Block Party

A chef and a teacher quietly turned 13th Street into an empire. Will Grocery be its crown jewel?

by David Anthony Fox

"Ah, I'm sitting down." Marcie Turney has just rearranged half a dozen chairs, cleaned several tables and brought me a coffee. Now, she can't believe she's not moving. This doesn't happen much, I ask? She just laughs.

It's a story more inspiring than any Lifetime movie, and at least as educational as a Wharton degree: how Valerie Safran and Marcie Turney built a neighborhood. Both thirtysomethings without business backgrounds, they took a couple blocks of the decidedly un-chic 13th Street, opened a wildly successful housewares store, a fine restaurant and now a state-of-the-art market/cafe. Call them the unofficial mayors of Philly's new Midtown.

IN THE GREEN: Partners Valerie Safran (left) and Marcie Turney, who own Open House, Lolita and now Grocery. : Michael T. Regan

It's not an obvious fit. Born in Wisconsin, Turney originally trained at Temple's Tyler School of Art. "The year I arrived was the year everything switched to computer-generated graphics," she says. "And that was it for me." Quick career switch to chefing — Turney went to the Restaurant School and shined at several of the city's up-and-coming eateries, including Audrey Claire, Twenty Manning and Valanni.

At Valanni, Turney met her now-partner, who was working there part-time. Originally from Chicago, Safran arrived here by way of Lancaster County. "I was teaching Spanish at Abington Friends in Jenkintown, but wanted to live in the city," she says. "So I moved to Philly, and got a part-time job to help pay the bills." It worked out, for the most part. "I loved Valanni, loved Philly — I just didn't like teaching. I'd always wanted to open a store."

And so came Open House, the elegant boutique that was the duo's first business partnership. Upscale home stores were a known formula in New York, but it was a risk for Philly — especially on 13th Street. "Marcie is so good at design that from the start, it made sense," says Safran. Choosing the spot was easy. "Rents were low, and I knew about [real estate developer] Tony Goldman's vision for renovation. Also, the storefronts were nice — raw, but nice, with exposed brick."

Raising money was harder. "Banks would look at us and say, 'You're going to open a shop with trinkets and candles? And you're a chef and a teacher? I don't think so,'" says Safran. "Nobody took us seriously." But they weren't deterred: Safran had perfect credit, so she took advantage of several 0 percent financing credit card offers. They opened in October 2002. By February 2004, they'd expanded into an adjacent space. Within six months, the loans were repaid in full. Soon after, Capogiro, the now-defunct Trust Restaurant and Sparacino clothing opened nearby. The neighborhood was blossoming.

But Turney and Safran's love of food continued to call. "Marcie worked at Valanni all during our initial time at Open House," says Safran. "That's really her thing. She made a lot of other people a lot of money ... we thought it was our turn."

So they looked for a restaurant space, and found it — across the street. "From the first moment, we knew what we wanted: Latin flavors," says Safran of Lolita, the sophisticated Mexican BYO the pair opened in March 2004. Just after they signed the lease, they learned that Stephen Starr was opening El Vez across the street. "When I first heard, I was like, 'Holy shit!'" Safran admits. But Starr "brings in a whole new group, which is good for everybody. And besides, El Vez has 300 seats to fill — we have 50. Our food is good and affordable." Has it worked out? Yep. "Sometimes, on a Saturday night, we send people to El Vez for a drink because we have waits of an hour or more. We have little old ladies bringing bottles of tequila in their handbags. It has a life of its own."

And now there's Grocery, an ambitious duplex that includes an upscale mini-market, an assortment of prepared food and an eat-in cafe. "What I really wanted was a place next door to get a bowl of soup — so we opened one," says Safran. Grocery is already well on its way: The extra-virgin olive oil bar is a source of pride, and their signature blood-orange variety was featured in Food and Wine magazine. Turney has incorporated many of her characteristic flavor combinations. Take the Little Lolita cupcake, which combines ancho chocolate, goat's milk caramel, cream cheese frosting and a peanut topper. ("It's all our desserts in one!" she laughs.) The flatbread combinations are equally intriguing: Darjeeling-cured smoked salmon with cucumber dill salad and hummus; or pears with gorgonzola, figs and pomegranate molasses.

After all this, are there worlds left to conquer? "I'm interested in wholesale," says Safran. "It would be a way to bring our flavors to a bigger world." At the same time, they're all about keeping the retail businesses small and local. "We love seeing friendly faces, people that we know. The folks in the neighborhood made us a success. We're still here for them."

Besides, where's the time? At the end of our conversation, their day is just beginning. "Marcie," says Safran, firmly: "The market opens in 10 minutes." Turney smiles.

And they're off.

(d_fox@citypaper.net)