Jose Garces Kicks Off Summer Programming at Volver
Jose Garces prepping for class at Volver’s Summer School | Photo by Chelsea Portner
We stopped by Volver yesterday as Jose Garces prepped for the first class of his Summer School at Volver. Garces is offering classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays this June and July to offer guests a different way to experience Volver as well as a way to spend some quality time with Garces Group chefs like James Beard Award winner Michael Laiskonis and Philadelphia native and Amada New York chef de cuisine, Justin Bogle.
Tickets are sold out for 9 of the classes already, so if any of the remaining classes appeal to you, like “Chimichurri to Romesco: Exploring the Latin Mother Sauces,” act quickly.
Ingredients for Fedeua con Mariscos (seafood vermicelli paella) | Photo by Chelsea Portner
Chef Garces also shared some other plans for the summer and beyond. Volver will not shut down completely as it did last summer. In addition to the Wednesday and Thursday night classes, dinner will be offered on Fridays and Saturdays. With the free time the Volver staff will concentrate on preparing for the fall 2016 season. The team will be concentrating on the new menu for Volver and new dinner options at Bar Volver. The bar area will be partially reconceptualized and for the first time offer full dinner portions for Kimmel Center visitors and the public. Look for a menu of small and large plates at a lower price point than Volver.
Garces also shared that he is looking to expand his Buena Onda concept with up to three locations in Philadelphia. Though the Iron Chef hasn’t signed on for any location, he teases that if all goes well, the fish taco concept will be convenient to the Phillymag offices at 19th and Market.
Garces also offered us with some more details on 24, his restaurant coming to 2400 Walnut Street. His food lab/studio is operational and he’s currently working on pizza dough recipes. Garces reminds us that though he’s known for his Latin cooking, he is also a guy from Chicago who grew up on pizzas, both thin crust and deep-dish. The pizza dough will be the base of much of the food that comes out of 24’s Renato oven. He’s promising healthy choices with whole wheat and gluten-conscious (gluten-free but in the same oven as gluten-full doughs) dough options. 24 will offer respite from a bit of a restaurant desert at the western edge of Center City. The restaurant will have a deck overlooking the Schuylkill River and Trail, as well as parking at 24th and Sansom.
Garces, who has recently opened in New York for the first time and has opened Rural Society in D.C., a concept he says he’d like to bring to Philadelphia, says he’s not forgetting about Philadelphia, as his plans reiterate. And come this fall, look for him to offer farm dinners at his Luna Farm in Bucks County.
