Liberty Kitchen makes a short but ambitious move in Fishtown
There's more hot food as well as indoor seating in the new location. Outdoor seating is planned.
Liberty Kitchen in Fishtown has morphed in its new location into what owners Matt Budenstein and P.J. Hopkins call “an Italian deli meets a diner.”
In the former Good Spoon Soupery at Front and Master Streets, just a block and a half north of its previous home of four years, Liberty Kitchen is now considerably larger, the concept more ambitious.
There’s seating, for starters. The tiled room accommodates 16 people. Hours have been expanded. There’s an all-day menu from executive chef Beau Neidhardt, formerly at American Sardine Bar and South Philly Tap Room. There’s outdoor seating in a side yard.
» READ MORE: The Inquirer's list of best hoagies in Philadelphia
Noteworthy now are hot South Philly-style sandwiches on seeded Liscio’s rolls to complement its attention-getting hoagie lineup, which made The Inquirer’s best-hoagie list last year. (Budenstein worked at the late, great Salumeria at Reading Terminal Market, whose sandwiches were a local favorite. Hopkins owns Brine Street Picklery.)
The lineup of five new cutlet sandwiches includes a Fig and a Pig, which has prosciutto, herbed goat cheese, fig jam, arugula, and pickled red onion. There also are various stromboli.
With a larger kitchen, the line of tomato pies has expanded. “You know how you walk into an old-school deli, and they have 10 different flavors of tomato pie?” Budenstein asked. “We’re going for that kind of thing.” He said the broccoli white tomato pie was inspired by one he ate as a kid at the old Mack & Manco Pizza (now known as Manco & Manco) in Ocean City, N.J.
They’re serving South Philadelphia’s Herman’s Coffee, and will continue their collaborations and special events.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Monday, but Budenstein said they plan to open seven days and offer after-hour events in the near future.