The New Philly Restaurants Worth Watching This Summer

Known Associates: Interior by PS & Daughters

Looking for somewhere new to eat? Man, are you in the right place. Right now, Philly has an abundance of new restaurants opening to try to take advantage of the booming summer crowds in what will likely go down in history as the busiest summer in Philly’s modern history. There are actually so many new spots clamoring for attention that it can be difficult to keep track. So, for your convenience, we’ve put together this list of five of the most notable new openings in Philly so far this summer.

Known Associates

Washington Square West

This is a concept that Forsythia chef Christopher Kearse has been sitting on for years.

“I’ve always loved the idea of an experience that’s fun, interactive, and a little whimsical,” Kearse says in a press release sent to Philly Mag. “It was part of my original vision for Forsythia, and I’ve kept that idea tucked away for years. I’m excited to finally bring that vision to life.”

Beverage director Chris Harrop has designed a cocktail menu that’s all genre-bending Boulevardiers with house-made mezcal amaro, Vespers spiked with plum wine and mango-infused Lillet, and the zero-waste, tomato-forward TNT that’s like a gin and tonic that’s been dragged through the vegetable garden.

And while Known Associates is a cocktail bar first, it’s one where some serious attention has been paid to the kitchen — which is not at all surprising since Kearse has spent decades behind the line, working out the voice and style that caught the eye of the Michelin inspectors last year and got Forsythia a recommendation from the Guide. Kearse has shaped a menu based on European cafe dining — short but packed with interesting (and modernist) diversions like freeze-dried peas dusted with Cool Ranch seasoning, frites with Comté cheese foam, a “Burger au Poivre” split in half and left to soak in a puddle of peppercorn sauce, and toasted rice-milk ice cream with peanut brittle for dessert.

Kearse worked with long-time design partners at PS & Daughters to give the 40-seat space “a sense of well-worn opulence richly layered and seemingly shaped by time” — which is impressive for a place that’s actually been actually open for only a week or so now. Still, it’s totally worth checking out. Reservations are open, so give it a go. 941 Spruce Street.

Mr. Edison

Center City

Because who wasn’t looking for a restaurant themed around the guy who invented the lightbulb? Two unusual things you should know about this place right from the jump:

First, it has a dress code — something that rarely seems to go over well in Philadelphia. They want their guests to be “upscale fashionable,” which means no Eagles jerseys, Phillies hats, flip-flops, or sweatpants. I don’t love rules (in general), or dress codes (specifically), but I do hate flip-flops in the dining room.

Second, Mr. Edison marks the return of Matt Levin to the neighborhood. He’s been out of the game locally for quite a few years now, but he’s coming back to run the kitchen at this Jeffrey Chodorow-backed supper club at the Bellevue (which Edison famously electrified back in the Gilded Age, hence the name).

The menu is heavy on oysters and caviar, classic presentations like lobster thermidor, bone-in veal chops, and the crab galette they used to do at Le Bec-Fin. There’s also foie gras with pistachio cherry pie, poached shrimp with a white cocktail sauce (less chance of a drip ruining your ball gown, I suppose), roasted half-duck for two, and a dozen other high-dollar plates that really make this spot the definition of a destination restaurant. It’s lovely; it’s expensive; there’s a $20 Clover Club at the bar; and reservations are available now. Just don’t forget your top hat and monocle. 1400 Walnut Street.

Mr. Edison at the Bellevue / Photograph courtesy of Mr. Edison

BAR ilu

Kensington

Adding to the action we’ve already got going in this little corner of Kensington (think Little Walter’s, Emilia, etc.), now there’s ilu — a Spanish small plates joint named for the Madrid-born grandmother of one of the partners.

There are freezer martinis and Gibson’s with guindilla peppers at the bar. From the kitchen,  marinated olives, plates of Iberico ham with kettle chips, calamari bocadillo, and confit artichoke with olive oil and lemon. It’s a menu of snacks (as it should be), bulked out with the more recognizable patatas bravas and tortilla Espanola, tuna empanadas and plates of croquetas, all served out of a tiny kitchen to a bar and dining room that’s got more snaky curves and patterned wallpaper than a David Lynch set.

BAR ilu is the newest project from the team behind Vintage, Time, Garage, and various other mononymous operations around town. It is small (just 40-odd seats). It is dim. It is gorgeous in a throwback ’70s hole-in-the-wall kind of way. And if you’re looking for a low-stress date-night home run, or a place to camp out with a couple of friends on a Thursday night, this is your spot. Provided you can find a seat, of course. 2118 East Dauphin Street.

Roxanne 3.0

Queen Village

In the beginning, there was the original Roxanne: a wild, DIY experiment in revolutionary supper-club economics in a tiny room on Christian Street. Then, chef and owner Alexandra Holt moved the entire operation to 2nd Street in Queen Village and seemed to settle into a (somewhat) more traditional restaurant vibe — one that included things like à la carte menus, regular hours and matching silverware.

Thing is, neither of those restaurants were actually … legal. She’d been operating without permits, without inspections — and when the city got wise, they shut Roxanne down. But now, after a forced closure that lasted 10 weeks, Roxanne is back up and running in Queen Village, now with all the required paperwork and a brand-new lunch service with burgers, tuna melts, spaghetti, and octopus dip.

In any of its various iterations, Roxanne has never been an easily definable restaurant. It is a very personal, very biographical expression of Holt’s tastes as a chef and a human that pinballs wildly from classic, approachable dishes like homemade baguette with whipped Normandy butter to raw cheesesteaks, shrimp cutlets with banana, and something called “Potato, with potato.” But it is unique. It’s got that Philly sense of fuck-you lawlessness. And it is currently open for business and absolutely worth your time and dollars — if only to say you were there to see it for yourself. 607 South 2nd Street.

Soufiane at the Morris / Photograph by Laura Swartz

Soufiane at the Morris

Washington Square

Christophe Mathon and Soufiane Boutliliss, the team behind Sofi Corner Cafe on Locust Street, opened Soufiane at the Morris House Hotel at the beginning of June, and it is a remarkable place — 120 seats split between the open-air patio, dining room and bar, tucked away behind the gate in the Morris House courtyard, and a French Moroccan brasserie menu that’s like something out of a movie. We’re talking beef tartare smoked with rosemary under a cloche, pâté en croute with foie, roasted bone marrow with Maldon salt and chermoula, classic onion soup, lamb tagine, coq au vin, mussels in white wine and curry, late-night croque monsieur, and Moroccan-style French toasts with pistachio, candied orange and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Dining under the canopy in the courtyard is perfect for those evenings when the sun isn’t too brutal. And when it is, slouching at the bar, eating escargot and drinking cold gin and tonics seems like the perfect way to waste a hot afternoon. Plus, there’s a good chance that the slightly hidden, out-of-the-way location will keep away the worst of the tourist crowds. 225 South 8th Street.