Welcome to The Inquirer’s new Food section | Let’s Eat

Philly’s food scene keeps expanding, and so is our food coverage. Let’s explore The Inquirer’s new Food section.

Also in this edition:

— Mike Klein

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

There’s so much happening on the Philadelphia-area food scene, and we aim to cover it all for you. Last fall, we launched the 76, our annual compendium of Philly’s essential restaurants, brought on a new writer (former chef Kiki Aranita), and premiered @phillyinqfood, the Inquirer Food Instagram account.

Here come three more features:

Restaurant finder: This new tool crawls our database of hundreds of Philadelphia-area restaurants — with more added each week — to make it easy to find the restaurant you’re hungry for.

Maps: Our fast and fluid new format for reported, expert recommendations straight from the Food team makes it easy to see exactly where to find the city’s best cheesesteaks, hoagies, and more. Each month, we’ll release new collections as we definitively map out the best of Philly’s food and drinks.

Home page: A revitalized way to see everything that matters in the city’s food scene, the redesigned homepage clearly highlights the most important stories from our team, as well as social videos and recipes from our partners. Bookmark us!

Have feedback? Let me know.

Bluebird Distilling is adding a restaurant as part of a $2 million overhaul of its tasting room in Phoenixville. During construction of Bluebird Social, writes Jenn Ladd, the cocktails will keep flowing.

There are few places in Philadelphia right now that are as fun to eat and drink at as the new Supérette, writes critic Craig LaBan in his review of the new “sip-and-nibble restaurant” on East Passyunk Avenue.

➕ Snow pea leaves — the “Queen of Greens” — are a seasonal dish at Dim Sum Mania and some other Chinese restaurants, Craig writes. Get ’em before they’re gone.

It’s soft-shell crab season, and I found 12 restaurants selling them in a variety of forms. Shown above is chef Bobby Saritsoglou’s rendition at South Philly’s Stina: a lightly breaded “whale”-size crab served with ramp leaves, Persian cucumber, and watercress dressed in tomato fennel vinaigrette for $30. Here’s my rundown, including a soft-shell crab hoagie.

🦀 If you want to cook your own soft-shells, you likely will have to hunt for a supplier. I found them Tuesday at Giuseppe’s, the retail shop attached to Samuels Seafood in South Philadelphia. A tray of 18 “jumbos” cost $200.

The musical comedy Some Like It Hot, on stage through Sunday at the Forrest Theatre, has “a lot going for it” and “largely succeeds for its heart and reverence for its source material,” writes critic Frank Schierloh. His review is here.

One of Philly’s summertime pleasures is Bok Bar, a gathering spot with panoramic views at the top of the Bok Building in South Philadelphia since 2016. Lindsey Scannapieco and Scout Ltd., who refurbished the former tech school into a workspace for makers, businesses, nonprofits, and artists, recently bought the former University of the Arts-owned Hamilton and Furness Buildings in Center City. Their early plans include a pop-up called Frankie’s Summer Club in the courtyard of the Frank Furness Building (355 S. 15th St., at Pine), serving wine, ice cream, and snacks in partnership with chef Michael Ferreri, who runs Irwin’s at the Bok. Opening is targeted for mid-June. ISA Architects’ plans for Frankie’s were inspired by a never-realized design by architect Louis Kahn in 1975 for the adjacent Kimmel Center site.

Simon Joseph, who’s lived near the Berks stop of the Market-Frankford El for 15 years, could not find a source for an early-morning coffee and breakfast sandwich before hopping on the train. He’s opening Bubs this summer in a former juice shop under the El at 102 W. Berks St., next to Essen Bakery, to sell drip coffee and sandwiches early. The rest of the day, Bubs will be a cafe offering board games. Passersby can follow Bubs’ progress via Joseph’s hand-lettered window signs or on Instagram.

Leo. The latest production at the Kimmel Center is a restaurant named Leo, which opened last weekend under new food operator Rhubarb Hospitality Collection.

It’s a dramatic redo of Volvér, which closed a year ago, with a more open look that nonetheless retains intimacy thanks to table lamps and softer lighting. Through the glass and sheer curtains, you can now also see into the Kimmel lobby, once cut off from the restaurant. The show kitchen in the back remains (shown above).

New executive chef Chris Cryer, last at Rhubarb Hospitality’s Peak in Manhattan, oversees a Mediterranean-ish menu with a good use of fish, seafood, and vegetables. There’s also a solid early-dinner deal: a two-course, $45 fixed-price menu available up to 90 minutes before curtain whenever there is a nighttime show at the Kimmel, Academy of Music, or Miller Theater. (The deal won’t be offered in August, when the theaters are closed.)

Last weekend’s menu included a choice of three starters: endive salad; salt-baked beets (shown above) with sunflower tahini, chili dressing, and blackberries; and coriander-cured hiramasa with pomelo, artichoke, and Castelvetrano olives (below).

The main choices were yellowfin tuna with charred leek, hazelnut, and Madeira sauce; roasted chicken with turnip and date pastilla; and ricotta dumplings topped with morels and rainbow chard. Add $5 for dessert: chocolate-and-caramel tower with mascarpone and crispy mousse, or citrus custard with coconut rice.

Point of fact: Leo is named after Leopold Stokowski — the legendary music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra — not Pope Leo XIV, though in a further coincidence, the restaurant has been given a new street address, 1414 Spruce St.

Leo at the Kimmel Center, 1414 Spruce St. Hours: 5-11 p.m. Wednesday–Sunday. Pre-theater menu is offered only on performance nights.

Center City District SIPS has postponed its preview party yet again, as rain is forecast Wednesday. It is rescheduled for June 4 — the promo’s actual starting date — in Dilworth Park, on the 15th Street side of City Hall, from 5-8 p.m.

Vernick Fish will donate 10% of Thursday’s proceeds to Philly Fights Cancer.

Malai, the South Asian-inspired ice cream shop out of New York, has a new home near Rittenhouse Square. Hira Qureshi dishes on the opening-day scene.

Flakely Gluten-Free has set up another pastry ATM to sell wares offsite. This one is chef Lila Colello’s fourth such machine, and it is inside the Ambler location of Weavers Way Co-Op (217 E. Butler Ave.). Hours are 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

The food lineup for this weekend’s Roots Picnic is made up of what organizers call 50 “superstars.”

A Fishtown restaurant’s video last week went viral. What was on it?

A) A new bubble tea that plays music

B) Management peeling off the city’s “cease operations” notice from the door

C) A line dance set to the SZA song “BMF”

D) The Eagles’ O-line showing up

Find out if you know the answer.

The Michelin review process has me so intrigued. What about Royal Izakaya’s omakase room, which is nearly impossible to get into for us mortals? I guess it will be scouted. But how? — Jessica M.

Everyone seems to be asking how Michelin inspectors will assess the perpetually booked Royal, with an eight-seat counter that accommodates at most 80 people a week (two seatings, five days). I asked the notoriously secretive Michelin about such tough-to-crack experiences. In general: “The inspectors dine out just like any customer would, sourcing their own reservations through online booking platforms, standing in long wait lines, or snagging a coveted seat at the bar. While some restaurants might be more difficult to get in than others, the inspectors do not get any preferential treatment when it comes to snagging a reservation.”

My guess is that Michelin will find a way, whether by stalking Resy alerts or, more likely, through a helpful Royal regular. I suppose there is a very outside chance that Michelin could skip it. Five years ago, Tokyo’s Sukiyabashi Jiro lost its three stars because Michelin deemed it too exclusive.

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at [email protected] for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.