Texas Sushi Chef Teases New Philly Restaurant With High-Profile Collabs

Ushi’s hama chili / Photograph by Shanna Hickman

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. Just a few quick things to get through this week — including (but not limited to) preview dinners for Uchi, Tesiny’s opening night, a mac-and-cheese crawl in Manayunk, the return of Bird Gang, an Autana collab dinner, and the official start of spooky season at Craftsman Row. So let’s get right into it, shall we? We’ll kick things off this week with …

Uchi Tests the Waters

It was way back in January of this year when I first told you about chef Tyson Cole bringing his brand of Texas sushi to the ground floor of the Jospehine apartments on Sansom Street in the form of a big, 165-seat Japanese restaurant, sushi bar and omakase experience called Uchi. Way back then, we had little in the way of details beyond Cole’s impressive resume (his James Beard award, his restaurants’ inclusion on all the big “Best New Restaurants” lists, etc.), his history of splashy openings in big markets (Dallas, Miami, Hollywood), and the sure knowledge that he was coming to Philly … eventually.

Well, now we know a little bit more about the possible timeline. And we’re about to know a lot more about what Cole is bringing to Philly because he just announced two different collab dinners with two of the city’s biggest chefs ahead of Uchi’s upcoming opening.

So, first things first: Best intel right now is saying a fall opening. Internally, they’re aiming for a mid-November date but we’re just far enough outside that window right now for me to call that a suggestion more than a fact. At six weeks out, you’re still staffing the joint, worrying about licenses and inspections, likely still working on putting the kitchen together, and doing detail work in the dining room. There are many things that can go wrong in the final run-up to an opening date (even one that’s been in the works for nine months), and every one of them has the potential to delay that opening. So let’s just say that the opening date is soon-ish and leave it at that.

When Uchi does open, though, it’ll be big. 165 seats total (as I said above) with 24 at the sushi bar, 14 on an outdoor terrace, and a menu of Japanese ingredients, non-traditional presentations, American and European influences, and an omakase program.

Hama chili, sake tom kha, and chef’s choice nigiri / Photograph courtesy of Uchi

And for anyone looking to get an early taste of what Cole can do, he has two big dinners coming up to show us.

First, he’ll be dropping by Greg Vernick’s kitchen at Vernick Fish on Wednesday, October 8th for a quick cocktail, followed by a five-course, family-style collab dinner. There’ll be a bread service from Vernick, oyster platters and crudos, pasta, an octopus course, and signature dishes from both restaurants. Tickets are $190. Seatings run from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. And reservations are available on the Vernick website starting today, so I’d be quick about it if you’re interested.

Then, later in the month, Cole will be jumping over to East Passyunk for a second dinner at chef Randy Rucker’s River Twice on October 22nd. Reservations for that one aren’t going live for a couple of weeks yet, so I’ll get you more details when we get a little closer.

In the meantime, all eyes are on 1620 Sansom Street. Uchi is going to be a big deal when it opens. And I can’t wait to see what Cole and his team can do once they get settled in.

Now what else is happening this week …

Oysters and Martinis in the Garage

From left: The bar at Tesiny; a few dishes off Tesiny’s menu. / Photographs by Chloé Pantazi-Wolber and courtesy of Tesiny

We’ve talked a bunch about Tesiny, Lauren Biederman’s new spot in a former garage on Dickinson Street. Her brand is all about specialty foods, luxurious bites, lox and caviar bumps. And for a little while now, we’ve all been waiting to see how that translates to an actual restaurant (and bar) just a couple blocks off East Passyunk.

And now we can, because Tesiny opened to the public last week. There were a couple friends-and-family dinners, followed by an official opening night on September 4th. Reservations are available right now (if you’re lucky), but Tesiny also holds a fair number of seats at the bar and at one, long communal table open for walk-ins. Which is important, because Tesiny is supposed to be a neighborhood kind of spot, and that vibe goes right out the window when the neighbors can’t actually get a seat.

In terms of the actual experience of the place, we’re talking cold seafood platters and chilled martinis, chilled shrimp cocktails with horseradish crème fraîche and clam ceviche with peach, jalapeño, and lime. Chef Michael Valent (ex of Zahav and the Chloe Grigri/Vince Stipo restaurant empire) is in the kitchen, and he’s doing broiled oysters with Calabrian chili butter, warm shrimp with saffron and Aleppo pepper, and several dishes off a charcoal grill — notably wagyu culotte steaks, Iberico pork shoulder with peach chutney, and octopus with white beans and olives, dressed in harissa.

Honestly, the menu just looks good. It’s the kind of thing you look at and you want to eat everything. You want to just move in, become some kind of neighborhood lush, always drunk on gin and mezcal milk punch, trading waves with the neighborhood swells while knocking back oysters and bluefin tuna crudo ’til the lights go out. But maybe that’s just me.

Anyway, the place is open now. It looks amazing. And reservations are going fast. I say just show up and take your chances at the bar. I’ll race ya.

A Churro Collab Is the Best Kind of Collab …

El Merkury x Autana churro collab / Photograph by Kerri Sitrin

You like churros? Of course you do. You want to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month? Of course you do.

So how about celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a churro collab between the crews at El Merkury (where churros are a way of life) and Autana — one of the best ghost-kitchens-turned-part-time-restaurant-turned-actual-restaurant-turned-pop-up-Venezuelan-street-food-experiences ever.

Starting September 15th and running through September 30th, El Merkury and Autana will be doing a limited-edition key lime pie churro sundae in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. It’s basically a big-ass loopy churro, stuck into a cup of soft-serve, topped with a slice of key lime pie, and there is NOTHING wrong with any of that. I love every word of that entire sentence. I mean, just look at the picture! What’s not to like?

Get yours at El Merkury at 2104 Chestnut Street and at Reading Terminal Market.

… But a Booze Collab Is Pretty Good, Too

Photograph courtesy of Bird Gang Spirits

Just in time for Eagles season, the cats over at BOTLD and Bird Gang Spirits have teamed up with the sugar-water purveyors at Rita’s for a completely ridiculous, completely childish, completely appropriate, and very, very Philly collaboration.

In partnership with your Philadelphia Eagles, they’re now selling a limited-edition Bird Gang Spirits x Rita’s Italian Ice collaboration vodka.

Oh, no. Wait. They’re actually selling two.

Yup. You can go online right now and order the Wild Black Cherry Italian Ice Vodka or the Mango Italian Ice Vodka. Each bottle is absolutely festooned with Eagles and Rita’s logos and color schemes. They’re basically drinkable collector’s editions. And, quite frankly, in the great, wide universe of flavored vodkas, a cherry water ice version is far from the greatest sin ever committed. I mean, who among us hasn’t already doctored up a cup of Rita’s with a little adult brain lubricant? Vodka and water ice is basically the flavor of summer in Philly for a certain segment of the population. And this collab is essentially just making that official.

Bottles are available now at all BOTLD locations and online. Get yours before they’re gone.

Now who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Halloween-themed dishes and drinks from Craftsman Row Saloon / Photograph by Cody Aldrich

Always a sure sign that spooky season is approaching, I just got word late last week that Craftsman Row Saloon has announced the opening date for its Halloween pop-up bar. This year’s theme: “Nightmare Before Christmas Spooktacular Movie Mash.”

Because subtlety has never really been their thing.

As always, the entire space will be filled floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall with decorations (this year focused on characters from Nightmare Before Christmas, Scream, Beetlejuice, Addams Family, and more), over-the-top milkshakes, food and drink specials, and weird-ass cocktails. It’s a maximalist celebration of the season — loud and aggressive and perfect for this town. And whether you’re ready for fall to begin or not, they’re kicking off the Halloween vibes starting on September 11th. The pop-up will then run through October 31st, followed by a quick turnaround, and then the opening of the Christmas bar on November 7th.

Meanwhile, a little bit further out on the calendar, there’s a mac and cheese crawl coming to Manayunk as part of the Manayunk Fall Fest on Saturday, October 18th. A dozen different restaurants and bars will be participating, all offering their own versions of the classic mac and cheese, with joints as varied as Bar Jawn, Blondie, Chabba Thai, Lucky’s, and Mia Ragazza all playing along.

I’m mentioning this now for two reasons: First, a mac and cheese crawl sounds like fun and it’s good to have things to look forward to. Second, this is actually a ticketed event (with check-in times and everything), and tickets for it are available right now for those of you who like to plan ahead.

On September 14th, they’re going to be celebrating Mexican Independence Day at Cantina La Martina with a big outdoor buffet and party in their backyard. They’ll have dishes from all the different regions of Mexico, local DJs, and an Independence ceremony at 9 p.m. The buffet looks awesome, honestly. There are dozens of dishes planned, each one a specialty of its particular region, plus sides, desserts and drinks. Tickets are just $45 for the buffet (drinks are extra), and more information can be found right here.

And finally this week, the Sisterly Love Collective is back again with another “Cookbooks and Convos” series.

This is the third annual event, and this time around they’ve got 18 events with cookbook authors and food and beverage professionals, and events will run from Sunday, October 12th, through Monday, November 10th with locations at restaurants all over the city. We’re talking Hailee Catalano at Pray Tell Wines, Zev Rovine with Eli Collins at a.kitchen, David Nayfeld at Bastia, Kiera Wright-Ruiz at Baby’s, and a whole bunch more.

You can check out the full list of participating authors and restaurants (and get tickets to the events) here. But just so you know, Sisterly Love is still adding events, so check back as we get closer to the events and see who else might be showing up.