Forin expands with a second location in Kensington with wines and cocktails
The partners have opened a winery, allowing them to sell wines and cocktails at the location on Frankford Avenue.
Forin Cafe, which opened in mid-2021 in the Harbison’s Dairy building on Coral Street in Kensington with a small coffee menu and merchandise by small companies, was only the start of the collaboration among founders Kyle Horne, Seth Kligerman, and Will Landicho.
For their second location — simply called Forin and now open five minutes away at 2525 Frankford Ave. — they are doing an all-day cafe experience with full menus, and are selling merchandise, including imported clothing.
They’re also offering alcoholic beverages, such as their own small-batch ube honey wine and fruit wine, produced at their winery, also in Kensington. (Winery licenses in Pennsylvania come with a bonus, courtesy of the Liquor Control Board: They allow owners to set up off-premise bars serving their own products as well as Pennsylvania spirits. Fishtown’s Tulip Pasta & Wine Bar, a collab with Chester County’s Wayvine Winery, is one example of this.)
Kligerman, who has a decade-plus in developing food and beverage programs for such brands as Kimpton Hotels, has turned flavor profiles from the morning menu — ube, pandan, Thai tea, chaga — into eight cocktails. There’s the Memory Palace, with chaga-infused gin, vanilla, and tonic, and a Forin Citywide, with Kenwood lager and a 3-ounce pour of Forin’s honey wine.
They’re also collaborating with other makers; a ube cider was created with Hale & True Cider Co. and the Red Blend wine is a partnership with Wayvine and bears a label from artist Kees Holterman.
Chef Casey Heffernan, whose past includes working at Martha, is putting out two menus — one for the daytime (8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the other starting at 3 p.m. — out of the small kitchen. For the daytime, there’s a breakfast sandwich on a house-made biscuit with egg, sharp Cheddar, and espresso-bacon jam; a parfait; lox tartine; and pastries. The p.m. menu includes a baguette with ham and cheeses; lamb meatballs; a warm beet salad; and beef tartar. Desserts include affogato, with egg nog ice cream, espresso, and a pizzelle.
The room, sleek and minimalist, seats 25 people at banquettes, high-top cafe tables, and bar. The partners used local craftspeople: Blaise Metalworks did the steel seating, signage, and shelving. Breck Brunson did the woodwork. Cloud 9 Clay (next door) and Frunzi Ceramics made the ceramics. There’s a turntable and vinyl for the soundtrack.
Hours are 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, with a break from 3 to 4 p.m. It’s primarily walk-in, though limited evening reservations are available via Resy.