Food

Le Castagne, Rittenhouse's upscale Northern Italian restaurant, now has a downmarket cousin in Spiga. Former Le Castagne chef Brian Wilson, in partnership with Skip DiMassa, Giuseppe Sena and Anthony Masapollo, has moved a few blocks east to run the kitchen of the casual 60-seater, armed wit ... more »

Nicole Marquis is fulfilling the demand for mainstream vegan fast food with Hip City Veg in Rittenhouse. Steering clear of vegan preachitude, Marquis' aim is to provide a "100 percent plant-based" experience "familiar to meat eaters." Her chef, Lauren Hooks, is knocking out a menu with popul ... more »

SoWe has replaced Divan at 22nd and Carpenter. Nancy Law and Troy Barton are going for a neighborhood-bistro feel, with room for around 50 and an accessible comfort-food-style menu (pork-belly pastrami sandwich, steak frites, artisan cheese board, etc.) from chef Maureen Stoebenau, who last ... more »

The long-underutilized sit-down space in the Art Alliance is now home to Rittenhouse Tavern, a new one from national management company Restaurant Associates. The Tavern's taking an ambitious upscale-casual approach via chef Nicholas Elmi (late of Le Bec-Fin) and "chef collaborator" Ed Brown ... more »

Barry Gutin and Larry Cohen (Cuba Libre) have brought Matt Levin into their fray for Square Peg, a bilevel restaurant granting the chef the latitude to play with updated interpretations of comfy American diner foods. Levin (Lacroix, Adsum) is doing lighthearted but very hearty plates ranging ... more »

This Delaware-based café chain has expanded into Center City by acquiring the space that formerly housed Millennium Coffee. (Forgive us if its name surfaces memories of grandpa chasing you off the porch for bumping The Chronic on your plastic boom box. It’s not inner city brouhaha, gramps — i ... more »