Cuba Libre Introduces Philly’s First GLP-1 Menu

Items off of Cuba Libre’s GLP-1 menu / Photograph by Ernesto Jimenez

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) a big anniversary for Amada, GLP-1 menus, another food hall for Philly and the kick-off for Cider Week. So let’s get right into it, shall we? We’ll start things off this week with …

What Is a GLP-1 Menu?

Philly-based Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar is rolling out a menu catering specifically to customers using GLP-1 medications. Though it may not be the first of its kind in the country as they are claiming (restaurants in New York City have already been rolling out menus with smaller portions targeted toward this growing population) it is a first for Philly.

“With the skyrocketing use of GLP-1 drugs in the U.S., [Cuba Libre] has become the first to debut a GLP-1 menu to cater to the special needs of their guests who are currently on these medications for obesity, diabetes or other medical issues,” the restaurant said in a press release.

Honestly, I’ve been thinking about this story for a few days now, and I still don’t really know how I feel about it. Smaller portions, high fiber, nutrient density — these are all legitimate concerns. But there’s also something about this that feels … faddish. Like a restaurant jumping on a trend. So I dunno. I’ll let the restaurant chain speak for itself on this one. This is what they had to say by way of explanation:

“A recent study found glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) treatment in the US has risen more than 700 percent over the past four years. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, estimate that six percent of the population is now on either Ozempic or Mounjaro for weight loss and various other health conditions. ‘While less than one percent of the population is estimated to have celiac disease, restaurants commonly make special accommodations for those guests, so why not support the many GLP-1 users — it seems everyone is on them,’ added [Barry] Gutin, [co-founder of Cuba Libre].”

The chain’s culinary director worked with weight-loss specialists to come up with a special five-item GLP-1 menu that’s heavy on the protein, low in fat, and includes lots of fiber. We’re talking ropa vieja with rice and beans and asparagus; camaron salteados with grape tomatoes and avocado; salmon à la plancha — that kind of thing.

The menu includes nutritional breakdowns, and because the portions are smaller, the prices are also about 25 percent lower than similar dishes on the standard menu. If all goes according to plan, the GLP-1 menu will be available on request at all Cuba Libre locations (including Philly) by the end of October.

Gather Food Hall Comes to Schuylkill Yards

Photograph courtesy of Gather Food Hall

Philly is going through a bit of a food hall boom lately, and while I have some … opinions on what some of the players bring to the game, Gather — the new project opening October 31st in the ground floor of the Bulletin Building at 3025 Market Street in University City — feels like a different sort of project entirely.

Gather Food Hall is a 13,000-square-foot, multi-unit experiment in communal dining; a focal point for well-known local favorites and minority-owned start-ups from chefs and owners shut out of traditional restaurant ownership. It is planned as “a place for office tenants, students, and locals in University City to meet, collaborate, and share meals and drinks,” but also a place that’s dedicated to building community and taking care of the neighbors.

Plus, the debut food lineup is offering a diverse and unexpected collection of concepts that seems to be catching Philly exactly where it is right now. I mean, take a look at what they’ve got on the board for opening day:

Federal Donuts & Chicken: It’s classic, it’s everywhere, it’s purely Philly, and with its coffee/doughnuts/fried chicken trifecta it’s the perfect concept for a food hall environment.

Sahbyy Food: The team from the FDR Park Southeast Asian Market stall is opening their first brick-and-mortar location at Gather, and they’re bringing their Best of Philly lemongrass cheesesteak topped with papaya salad to the party (along with Ch’Kai chili dogs, their Sahbyy Bolognese and wings).

El Mictlan: Coming out of South Philly and bringing West Coast-style Mexican to UCity with a taco bar, house-made guacamole, tuna tostadas, and a rotating list of seasonal specials.

Mucho Perú: Started as a series of pop-ups in 2024, this Peruvian party food concept has now found a permanent home at Gather, offering empanadas, ceviche, salads, pork belly sandwiches, and tres leches — all of which is great because, no matter how crowded a scene gets, you can never have too much Peruvian food.

Bowl’d Masala: This one is a straight food-hall concept started during the pandemic and now growing into an empire serving Indian street food, bowls, wraps, naan pizzas, tandoori wings, and more.

Oh, but wait, you say. What about drinks? Well, Gather has you covered there, too, because they’re also opening the Bulletin Bar: a “full-service bar inspired by the newspaper printing press that once occupied the site. The bar’s design pays homage to the building’s storied past while embracing its modern evolution. Just as the Philadelphia Bulletin once connected the city through conversation, the Bulletin Bar will offer a space for connection and conversation.”

Come opening day, the Bulletin Bar will be offering a full cocktail menu, draft beers, and a wine list — all of which is very convenient considering Gather is basically right next door to 30th Street Station.

So we’ve got Mexican, Cambodian, Peruvian, modern Indian, empanadas, tacos, tandoori wings, cheesesteaks, fried chicken, doughnuts, cold beer, and cocktails all in one place. That sounds pretty awesome to me. And on top of the basic, day-to-day work of feeding the crowds in University City, Gather is also committed to growing local businesses, because part of their mission is supporting restaurateurs coming from underserved communities:

“Many aspiring chefs and restaurant professionals face barriers to entry, from resource gaps to a lack of professional mentorship. Two of Gather Food Hall stalls were awarded to outstanding chefs facing these issues. They are supported by $25,000 grants from the city, low interest loans, and a mentoring program that provides guidance from successful restaurateurs and experts in marketing, communications, legal, and restaurant finance.”

On top of that, they’re also shedding some light on the issue of food insecurity among college students. According to Gather’s mission statement, one in four college students doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from. So, in partnership with Believe In Students, Gather will be providing impacted students with “low-cost, stigma-free meals while connecting them with broader supports and solutions.” Brandywine Realty Trust (which owns the building) is putting up $250,000 over 10 years to support this project, and Gather will also provide customers with the opportunity to help.

“It’s hard to focus on school when you’re not sure where your next meal is coming from,” says Traci Kirtley, executive director of Believe in Students. “Gather Food Hall is establishing an innovative approach to solving this issue by not only feeding students but elevating the issue in our public consciousness.”

So yeah, good food and some community investment? I like the way that sounds. As mentioned above, Gather is opening to the public on Friday, October 31st. Service will be every day. Hours will be Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with FedNuts opening at 8 a.m. every day for breakfast.

Now what else is happening this week …

A Big Week for Honeysuckle

Omar Tate of Honeysuckle / Photograph by Gab Bonghi

Just yesterday we posted my review of Honeysuckle, Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate’s restaurant on North Broad. It was one of the most stunning meals I’ve had this year — smart, deep, snarky, comforting, egotistical, and delicious all at the same time — and one that I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

And just as the review was going up online, I got word of two different projects that they have in the works for Honeysuckle: a wine dinner and a bagel collaboration. So here’s what we know.

First, the wine dinner. Omar and Cybille will be partnering with André Mack of Maison Noire wines (and the former sommelier at Per Se) for their first-ever wine-focused pairing dinner. Honeysuckle’s kitchen will be doing five courses. Mack will be doing five pours. And he’ll be there on the floor to talk about his wines, winemaking in general, and being “the black sheep” in the wine world. The dinner will be on Thursday, October 30th. Tickets are $175 a head. And you can make your reservations right here.

Omar and Cybille are also partnering with the team from Spread Bagelry for a seasonal collab showcasing “Philadelphia roots, Black foodways, and the chefs’ signature culinary storytelling.” Spread, known for their kettle-boiled and fire-baked Montreal-style bagels, will be putting out a special menu (running now through December 31st) curated by the Tates and featuring sweet potato bagels, epis garlic and parsley cream cheese, a “Sweet Heat Standard Sandwich” with a vegan black-eyed pea scrapple patty covered with house-made hot honey and cheddar cheese, and a chili yam molasses latte.

From Omar: “Food has always been about connection for me. This menu represents the intersection of Black culture and Philadelphia tradition — sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, scrapple, epis — all of it speaks to who we are, where we come from, and how food can bridge communities. To bring these flavors to life with Spread, a brand rooted in the city where I was born and raised, feels both natural and essential.”

The collab menu will be available at all Spread Bagelry locations starting … now.

The Leftovers

Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran named in Out Magazine’s 31st annual Out100 list. / Photograph by Neal Santos

With Halloween fast approaching, River Twice is rolling out the fifth iteration of its “7 Deadly Sins” menu for special dinners on October 29th and 30th.

This is a seven-course menu cooked by chef Randy Rucker and his team, with each dish representing one of the seven deadly sins — with “envy” always being the most fun because that’s where Randy basically lifts a dish he loves from someone else’s menu (like Zahav’s lamb shoulder or Jesse Ito’s industry chirashi) and does his own version of it.

This years menu looks like this: chilled oyster chawanmushi with golden Ossetra caviar and sabayon (Lust); terrine of foie, pork, and sweetbreads with pickled grapes and kraut mustard (Gluttony); turtle soup au sherry (Sloth); sour cornbread with black truffle and Maine uni (Greed); redfish ‘on the ½ shell” (Pride); kaeng khiao wan with quail and eggplant (wrath); and Forsythia chef Christopher Kearse’s baba au rhum (Envy) for dessert.

Tickets are $100 with an optional beverage pairing. You can get yours here. And there’s also going to be a costume contest both nights, with the best costume winning a coveted Mother Rucker Burger punch card, which guarantees the winner a burger on reserve for up to five visits.

Philly Cider Week is coming right up, with cider-focused events scheduled all over the city. But the whole thing kicks off with the big opening event: the “Sunday Cider Stroll” on October 26th in Headhouse. Basically, as soon as the Headhouse Farmers Market wraps up, the entire place will be transformed with new vendors all focused on cider. There’ll be cideries, snacks, music — everything you need for a perfect fall day.

Cider Week runs from Sunday, October 26th to Monday, November 3rd, and there are lots of events scheduled. You can find all the details on the Cider Stroll (and everything else happening) right here.

Congrats to Marcie Turney and Val Safran for making Out magazine’s Out100 list of the “most influential and pioneering LGBTQ+ individuals across entertainment, politics, activism, sports, and more.”

Safran Turney Hospitality were recognized “for their remarkable contributions to the Philadelphia restaurant and retail scene, furthering equality and visibility for the LGBTQ+ community.”

You can check out the full list here, or just read about Marcie and Val right here.

West Chester had two new restaurant openings last week. The first, Lulu’s Bread & Bakery, is a small-batch, artisanal porch bakery at 408 West Miner Street, where local baker Alexa Geiser moves rustic sourdough loaves, sandwich bread, and fresh-baked cookies until everything sells out (which it seems to do pretty much every day so far).

Second, there’s a new LaScala’s Fire at 44 West Gay Street doing classic Italian, wood-fired pizzas, spaghetti and clams, arugula salads, and … sushi? Yeah, it’s an Italian restaurant with poké bowls, shumai, and a full-on sushi bar. Which is an interesting move, sure, but also kinda awesome if it doesn’t suck. It’s not the only location, but it is one of the few that have a sushi bar attached, so I’m curious. I’ll definitely be stopping in next time I’m in the area.

Finally this week, we can wish a (slightly) belated happy birthday to Amada which turned 20 years old last week. Jose Garces’s flagship Spanish joint did a little bit of celebrating over the weekend, but I think the most interesting thing to come out of all the hoopla was the announcement that Garces is planning on opening a new Amada sometime next year in Chicago, his hometown. So if nothing else, it looks like that brand is still very much alive and kicking after two full decades of service.