Feeding Frenzy

Restaurants opening, closing and pending

by Drew Lazor

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Published: Jul 27, 2010

Partners Shane Sharief and Kevin Kaing opened this froyo joint, in what was a Bonté wafflerie, in the first week of July. Tutti Frutti — a licensed brand with more than 100 outposts worldwide — offers 10 yogurt flavors at a time from an overall selection of 50, plus every topping imaginable. Unique to this store is Small Oven, a mini-bakery that cranks out Japanese-style choux crème (above), or fresh cream puffs filled to order with sweet pudding-like innards (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mango, etc.). The puffs are made from scratch on the premises daily by a baker who shuttles down to Philly from NYC. More on Meal Ticket. Hours: Mon.-Thu., 10 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-11:30 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. 1315 Walnut St., 215-546-9600.

John McGillion, who owns Crocodile bars in New York and Chicago, has opened a location in Old City. It's a bilevel deal, with an eight-draft tavern/sports bar on the first floor (there's a stage that'll host regular folk and jazz performances) and a slightly more upscale club/lounge, called Wet Bar, on the second. The food menu, which runs from $1 to $3, features stuff like salads and panini, but the Croc's major draw is pizza, which is cranked out of an open oven station on the main floor of the bar. More on Meal Ticket. 110 Chestnut St., 267-687-1450, crocodilephilly.com.

After four decades in business, Georges Perrier has announced that he will close his landmark restaurant Le Bec-Fin (1523 Walnut St.) on or around June 1, 2011. But the chef, who's rightly credited with leading Philadelphia's restaurant renaissance, is not retiring: He says he's working on introducing three new concepts to the area, all of which he hopes to have up and running prior to Le Bec's grand finale. In the meantime, you still have a chance to take advantage of the $40 40th-anniversary prix-fixe menu, which'll be available Tuesday to Friday (dining-room rezzies from 5 to 6:30 p.m., or anytime at Le Bar Lyonnais) for the rest of this summer.

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