Feeding Frenzy

Restaurants opening, closing and pending

by Drew Lazor

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Sep 3, 2008

NOW SEATING

Chef Peter Woolsey (Striped Bass) knows France. Proof: He briefly excused himself from a recent sit-down with us and took a phone call from his wife, Peggy Baud-Woolsey, in perfect French. (Also, she is French.) That's why it's no surprise that authenticity is the "ultimate goal" at Bistrot La Minette, which Woolsey, his father, John, and GM John Gonzalez opened Aug. 25. Peggy snapped most of the framed photos in the charmer of a dining room (above); the affordable bottle list, which tops out at $80 but stays mostly in the $35-$40 range, was constructed by a local sommelier friend who wishes to remain incognito. Woolsey's menu will change regularly (they're also offering rustic "French family dinners" for groups of four to 20), but the two big sellers so far are mustard-braised rabbit with house-made tagliatelle and his Gascony-style braised lamb shank.

This four-year-old Port Richmond gem, owned by partners M.L. Simone and T. DeLuca, is open again after two weeks of aesthetic renovations to prepare for expanded neighborhood-driven art and music programs. They've also welcomed a new chef into the fold: Kenneth Therrien, who worked at Jake's locally before becoming the exec chef for a restaurant group in the Virgin Islands, is now helming dinner service (breakfast, lunch and brunch are still available). Therrien's dishes for the month of September include spicy pork dumplings; free-form gnocchi with crispy ham, spinach and a brie cream; cauliflower risotto; and peanut curry shrimp skewered on lemongrass with coconut spring onion rice pudding and truffled naan.

Josh McCullough, a vet of Le Bec-Fin, Gayle and Blackfish, is the new head chef at Jason and Delphine Evenchik's Time (1315 Sansom St., 215-985-4800, timerestaurant.net). New dishes include pan-seared striped bass served with maitake mushrooms, chorizo, English peas and white wine; and barbecue suckling pig (pork belly, shoulder and tenderloin) served with baked white beans, slaw and corn bread. Check out the full menu at citypaper.net/clog, category: Bite This.

Top of the Worlds
Dos Def
Creative-Type Biz Careers
What's Cooking