Jawdropper of the Week: Second Empire Mansion in Rittenhouse Square

Welcome back to the Jawdropper of the Week! We’ve dusted off this former “Property” staple because, if you’re like us, you love looking at drop-dead-gorgeous houses for sale in this region. We promise to give you one of the best of them in this space every week. Here’s a good one for starters.

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“When a Biddle gets drunk, he thinks he’s a Cadwalader.”

— old saying about two of Philadelphia’s First Families

I wonder whether those drunk Biddles fantasized about living in a house like this former Cadwalader residence off Rittenhouse Square.

This Rittenhouse Square Second Empire townhouse for sale was built in 1865 as a wedding gift for John Cadwalader and Mary Fisher. (City property records place its construction date 15 years earlier.)

Up to now, it has had only four owners in its 159- (or 174-)year history. You now have the opportunity to become its fifth.

Its second owner was the French government, which took the Cadwalader Mansion off the family’s hands sometime in the 1950s and made it their Philadelphia consulate. (I’m guessing its Second Empire design appealed to the French.) It returned to private ownership in the 1960s, and its owners since have restored its past glory and then some.

The way they restored it, however, makes it ideal for someone who owns a business they can run from home.

The first floor is where business and pleasure can mix. A vestibule whose front door still has the original lock and key (above) opens into a spacious foyer (below).

All the moldings you see in these photos were reconstructed from the original plaster molds used to make them. The inlaid oak floors were also refreshed.

In front of the foyer and next to the vestibule is this elegant living room with a marble fireplace, a custom gold-wash mirror (one of three in this house) and a Tiffany crystal chandelier (also one of three in this house).

Behind the foyer, a formal dining room has the second Tiffany chandelier and the second of those custom mirrors. This one has a large C (for Cadwalader) incorporated into its frame.

A fully equipped catering kitchen and bar sit off the dining room. A powder room sits off the corridor connecting the dining room and foyer, next to the kitchen, and a silver safe hides behind a door to the right of the corridor.

Behind it is a deck whose staircase leads down to a landscaped patio that also connects directly to the lower level (more on it below). At its far end (not pictured) sits a carriage house that now functions as a two-car garage.

The second floor combines personal and professional space. The personal space is the primary bedroom at the front. Like all the other rooms on the first three floors, it has a marble fireplace.

Its en-suite bathroom includes a steam sauna. A second en-suite bedroom in the middle of the floor currently serves as a dressing room.

A large study sits at the back of the floor, facing south. It has a fireplace, the third Tiffany chandelier and the third gold-wash mirror.

The top two floors constitute the purely private realm. The third floor contains three en-suite bedrooms, each with its own fireplace.

The top floor, under the mansard roof, has been transformed into a modern everyday living suite. A high-ceilinged den takes up the front of the floor. A full bathroom sits next to the den.

Behind it is the skylit kitchen and family dining room. This kitchen, however, can also handle a meal for visiting friends, as it has a six-burner gas range, dual ovens, two sinks, a two-drawer dishwasher, two pantries and a Sub-Zero fridge.

Past the stair hall beyond the kitchen, doors open onto a roof deck with 360-degree skyline views.

From here, you can take the vintage Otis elevator all the way down to the basement to retrieve your favorite wine from the 650-bottle, climate-controlled wine cellar.

Also on this level: the main laundry room (there’s a second one on the third floor), plenty of storage space, the mechanicals and a large room at the back that opens onto the patio. Once a commercial kitchen, this room now serves as an exercise room, craft room, and storage space for sports equipment.

With all this Rittenhouse Square Second Empire house for sale has to offer, you may never want to leave it, and if you use it as your business home base, you wouldn’t have to, since you can have just about everything you might want delivered. But then you’d be depriving yourself of the many great dining, shopping, cultural and leisure options in both Rittenhouse Square and Fitler Square — this house sits close to both.

It also sits just a short distance from South Street and the Grays Ferry Triangle, where you will find two of three nearby supermarkets and even more dining, shopping and entertainment options.

So whether you want to live like a Cadwalader or drink like a Biddle, this house has exactly what you want to do either — or both.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 5

BATHS: 6 full, 2 half

SQUARE FEET: 5,752

SALE PRICE: $4,625,000

2102 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 [Mary Genovese Colvin and Margaux Genovese Pelegrin | On the Square Real Estate | Compass]

 

Massage Therapist Eric Elliott Gets Probation in South Philly Sexual Assault Case

Way back in 2016, a Rittenhouse Square woman accused Philadelphia massage therapist Eric Elliott of sexually assaulting her during a massage inside her home. A first trial resulted in a mistral — the second, an acquittal. Then in 2021, a South Philadelphia woman accused Elliott of sexually assaulting her during a massage inside her home. But this time, there would be no acquittal.

On Tuesday at the Criminal Justice Center, Elliott, his attorney Vincent Lorusso, his accuser, and an assistant district attorney all appeared for a 9 a.m. trial, where a jury was set to hear the case against him. The charges included felony aggravated indecent assault and misdemeanor indecent assault.

But at the last minute, Elliott accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to simple assault and harassment. The court dismissed the indecent assault charges and sentenced Elliott to three years of probation. Also part of the plea deal: he’d be supervised during probation by the sex offender unit and required to undergo sex offender evaluation, though he is not, at this time, required to register as a sex offender. Plus, the judge banned him from giving massages while under supervision.

“I am actually really satisfied,” Elliott’s accuser tells Philly Mag. (At her request, we are not publishing her name.) “I wasn’t out for revenge. I wasn’t looking for punishment. Honestly, incarceration does not align with my belief system. I don’t think jail would have rehabilitated him. In fact, he could have come out hardened and even more dangerous.”

When she addressed Elliott at the hearing on Tuesday, just before sentencing, she spoke about the Jewish practice known as Teshuvah.

“We believe in this process of repairing harm,” she said to Elliott from the stand. “And it begins with first admitting to the harm.”

She says that Elliott looked away from her as she spoke to him and that the judge wasn’t having any part of it.

“She reamed him out and told him she didn’t like his demeanor,” recalls Elliott’s accuser. “Literally yelled at him. She said that he was acting like a victim, while here is this humble and compassionate actual victim. She actually increased his probation time from what was originally agreed to because of the way he was acting.”

While she says that she’s satisfied with the outcome and relieved that the “humiliating” experience is over, she is worried that Elliott will continue to give massages despite the judge’s order. It’s not an unreasonable concern.

In February 2022, a week after Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed charges against Elliott in the South Philadelphia case, the state’s Board of Massage Therapy suspended Elliott’s massage license. A state prosecutor had successfully argued to the board that Elliott was an “immediate and clear danger to the public health and safety.” And yet, in July 2022, Elliott showed up at a Delco woman’s house to give a massage, as we discovered for ourselves when we were there upon his arrival, as part of Philly Mag’s investigation into him. Less than two weeks after we published our report, the state board fully revoked his massage license.

It’s unclear what Eric Elliott’s future in the massage world might be after his probation is over. But his South Philadelphia accuser hopes he finds another profession: “This is an industry that is just ripe for abuse.” When reached for comment on Wednesday morning, Lorusso, Elliott’s attorney, assured Philly Mag that his client would abide by the judge’s order and refrain from giving massages while on probation.

“I don’t think she could have been any more clear about it,” Lorusso says of the judge’s orders.

His accuser isn’t so sure.

“He didn’t care before,” she says. “So why should he care now? And what’s to stop him from doing massages under a different name?”

Comcast Is Ditching MSNBC and Other Cable Channels It Owns

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Comcast Is Ditching MSNBC and Other Cable Channels It Owns

The big national news in the media and entertainment world today is that Comcast has decided to divest itself of some of its most well-known cable channels: MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, USA, Syfy, E!, and the Golf Channel. The channels will be owned by a new corporate entity and will not affect Comcast’s balance sheet, an active concern when cord-cutting has become such a prevailing trend.

A Comcast executive wrote in an internal memo that the action will allow Comcast to focus on and invest more in other areas of its business. Comcast will hold on to NBC, Bravo (don’t worry: your Real Housewives aren’t going anywhere), and its Peacock streaming service.

MSNBC co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough awkwardly joked about their job future on Wednesday morning, given the news of the day.

For the full story on Comcast’s plan, go to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the news.

Direct from New York

Starting on Thursday, Philadelphia will have its own TKTS booth, the famed New York City ticketing booth that offers last-minute discounts to live performances. Participating venues and groups include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Wilma and Arden theaters and Ballet X. The booth will be at Independence Visitor Center at 6th and Market streets. Expect discounts of up to 50 percent.

When Uber XL Just Isn’t Big Enough…

You can now request Uber XXL. The new service is designed to provide passengers flying in and out of Philadelphia International Airport with plenty of trunk space for all that luggage.

By the Numbers

5 percent: Wage increase for SEPTA’s city drivers in a tentative agreement between SEPTA and the union representing those drivers. So it sounds like your city buses, trolleys, and subway will keep running just fine. As for those in the burbs, that negotiation is ongoing. But Regional Rail trains would remain unaffected, in any event.

$600,000: What it will cost you to buy Muhammad Ali’s former home in the Greenhill Farms section of West Philly, just off City Avenue. Bonus: Kobe Bryant once lived there. It’s currently owned by Bryant’s grandmother. You’ll want to replace the hideous carpets. But otherwise, I see a lot of possibilities.

13: Years since fellow boxing great — and Ali opponent — Joe Frazier died. And it sounds like the building that once housed his gym is in a fair amount of peril. We make a whole lot of fuss about a fake boxer and his movie prop-statue but can’t preserve Joe Frazier’s old gym?

Local Talent

I know I was just telling you yesterday about Grammy-nominated Quakertown native Sabrina Carpenter and her upcoming Netflix Christas musical special, featuring our own Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary fame. And right after that, I learned of a new development in a scandal surrounding the pop star. Around this time last year, Carpenter came out with a pretty sexy (OK, very sexy) music video for her song “Feather,” in which she appears in various states of skimpy dress. (You can watch it here.)

The problem is that Carpenter shot some of the scenes inside a church in Brooklyn, with the permission of the priest. Many Catholics were none too happy about it. An investigation ensued. And, well, the long and short of it is that the church has now, er, stripped the priest of all of his duties. Guessing the priest won’t be saying the blessing at the Christmas special.

Life After Couch Cafe: Scampi Brings the “Italian Diaspora” to Queen Village

Liz Grothe made a name for herself in Philly with Couch Cafe, a quirky series of semi-private dinner parties themed for whatever whims were striking her fancy: her travels through Italy, nostalgic takes on ’90s restaurant chains, and the comfort dishes from her childhood in Oklahoma, to name a few. From her apartment, she fried perfect arancini, presented homemade pastas to guests gathered around her living room, and once even crawled through her window to serve seafood boils to hungry guests. And it was all gearing up toward this moment: opening Scampi, a permanent restaurant that captures the intimacy of Couch Cafe with an even better menu supported by, you know, a real professional kitchen.

Grothe is opening Scampi on December 4th in the former Neighborhood Ramen space just off South Street. The menu will be prix-fixe like the pop-up, priced at $115 (inclusive of tax and tip) for five courses, and will have two seatings a night at 5:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Prepaid reservations are available on OpenTable.

In a city of Italian restaurants, Scampi stands out for a couple of reasons. First of all, the decor speaks specifically to Grothe’s niche “fearlessly silly” sense of humor. The entire dining room is painted pink and green, like cactus flowers in bloom, and on the walls, shrimp-themed pop-art and photos of things Grothe loves, like her chubby white cat named Heavy Cream. She has even removed Neighborhood Ramen’s host stand to make room for a small bar where she hopes people will eventually be able to walk in for “just a bowl of pasta and a bottle of wine.” Second, the cooking isn’t what you think of when you think Italian; she calls it “Italian diaspora cooking.”

“It’s regional Italian food with influences from everywhere Italians have gone,” she explains. That means pasta, yes, like the plump culurgiones that got her a shout-out from Bon Appétit earlier this year. At a preview dinner, she served them stuffed with trout, sitting in sour cream and topped with trout roe. Fans of Couch Cafe will find some beloved classics (including fancy hot dogs), but Grothe is also excited to experiment with her bespoke cooking style in a real restaurant kitchen. “We’ve got a real stove, a dishwasher that cleans stuff in two minutes,” Grothe says, excited. “It means we can do things we couldn’t do in literally an apartment.”

Her dishes are both familiar and surprising, driven by her own cravings and palate, and made with a lot of care. Take, for example, the handmade pici she rolled for the recent preview dinner, topping them with a chili and pecan-laden sauce that landed somewhere between mapo tofu, salsa macha, and macaroni and cheese. Grothe’s tiramisu is another representative dish — a decidedly classic iteration, made modern and punchy with the addition of crushed Frosted Flakes on top.

The personal nature of her cooking and the journey she’s taken to get to this point is reflected in the restaurant. Her friends at Pietramala gifted her the restaurant’s pasta extruder. The restaurants’ chairs and glassware were hand-me-downs from Randy Rucker, the first person to give Grothe a shot in the restaurant. And the space itself is essentially Neighborhood Ramen passing the torch as they move toward their goal of opening a ramen shop in Japan.

For as fun-loving as Grothe is, she’s also pretty thoughtful and sentimental. She’ll tell you she thinks shrimp are hilarious, but there’s a deeper meaning behind “Scampi,” the beloved shrimp dish you can get at Red Lobster. It’s a reference to the way that Italian food has changed in the United States. In Italy, Grothe explains, scampi refers to langoustines, whereas in the United States, it refers to the way most Italians would cook their langoustines with butter, lemon, and parsley. And at Scampi, the evolution of Italian food is sure to continue.

How Philadelphia’s New Twice-a-Week Trash Collection Works

Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!

How Philadelphia’s New Twice-a-Week Trash Collection Works

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker wants to clean up this city, forever eschewing the Filthadelphia moniker. Well, I don’t know that we’ll ever shed the Filthadelphia thing. I mean, it’s legit catchy. Regardless, Parker is serious.

Over the summer, she sent out crews to clean up every single block in the city. Crews disposed of trash. They removed abandoned cars. They painted over graffiti. And they scrubbed dirt and grime from the sidewalks. It wasn’t perfect. But an A for effort.

Now, the Parker administration has announced that trucks will pick up your trash twice a week instead of one — depending on where you live.

The new twice-a-week trash collection pilot programs kicks off on Monday, December 2nd for all residences between Callowhill Street and Pattison Avenue and Delaware Avenue (yes, Columbus Boulevard in parts) and the Schuylkill Expressway. So, basically, the vast majority of South Philly and then Center City, Old City, et cetera. The map shows you the way:

If your normal trash collection day is on Monday, they’ll now pick up your trash on Monday and Thursday. Tuesday pickups get Friday added. If you’re a Wednesday pickup, they’re adding Saturday. Thursday gets a second pickup on Monday. And, I’m guessing you see the pattern here but… Friday pickups enjoy a second pickup on Tuesday. In the event of a city-observed holiday, your normal day gets bumped by a day, as it always has, and there’s no second pickup.

As for your recycling, crews will only pick that up on your normal trash day. Undoubtedly, thousands of Philadelphia households will put their recycling out on both days. Because after all these years, we still haven’t properly figured out recycling.

Don’t live in one of those neighborhoods? Parker’s office says you can expect more two-days-a-week trash collection in Philadelphia starting next fall.

About That SEPTA Strike…

Yesterday, I warned you that not one but two SEPTA strikes could happen at any time, with one union’s contract having expired earlier this month and another’s expiring at 11:59 p.m. last night. Well… no SEPTA strike. Yet. Negotiations continue. Fingers crossed. (And not only because I’ll pretty much be forced to drive my son every day for college if both of these strikes happen.)

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm….

Does Center City really need a jazz club with ping pong tables and “Philly-inspired bar food,” all conceived of by some guy from New York City? Philly Mag restaurant critic Jason Sheehan seems highly skeptical.

Searching for Future Opera Stars In South Philly

You probably know Jennifer Weiner as the bestselling novelist from Queen Village. But it turns out Weiner is also a big opera fan. And so she set out for Settlement Music School last week to check out a Metropolitan Opera competition. Check out her report here.

By the Numbers

$21 million: Cost of renovations to the just-reopened Vare Recreation Center in Grays Ferry. That includes a full-sized indoor basketball gym, a fully-equipped gymnastics center, and a state-of-the-art computer lab with the only fiber optic internet connection of any rec center in the city. If you’re wondering where all that money came from, you can largely thank the much-loathed soda tax. Take that, Jeff Brown! (Remember him?)

0: Number of undated or misdated mail-in ballots from the recent election that Pennsylvania counties are allowed to count. That’s thanks to a new ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. And if you’re thinking to yourself: Wait, I thought the election was over… the McCormick vs. Casey recount is not.

3: Number of former Philadelphia elected officials who went on to become convicted of crimes and who now have taxpayer-funded jobs working for the city. You know, sometimes bad things really do happen in Philadelphia. For more on the sometimes amusing history of corrupt and allegedly corrupt politicians in Philadelphia’s storied past, read this.

Local Talent

Quakertown native Sabrina Carpenter, who’s nominated for the same number of Grammys as Taylor Swift is this year, appears to be trying to channel some of that Christmas-is-a-goldmine business savvy demonstrated by Mariah Carey. Sabrina has her own musical Christmas special coming out on Netflix. A Nonsense Christmas will stream beginning at 6 p.m. on December 6th. Among the guest stars? Philly’s own Quinta Brunson. Well, I’m sure it won’t be watched by as many people as that Tyson vs. Paul thing. But at least it will be more entertaining. Well, hopefully. Here’s the trailer.

Philly-Based Parcel Events Is Your One-Stop Online Shop for Party Hosting

The holidays are upon us, which means you’re probably going to a party — or you’re hosting one. If you fall into the latter category, your plate is probably pretty full, between the food, the guests, the decor, and all the other little things that might come up. So we thought you might benefit from reading about a newish Philly company that will help make things a little easier, at least when it comes to decor.

Meet Market East-based Parcel Events, a one-stop online shop for your party-hosting needs.

The biz was launched in April by former project managers Emma Sanzo and Hillary Crawford, who recognized a need for sophisticated decor for folks who want to throw a shindig at home — without having to rely on wasteful single-use items or stress about the details.

Parcel sells reusable decorations and curated kits inspired by various aesthetics; the Salute collection, shown above, is influenced by old-world sensibilities. (Other collections include Gather, Bloom, and Adore.) Each package contains products like table linens, dried florals, paper garlands, and vases, plus a digital planning toolkit for tips and inspiration.

Parcel is also introducing an autumnal dinner capsule and kits that can transition from your festive holiday tablescape straight into the new year.

Need more holiday-prep help — or an excuse not to host? Check out our guide to dining out in Philly on Thanksgiving, where to pick up a pie, and how to have holiday fun for the rest of the year.

Salute kit, $138; parcelevents.com.

Published as “Get Together!” in the November 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

Cellar Dog, the Unexpected Successor to Howl at the Moon, Opens This Week

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. We’ve just got a few quick things to get to this week, including (but not limited to) a caviar kiosk, news from Fishtown Seafood, opening details from Cellar Dog, some holiday updates, whiskey made for Citywides, and a dance party for old people (or at least the old at heart). So let’s kick things off with …

Cellar Dog Brings Live Jazz, Ping Pong, and Sloppy Joes to Rittenhouse

Okay, I’m going to try to get through this with a straight face.

You guys remember back in early July when I told you about the sudden closure of Philly’s favorite(ish) dueling piano bar, Howl at the Moon? It was a weird, bittersweet announcement, but there were two surprising things about it.

The first was that Howl at the Moon was still actually open. That, I think, came as an honest shock to a lot of people. The fact that, in this year of our Lord, two thousand and twenty-four, there was still a real, live dueling piano bar (and attached nightclub) alive and operating just steps from Estia, Good Dog, Monk’s, Vetri, Bud & Marilyn’s, and a dozen other notable spots was curious, to say the very least. And truly, I am not entirely sure that the whole thing wasn’t just an elaborate front for some kind of illegal, underground time portal back to 1977.

Second surprise: Almost as soon as the announcement was made that Howl had gone dark, new liquor license paperwork went up in the windows announcing that the entire space had been bought by a West Village-based operation called Cellar Dog, which was rushing ahead with a fast opening scheduled for fall.

Well, now here we are, in fall, and I just got the news that Cellar Dog is scheduled to open to the public on Thursday, November 21st. Which is good news, I guess. Except that the concept seems bonkers — which is really saying something, considering it is replacing a dueling fucking piano bar.

Sorry. Serious face. I can do this.

Cellar Dog is the brainchild of Arthur Backal of Backal Hospitality Group (which operates some pretty serious spots on some pretty tony real estate in NYC). It is, in his words, “[S]omething truly unique — a fun and spirited space where people can come together to enjoy great music, connect over games, and unwind with drinks and Philly-inspired bar food,” which, first, is not unique at all. And second, kinda undersells the truly messed up Venn diagram of entertainment options that all overlap inside Cellar Dog.

For starters, it is an 8,000-square-foot live jazz bar. And that’s fine. Philly doesn’t exactly have a glut of dedicated jazz bars, so one more is a net good. Especially considering they’re taking the music seriously, hiring an accomplished musician (Ehud Asherie) to curate the lineup and book performances five nights a week, plus late-night sets on the weekend. To keep the musicians happy, Cellar Dog has a collection of rare instruments on hand, including a 1945 Steinway piano and a ’70s-vintage A-100 organ.

So, again, they’re taking their jazz seriously. Which is nice. Not my usual brand of vodka, but I like it when folks take their passions seriously.

Cellar Dog also has a vintage arcade. Pool tables. Shuffleboard. Ping-pong tables. Chess boards. Because, as any fan of live jazz will tell you, nothing accompanies a soulful, heartfelt performance by respected professionals like the Tetris soundtrack playing in the background. Or the air horn track from NBA Jam. Or someone’s drunk boyfriend getting smoked at ping-pong and reacting with a Philadelphian’s customary grace and good sportsmanship.

And that “Philly-inspired bar food”? Wings, burgers, something referred to only as a “hot Italian sandwich,” short rib sloppy joes, and, of course, a cheesesteak. Because there is NOTHING a New York City restaurateur enjoys more than pretending they know something about Philadelphia’s culinary scene by slapping some sorry-ass excuse for a cheesesteak on the menu and calling it a day.

And maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this is going to be the best cheesesteak ever. Maybe BHG spent months researching the best cheesesteaks in the city, deconstructing them, and figuring out a way to produce one that would be the envy of all other cheesesteaks ever made. But I think you and I both know that’s not going to be the case.

Anyway, this truly is one of those Frankensteined-up, nostalgia-dripping, something-for-everyone “eatertainment” concepts that seem to fail with comforting regularity in this city. A Philly-bred operator can sometimes make them work (see: pretty much everything on the waterfront), but let’s all take a moment to remember what happened with Mad Rex, shall we? No amount of virtual reality, AK-47 wall art, or IV cocktails could save that place.

But maybe the problem was that it didn’t have ping pong.

Cellar Dog will be open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays from 4 p.m. to midnight and from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on the weekends.

Biederman’s Opens a Caviar Kiosk

Perrystead has a cheese vending machine. Flakely has a gluten-free pastry ATM. And now, in an excellent example of street-corner hustle, Biederman’s has opened their very own caviar kiosk, just in time for the holiday season, right outside the Four Seasons on the corner of 19th and Arch.

There’s actually nothing about this I don’t love. I mean, Biederman’s already has their fine foods storefront in the Italian Market, where they sell smoked salmon, gravlax, sable, whitefish, pickled herring, bagels, black Russian rye bread (still something of a rarity in these parts), deli pickles, various cheeses, and other fancy-pants delicacies. And now, they’ve got this little, brightly lit house set right out on the street where they’re offering crazy amounts of caviar and all the accoutrements to anyone passing by.

Seriously, we’re talking everything from $135-an-ounce sturgeon Osetra to French trout roe and the blini to eat it on. And it’s staffed by experts, Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

And okay, yes. It’s more than a little bougie. But I kinda just don’t care because there’s something inarguably cool about setting up on the street and just slinging one of the most overpriced, swooned-over culinary delicacies in the world to all comers without any of the elitist trappings or nonsense. No tuxedoes. No white tablecloths. Just a little kiosk full of fancy fish eggs for the people who love them.

Plus, Biederman’s is promising a “caviar bump menu” sometime later this week, and so help me, if they mean that the way I think they mean that — if they’re just gonna spoon it out onto the back of your hand for a fistful of sweaty dollars while you’re walking past — then I am sold.

Fishtown Seafood Is Expanding (Again)

In the beginning, there was the original Fishtown Seafood — a small, ethically curated, transparently sourced seafood supplier opened in 2022 by industry vet Bryan Szeliga in an old corner deli on Belgrade Street in Fishtown. A “new-school fish shop,” according to Szeliga, that struck a chord not just with neighbors looking for some good fish to bring home for dinner but among chefs doing their own shopping, too. We liked the place so much we gave it an award.

Recently — very recently, actually — Szeliga expanded. He found a spot at 22nd and Pine in Fitler Square that was about twice the size of his original shop and opened in June of this year with a cool, Wonka-style “Golden Oyster” promotion and the same kind of product he was pushing on Belgrade Street: chemical-free, super-frozen tuna, East Coast oysters, tinned sardines, whole octopus, calamari meatballs, scallops from Maine, sashimi-quality tuna, and a bunch of other things. But he also added sushi and chirashi bowls at the new location, which was something he just didn’t have the space for in Fishtown. I wrote about all of that, too. 

And now, guess what? Just five months and change after opening in Fitler Square, the increasingly inaptly named Fishtown Seafood is adding on a third location — this one just over the bridge in Haddonfield. And it’s opening this Saturday, offering the first 100 customers through the door a half-dozen free oysters just for showing up. Which is pretty cool.

The official opening is Saturday, November 23rd, at 11 a.m. The new spot is at 114 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield, and it will be bringing that same good for you/good for the planet energy that has marked the opening of the first two stores. There’ll be deals, specials, shrimp burgers, LOTS of oysters, and a whole new parade of neighbors able to get their hands on seafood products sourced from around the globe and down the block.

Not only that, but three openings in two years for a small, indie fish business? That’s a big deal. But Szeliga had more than 10 years in the seafood business working for other people before he struck out on his own. He knows this game. And he knows that being good to people, being good to other local businesses and suppliers, and being good for the environment go a long way. Also, having your own sushi robot doesn’t hurt, and he’s got one of those, too — at the Fitler Square store, which is providing high-quality, fresh, convenient grab-and-go sushi for the two Philly locations. Not sure yet whether or not they’re going to have their robot rolls in the case at the Haddonfield shop, but you can be sure that I’m going to find out.

Now who has room for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

In case you missed it, we did a big happy hour package in the November issue of Philly mag. And as part of that, the editors let me prattle on for a little bit about one of my favorite subjects: the Citywide.

It is, hands-down, the best signature drink that any city has ever had, made even better by the fact that everyone who lives in Philly knows about it, and precious few people who don’t live here ever have. It is blue collar, simple, gruff, and effective. Anti-precious in the best possible way. And in a little bit of extra good news for the week, one of our excellent local distillers has just released a whiskey that’s made specifically for keeping the Citywide local.

Chef Jacob Trinh of Little Fish has a fun side project called the Philly Sake Club, a roving culinary series where folks gather to learn about sake and the many ways it can be enjoyed. He’s teaming up with chef Ian Moroney and Sharon Thompson-Schill of Calliope to host an event that’s part sake class, part dinner party. Tickets are $160 per person, and there are only eight spots available, so if you’re interested in unique sake pairings, you better hop on this one fast. You can grab tickets here.

This week, Bluebird Distilling released Townie, “Whiskey for the townspeople.” Available in three expressions — regular, fine, and first-class — it is unpretentious, approachable, affordable, and made for sitting beside a tall, cold lager. The tasting notes kinda say it all, suggesting that the regular (84 proof, $34.99) be paired with “light beer, jukeboxes, and vinyl bar stools.” The fine (86 proof, $34.99) is made for tall boys or for mixing up into a sazerac. And the first-class (100 proof, $36.99) is “aged for at least six years and has a palate of sweet corn, brown sugar, tobacco, and cinnamon. Enjoy with vinyl records, leather jackets, and bar nuts.”

The cats from Bluebird are so proud of their new whiskey they even made a short film about it. And trust me, this thing has everything: sleeveless Led Zeppelin tee shirts, an El Camino, tattooed bartenders, “Slow Ride” by Foghat, SO MANY cigarettes. It’s a work of art. And the whiskey seems like a pretty good idea, too. So check it out wherever fine spirits are sold or poured.

In less drinky news, Levain Bakery (which I wrote about a few weeks back) is dropping their first holiday menu on Philly starting November 29th. There’ll be dark chocolate peppermint cookies, peppermint hot chocolate, and peppermint mochas in the cafe, cookie ornaments, and holiday gift tins for those looking for presents, and they’re also starting to offer holiday and event catering. All the information you need is right here.

Speaking of sweet stuff, Cake and Joe — the local gourmet cake, coffee, and sandwich shop opened in 2020 by childhood friends Sarah Qi and Trista Tang — is adding a third location. The original cafe is in Fishtown. They’ve got another up and running in Pennsport. And Qi and Tang just signed a lease in Center City for a ground-floor space at 1735 Market Street for their newest. Cake and Joe specializes in mousse cakes. The Fishtown shop has 14 varieties listed on the menu — everything from Oreo to Càphê Roasters coffee-flavored. But they also serve sandwiches, avocado toast, yogurt calpis, chai, and a full spread of coffee drinks.

There’s no proposed opening date yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

Finally this week, maybe I’m just finally starting to grow up a little, but this hit my desk yesterday, and I just had to tell y’all about it. On Saturday, December 7th, Vinyl (on 15th between Walnut and Locust) is throwing a dance party for the 30+ crowd. And the best thing about it? It’s a matinee dance party — meaning it kicks off before the sun goes down and finishes in time for you to be home and in bed by 11 p.m.

Yeah, laugh all you want, you sweet, summer children. But someday you, too, will grow old and want nothing more than to be home, on the couch, wearing your sweatpants and chewing an edible before the 11 o’clock news theme starts playing.

Anyway, Vinyl is rolling with a curated, throwback mix of disco, ’80s pop, and ’90s club music. There’ll be dancing, bubbly, and confetti showers, ABBA, Madonna, and J.Lo. Yes, there’s a Spotify playlist if you’re interested. And seriously, check out this schedule that Viny has laid out:

• 6 p.m.: Doors open
• 8 p.m.: Peak like it’s midnight and pizza for all
• 10 p.m.: Music ends
• 11 p.m.: You’re home in bed

Honestly, the last few weeks have been a lot for everybody. We’re all exhausted, depressed, and messed up in a hundred different ways. And while one night of Donna Summer, Laura Branigan, Bananarama, Prince, pizza, and champagne won’t solve anything, neither will not spending a Saturday night out dancing while still getting a decent night’s sleep. So I guess we might as well dance.

Tickets are available now. Get yours here. And we’ll see you all at the club.

Metropolitan Opera Visits South Philly to Find America’s Future Opera Stars

On Sunday, November 10th, 25 of the country’s best young opera singers gathered at South Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School to perform in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. The 10 winners will advance to regional competition in Washington, D.C.. Semi-finalists will move on to New York City and, in March, the 10 finalists will perform at the Metropolitan Opera, with a full orchestra. For a young opera singer, it’s an honor akin to winning the Super Bowl and the final rose on The Bachelor, all on the same day.

Performers in sharp suits or elegant dresses and heels paced through Settlement’s lobby, or traipsed up and down the staircase to the rehearsal rooms. Trilling scales spilled out of the windows and mixed with the clatter of high heels, the shuffle of sheet music, the appreciative murmur of friends and family members who’d come to watch.

Imagine Olympic athletes, holding qualifying races at your local elementary school’s track, or Cirque du Soleil auditioning acrobats at your neighborhood playground, and you’ll get a sense of how the afternoon felt as some of the best young singers in the world assembled at a neighborhood music school, and took the stage.

Each of them had prepared four arias. They chose the first one; the judges, sitting at a table at the back of the room, conferred briefly before asking for a second selection.

The audience did not have the benefit of supertitles or a program to explain what they were hearing. The singers, accompanied only by pianist José Meléndez, the district’s co-chair, couldn’t rely on costumes or an orchestra or other cast members. They had to conjure their characters and the plot with nothing but their voice and gestures and expressions.

And they made it look easy.

In the competition’s first hour, the audience met a closeted gay man in 1950s Washington, singing about the home he and his beloved will never share in an aria from Fellow Travelers, followed by the wickedest of witches, doing a first-rate villain’s cackle in a selection from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, followed by a wide-eyed teenager in Tennessee, yearning for all the wide world holds, singing “Ain’t It a Pretty Night” from Susannah.

There were songs in French and Italian, English and German. There were performers from Philadelphia and New Jersey — and China, and Ukraine. There was singing so assured and passionate that it left the walls and the floorboards practically vibrating — and the audience utterly thrilled.

Settlement is one of the largest and oldest community schools of the arts in the United States. Since its founding in 1908, Settlement has served more than 300,000 students, and it is one of the largest employers of musicians in the tri-state area. Musical superstars like Questlove, actors like Kevin Bacon, and Nobel laureate Albert Einstein all studied at Settlement, which has as its mission making music accessible to everyone, and offering music lessons to any child in Philadelphia, regardless of ability to pay.

Still, when most people think of the institutions that make Philadelphia a world-class arts city, Settlement doesn’t always make the list.

That’s why Othalie Graham, soprano, opera star, and chair of the Philadelphia district, wanted Settlement to host the performance.

“Settlement is one of the most storied institutions in Philadelphia,” Graham says.

Not only does Settlement have a storied history — Philadelphia’s renowned soprano Florence Quivar got her start at the school — “this building has everything you need: practice rooms, on-site parking. This is the place,” Graham says. “And it deserves more attention than it gets.” She raises her hands. “Settlement and the Met. I want people to think of those two things together.”

Opera is a long game. Unlike pop stars, who might hit it big before they get their drivers’ license and be old news at twenty-two, opera singers in their 20s are just getting started, their voices still developing the flexibility and range and power. The judges are listening for potential — “a kernel of what the voice might become” in five or 10 years, says Melissa Wegner, the competition’s executive director, who was one of the judges along with Evans Mirageas, director of the Cincinnati Opera, and soprano Christine Goerke. “We’re listening for the voice — the instrument. For musicality — how they interpret the music,” Wegner says.

The young singers all seemed delighted to be there. Sopranos Beautiful Sheriff and Daniela Machado, both 24, looked pleased and relieved when they stepped off the stage. The women met as graduate students at Rice University. They’re both first-year students at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts as well as roommates.

How does a twenty-something find her way to opera? For Sheriff, the journey began with harp lessons, then voice lessons. For Machado, it was growing up hearing stories about a grandfather in Colombia who’d sung opera, with musical theater as a gateway.

Listening to the young women talking about passaggio and portamento, the art of choosing an aria, and an outfit, and the difference between a competition and an audition, was like a crash course in Opera 101.

Both Sheriff and Machado understand the confusion when they tell strangers what they’re doing with their lives. “It’s a little niche,” Machado says. But both are confident that, once institutions take steps to remove barriers to opera, new fans will come. They pointed at Opera Philadelphia’s $11 ticket policy as instrumental for getting new people — an estimated 2,500 since the plan was announced in August — through the door.

“People don’t realize how alive the scene is,” says Machado.

If you were lucky enough to be in the audience at Settlement on that Sunday, you would know.

[Ed. Note: Bestselling novelist Jennifer Weiner, who wrote this article, is also a board member at Settlement Music School.]

The Looming SEPTA Strike Apocalypse

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Not One SEPTA Strike But Two SEPTA Strikes Are On the Table

Those of us who take SEPTA are all holding our breath on Monday as negotiations continue between SEPTA and two local transit unions. SEPTA’s contract with TWU Local 234, the union representing bus, trolley, El and subway drivers in Philadelphia proper, already expired on November 7th, and those employees could strike at any moment. Meanwhile, SEPTA’s contract with SMART 1594 ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday. That union represents SEPTA workers who drive buses and trolleys in the suburbs as well as Norristown High Speed Line operators. If a deal isn’t struck on Monday, those SEPTA employees could strike on Tuesday. And if both unions go on strike simultaneously, which could very well happen, most SEPTA services would come to a grinding halt.

The good news is that if those unions strike, SEPTA Regional Rail service would continue. The bad news is that Regional Rail trains are more expensive, by at least two times, and those trains would very quickly become packed, completely overcrowded.

Think you’ll just take Uber or Lyft? Well, given how those services tend to handle pricing, it’s reasonable to expect some dramatic surge pricing.

Just how long could a SEPTA strike last? Hopefully not as long as the one way back in 1977. That SEPTA strike lasted for more than six weeks. Maybe an e-bike isn’t such a bad investment.

About Kamala Harris’s Weak Performance In Philadelphia …

The New Yorker has this fascinating piece by novelist Jennifer Egan, who offers some insight into what might have happened to the Philly vote, based on her experience canvassing for Harris in Northeast Philadelphia.

By the Numbers: The Zero Edition

0: Pennsylvania cities that landed in the top 30 of the brand new U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Places to Retire. This is a little weird because five Pennsylvania cities — Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster, Scranton and Allentown — were the top five cities on last year’s list. And, well, that was also weird. Maybe this is all just more evidence that U.S. News & World Report rankings of anything are complete and utter bullshit. (If you haven’t heard Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast episode about this very subject, here ya go.)

$0: What Penn students will pay for Narcan, fentanyl-testing strips, emergency contraceptives, and, because it is Penn, sleep masks that come with calm-inducing lavender spray, all thanks to these nifty new vending machines.

0 percent: Chances that the rain in the forecast for this week will end our drought. We need 10 inches or so to make that happen.

Local Talent

If you’re a fan of the Wyeth family of artists — N.C., Andrew, Jamie, etc. — you’ll want to know that a major collection of their art is going up for auction on Tuesday. The collection belonged to the late granddaughter of the even later L.L. Bean (gotta be honest: I never realized that was an actual person) and is valued at about $3 million. If you’ve got some extra bucks sitting around, you can bid online. Or, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, get yourself to the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chaddsford ASAP! It’s chock full of Wyeth family art.

Spring Destination-ish Races to Add to Your Run Schedule

If you, like me, are suffering from a bit of the taper-week blues (think random aches, pains, and sniffles) ahead of Sunday’s Philadelphia Marathon, then do yourself a favor. Take your mind off the upcoming 26.2 miles (that you’ve trained so hard for!) and look ahead to your 2025 run schedule. You can easily fill it with runs a little further away, but still close enough to home. So check out these races within driving distance of Philly, and I hope to see you on the course.

Shamrock Marathon Weekend

March 14th to 16th, Virginia Beach

The half- and full marathons take you on a flat coastal course, with views of the Cape Henry Lighthouse and King Neptune statue at the boardwalk finish line. Afterward, sip your free Yuengling.
Stay: The Historic Hotel Cavalier (rooms from $509) is a few blocks from the start and has a spa with a quartz sand therapy treatment to soothe joints.

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

April 6th, Washington, D.C.

If you land a spot via the entry lottery (it begins December 1st), be sure to look up when jogging around Hains Point: The cherry blossom trees create a pretty canopy.
Stay: The Waldorf Astoria (rooms from $569) is a 10-minute jog away (great for your warm-up) and dresses up for the annual D.C. flower bonanza. Snap photos with your medal in the atrium, decked out in pink hues.

Coastal Delaware Running Festival

April 11th to 13th, Rehoboth Beach

Our favorite contest is the half-marathon. The route begins with a sunrise start along the boardwalk, then continues past cottage-lined streets and into Cape Henlopen State Park before heading back to the water.
Stay: Avoid the crowds at Bethany Beach Ocean Suites (rooms from $418), a 20-minute drive from Rehoboth. On-site Italian restaurant Via Sophia specializes in pasta — for carb-loading.

Brooklyn Half

May 17th (tentative), Brooklyn

Expect spectators and sights — the Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Park, and roller coasters on the Coney Island Boardwalk. The entry lottery typically begins in December and runs through early January.
Stay: Accommodations at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn (rooms from $449) have mini fridges for your pre-run fuel, while the restaurant, bakery, and bars bring the post-run party food and drink. The 2 or 3 train will get you to the start in 15 minutes.

Jog in Place

Don’t want to travel? Philly has spring runs to consider too.

If staying local is more your speed, then try the Love Run Philly on March 30th. The half-marathon starts and ends at the Art Museum, and there’s a 7K for those not feeling the longer distances again just yet. A finish-line festival with a beer garden and food trucks, plus an after-party at Urban Saloon where you can get bodywork by Phila Massages, keep your energy high.

Then there’s the Broad Street Run. The 10-miler typically takes place on the first Sunday in May, with a straight (slightly downhill!) course from North Philly to the Navy Yard. It’s rained for the past two years, so keep an eye on that weather (and bring hand warmers for the starting line).

Want to make a staycation out of it? Try Element (rooms from $215) in Center City, where you can request complimentary wellness goodies for your room: hand-held massage balls, yoga mats and blocks, a blender to create your protein smoothie, and noise-canceling headphones for meditating — getting you in the sprint-to-the-finish mood.

Published as “Gone for a Run” in the November 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.