Beloved Italian Pop-Up Paffuto Finally Gets a Home, and It’s in the Former Bibou Space

Paffuto’s new storefront / Photograph by Mike Prince

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome to another week of the Foobooz food news roundup. Just a few little things this week to look out for, so let’s kick things off with …

Paffuto Finds a Home

Sam Kalkut, Jake Loeffler and Daniel Griffiths are putting down roots and turning their two-year-old Italian pop-up, Paffuto, into a real brick-and-mortar cafe. As things stand right now, it looks like opening day will be Wednesday, December 6th, which is coming right up.

The South Philly space at 1009 South 8th Street that Paffuto will be calling home has some history to it. It used to be Bibou — the super-classic (and award-winning) French bistro from Pierre Calmels that closed back in 2022. Sad as I was to see Bibou go, I’m glad to see that someone has finally come along to make good use of the address.

To start, Paffuto will be operating solely as a daytime cafe, offering breakfast and lunch from Wednesdays to Sundays. Dinner services are planned to start after the holidays are done — so figure on some time in January. But in the meantime, take a look at some of what the guys will be offering.

Food at Paffuto’s new storefront / Paffuto photography by Mike Prince

Looks nice, right? Sandwiches, salads, sides, some nice pastries. Though it’s opening as a BYOB, Paffuto is looking to get a bar program set up eventually. But the thing that has me most excited about the place is that the three partners who’ve been running the Paffuto pop-up for years now will finally have a stable environment to work in. And since this team has done time (both together and separately) everywhere from Tabachoy to Kensington Quarters to Jean-Georges, I am VERY interested to see what they can do together now that they’ve all decided to settle down a bit and have a kitchen to call home.

Granted, having three chefs together in one kitchen? That’s nuts. That’s the kind of thing that, to me, portends failure of the sort that lands people on the 11 o’clock news.

But I’m sure that won’t happen here. Kalkut, Loeffler and Griffiths? They’re pros. And they’ve spent plenty of time doing this together already, so if they haven’t blown it all up by now, odds are good that they’ll be able to keep it together once regular services start.

Or here’s hoping they can, anyhow.

The Feast of the Seven Pickles Returns

The Feast of the Seven Pickles returns this December! / Photograph courtesy of Fishtown Pickle Project

Honestly, I’m not sure what’s with you people because every time I post about this event from the Fishtown Pickle Project crew, y’all lose your minds, buy up all the tickets, and it sells out before most of you can even get through this paragraph. I guess you guys just love pickles. And no one can fault you for that.

But this year things are going to be a little different. I’m going to tell you all about this year’s Feast of the Seven Pickles, but NONE of you can go out and immediately buy up all the tickets, because they’re not even going on sale until Wednesday, November 29th. You will all have to sit on your hands and just wait.

But in the meantime, there’s this: Once again, the folks from the Fishtown Pickle Project will be celebrating the Feast of the Seven Pickles. This year’s event will be held at Martha in Kenzo on Tuesday, December 19th and is being called the “Philly Favorites” edition because the pairing menu (created as a collaboration between FPP’s Niki Toscani and Mike Sicinski, and Martha’s exec chef Andrew Magee) will include scrapple, cheesesteaks and, of course, pickle gelato.

I mean, there’s other stuff, too. Pickle soup with a soft pretzel, for example. Or pastrami smoked salmon with pickled red onion, pickled long hots to top the cheesesteak and artisanal TastyKake peanut-butter Krimpets from Sweet T’s Bakeshop to go alongside the pickle gelato from Vita, the new Rittenhouse gelateria we told you about a month ago. But it’s all being done with an eye toward classic Philly flavors. Plus pickles.

All told, there’ll be seven en-pickleated courses, a welcome drink, a holiday market, Fishtown Pickle Project special-edition tumblers for sale from Felt + Fat, and part of the proceeds from ticket sales will be going to Philabundance via Preston & Steve’s Camp Out For Hunger. Also, in order to keep things as egalitarian as possible this year, Martha and the pickle people (which is totally going to be the name of my new band) will be doing three seatings of 50 people each at 3 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Look, it’s gonna be a good time. FPP wouldn’t keep throwing these parties each year if it wasn’t. So if you’re down, remember: Tickets (at $95 per person) will be going on sale this Wednesday, November 29th, at noon. Get yours here, and remember: This will sell out fast. So don’t dawdle.

Now let’s have some leftovers.

The Leftovers

Hey, you guys remember a few weeks ago when I told you about Bird Gang — the bourbon-and-vodka spirits collaboration between the Eagles, a local marketing agency and Philly spirits bottler, BOTLD?

Yeah, well that experiment appears to be going particularly well. I mean, back when I first told you about Bird Gang, we were 5-0. Now, the Birds are hanging tough at 10-1 and sitting on top of the NFC East (suck it, Cowboys), Bird Gang has had at least two successful pop-ups in the parking lot outside the Linc, and now they’re selling bottles directly through BOTLD’s Rittenhouse store — as well as in the new BOTLD location that opened in a former juice bar at 113 South 13th Street over the weekend.

Bird Gang Spirits / Photograph by Michael Persico/ WeHolden

I know, right? It surprised me, too. But hey, if you’re looking for a kinda drink-y way to celebrate the Eagles (or just need something to calm your nerves after the last couple nail-biters), now you’ve got two places to pick up your own bottles of Bird Gang. And while they’re still just offering the two kelly green varieties (an 82-proof whiskey and an 80-proof vodka), I think a new bottle to commemorate Sunday night’s 59-yard field goal from Jake Elliott might already be in order. Go on and tell me I’m wrong.

Last week, I told you about Almyra, the new super-sized Greek restaurant from the owners of Estia that’s opening on Chancellor Street in Rittenhouse. The only thing I didn’t have for you last week? An opening date.

Almyra / Photograph by Gab Bonghi

Now, though, it looks like I can remedy that because Almyra is announcing an invite-only private opening on Thursday, December 7th, which leads me to believe that a public opening will likely happen that following weekend. I could be wrong, but you don’t invite the press to dinner unless you’re pretty sure things are going to go smoothly. So I have a feeling that weekend of the 8th is going to be magic time.

Here’s something unusual: On Wednesday, December 13th, the Philadelphia Orchestra will be doing a one-night-only performance at Jean-Georges. There’ll be a “musically inspired four-course tasting menu” from exec chef Cornelia Suhr, wine pairing from JG’s sommelier, Damien Graef, and “three captivating performances by Quartet Iris of The Philadelphia Orchestra … set against the backdrop of an iconic skyline, setting the scene for an unforgettable evening.”

Photographs courtesy of Jean-Georges

Not my particular brand of vodka, but if you’re into string quartets, remarkable views and really fast elevator rides, you should totally check it out. All the info you need can be found right here.

Finally this week, we all know that McGillin’s has never been above a little shameless self-promotion. I mean, you don’t get to be the oldest continuously operating bar in Philly without knowing a little something about getting people through the doors, right?

But now, for the first time in its 163-year history, McGillin’s has opened a pop-up shop, offering (what else?) McGillin’s merch.

Photograph courtesy of McGillin’s

They’ve got hats. They’ve got coasters. They’ve got ornaments for the tree and a onesie for the baby and all of it is now for sale at McGillin’s temporary holiday shop at 1314 Juniper Street. It’s just a block away from the bar itself which, of course, is also decked out for the holidays with a billion lights and ten miles of garland or whatever. It’s a legit winter wonderland (with drink specials to match), so if you’re looking for a gift that screams I love gift shops AND lets people know how much you like to drink, this is perfect. The pop-up shop will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. The bar, meanwhile, is open every day, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., so plan accordingly.