Talula’s Garden Expanding With Talula’s Daily
So this is one of those weird things… It feels like it has been forever since we’ve written anything about Talula’s Garden, the Aimee Olexy / Stephen Starr project over on Washington Square that got one of Philly mag’s highest rankings ever when Trey Popp reviewed it back in August of last year. And when we were writing about it with some regularity, it was all because of the revolving door Olexy seemed to have installed in the kitchen–running through three exec’s in four months.
But then things cooled out, the kitchen righted itself and, suddenly, there was nothing more to say. We knew the place was good. We knew everything was ticking along smoothly. And no one really wants to read a post entitled “Everything At Talula’s Garden is Just Swell.”
We knew that what it would really take to get Talula’s Garden back onto the radar was some kind of big news. Something huge happening over there that would shake up the game. And lucky us, that’s just what we found in our inboxes this morning…
Talula’s Garden is expanding.
Not the restaurant portion of it, exactly. It’s more like Talula’s Garden is growing a vaguely Talula’s-Table-shaped second body–a market called Talula’s Daily that will be going into an unused space next door to the Garden which Starr and Olexy have actually been in possession of since the whole Talula’s Garden project began.
According to Olexy, things with the new space are still very much up in the air, but they’re “definitely trying to get all the pieces of the pie together” and are getting ready to build out a completely raw space that has never been anything else before.
But what will it be when they’re done? A market selling provisions and supplies. Something like a very high-end general store. “A little in the style of Talula’s Table,” according to Olexy, but with an urban kick. “And the space is…awesome.”
I asked if she had anything like a timeframe for opening Talula’s Daily, and she told me that she’s hoping everything will be ready a little before the holidays. “I would say mid-December is pretty accurate. That’s my hope right now.” And while it’s going to take a lot of work to outfit a space which, right now, doesn’t even have electric, Olexy is confident–and excited.
“We’re good with everything,” she told me. “Now we just have to jump in.”
Which is great. First, because I’m anxious to see how the Talula’s Table model might be translated into this space. Second, because I’m glad we finally have a good reason to put Talula’s and Olexy back on the front page again.
Talula’s Garden [Official website]
Talula’s Garden: A Love Letter [Philadelphia magazine]
