No cup, no spoon, no mess, no fuss. John’s Water Ice now comes freeze-dried.
Also in this edition:
RIP, Tom Culton: The free-spirited Lancaster County farmer who championed farmers markets and inspired countless Philly chefs has died at 44.
Turkish delight: Craig LaBan recommends Oba Mediterranean Grill.
McGlinchey’s has closed: Apparently for good, for real, for now.
News: A South Jersey chef is ready for his comeback, and first-time restaurateurs are behind a sushi destination in Montgomery County. Read on.
— Mike Klein
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There’s freeze-dried coffee and freeze-dried fruit. For those times you may be craving a sweet blast of summer from John’s Water Ice, there is now freeze-dried water ice. And least it won’t get all over your shirt or car seats. Here’s your first look.
Tom Culton, the free-spirited, frequently barefoot farmer whose organic heirloom Lancaster County produce inspired a generation of Philadelphia chefs, earned him national acclaim, and helped jumpstart the city’s farm market renaissance, has died. Craig LaBan shares an appreciation.
For a no-frills dive bar (and Center City’s last bastion of public smoking), McGlinchey’s caused quite the fuss over the last week or so.
Was it closing? Was it not closing? Depended on whom you asked. The tears and memories flowed. A sign was taped to the door on 15th Street the other day: “Onwards to the next chapter!” In other words, it’s closed.
For now. I know of at least two groups interested in reviving it and keeping it pretty much as it was. Stay tuned.
Craig LaBan has found a Turkish BYOB delight with porch-side kebabs and fresh-baked pitas. You’ll want to over-order, but you may risk a gentle scolding from the managers.
Our food team found some tasty gems in the wild last week. Let us tell you about mustard pizza, squash blossom tlayuda, oxtail rotolo, and a vegan Puerto Rican feast.
The longtime friends behind Tinicum Township winery John Robert Cellars have opened a tasting room in Media. Lisa Dukart points out that it provides a new destination for those enjoying the borough’s popular Wednesday night activity Dining Under the Stars.
Scoops
Yume Sushi — Japanese for “dream” — is on the way to the Shoppes at English Village in North Wales, where it will occupy the former Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar, which moved across Route 309. The owners, first-time restaurateurs who are keeping a low profile, have hired chef Kevin Wan, whose menu will include steak, seafood, and dishes inspired by other Asian countries. Expected opening is February.
Chef Joe Brown, who back in the 1990s and ’00s ran the popular Melange Cafes in Cherry Hill and Haddonfield, is gearing up for another act: He and a partner are redoing the former Sycamore Grill in Newtown, Bucks County. The new Melange will have a white-tablecloth vibe, sizable bar, and Brown’s Louisiana-meets-Italian menu. The opening is slated for October.
P.J. Clarke’s, the pub in the Curtis across from Independence National Historical Park and Washington Square, is cutting itself in half to create a clubby new steakhouse called Rockwell & Rose. Read on for more.
Restaurant report
Tlali. Alberto Sandoval, a native of San Mateo Ozolco who worked for two decades in fine-dining kitchens in Philadelphia such as Lacroix, Striped Bass, and Volvér, got his first chance to cook Mexican food professionally in 2018 at La Fonda de Teresita, his own tiny, short-lived corner spot in South Philadelphia. That led to a more corporate role as executive chef at Condesa in Rittenhouse. Now, partnered with his brother Efrain, he is cooking his family’s recipes at Tlali, a modest, cash-only BYOB on West Chester Pike in Upper Darby.
Sandoval is cutting no corners on the menu. He replicated his mother’s nixtamalized heirloom corn masa, and he’s using his father’s chile marinade for the pork shoulder in his tacos al pastor ($13, shown above). There’s brisket in the birria tacos ($18), spiced hanger steak in the bistec tacos ($14), and plenty of poached shrimp in the shrimp cocktail ($16.99, shown at the top).
Among the entrees are huarache Teresita (shown above, $32), topped with a seared 12-ounce rib eye and cactus salad, and michmole ($24), a stew of salted branzino, potato, and cactus. For serving, Efrain brought back the plates from Puebla.
Tlali, 7219 West Chester Pike, Upper Darby. Hours: noon-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, noon-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It’s cash only (no ATM). Steps at the entrance. (Shown above are Efrain, at left, and Alberto Sandoval in the dining room on opening day, Aug. 17.)
Briefly noted
Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean has teamed up with Cooper Sharp cheese on a line of merch, including a Say Ch33se T-shirt with his Philly-given nickname, Cooper DeJawn.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto has partnered with local brand Honeygrow on a stir-fry dish: whole-wheat noodles with roasted chicken, red onion, mushrooms, scallions, and garlic butter sauce, topped with avocado and Parmesan cheese ($11.99). It’s a limited-time offer.
Paul MacDonald, head bartender at Friday Saturday Sunday and its Lovers Bar, is one of Wine Enthusiast’s 2025 Future 40, which recognizes tastemakers who inspire innovation. He’s the only honoree from Pennsylvania this year. The mag cited his menu, which features cocktails based on from the Fibonacci sequence: “The game plays into MacDonald’s philosophy of a bartender being responsible for not only mixing drinks but also managing a bar’s social scene and setting an example for how they want their clientele to behave.”
Long Hots & Sharp Provolone was the top vote-getter and seller in Herr’s annual Flavored by Philly: Crunch Off competition, knocking off potato chips modeled on tomato pie and hot stromboli. Herr’s says the winning chips will join its everyday product lineup in January.
Vinyl, the bar/live-music venue on 15th Street near Locust, has been shut down by the city Revenue Department over a tax issue, per a notice on the door. Co-owner Rob Wasserman said he expected resolution by Friday.
Kampar, chef Ange Branca’s fire-shuttered Malaysian restaurant, will take over Jet Wine Bar’s garden and bar (1525 South St.) from 4-9 p.m. Sept. 7. Two options: Chili Crabs in the Garden, six local blue crabs prepared in Kampar’s signature chili crab style with a la carte sides, including crab fried rice and butter corn, and summer punches and a shaved ice cocktail (gluten-free, pescatarian, and halal options available). Or Shot in the Shell in the Bar, an interactive oyster and cocktail pairing in a reimagined oyster stall with a flight of six local oysters dressed in three Malaysian preparations. Each oyster is paired with a shot that’s served directly in the shell. Preorders are encouraged.
Author Danny Freeman will talk up and demo food from his cookbook, Italianish: Modern Twists on Classic Italian Flavors, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Italian Market cookbook shop Binding Agents, 908 Christian St. Tickets, a must, are here.
MANNA — founded in a church basement at the height of the HIV epidemic to deliver food and encouragement to patients — will mark its 35th anniversary on Sept. 25 with an evening fundraiser at the Bellevue featuring a cast of top chefs including Eli Kulp (Delicious City Philly podcast) and Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon (Kalaya). Tickets start at $250.
The 2026 Chefs for Gemma — the annual dinner hosted by Gemma Services, which provides behavioral health, prevention, and child welfare services — will be headlined by chef Alex Kemp (My Loup) on April 10 at Green Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill. Early-bird tickets are $200.
The PLCB may eventually have to pay back tens of millions of dollars in handling fees that it collected over a five-year stretch. The state agency has lost yet another round in a drawn-out court case.
How to save the blue crab? Eat blue catfish, an invasive species. Frank Kummer visited the Chesapeake to see how restaurants are working to protect the iconic crustacean.
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❓Pop quiz
Home cooks are raising alarms about an apparent reformulation of what popular ingredient?
A) Duke’s mayo
B) French’s crispy fried onions
C) 4C breadcrumbs
D) Pepperidge Farms’ herb-seasoned stuffing
Find out if you know the answer, subject of an Inquirer investigation.
Ask Mike anything
What will it take to reopen City Tavern? Right now it’s an eyesore for our 250th anniversary. — Mark R.
City Tavern, the re-creation of a colonial-era watering hole at Second and Walnut Streets, has been closed since the pandemic. Its owner, the National Park Service, started the process of searching for an operator in 2022, and said it had identified eight potential groups in 2023. I just checked in, and a park service rep told me that while the government has had some conversations with “a potential lessee,” there was not much to share, including a timeline. “City Tavern needs a lot of work to make it ready for visitors, including a new elevator,” the rep wrote. “In the meantime, while it remains closed, we are exploring options to be able to have some level of exterior visitor experience at City Tavern in the future.”
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a ye olde taproom experience, there’s the re-creation of A Man Full of Trouble bar, located nearby.
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