Philly’s Best Ramen Spot Is Closing for Good

Jesse Pryor and Lindsay Steigerwald of Neighborhood Ramen and ESO Ramen Workshop / Photograph by Ian Shiver

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. Between the long holiday weekend and the traditional emptying out of Philly for the Shore during the big summer holidays, there’s not a ton of industry news to catch up on this week. Oh, sure. I’ve got a couple cool things for you — including (but not limited to) fried chicken news, a collab with Shore vibes, new sliders in Fishtown and the best night to get drunk at the zoo. So let’s just wrap this up quick, and then we can all get back to sitting in front of the air conditioner and complaining about the heat. We’ll get things rolling this week with …

ESO Ramen Workshop Announces Its Final Month of Service

We have been talking about this day since February of last year. Lindsay Steigerwald and Jesse Pryor — the former owners of Neighborhood Ramen and current owners of ESO Ramen Workshop — have been planning a move to Tokyo. They want to go there because that’s where the best ramen shops in the world are, and they want to play in that kind of league. Jesse also wants access to the kinds of products he can really only dependably get in Tokyo. He wants to learn. He wants to get better. He has committed his life and career to making ramen, and Japan is where he thinks he can really make it count.

Unfortunately, that has meant that, following the closure of Neighborhood Ramen in 2024, there has been a ticking clock on their work at the walk-in-only ESO on South 4th Street. We all knew that, eventually, it would have to close so Lindsay and Jesse could make good on their dreams. And now it looks like we know roughly when that clock is going to run out.

“It feels like just yesterday we opened ESO, but this shop was always meant to be a short-term esoteric project, preparing us for our big move to Japan, and that time is approaching faster than we all realize!” they posted on Instagram back in the spring. There was a special May schedule of ramen dates. Another one for June. And then, over the weekend, Jesse and Lindsay dropped their final calendar for July, saying, “The end is near! We might do a couple days in the beginning of August, but we are into the last few weeks of ESO!”

So this is basically it for ESO in Philly. And I’m sad because both Neighborhood Ramen and this “esoteric project” on South 4th represented some of the best ramen that was probably ever served in this city. But I’m also excited because seeing the end of ESO means that Jesse and Lindsay really are going to take the leap, go to Japan, and make a go of running their own little ramen shop in the land where ramen shops were born. It’s a bonkers idea, but I respect the hell out of it and wish both of them nothing but the best. And I’m DEFINITELY going to try and line up for one last bowl before they go.

Race ya.

Porco’s Has Some News

An assortment of eats and sweets from Porcos Porchetteria / Photograph by KC Tinari

Know one of the things I love about this town? That the announcement of a restaurant launching a new type of sandwich bread can legitimately count as newsworthy. Know what’s even better? That chef, Chad Durkin of Porco’s Porchetteria, spent six months working to develop the new seeded long roll that debuted over the July 4th weekend, and there’s not a single serious, right-thinking sandwich enthusiast in this town who would say that was time wasted. Anywhere else, people would say he’s crazy. That six months spent trying to perfect one sandwich roll was both a colossal waste of resources and evidence of an unbalanced mind. But not here. In Philly, I hear about something like that, and I think, Man, I bet that’s some really good goddamn bread, and then alter my schedule so that I can get down there immediately and try it.

So anyway, yes. For the past six years, Porco’s has been serving its sandwiches on a signature ciabatta roll. But Durkin wanted to make a change. So, in cahoots with his neighbors at Baker Street Bread Co., he started working on making the perfect long roll. Something that would be bigger, more shareable, and capable of standing up to the heritage-breed porchetta sandwiches that have made the place famous.

It took him half a year of experimenting, but now he thinks he finally got it. So, as of this past weekend, Durkin and his crew are now offering a seeded long roll, which they believe represents a more “true-to-Philly classic roll.” And they’re not wrong.

They also launched a new menu to go with it, which includes the O.G. porchetta sandwich with cracklings and au jus, a Philly version with rapini pesto and shaved provolone, a meatball sandwich, and a rotating pressed-sandwich special (currently a turkey Cuban), which Porco’s is calling their “Long Boy Panini.”

Now what’s next?

Oh, right …

Let’s All Get Drunk at the Zoo!

Philadelphia Zoo Summer Ale Fest / Photograph courtesy of the Philadelphia Zoo

Ever wanted to knock back a few cold ones and look at some monkeys? Well, this is your chance because Philly’s biggest beer festival — Summer Ale Fest — is coming back to the Philadelphia Zoo on Saturday, July 19th.

For one night only, the entire zoo is adults-only, with unlimited samples of more than 100 seasonal craft beers, ciders, and seltzers, with proceeds from ticket sales going to benefit the Philadelphia Zoo.

Will there be food trucks? Yup. A dozen of them — from Mac Mart and Chickie’s and Pete’s to Bacon on a Stick.

Will there be music? Yes, there will. There’ll be live music on stage and DJs set up throughout the zoo. According to the zoo’s marketing team, they’re “really revving up the party atmosphere.” Which is great, because if I learned anything in my high school biology class, it’s that bears love EDM.

Is there a non-zero chance that someone tries to ride a giraffe or punch a moose? Also yes. Because this is Philly, after all. And when you mix unlimited beer, zoo animals, and Philadelphians, you get what you get.

Tickets will run you anywhere from $35 (non-drinkers and designated drivers) to $99 for early admission. Everyone gets one souvenir tasting cup, and the event is happening rain or shine. Tickets are available exclusively via the Philadelphia Zoo’s website, so go check it out if you’re interested. And remember: You’re drinking for a good cause.

Three Makes a Trend

About a month ago, I told you about Fia Berisha and Nick Elmi doing a pop-up for the new concept, Fifi’s Fry & Co., at their Bala Cynwyd spot, the Landing, which featured French fries topped with tuna poke and caviar.

Then, a week later, it was Starr announcing a frites-based concept at one of the two Atlantic City resort spaces he’d picked up.

And now there’s word that Medium Rare, the Washington, D.C.-based chain, is coming to 1540 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown, and guess what Medium Rare specializes in? That’s right: steak frites.

And the menu here could not possibly be simpler because it’s what they call “a one choice prix fixe.” It’s rustic artisan bread, a mixed greens salad, and steak frites. That’s it. It’s the only option.

By comparison, the brunch menu is sprawling, with a whopping five choices (one of them being steak frites). And there are dessert and cocktail menus, which are also each refreshingly short. I appreciate a place that focuses on doing one thing and doing it well.

So, if frites are the new black, Medium Rare seems well positioned to take advantage of the sudden upsurge in fry-based concepts. And I’m curious to see if Medium Rare (which already has a handful of locations spread across Maryland, Texas, and NYC) can pull off their highly specialized gimmick here in Philly.

Opening is slated for sometime this month, but there’s no hard date yet.

Now who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Dishes from Grace Winery’s new tasting room menu / Photograph by Gab Bonghi

Over in Glen Mills, Grace Winery has just picked up Parc/SPTR/Harper’s Garden veteran Dan Netter as their new exec. And to celebrate, they’re launching a new menu (and extended hours) for their tasting room.

Netter will be doing a “hyper-localized” menu, leaning hard on local farms and producers. That means cheese and charcuterie boards of local cheeses, cured meats, and house-made jams and mustards; shrimp Provencal made with Grace Winery chardonnay; heirloom tomato salads; French country chicken braised in the house cabernet Franc; and strawberry shortcakes and chocolate-hazelnut tortes for dessert. New hours are Fridays from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 9 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 7 p.m.

In 2021, partners William Johnson and Anesha Garrett started a slider joint in Wilmington called DE Slider Co., which made bank selling “Fat Mama Cheeseburgers,” buttermilk-fried chicken sliders on cornbread, and other miniature sandwich variations. They signed a deal with Aramark to distribute in several locations out of their catering kitchen and also supply local hospitals. Recently, they decided to come back to Philly, rebrand as “The Slider Co.,” and focus their operations here.

First up: an extended pop-up/residency in the outdoor courtyard at The Luxe in Fishtown (1705 North American Street), where they’ll be slinging full meals for the neighbors: two sliders, fries, chipotle-lime coleslaw, house pickles, and a soda.

And while those are some seriously fancy digs, that’s just the start. Because it looks like this three-month stand in Fishtown is just a preview for a brand-new brick-and-mortar Slider Co. location scheduled to go into the space at 2043 Frankford Avenue (yes, just down the street from the new Medium Rare mentioned above) in the fall.

The Slider Co. is kicking off their pop-up at Luxe this Friday, July 11th, with free sliders. The first 100 people to show up get a free Fat Mama or vegan-friendly Kitchen Sink slider. And they’ll be there all summer long. So go check ’em out if you’re in the neighborhood.

Speaking of free stuff, if sliders aren’t your thing, the John’s Water Ice truck will be pulling up at Chick’s on Washington Avenue the day before (Thursday, July 10th, starting at 6 p.m.) and will also be giving away free stuff to the first 100 people in line. In this case, it’s a free water ice. There are also $10 frozen piña coladas with a scoop of John’s pineapple water ice for those of you looking to cool down and get a little loose in the process.

Scott Calhoun of Ember & Ash and Tim Dearing of Ūle / Photographs by Mike Prince

And finally this week, just to wrap things up and keep those summer vibes going, how ’bout a Down the Shore collaboration dinner from chefs Tim Dearing and Scott Calhoun that they’re calling Low Tide, High Fire?

The dinner will be on Thursday, July 24th, at Calhoun’s Ember & Ash on East Passyunk. Dearing (who’s making a whole thing out of this roving collab/dinner-party thing with his concept, Ūle) will be hanging in the kitchen with Calhoun, and the two of them will combine the live-fire cooking Ember & Ash is known for with the innovation, strangeness, and fermented-everything that Dearing brings for an à la carte dinner meant to bring the flavors of the Shore to Philly.

How will they do that? With lobster bao donuts glazed in sorghum and cold clam chowder with smoked tomato, bacon broth, lardon, and corn shoyu, of course. Just like everyone eats down the Shore.

I’m kidding. But seriously, this menu looks wild. We’re talking oyster tarts in a kombu shell with sugar kelp and nori, boudin blanc with fermented king oyster mushrooms, smoked mussels, crawfish tails, and sauce Américaine, butterflied trout with a vermouth and fennel cream sauce and fermented turnips, and a “gelati” with burnt milk sorbet, rose water granita, and sorrel gelee — and that’s just the start. It looks awesome. And Calhoun and Dearing are perfect for this.

Walk-ins are welcome for this one, starting at 5 p.m. But reservations are encouraged. You can make your reservations right here.