Weathers and his partner, Joe Monnich (also a Starr veteran), have just announced a brand-new opening — in Stove & Tap’s basement.

No, really. They took the whole “underground dive bar” thing literally and opened a joint called Good Bad and Ugly underneath the West Chester Stove & Tap — a 2,000-square-foot-bar-focused concept with seating for 50, bar games, snacks and “modern-day cowboy vibes” inspired by spaghetti westerns and Tarantino movies.

Oh, really? Tell me more …

Apparently, the space used to be a nightclub of some kind, but now Weathers and Monnich have taken over the space and turned it into their own little drinky cowboy fort, complete with an 80-foot bar, big-ass TVs, Warhol-inspired cowboy wallpaper and custom cocktails. Chef Yasser Wolf (who also runs the kitchen upstairs at S&T West Chester) has spun off a menu of fries, wings and burgers to keep everyone fed. And the place is currently up and running Wednesdays through Sundays with happy-hour deals every single day they’re open.

So hey, if you’re in the neighborhood (and in the mood to get weird in a basement with a bunch of strangers), stop on down. The place really does look like a lot of fun. You can check out all the details right here.

Photo by Mike Prince

Second Chance at Pickles

You guys remember last month when I told y’all about the Fishtown Pickle Project’s Feast of the Seven Pickles holiday event, right? That event sold out FAST (and had a wait-list of almost 200 people), but then ended up getting delayed because of COVID. It was a whole thing and really disappointing to a lot of people.

But hey, here’s some good news: The FPP team has now come up with something to hold all you pickle fanatics over until the new event date in April. They’re selling a pickle party mix that will allow you to get a taste of the Feast of the Seven Pickles in the comfort of your own home.

They’re calling it the Feast of the Seven Pickles Presents: Party Mix, and it’s a jar full of all the pickles that would’ve been featured at the event — “cucumbers, mangoes, papaya, Chef Eli Kulp’s homegrown habanada and aji dulce peppers, blueberries and jicama, pickled with kaffir lime leaves, rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar.”

So if you’re really into pickles, this is your lucky day. Check out the Fishtown Pickle Project right here.

So what’s left this week?

The Leftovers

Last week, we talked a whole lot about Stephen Starr’s new project: the sports-and-entertainment complex Bankroll going into the old Boyd Theatre on Chestnut Street. And I’ve already got some updates.

First, it looks like Bankroll got its zoning approval last week and will be moving ahead with construction immediately. The project will take over not just the Boyd space, but also the former home of the Gap that used to be next door. The group is promising to “restore the former Boyd Theatre to its 1920s art-deco glory,” which is nice. (The Gap, I assume, will NOT be getting the same sympathetic restoration.) And it looks like they’re aiming to have the entire project wrapped up by fall 2022, which is ambitious, but not impossible. I’ll be keeping an eye on the project so, like I always say, you’ll know more when I know more.

I’ve also got an update from the world of Jose Garces, where his second chef-in-residence has just taken things over at Volver. Chef Jezabel Careaga’s menu includes picada, escabeche de berejena toast, empanadas, tamales saltenos, vacio con papas estrelladas, estofado, locro, queso y membrillo and panqueque con dulce de leche. Her funding will support Fuerza for Humans — a mental health nonprofit focusing on the restaurant community.

City Winery is opening a tasting room at 990 Filbert Street this Friday. The city’s first urban winery will use this space to invite guests to “enjoy a true tasting room while sipping, snacking, and discussing the art of winemaking with skilled experts — just steps away from where the wine is made.”

The grand opening is February 4th. Going forward, the tasting room will be open Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m.

Lee Styer and Jessie Prawlucki-Styer | Courtesy Fond

And finally this week, some bittersweet news. As you know, Fond — one of the city’s best French-y American restaurants —closed back in December. Chef Lee Styer decided to close it down so that the space could be the new home for The Dutch — the Dutch-inspired brunch spot that he ran for years with partner Joncarl Lachman.

But here’s the sweet part: Fond is coming back for one last service with a Valentine’s dinner on Monday, February 14th. It’s going to be five courses, all cooked (and served) by Styer. Lobster and shrimp risotto. Barramundi in coconut curry broth with black trumpet mushrooms. Filet mignon with black truffle and sauce Bordelaise. He’s going all out. There’ll be wine pairings, conversation, some laughs, maybe some tears. Who knows? But it’s gonna be good.

Trick is, there’s only going to be one seating at 7:30 p.m. on the 14th. Which means that space is EXTREMELY limited. Tickets to A Fond Farewell Valentine are $500 per couple, and if you’re lucky, you can maybe score yours by sending an email to info@fondphilly.com.