Philly Gets Its First 24-Hour Cheese Vending Machine

Perrystead Dairy’s 24/7 cheese dispensary. / Photograph courtesy of Perrystead Dairy

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the Foobooz food news round-up. Just a few quick things to get to this week, including an update on the opening of that new Mulherin’s expansion, the debut of Black Hen, a cool collab dinner from Diana Widjojo, and a big new project from the Defined Hospitality crew. But let’s kick things off this week with the coolest food news I’ve heard in ages…

Perrystead Dairy’s Cheese Dispensary

This is, by far, the best possible use of modern technology I can think of.

Right on the southern edge of North Philly, in the wilds of Olde Kensington, Perrystead Dairy has installed Philly’s first-ever cashless, contactless, 24/7 self-serve cheese dispensary.

I am super psyched about this for a number of different reasons. First, because it’s a cheese vending machine, and how cool is that? Second, because Philly is the birthplace of the automat, but in the past 70-odd years, we have fallen woefully behind the curve when it comes to automatic food vending technology. China has live crab vending machines in the subway. In Rome, they have pizza vending machines that knead their own dough and bake the pie while you wait. There’s a champagne vending machine in London, and ones that dispense veal croquettes in Amsterdam. In Russia, they’ve got french fry vending machines that deliver the goods, hot and salty, in just 90 seconds, and in Germany, they’ve got machines that will sell you everything from potatoes and sausages to fresh eggs, farm produce, and stew.

But now Philly has joined the modern world, and at Perrystead they’re stocking their box with award-winning cheeses like their cave-aged cow’s milk “Intergalactic” (which placed 2nd in the world at the 2023-2024 World Cheese Awards), “Treehug,” their bronze-medalist spruce-strapped soft cheese, and their straw-aged spring cheese, “Field Day” — all of which are made just steps away.

And cheese isn’t the only thing going into (or coming out of) the machine:

“But wait… it’s more than just our internationally award-winning cheeses, (crafted and matured steps away). Treat yourself to an ever-changing assortment of hand-selected, crisps, crackers, jams, chutney, charcuterie, and even stylish serving essentials.”

So yeah, that’s a whole-ass cheese board, all coming out of one machine. If you check out the Instagram post that Perrystead put up over the weekend announcing the start of their Cheese Machine era, one of the commenters claims, “That’s it. We’ve reached the pinnacle of civilization.” And I could not agree more.

Of course, one of those french fry vending machines in my neighborhood wouldn’t hurt either…

Now what’s next?

Mulherin’s Pizzeria Opens their Doors in Midtown Village

Mulherin’s Porco Dio Pizza. / Photograph by Gina Desimone

After some pretty epic delays (something like 2 years, if I remember correctly), Method Co. has finally pulled the trigger on the pared-down sequel to Fishtown’s Wm. Mulherin’s Sons. Last Thursday, they officially opened the doors at 1175 Ludlow Street and introduced the neighborhood to this new, wood-fired, elegantly distressed, comfy-cool, Italian-inspired oasis with its gorgeous patio, white tile floors, and leather banquettes.

Where the original turned heads with its rustic comfort and lived-in feel (even on opening day), this new iteration leans more toward a movie set — something sunlit and languid, full of beautiful people doing shifty things in a dining room accented with soapstone and sage green and deco flourishes.

We’ve talked quite a bit about the place already. It’s got Sean McPaul in the open kitchen, overseeing those big wood-burning ovens and doling out the homemade soft-serve for dessert, a heavily Italian wine and bar program, a lunch and dinner schedule to start (Tuesdays through Saturdays), and a weekend brunch menu on the horizon. But what we didn’t have before were these lovely publicity snaps showing off the look of the place, or full details on the menu, which is interesting.

Mulherin’s bar and dining room. / Photograph by Gina Desimone

See, this new joint is operating like Mulherin’s lite. Rather than the heavy, serious grub done at the original, the board here is focused on pizza — eight of them, from the simplest Margherita to more involved creations like the Date Night with its gorgonzola, speck, radicchio jam, dates, and walnuts, or the ‘nduja, lemon, and olive tapenade Scarlet O’Hara. There’s also the Porco Dio (literally Pig God, though, in practice, simply a charmingly profane Italian exclamation along the lines of goddamn or holy shit), which deserves its own special mention because it’s topped with mozzarella, mortadella, prosciutto, arugula, and balsamic — which anyone who doesn’t want to be wrong will immediately agree is the best possible cinquain of pizza toppings.

But I digress…

McPaul’s menu does a kanpachi crudo, Sicilian-style chickpea fries, veal tartare, and some crispy octopus with pesto to start, offers a handful of simple, hand-made pastas (including a pea, lemon, and prosciutto strozzapretti that sounds almost poetically spring-like), and just three entrée plates (a hangar steak, a chicken Milanese, and a branzino Livornese with tomatoes, potatoes, capers, and olives which, again, is such a perfectly balanced and classic presentation that I just gotta respect the game). If the original Mulherin’s menu went heavy and serious as a match to the cool and heavy dark-wood rusticity of the room, then this one is a slick match to the new digs — lighter, easier, sunnier, but with a knowing nod to what makes non-red-sauce Italian food great. I like the way it looks. And I’m looking forward to seeing how it eats.

Moving on…

Black Hen Hits Chestnut Street

Black Hen / Photograph by Mike Prince

Speaking of brand new openings that we’ve been keeping an eye out for, Felicia Wilson (of Amina, plus the upcoming Amina Ocean and Avana) got her 40-seat BYO fried chicken concept, Black Hen, off the ground over the weekend.

Opening this past Saturday at 120 Chestnut Street (just a few doors down from Amina at 104 Chestnut), Black Hen is doing fried chicken, sure. But it’s making it fun. Wilson’s partner and executive chef Darryl Harmon bumped up chef Isaaka Fofana (who he’s been working with for 2 years at Amina, and who he knew from when they both worked at Water Works previously) to run the line here. And between the two of them, they’re rocking a stand-out menu. We’re talking chicken and waffles with PA maple syrup, popcorn chicken served with actual popcorn (from out of an actual popcorn machine), buffalo chicken dip, deviled eggs with fried chicken skin, fried pickles, fried and smoked, pulled chicken sandwiches served on black charcoal rolls, vegan avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwiches stacked with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms (get it?), smoked turkey collards (yes, please), hand pies, banana pudding, fried apples, sweet potato hash, and soft-serve ice cream in black vanilla cones.

Honestly, I love everything about all of that. There are a ton of fried chicken joints in this city right now, so carving out some territory by having a sense of humor and having a little fun with the bar food, soul food, and picnic food staples? That’s just smart business. And anyway, there can never be too many places for fried chicken, so one more spot in town just puts us one more to the good.

Black Hen is up and running now. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. (yeah, you read that right) on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to midnight on Sundays, with a full-on fried chicken brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Instagram feed is just getting up and running, but if you need more info, check them out right here.

Coffee and Plants: The Coffee Shop With the Best of Both Worlds

Photograph courtesy of The Ground

Anyone who lives in or regularly frequents Kensington likely already knows The Ground — the combination coffee shop, boba spot, plant store, and gift shop on North 2nd Street that’s been keeping the neighbors caffeinated (and supplied with houseplants) since 2022.

Well, as of this week, The Ground now has a second, super-sized location at 120 South 18th Street, just a block off Rittenhouse Square, offering 1,500 square feet of Parisian-cafe-meets-crazy-plant-lady vibes. And also boba.

The new spot has been renovated from the floor up, and now features everything from a coffee program featuring exclusively locally-roasted beans, French pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and whimsical boba flavors to hundreds of house plants for sale, an actual dining room, and a “croffle,” which is a kind of viral South Korean hybrid of a croissant and a waffle that I have never heard of before just this minute and now want for breakfast every day of my life.

Owners Michelle Miller and Molly Kiriacoulacos soft-opened the new spot on Monday. Right now, they’re running 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, but they are looking at expanding both the hours and the menu once they get their legs under them in the new digs — and are promising some dishes never before seen in Philly. Which, for a guy who’d never heard of a croffle before, sounds pretty exciting.

Anyway, I’ll be keeping an eye on things, so as soon as I know more, you’ll know more.

In the meantime, how about some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Rice & Sambal’s Liwetan Feast / Photograph by Adrianne Galvez

The Southeast Asian Market in FDR Park is officially back on! They’ll be kicking off another season of green papaya salads, lemongrass cheesesteaks, and sugarcane juice on Saturday, May 4th. Keep an eye on their website for more information on where to find your favorite vendors.

Diana Widjojo of Rice & Sambal (who threw in with Joncarl Lachman at Daankbar for an extended residency starting in March) is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a killer Indonesian collab dinner on Sunday, May 5th.

It’ll be a one-night-only, 22-seat Kamayan/Liwetan style dinner, cooked in collaboration with chef Daps Manansala, and she’s calling it “Bajau Srivijaya.” The two Southeast Asian chefs will be doing an Indonesian/Filipino feast of heirloom family dishes, served communally and eaten with hands only (no forks or knives). There’ll be nasi bunga telang (steamed butterfly pea flower rice), chicken pyanggang with sofrito and coconut cream, lechon kawali, Indonesian goat stew, Singapore noodles, tempe goreng, salad with herbed peanut dressing, udang balado (shrimp with red pepper sauce), then durian and ube ice candy for dessert, alongside kalame nal—coconut milk-infused sweet rice cakes topped with coconut caramel.

It sounds like a fantastic party, but seating is extremely limited, so I’d make those reservations now. Tickets are $125 a head. Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m., and you can get your tickets right here.

Goat stew and durian ice cream not your thing? That’s cool. If you’re looking for something a bit more traditional, Pizzeria Stella is kicking off a new round of pizza-making classes this Thursday at 8 p.m. There’ll be snacks and drinks to start, a brief lecture on pizza history and technique courtesy of chef Allen Carringer, and then everybody gets to stretch their own dough and top their own pies before they get cooked, cut, and served. There’s gelato (and probably more drinks) for dessert, and everyone goes home with a dough-and-sauce care package so they can continue their studies at home. Tickets are $75 per person and are available here.

Two more big seasonal openings: Independence Beer Garden kicked off the season last Wednesday with some new seasonal additions — like more NA cocktails, more desserts, and, for those of you who like booze AND dessert together, Jell-O shots. Then, on Thursday, Morgan’s Pier lit up for the season. They’ve got a whole new menu again this year, with some nods to the classics (like the Pier Burger, cheesesteak egg rolls, and fish tacos), and some new additions like a Cuban sandwich, ricotta beignets, and a couple new pizzas. There’s a full entertainment schedule if you’re interested (spoiler alert: it’s mostly DJs), and some dog-friendly Mondays (on the first Monday of every month). All the details you could possibly want can be found right here.

And finally, this week, here’s something to look forward to: It looks like the team from Defined Hospitality (Kalaya, Suraya, Condesa, and Pizzeria Beddia) is at it again. They’ve picked up an enormous space at 2421 Martha Street — right in the middle of one of the boomingest few blocks in the city — and will be turning it into an easy-breezy, casual, wood-fired-oven-and-oyster-bar concept called Picnic that will seat a solid 225 and is looking at a summer opening.

The Inky has a bunch of details on the new spot if you’re interested — or just want something to look forward to as spring moves inexorably on toward another busy Philadelphia summer.