The hottest ‘new’ thing on menus is an ancient ingredient | Let’s Eat

Black sesame has been around for centuries. Now it’s finding its way into all kinds of foods.

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— Mike Klein

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Move over, matcha: Black sesame is the hot new flavor on Philly’s cafe, dessert, and cocktail menus, Kiki Aranita writes. There’s nothing new about it, but it’s trending.

Càphê Roasters, the Vietnamese coffee shop whose crowds have outgrown its Kensington cafe, is planning a substantially larger outpost in South Philly. And there’s even more on the horizon.

☕ Fun fact: Càphê cofounder Thu Pham’s daughter, born in June, is named Autumn — the English translation of Thu’s first name. “I gave her that because I don’t have an English name myself,” Pham says.

Tattoos go hand in hand with the food and hospitality industry — and they often come with fun stories. Emily Bloch spoke with more than a dozen baristas, bartenders, chefs, and owners about their favorite pieces.

✒️ Try out some ink of your own at the temporary tattoo booth at The Inquirer Food Festival on Nov. 14. Ticket info is here.

🍦 At the R&D lab of Milk Jawn, Amy Wilson creates new flavors for her popular ice cream shop. Zoe Greenberg paid a behind-the-scenes visit.

🍧 We answer this question: Can you have too much water ice in your freezer?

The Kibitz Room in Cherry Hill is pushing back on a claim by the State of New Jersey that it has not properly stated that its food is not kosher. Management wryly calls it a “schmear campaign.”

One of Center City’s best cooked-to-order pasta destinations is DaMò Pasta Lab, where mostly everything is imported, including the flour, the cheese, and the owners.

Sagami, the much-honored South Jersey Japanese restaurant, will take over the longtime location of Stephen Starr’s now-shuttered Pod on the Penn campus. Expect a massive sushi bar and house-made noodles, but no omakase experiences, owner Alan Su told me.

Maya Bohem Coffee, with roots in Turkey, will fill the vacant spot at Cherry Hill Mall previously occupied by the Bistro at Cherry Hill. The owners also run Blue Fig Garden in the mall.

DePaul’s Table, the luxe Ardmore steakhouse, is bringing its filet mignon and lamb chops to Philadelphia — without the white tablecloths. Owner Anthony DePaul has taken over the former Southside Pizza at 917 S. 20th St., at Carpenter Street in Graduate Hospital, for a takeout-and-delivery offshoot called DePaul’s Pronto. Targeting late November, DePaul plans to offer steakhouse fare alongside pizza, cheesesteaks, chicken and veal Marsala, and chicken Parm. DePaul envisions a few tables for customers who want to eat in, though there will be no table service. Ordering will be handled by counter staff and self-service kiosks. DePaul said he is seeing growing demand for delivery at his downtown Ardmore restaurant, including big orders through third-party platforms. Rather than invest in another full-service restaurant with substantial rent and overhead, he decided to try a smaller format.

Bar Nostra is due to open later this month in the space previously occupied by Mix Bar & Grill, which closed recently at the River West Condos at 21st and Chestnut Streets. Nostra’s owners include Aakash Patel of Bar1010. Opening menu will include 12-inch brick oven pizzas, pastas, salads, and a craft cocktail program featuring clarified cocktails.

Messina Social Club will open up for new memberships. As Kiki Aranita reports, 100 will be free for applicants who work in the restaurant business.

Lafayette’s Creole Kitchen & Bar has opened in Philadelphia International Airport’s B/C Connector. Shrimp and grits are on the menu, along with gumbo, shrimp étouffée, red beans and rice, po’boys, and chicken and waffles.

The Ardmore restaurant space that has housed Mikado Thai Pepper for 27 years is being split again. Win Hospitality plans to open Blue Elephant Ardmore next month at 64 Lancaster Ave. Win owners Pearl and Paul Somboonsong’s parents, Sutida and Win, opened Thai Pepper in 1991, followed by Mikado next door. The restaurants merged in 1999. The new Blue Elephant, whose other locations are in Wayne and Pottstown, will operate as a BYOB with a nonalcoholic beverage program on the former Thai Pepper side of the restaurant, seating 70 to 80 people. Its Asian fusion menu will include Hokkaido milk bread with miso butter and strawberry-yuzu jam, tuna bruschetta, and seafood green curry linguine. Mikado Thai Pepper will continue operating next door in the original Mikado space. The restaurants will have separate identities and menus, though Pearl Somboonsong said staff would accommodate requests from customers seated on the other side. “They’re supposed to function as two separate restaurants, but I like to say they’re friends,” she said.

Pastry Pants, a Swarthmore bakery, has closed. The owner, who founded the business in his driveway, told Denali Sagner that a constellation of factors pushed him to shut down.

Reading Terminal Market’s Scrapple Sculpting Contest returns for a third year at 11 a.m. Thursday as 12 contestants are given six pounds of scrapple, sculpting tools, and 90 minutes to create market-themed artworks. Can’t make it? The sculptures will be displayed during the market’s Scrapple & Apple Festival from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, when visitors can vote for their favorite.

Mobile dessert vendor Joey Cannoli will hand out free cannoli at Recipe Philly (1401 Arch St.) from 6-8 p.m. Friday, or while supplies last. He has two dishes on Recipe Philly’s menu, plus a pizza steak he calls the Italian Stallion. Ten percent of Friday’s restaurant proceeds will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Goodness Bowls (5 Paoli Plaza, Paoli) will mark the grand opening of its Paoli cafe from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday with a DJ and family activities. The first 50 people in line who enroll in the rewards program will receive a free Avalon Bowl. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Greater Delaware Valley Chapter of Breakthrough T1D.

Philly Coffee Festival will draw specialty roasters and coffee shops to the 23rd Street Armory (22 S. 23rd St.) this weekend. General admission sessions run from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 1:30-4:30 p.m. each day; early admission begins at 9 a.m. Coffee tastings and live entertainment are included; food will be sold separately. Tickets start at $21⁠.

The Manayunk Mac and Cheese Crawl will draw 18 restaurants serving spins on mac and cheese during a ticketed crawl from noon-4 p.m. Saturday as part of Manayunk Fall Fest. Admission includes one sample from each restaurant while supplies last, plus a wristband and crawl map. Check-in begins at 11:30 a.m. outside the Manayunk Welcome Center (106 Grape St.). Tickets start at $21.⁠

Uchi and Ogawa Sushi & Kappo will team up as Ogawa executive chef Carlos Wills joins Uchi head sushi chef Josephine Fry and chef de cuisine Ford Sonnenberg for a 10-course dinner Monday at Uchi (1620 Sansom St.). Seatings ($175pp at the sushi bar or $150 at surrounding tables, plus tax and tip) are at 6 and 8:30 p.m.

Which Philadelphia sports star’s name was attached to a Chinatown wonton soup order that went viral?

A) Bryce Harper

B) Jalen Hurts

C) LeBron James

D) Cam York

Find out if you know the answer.

What happened to Walnut Street Cafe at Cira Centre South? — Charles K.

Walnut Street Cafe opened in 2017 to great promise (and a glowing review from The Inquirer’s Craig LaBan). It closed unceremoniously two weeks ago at Cira Centre South at 30th and Walnut Streets. A rep for landlord Brandywine Realty Trust tells me that Brandywine has “new and exciting concepts” on the way not only to the cafe’s ground-floor space at 30th and Walnut but also to the Post, the now-shuttered sports bar around the corner on 30th Street, and Sunset Social, the 1.2-acre seasonal rooftop on the 12th floor.

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

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