Local Winemaker Returns Home to Pour His Heart (and Wine) Into Philly

Tom Caruso of Pray Tell / Photograph courtesy of Pray Tell

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. There’s just a few quick things for us to talk about this week before we can all get back to our summer plans — some big news from Garces World, another classic Philly restaurant closure; plus sushi, lobster, pizza and cookie news. But let’s start things off this week with …

Wine From The Bear, Now in Kensington

Tom Caruso grew up in South Philly. He spent every fall helping his grandfather make wine with a hand-crank de-stemmer and a small basket press. They did small batches, made by hand, but Caruso didn’t intend on becoming a winemaker when he grew up.

He went to college in Washington, D.C., moved to New York, became a book editor. But he seemed to always be finding himself in restaurants. An interest in food grew into a deeper interest in wine. He worked a commercial harvest at an urban winery in Brooklyn, enrolled in a sommelier program and, somewhere along the way, decided that he was going to make wine his full-time gig.

He went west to California and Oregon, worked with other winemakers and then, in 2017, started his own project called Pray Tell. And that was great, but something was still itching at him.

“At the beginning of my professional wine journey, a long-shot dream emerged: to produce world-class wines in my hometown of Philadelphia one day,” Caruso writes on the Pray Tell website. “Some thirteen years, thousands of miles, and many tons of grapes processed later, that dream has become a reality.”

Pray Tell’s tasting room during opening weekend. / Photograph courtesy of Pray Tell

Because quietly, almost secretly, Pray Tell opened over the weekend in Kensington, at 1615 North Hancock Street. Caruso and his partner, Sydney Adams, made the move from Oregon to Philly so Caruso could bring things full-circle — coming back to the city where he first learned about wine from his grandfather, to make his own in the same building where his mother and grandfather started their family business decades ago.

Pray Tell opened its tasting room to the public on Saturday afternoon. By all accounts, it went well. And while it looks like it’s going to be a few weeks before Pray Tell gets its shipping in order, they’re going to have the tasting room open every week, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. You can get all the details you need at Pray Tell’s brand-new website or their Instagram.

Oh, and that thing about The Bear? Yeah, while you’re checking out the ‘gram, dig this: Right there, next to Richie’s head? Those are some of Pray Tell’s bottles (specifically the ’21 Syrah) on the shelf at Carmy and Sydney’s restaurant. So I guess Sweeps really did learn a thing or two during his sommelier classes.

Moving on …

Jose Garces’s Amada and Village Whiskey Concepts Get Bought (Again)

Garces in Volvér’s test kitchen. / Photograph courtesy of Cashman & Associates

Way back in 2017-’18, Jose Garces found himself in a tough spot. After a series of false starts, closures and concept failures, the Iron Chef and bona fide national-level celebrity had managed to dig himself and his restaurant group into a hole that seemed inescapable.

But after declaring bankruptcy, restructuring his empire, selling most of his restaurants, closing two of them and signing a partnership deal with Ballard Brands out of Louisiana that resulted in the formation of Ideation Hospitality, it looked like Garces had turned things around. His Buena Onda taco concept seemed to be doing well. And the new Amada in Radnor (which I reviewed not all that long ago) was better than I’d imagined it could be — especially considering I’ve always had a fondness for the original Amada that this suburban outpost was essentially a loving tribute to.

So it was a little bit surprising when I saw that Garces and Ideation (via Ballard) have now sold off both the physical properties, staff, barstools, silver and what’s essentially the IP for both Amada and Village Whiskey to SPB Hospitality (who own the Rock Bottom Brewery chain and, as far as I can tell, a lot of other things like the Rock Bottom Brewery chain), which is, in turn, owned by the private equity firm Fortress Investments, and we all know how well things usually go when private equity firms get involved in the restaurant game. Just look at what happened to Red Lobster.

Anyway, according to the release trumpeting this acquisition, SPB gets all three Amada locations (in Philly, Radnor and Atlantic City) plus the Philly-exclusive Village Whiskey, plus “leadership and restaurant employees.” Chef Jose Garces will continue to serve as the face of the brands and a culinary and concept development creative. Scott Campanella, COO of Ideation Hospitality, will become SVP at SPB Hospitality over the Garces products and growth opportunities for SPB.” The new owners are looking at opening three new Amada locations a year in the immediate future, focusing on the Sun Belt states where “the warm weather will complement Amada’s iconic Spanish cuisine.” Weirdly, there appears to be no plans for Village Whiskey.

At least not yet.

Okay, time for a palate cleanser. How ’bout some news about cookies?

Some News About Cookies

Levain’s chocolate chip walnut cookie. / Photograph by Mark Weinberg

First, I know that people have been talking about this for a while, but it looks like the rumors of Levain Bakery coming to Philly have been proven true. Late last week, the company announced to its 559,000 Instagram followers that the beloved, kinda cult-ish, NYC-based makers of enormous cookies will be expanding to Philly with a location set to open this fall at 1518 Walnut Street in Rittenhouse.

And that was pretty much it.

So we know it’s happening, but not exactly when. One thing I can say? The rocky road cookies that they roll out for the summer look crazy-good, so I wish the place was opening just a little bit sooner.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a cookie you can get today from an out-of-town, NYC-based interstate cookie operation that also nabbed a choice Rittenhouse location, good news! Chip City Cookies opened their first Philly outpost on Friday, August 2nd, at 204 South 17th Street, offering lots of variety and cookies baked in-house daily.

While Levain seems to focus on size, weight and largely traditional cookie styles (walnut chocolate-chip, black & whites, etc.), Chip City is a little more offbeat. Currently, they’re offering everything from blueberry cheesecake and Fruity Pebbles varieties to a hot honey cornbread cookie that, I’ll admit, has me intrigued.

Chip City is open right now. Hours are every day, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Now who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

At the Table’s lobster tagliatelle. / Photograph by Gab Bonghi

First, some bad news. It looks like, after nearly 20 years of service, Pumpkin will be shutting the doors after service on Sunday night.

The Inquirer has all the dirt on what happened, and if you want to understand a little bit of what restaurateurs have to go through every day in dealing with the city, you gotta check it out. Honestly, there are days when I think it’s a miracle we have any operating restaurants at all. And this is one of them.

More bad news: Good Dog’s Atlantic City location will also be closing after service this Sunday. Victor Fiorillo wrote about his experience there and broke the news yesterday.

Unlike Pumpkin, GDAC lasted only a little more than a year. And the reasons for the closure here are a lot simpler: There just wasn’t enough business to sustain them. On the other hand, the original Good Dog on 15th Street in Philly opened at almost the same time Pumpkin did (way back in 2004), and it seems to be doing just fine.

Meanwhile, there’s also new life at the old Eeva space, where Viraj Thomas is almost ready to open his first brick-and-mortar pizza spot, Char. I talked to Thomas last week and wrote about him (at length) yesterday. One of the things about his story that intrigued me? He’s completely self-taught — just another pizza freak in a city full of pizza freaks, getting his experience the hard way through years of pop-ups and collabs. The other thing that caught my attention? Dude started working the pop-up circuit when he was still in high school, and his first actual restaurant should be opening just days after his 21st birthday.

Anyway, you can read all about Thomas and Char right here. I’m pulling for the guy. And by the time you’re done reading, I think you will be, too.

Chef Alex Hardy from At the Table in Wayne is celebrating the last full month of summer with his own Lobsterfest promotion. Starting on August 1st, he’s got a five-course lobster tasting menu that will run the entire month. We’re talking lobster toast, lobster tortellini, New England-style lettuce wraps with lime gel and lobster crackers, charcoal-grilled half-lobster tails with carrot emulsion and blistered cherry tomatoes, and a deep-fried root beer float with funnel cake and lobster powder for dessert. The whole thing will run you $125 (plus an extra $65 if you want the wine pairing), and reservations can be made right here.

Photograph courtesy of Chubby Nori

Over in Chinatown, Chubby Cattle Shabu has got itself a new hat: a second-floor sushi operation called Chubby Nori. It opened over the weekend and is serving apps, shrimp tempura, miso butter cod and all kinds of hand rolls from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily. We’ve been waiting for this place to debut for a little while now, so I’m curious to see the place for myself. I’ll let y’all know how it goes.

Finally this week, it may only happen once a year, but there are some folks out there who look forward to it for every one of the 364 other days. It’s Tiki & Tacos night at Southwark — the one day when the house throws off the cloak of common civility and lets everyone indulge in tacos, deep-fried apps and rum-heavy fruit drinks with little umbrellas in them. In this year of our Lord, two thousand and twenty-four, all the Tiki & Tacos frivolity will be happening on Monday, August 19th. Why a Monday? Because why not a Monday? That’s why. We’ll see you all there.