FYI this week we have good food, good friends and great memories in Philly.

Samuel Gritz Community Center is a new meeting point with history in Queen Village
Samuel Gritz Public House is a new corner bar in Queen Village with lots of character.

The building dates back to 1926 and the new owners have undertaken a complete renovation to reveal some of the historic space while modernizing the dining room and bar area.

The menu is a mix of haute casual dishes to suit all occasions.

There are small plates for an evening out or appetizers for a more formal dinner, and the outside seating area is a great spot to enjoy craft cocktails or local beers.

Samuel Gritz Community Center | Facebook | instagram
629 South 2nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19147

Fond BYOB is back! The city’s favorite is now in the suburbs
For more than a decade, Fond BYOB was a dining destination on Passyunk Boulevard.

Now the husband-and-wife chefs are bringing those flavors back to Wallingford, Delaware County.

Husband-and-wife chefs and owners Lee Steyer and Jessie Prawlucki-Styer closed South Philly Fond during the pandemic and moved to Delaware County.

They say they immediately started looking for a place to open a restaurant near their new home.

He handles the delicious part of the menu, which he describes as eclectic American, with French technique.

Dishes include short ribs made with carrots, celery and onions, braised burgundy, red wine served over parsnip puree; and the short rib rilettes breakfast sandwich.

100% braised short ribs, whipped together, chilled, and pan-fried, almost like Scrapple.

It’s topped with cheddar cheese and a sunny-side up egg and served on a brioche bun with parmesan aioli sauce.

Jessie specializes in desserts. She makes butternut squash creme brulee with roasted pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices blended with custard.

It’s caramelized and topped with whipped cream cheese with cardamom and a Palmiere cookie.

Pistachio praline serves as the bed for a malted milk chocolate mousse topped with dark chocolate.

There are layers of chocolate and peanut butter with peanut butter on top.

The couple’s new spot on Providence Road was a French Moroccan restaurant.

They wanted to buy; The previous owner wanted to sell so they took over the restaurant, staff and all, for 2 weeks. They then transferred it seamlessly to Fond BYOB.

The only meaningful decor addition is a nostalgic menu on the wall of a restaurant in Reading run by Lee’s great-grandfather and then-grandfather.

For Lee and Jessie, the new venture is about putting family first, opening a restaurant a short distance from their home, and recreating the city’s favorite spot in the suburbs.

However, the couple did not leave the city completely.

East Passyunk still has The Dutch breakfast, lunch and dinner spot.

I love BYOB. | instagram
21 N Providence Road, Wallingford, Pa. 19086

dutch people | Facebook | instagram
1537 S 11th Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19147

Nanu’s Hot Chicken sees rapid growth with Nashville-style hot food
Nanu’s Hot Chicken recently opened its ninth location in the area; this is on Ridge Boulevard in Roxborough.

With more than a year under their wing, the chain has been continuing with its Halal Nashville-style hot chicken sandwiches, entrees, and desserts.

Founded by a close-knit family in Pakistan, Ikram Rashid and his siblings named it after their youngest sibling, Adnan (nicknamed ‘Nanu’), who was born with Down Syndrome.

Heat levels range from mild to moderate, and smoothies keep things cool with flavor combinations that allow you to create your own flavor combinations.

Nanu’s Hot Chicken | Facebook | instagram
6151 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19128
215-261-2011

Portal opens in Philadelphia’s Love Park
Portals, the bridge to a united planet, opened one of its art installations in Philadelphia’s Love Park.

The structure serves as an interactive and immersive experience that uses webcams to connect Philadelphians to other cities around the world through a similar portal in that city.

Currently the Philadelphia portal connects to Vilnius, Lithuania, Lublin, Poland and Dublin, Ireland.

The portal opens to each city at 3-minute intervals.

portals | Facebook | instagram

Cafe Cuong tops new list for authentic Vietnamese banh mi and coffee
‘Inquirer 76’ is the first annual list of venues ‘defining the food scene’ in the city.

Cafe Cuong in South Philadelphia made the cut and has been owned and operated by the same family since 1989.

Using decades-old family recipes, they have made a name for themselves with two Vietnamese dishes: Vietnamese coffee and banh mi, the famous ‘Vietnamese hoagies’.

Husband and wife team Kim and Chinh Lam have been running the business since their three sons were very young.

They also make other banh mi variations, like grilled pork with lemon herb, fried chicken with sautéed scallions, and a vegetarian one made with tofu with light soy.

Cafe Cuong
811 S. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-574-0527

Concihairge brings the salon to your door
Stephanie Cleck is the Founder and CEO of modern hair salon Concihairge.

Concihairge brings all hair services to the comfort and convenience of your home or elsewhere.

The service covers the Philadelphia area and provides a celebrity-like feel.

Every appointment begins with a consultation following your chosen service.

After Cleck’s first child was born in 2009, she had difficulty finding a stylist to do her hair at home.

This sparked her entrepreneurial adventure in Northern Virginia, where her husband was serving in the Navy.

After talking to some friends who were new mothers and having difficulty going to the salon, she used her cosmetology background to bring the salon to them.

What was once a one-man show grew into a successful business when his family moved to Philadelphia in 2014.

The business currently has a headquarters in Pottstown and eight regional stylists who specialize in extensions, keratins and color.

Concihairge can be a one-stop shop for the whole family or for a girls’ day out with the option to book a hair party.

The family’s connection to the military is part of the Concihairge mission and offers a 10% discount to all military families all year long.

You can visit Concihairge website to make your appointment.

Doorman|instagram |Facebook

One Tank Tour to a new museum representing Philadelphia sports and more
The DePace Sports Champions Museum has one of the largest and most memorable collections of sports memorabilia in the world.

It focuses on all sports and key moments in history, not just Philadelphia teams.

Souvenirs started as a hobby but turned into a destination collection.

The nonprofit is currently open for free tours by appointment and is planning a grand opening in spring 2025.

DePace Champions Sports Museum | Facebook
483 Hurffville – Cross Keys Road, Sewell, NJ 08080

The address for chocolate at bean-to-bar producer Moka Origins
Visit the newly updated Moka Origins chocolate and coffee factory to learn about public tours and sweet experiences.

The venue specializes in chocolate and coffee roasting at its Honeysdale store.

The business operates with a purpose, paying a premium for beans to support cocoa and coffee farmers struggling with poverty.

Origins of Mocha | Facebook | instagram
952 Bethany Turnpike, Honeysdale, Pennsylvania 18431

Pocono Television Network | Facebook | Instagram/

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love is on display at the Barnes Foundation
Mickalene Thomas: All About Love It reveals the evolution and revolution of Thomas’ artistic practice.

“She is an artist who has created artworks that have changed the way we view Black women over the last two decades,” says Renée Mussai, the exhibition’s independent curator.

The exhibition features several of the artist’s early self-portraits, including a work titled Afro Goddess Looking Forward.

“She works through a black feminist prism of desire,” Mussai says. “There is a very palpable sense of visual pleasure and visual liberation.”

When viewing Thomas’ work, Mussai says visitors will see “the gaze of a Black queer woman.”

The exhibition includes nearly 50 works.

“He is one of those incredibly talented, multidisciplinary artists who creates these monumental works of art,” says Mussai. “This is her time. This is a time when Black women can occupy this space in all their glory.”

He says Thomas’s work “not only shatters the canon, but also gives it a new visual.”

Rhinestones are part of her visual signature.

“These rhinestones play and talk with the light, so they create a kind of sparkle and sparkle, and the works become very vibrant,” he says.

Thomas’s muses are all part of his inner circle.

“There’s a tribute to his mother, Sandra Bush. There’s a tribute to old lovers and friends. There are muses who accompany us through the different thematic rooms of the exhibition, inspiring us again and again,” he says.

In addition to paintings, photography and collage, visitors will also see site-specific works and a video installation.

Mussai says the exhibition is essentially “an invitation to be transformed” by the presence of Thomas’s artworks.

“I hope visitors will feel the same feeling of empowerment, but also of nourishment,” she says. “He was caught up in this chorus of strong, powerful, beautiful women and accompanied them.”

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love On view at the Barnes Foundation until January 12, 2025.

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love | tickets
Barnes Foundation
2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130