Sonny’s Is Back! Beloved Cocktail Joint Reopens on South Street

Photograph courtesy of Sonny’s Cocktail Joint

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. We’ve just got a few quick things to get to this week, including (but not limited to) news from Yanaga Kappo Izakaya, some XXX desserts from Cake Life, a big re-opening that kinda came out of nowhere, and ice cream for breakfast at Milk Jawn. So let’s kick things off this week with…

Sonny’s Cocktail Joint Comes Back To Life

Hey, you guys remember two weeks ago when I told you about Chris Fetfatzes and Heather Annechiarico closing down Hawthornes at 11th and Fitzwater? That place had been slinging brunches since 2009, had given Fetfatzes and Annechiarico’s restaurant group its name — Hawthornes Restaurant Group — and been beloved by the neighbors. Losing it was a bummer, to be sure. But among the thanks for the staff and the goodbyes to the neighbors in Hawthornes’s farewell Instagram post had been the line: “We will find a new home for Hawthornes when the circumstances are perfect while imminently resurrecting Sonny’s & WineDive along with some other dope shit.”

To which I had presciently replied that Sonny’s seemed the most likely contender for the first project back since I’d already seen Fetfatzes and Annechiarico cruising for behind-the-bar talent under the name of their newly formed hospitality group, Happy Monday.

And I was right because the all-new Sonny’s Cocktail Joint (very) softly re-opened late last week, putting the word out via their Instagram, which had been dead quiet for more than a hundred weeks after both Sonny’s and WineDive were forced to close back in the spring of 2022 due to an apartment fire. The menu is all kicked-up highballs, freezer cosmos, draft wines, and a killer list of custom cocktails (check out the Long Island Iced Tea, for starters), plus curly fries with pepperoncini aioli, four different bar pizzas, and (just kill me dead right now) chicken fried shrimp with garlic hot sauce that I will literally fight you for if you get between me and the last order because I’m REALLY hungry and they sound so good.

Anyway, yeah. Sonny’s. Back from the dead at 1508 South Street. Race ya. Last one there buys the first round.

Now what else is happening in this place we call home…

Ice Cream for Breakfast?

Milk Jawn will be celebrating Ice Cream for Breakfast Day on February 1st. / Photograph by Mike Prince

I mean, sure. Why not? The world is falling to pieces, and there are no rules anymore, so why not hit up Milk Jawn on East Passyunk (or in NoLibs) for National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, which is happening — entirely appropriately — on February 1st?

Sure, it’s going to be cold. Sure, it’s probably going to be snowing. But it’s a Saturday, so what else do you have to do but get up super early, pull on your hat and snow pants, and go wait in line for the third year in a row to celebrate the totally grown-up urge to throw caution (and diets) to the wind and stuff yourself with ice cream first thing in the morning?

For the third year running, Milk Jawn will be hosting a party featuring flights of breakfast-flavored ice cream starting at 9 a.m. We’re talking coffee cake ice cream layered with Entenmann’s cinnamon streusel crumble; caramel macchiato with salted caramel ice cream and bits of candied coffee; maple-bacon-flavored ice cream with handmade maple bacon toffee crunch; and strawberry Pop-Tart ice cream made from vanilla ice cream swirled with roasted strawberry jam, royal icing, and crunchy pieces of Pop-Tarts-inspired crust crumble. It’s goofy. It’s indulgent. Doing it in the middle of winter’s bitterest stretch feels joyously insane, and I am down for that kind of energy. Plus, the “holiday” was invented by a mom from Rochester, New York — my hometown. And having grown up in Rochester, surviving years of its brutal winters and lake-effect snow, I can tell you that the urge to turn one’s back on civilized society and just live like some kind of sticky sugar goblin in order to maintain any semblance of lucidity during those long, gray Februaries absolutely tracks. There’s no reason why we can’t all do the same here in Philly.

Flights will run you $12 apiece and will be available from 9 a.m. until sellout. In past years, the East Passyunk shop has seen lines out the door, so even though this year the party has spread to the new NoLibs Milk Jawn location, plan ahead, wear layers, and don’t forget your mittens.

Mondays With Yanaga

From left: Chef Chaz Brown and chef Kevin Yanaga. / Photograph by Mike Prince

Speaking of Northern Liberties, if y’all don’t already have plans for Monday night, check this out:

Kevin Yanaga’s Yanaga Kappo Izakaya is launching a “Neighborhood Nights” series — a last-Monday-of-the-month takeover program that will feature a different chef coming in and doing a full-on dinner for the neighbors and industry employees. Dinners will be totally casual affairs: takeover menu only, 6 p.m. ’til sellout, with no reservations and first come/first served seating. The bar will be open and offering full service in addition to signature cocktail and mocktail specials incorporating both the guest chef and Yanaga’s drink menu. Oh, and every other Monday of the month, Yanaga will be doing its Neighborhood Night all-night happy hour menu — which I’ve written about before.

“We are looking to bring back to what Industry Night at Amis used to look like before the pandemic,” according to Yanaga. “We’re excited to spotlight a different chef each month and intertwine their cuisine with ours while welcoming in as many guests from our neighborhood and the industry that we can serve. We want to make Monday nights fun again.”

To wit, this first Monday night takeover (on January 27th) will feature chef Chaz Brown, who’ll be doing a Japanese-meets-Trinidadian menu alongside chef Yanaga. Born in Louisiana to a Trinidadian father and an American mother, Brown spent summers at his family’s restaurant, The Blue Crab, on Trinidad’s sister island, Tobago. Since then, he’s spent decades in the industry, doing time at Nobu in Manhattan, the Fatty Crab, and at Le Bec-Fin under Georges Perrier. And on Monday, he’ll be serving Trini corn ribs, charcoal-roasted, dusted with jerk spice and dripping with miso butter; Disco Fries with oxtail gravy, beni shōga, Cooper sharp, and aonori; tempura whitefish with ramen seasoning, shishitos, and peppa sauce; jerk chicken kaarage; an oxtail sando on milk bread with oxtail scrapple, house pickles, and tonkatsu sauce; curry crab donburi; plus poke bowls, some hand rolls, and 1-900-Ice Cream soft serve for dessert.

It sounds like it’s going to be a helluva party. And Yanaga Kappo Izakaya is really leaning into this whole neighborhood bar thing lately, which I completely dig. More details, if you need ’em can be found here.

Now who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Ember & Ash is teaming up with EMei for a “Fire & Fortune” Lunar New Year dinner event on January 30th. / Photograph by Mike Prince

Last week, I told you about a couple of different Lunar New Year dinners happening in town. And now I’ve got another one for you.

On January 30th, the crew from Ember & Ash on East Passyunk will be welcoming the team from EMei in Chinatown for a one-night-only collab dinner they’re calling “Fire & Fortune.” Starting at 5:30 p.m. on January 30th, they’ll be doing a multi-course, collaborative menu that’ll start with small plates inspired by street foods and dim sum traditions, followed by a fusion spread meant to highlight the skills of both kitchens, featuring everything from char siu porchetta to mapo tofu with crispy eggplant, plus dessert. Tickets will run you $75 a head. Reservations are available here.

Oh, and if you can’t make it on the 30th, Ember & Ash is running its own special Lunar New Year menu from the 27th to the 31st. The Fire & Fortune menu is just something extra.

Over at Mike Solomonov’s new spot, Jaffa, they’re launching a new happy hour program. Sunday through Thursday, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., they’re doing $2 clams, $2 oysters with schug mignonette, passion fruit mignonette, and/or Jaffa’s spicy cocktail sauce; $2 shrimp cocktail; and bowls of Yemenit clam chowder for $10. Pair these with $8 shooters, select cocktails for $9 and $6 Citywides (standard or Tel Aviv-style, with Goldstar and arak), and it’s a great deal. Happy hour specials are available at the bar only, but that’s cool because Jaffa has two of ’em — one upstairs and one on the main floor.

And how ’bout we close out this week with a triple shot of cookie-related news…

First, due to popular demand (and it being the season for cookie booths), the crew over at Bitchin’ Kitten Brewery has re-released their Girl Scout Cookie-inspired beers at their Morrisville Brewery. The “Adventures In Scouting” beers include Cinnamon Roll Winter Warmer, Lemon Sour Ale, Chocolate Stout with Caramel & Toasted Coconut, and Peanut Butter Brown Ale. The beers will benefit Girl Scout Troop #2888 and will be available until they sell out.

Second, Sisterly Love Collective is selling cookies to benefit victims of the L.A. wildfires. Actually, what they’re doing is organizing a kind of massive bake sale — dozens of local restaurants and dozens of local bakers, all making cookies for sale through Sisterly Love — all to benefit woman-owned food and beverage operations impacted by the fires. They’ve got everyone from Christine McKeough at High Street and Lila Colello from Flakely to Jen Carrol, Noelle Blizzard (New June), Tova du Plessis from Essen, and the guys from Paffuto. Cookies come in boxes of 40, and they’ll run you $125 apiece, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Regarding Her’s Los Angeles chapter, helping women in the food and beverage industry. Plus, Sisterly Love will be kicking in an additional 25 percent of all funds raised as a matching donation.

Orders have to be in by January 25th. Pickup is Sunday, January 26th, and Monday, January 27th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at El Merkury. And you can place your orders here.

Finally this week, it looks like Cake Life is celebrating Valentine’s Day again the best way they know how — with three different collections of their incredibly popular “Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies.” The sweet versions are exactly what you’d expect: all “XOXO” and “Cutie Pie” — middle-school-level Valentine’s stuff.

Last year, their “spicy” collection really took off. They’re heavy on the “Eat Me” double entendres and were made for those looking for something just slightly more risqué. But co-owners Nima Etemadi and Lily Fischer’s cookies also caught the eye of writer, director, and adult film star Asa Akira, who shared them on Instagram and made them a nationwide thing. And now, this year, Akira is collaborating with Etemadi and Fischer for her own run of thoroughly NSFW conversation hearts. What’s more, she’s even autographing the first 100 boxes.

“Sweet” and “Spicy” varieties will run you $19. Akira’s limited-edition boxes are $21. And you can check ’em all out right here. I’d order fast, though. Because demand for these is going to be even higher than last year, and Valentine’s Day is already creeping up on the calendar.