f&d
foodanddrink
amusebouche By Adam Erace
BREAKFAST CLUB TELA’S MARKET & KITCHEN | 1833 Fairmount Ave., 215-235-0170, telasmarket.com. Mon.-Fri., 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Breakfast/ brunch, $2-$9; lunch, $6.95-$9.95. ➤ AT 10:30 A.M. ON a Sunday, there was nowhere to sit. Inside the gleaming construction of concrete, Carrara marble, barn wood and subway tile that is the new Tela’s Market & Kitchen on the edge of Fairmount (technically Francisville), the butcherblock tables, communal and otherwise, were occupied by dovey-eyed couples and a dude pecking away at his Mac and nursing a coffee. Up at the counter, a cheerful clerk poured me a mug of mellow Four Barrel coffee while I swiveled back to the dining room to inspect. A table opened. I sent my wife after it: “Go. GO!” But she was too late, headed off by an eagle-eyed mom. With a crazy affordable menu by a former Garces guy, 33-year-old Chad Williams, and homey touches like wildflowers in milk bottle vases, it’s not hard to see why the neighborhood has taken so quickly to Tela’s. The place is named for the building owner's pet beagle — and pronounced Tela like tea, not Tela like novella. In the time it took me to fix my coffee at a pipeand-plank, cream-and-sugar station, two seats had opened up at the communal table. If you’re looking for luxe eggs Benedict and French toast impregnated with red velvet frosting, Williams’ straightforward brunch menu is not for you. He traffics in simpler, more honest morning fare, like butter-soaked slices of eggy brioche toast and creamy grits with bacon and black kale. A fruit salad was fresh and bright, an omelet marbled with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, onions and chèvre. But there was definitely room for improvement, too. The welcome thicket of frisée alongside the omelet was not dressed, and while the brioche was made in-house, the accompanying strawberry jam was not.A stack of buttermilk pancakes was spongy, soft and crowned with staid cinnamon apples; calling them a ‘chutney’ is pretty misleading. The sandwiches at lunch (meatball Parm, baconjammed short rib) sound tempting, and Williams just launched his weekly Dinner Table series, so I’ll have to go back. Here’s hoping I can find a seat. (adam.erace@citypaper.net)
BRICK AND MORTAR: Jonathan and Justin Petruce along with beverage manager Tim Kweeder breaking in their new wood-fired oven. SCHUYLER ALIG
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WHEN A FIRE STARTS TO BURN Jonathan and Justin Petruce will be lighting up the wood-fired ovens at Petruce et al. in February. By Caroline Russock t all began with a phone call late at night from a drunken future server. Tim Kweeder picked up the phone: “Tim! You and Justin and Jonathan should open a restaurant!” mimics Justin Petruce, in his best yelling/slurred, wasted-dude impression. “Me and my brother had a plan to open a pizza place that never came to light,” Justin explains. “So we basically just said, ‘Hey, let’s all do this.’” More on: With restaurant openings, things do have a tendency to come together at the last minute. Venturing into the future home of Petruce et al. on a chilly January afternoon, I found things in full constructionsite mode, with workers drilling, hammering and sawing away, working hard to get the ventilation system in place. In just two short weeks, 1121 Walnut St., an airy, stained-glass-fronted former home to a women’s-clothing boutique, is going to be transformed into Petruce et al., one of the year’s most anticipated openings.
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citypaper.net
Originally from northeastern Pennsylvania, brothers Justin and Jonathan Petruce began their Philadelphia cooking careers at David Katz’s dearly departed Mémé in Fitler Square. After a year there, chef Chadd Jenkins of Fish told Justin that Little Fish chef Mike Stollenwerk was looking for someone. Justin wasn’t at Fish for long before Stollenwerk handed him the reins. “I wasn’t gonna say no,” Justin recalls. “That was exactly what I was looking for.” And it was a desire for a kitchen of their own that lead to Petruce. Although there are no plans for pizza at Petruce, Justin and Jonathan’s inspiration come from a similar method of cooking. In the kitchen, they installed a custom, wood-fired oven, made by local craftsman Brian Klipfel of Fire Works Masonry, and an Argentinian grill, both of which are going to be used in all aspects of the menu. On the sizable sample menu, the page is broken down into small plates and vegetables, pastas, and larger cuts of meat and fish meant for sharing. Decidedly rustic, MORE FOOD AND the menu has influences ranging from DRINK COVERAGE Southern Italy to the American South. AT C I T Y P A P E R . N E T / Beef tartare with pumpkin seeds and M E A LT I C K E T. pickles is served on pane carasau, a twicebaked Sardinian flatbread. A lamb breast is accompanied by onion rings, red wine and capricho de cabra, the Spanish equivalent of a soft, French chèvre. Octopus gets the Southern treatment with rice grits, field peas and house-made hot sauce. Petruce is sourcing from a selection of very-close-to-home farms, >>> continued on page 34
C I T Y PA P E R . N E T | J A N U A R Y 3 0 - F E B R U A R Y 5 , 2 0 1 4 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |
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