Asian Flavors Meet Dry-Aged Beef: A Look at Philly’s New Steakhouse

Rockwell & Rose / Photograph by Corey Moore

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. It’s been kind of a quiet week around here, so there are just a few quick things to get through, including (but not limited to) opening news from Rockwell & Rose, rumblings from inside Starr’s empire, South Jersey cheesesteak news, and an empanada festival. So let’s get right into it, shall we? We’ll kick things off this week with …

Details From Inside Rockwell & Rose

The news about Rockwell & Rose — the new steakhouse concept that’s taking over half the original P.J. Clarke’s space at the Curtis in Washington Square — broke back in August, and they announced that the team was targeting an October 8th opening.

Now, here we are on October 7th and, believe it or not, they’re actually going to open on October 8th. Tomorrow night will be the first (public) service for the new restaurant, and that’s worth noting simply because a new restaurant hitting its opening date projection is just so rare these days.

Inside Rockwell & Rose / Photograph by Corey Moore

As planned, this place is positioning itself as a modern steakhouse — not dark, stoic, leather-upholstered, and filled with painting of horses; but rather bright, welcoming, and shiny. The menus (there are basically three) offer a balance between the traditional steaks and chops (dry-aged ribeyes and Society Hill porterhouses for two, carved tableside) and less steakhouse-y options (poached salmon with crispy sushi rice, pear and gorgonzola dumplings, a whole-ass Thanksgiving dinner rolled porchetta-style, and served any time you want it), plus a separate oyster bar and small plates menu that’s got duck wings, tartare, crab-cake egg rolls, and oven-roasted bone marrow.

One new thing? The exec chef.

P.J.’s/R&R brought in chef Ryan Lloyd to run the joint(s), and he’s basically got the perfect résumé for this. Originally from Colorado, he’s been in the Philly area for a while, as exec sous at Ocean Prime, then running the kitchen at 9 Prime in West Chester, and, most recently, getting Michael Schulson’s new Mediterranean spot, Dear Daphni, up and running. Lloyd actually spent the early part of his career (in Denver and then Chicago) working in sushi restaurants, and he’s now bringing a little bit of that Asian technique to Rockwell & Rose.

“The poached salmon is a great example of taking a known and reinventing it utilizing Asian cuisine flavors,” he says. “The duck wings is another one where we didn’t just combine flavors but elevated a typically approachable item all together.”

The press dinner for Rockwell & Rose is happening tonight. The grand opening is tomorrow.

And speaking of new openings …

Suburban Station’s Spanish-Italian Restaurant (Finally) Opens

I first told you about Rhythm & Spirits — the unique red-gravy-and-paella operation out of New Jersey — way back in February of last year. Back then, the plan for the space at 16th and JFK (right at the top of the steps leading down to Suburban Station) included a chocolate speakeasy, an all-Italian-American menu, and a spring 2024 opening.

My, how things have changed.

For starters, it took until now — fall of 2025 — for owner Lee Sanchez to actually get the place open. Originally, this version of Rhythm & Spirits was going to be an expansion of the original Atlantic City-based operation, but the AC location has since closed and one of the partners (Mark Callazzo) in no longer involved.

The chocolate speakeasy, chocolate cocktails, and heavily chocolate-focused brunch? That’s all gone. Partner Barry Kratchman (of Classic Cake in Cherry Hill) will now handle the desserts, with his exec pastry chef, Michael D’Angelo, doing the heavy lifting.

And the menu, while still largely Italian (think spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parm, and a handful of thin-crust pizzas for lunch and dinner), also now has some hits of Spanish cuisine, owing to Sanchez’s upbringing in a Spanish-Italian family. So there’s paella bites with Merguez sausage, breaded and fried like arancini; gambas al ajillo with saffron garlic butter; and a vegan mafaldine pasta with harissa and cashew cream.

The space, sitting at street-level on JFK Boulevard, is doing a slow roll-out of services.

Dinner started at the end of September. Reservations went live last week. Lunch just kicked off in the past few days. Weekend brunch and daily breakfast should be coming soon, along with plans for entertainment (maybe some live music), happy hour deals, and more.

Sanchez really is trying to cover a lot of bases with one single restaurant. But considering the location, the size of the joint (north of 150 seats depending on how they’re arranged), and the needs of that particular stretch of Center City and its finicky commuters, this is probably the right choice.

In any case, I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on the place.

Now what else is happening this week?

Raging Bull Brings Cheesesteaks, Smash Burgers, and Milkshakes to South Jersey

Photograph courtesy of Raging Bull

Okay, so here’s some good news if you live in Pennsauken. Eric Adili (ex of The Fat Tomato in Berlin and Palumbo’s in Cinnaminson, which was owned by his dad) has just opened his first (of many) Raging Bull restaurant at 6007 Manison Boulevard.

I say of many because Adili and his team seem absolutely convinced that this is just the beginning of a South Jersey cheesesteak-and-chicken empire. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

First, let’s talk about the new spot. It’s a fast-casual concept, set up for lunch and dinner, takeout, dine-in, and delivery. The menu is simple and tightly focused: cheesesteaks, smash burgers and milkshakes, plus fries and onion rings cooked in 100 percent beef tallow. He’s slicing the ribeye daily for the steaks and mounting them on Liscio’s rolls, hand-spinning the milkshakes, making sure the burgers have those thin, crisp edges, and putting his own stamp on things with specials like the namesake “Raging Bull” cheesesteak (Cooper Sharp Whiz, chipotle mayo, and roasted Italian long hots), “Raging Rooster” chicken cheesesteaks (house-brined chicken, honey sriracha, ranch, jalapeños, bacon, and Cooper Sharp), and an Oklahoma smash burger with slivered onions smushed right into the patty.

The Raging Bull opened last week. They cut the ribbon and gave away some cheesesteaks and burgers. And it all seemed to go well.

But here’s why this is interesting to me: Even before the first spot opened in Pennsauken, Adili was already talking about plans for the future. See, years back he created a menu item called the “Raging Rooster” (see above). This inspired him to rough out an idea for a hot chicken restaurant concept of the same name. The Raging Bull? He considers that to be a sibling brand to the yet-to-exist Raging Rooster. But there are already plans in the works to open the first Raging Rooster in the coming months (no details yet), plus “at least three to five more Raging Bull locations” in the future. “Together, the two concepts are envisioned as part of a growing family of South Jersey-born brands,” according to his press. And considering the tightness of the menu and concept at the Raging Bull, plus his lifetime of experience in the industry, I have no doubt that Adili is going to take a serious swing at this.

So is this the start of another South Jersey restaurant empire? No one knows yet. But if I were a betting man (and I absolutely am a betting man), I’d say that this will not be the last time you see the Raging Bull in this column. So, you know, watch this space.

Now who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Haraz is bringing its Yemeni coffee culture and pastries to Fishtown. / Photograph courtesy of Haraz

Two quick things about the Starr restaurant empire to top the list this week.

First, it looks like Adrian, his Rocky-themed restaurant at Xfinity Mobile Arena (fka Wells Fargo Center), is done. The club-level spot lasted about three years, but is now being replaced by Primepoint Social which will be a restaurant, lounge, and event space set to open sometime this fall.

Say what you will about Adrian (and, honestly, I never heard a single person say anything nice), but replacing a Starr operation sporting a very Philly hook with some blandly corporate food-and-drink zone lovingly named for a New Jersey human resources and payroll services company is a fairly dystopian development. I mean, maybe not when you compare it to the hundred other seriously dystopian things that seem to happen in this garbage fire of a country every day, but still. It bothers me. The name, the vibe, the forced bonhomie of the Corporate Brand + Social naming convention? Makes it feel like I’m drinking a watery well margarita in a bank lobby while someone scolds me for not being fun enough.

Anyway …

The second piece of news is the rumor that Starr might be bringing New York restaurateur Danny Bowien to town with the eventual goal of opening an outpost of his storied Mission Chinese here in our fair city.

Now, I know nothing about this personally. It was first reported in the Philly Biz Journal. But Starr himself is talking about it, so that makes me think that it’s more than just a rumor, if still less than absolute fact. Starr has a lot of plans. They sometimes take years to come to fruition. But this one is definitely worth filing away in the Maybe Someday …  file and revisiting once we hear more.

But seriously, how cool would it be if we got our own Mission Chinese?

Meanwhile, if empanadas are your thing (as they should be), here’s something to brighten your day. In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Jezabel Careaga is hosting her second annual Empanada Festival at Jezabel’s on Sunday, October 12th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Basically, she’s bringing in chefs from all over town to make empanadas. Then you get to show up and eat the empanadas. Entry is free, empanadas are PAYG, and you can find more info (and pre-order packed empanada sampler boxes) right here.

I first told y’all about Haraz, the Yemeni-style coffee shop in University City, back in April of this year. And now I get to report that the first spot did well enough that it’s expanding with a Fishtown location set to open this weekend.

The new spot will open Friday, October 10th, at 4 p.m. at 23 West Girard Avenue. And at this new location they’re focusing on the talents of Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef Enaas Sultan who’ll be bringing her “classical French technique, Yemeni tradition, and global inspiration” to the new space.

This means pistachio cheesecake, Dubai chocolate brownies, za’atar puffs, pistachio-raspberry tarts, tahini chocolate cake, and more. It looks kinda amazing, actually. Check out the Instagram feed if you don’t believe me. Or just listen to what chef Sultan has to say about it:

“Pastry is a way of storytelling. With each dessert, I want to share flavors from my heritage, my travels, and my training in a way that feels both familiar and new. Bringing this vision to Fishtown — one of the city’s most creative neighborhoods — is incredibly exciting.”

Shane Confectionery’s artisan Pine Barrens-themed chocolate box / Photograph courtesy of Shane Confectionery

And finally this week, for those of you looking for something unique and Halloween-y for the season, how ’bout this? Shane Confectionery is doing a limited-edition Halloween chocolate box inspired by … the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

No, wait. Hear me out.

They’re doing an extremely limited run of just 150 boxes, all based around “the folklore, landscape and history of the Pine Barrens.”

I’ll let them explain it:

“Shane Confectionery has waded through the bogs of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, to create a confectionery assortment inspired by its seemingly unnatural nature, spooky spirits, and most iconic cryptid, the Jersey Devil. … The box will also be accompanied by a booklet  that explores each inspiration in depth. Every box also comes with a pinecone candle from Philadelphia Bee Co.”

So that’s cool. As with previous years’ history-centric boxes, the exact contents are a secret, but we’re talking stuff like sassafras sugar cookies, blueberry cordials, pine truffles — that kind of thing. Boxes are $75 each, meant to be shared, and are selling fast. More information right here.