BOOKBINDER’S TRIES LINWOOD; LISA SAVAGE COMES HOME

July 2007

Philadelphia’s landmark restaurant, Old Original Bookbinder's, has a new location on this side of the Delaware.

The latest spot, at the Shoppes at Cornerstone in Linwood, was previously occupied by Savaradio.

Owned by John Taxin and his family since the 1940’s, Bookbinder’s targeted opening is set for July. It will initially feature dinner seven days a week, then open for lunch.

“The Taxin family and Bookbinder’s staff are very excited about our new home,” said director of marketing Natasha Waloff, adding that it will be a year-round mainstay to the local population.

A Bookbinder’s in that location would be a coup for the Linwood area, and an interesting challenge for the venerable restaurant, which recently reopened in Philadelphia.

LISA SAVAGE COMES HOME TO VENTNOR

Lisa Savage has come home to Ventnor, returning to the town where her reputation blossomed.

Savage, owner of two restaurants in Ventnor named Savaradio and then, most recently, the restaurant in Linwood of the same name, opened Sage.

Sage, in the location of what was Joe Pesce last Summer, is approximately 75 seats. It is located at the corner of Weymouth and Atlantic Avenues, a few short blocks from Savage’s original restaurant on Ventnor Avenue.

Savage, who created a sensation with her grand 300-seat upscale establishment in Linwood two years ago, only to see it close last year, earned a large and loyal group of followers with her first two establishments. The smaller one at 5213 Ventnor Avenue, and then a larger one at the corner location of 5223 Ventnor Avenue, were both increasingly popular. She began her career at Brittany at Night in Atlantic City. She was lured to Linwood in part by the prospect of the city’s first liquor license.

The current effort, a BYO, will also include a “New York style” Italian market, with homemade sauces, fresh made pasta, and specialty cheeses, Savage said. The market will open in the building to the right of the restaurant this summer The restaurant “will feature a little bit of what we have always done, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.”

It will also open for lunch.

BISTRO DI MARINO TO OPEN MARKET

Collingswood’s Bistro Di Marino is expanding. Chef/Owner Jimmy Marino has purchased the space next door to his popular casual Italian BYOB, and plans to create a standalone gourmet area for takeout. It’s expected to open by summer.

“We’re going to offer all gourmet dinners to go, seared fishes, lasagnas, chicken cutlets, and pastas. It will be an Italian version of Wegmans Market, and everything will be priced by the pound,” says Marino. “We already have 90 seats in the restaurant.

Instead of expanding the restaurant, I thought that it would be better to capture a different market, and the market for prepared food is a large one.”

To be called Bistro To Go, the new takeout space will have its own separate entrance, but the kitchens will be connected in the back, says Marino.

“That way, the Bistro To Go customers won’t have to be seen by the restaurant customers. It will have a completely private entrance.”

Winner of the Ed Hitzel Enterprises Excellence Award, Bistro Di Marino is open daily for lunch and dinner. It’s located at 429 Haddon Ave. in Collingswood. The phone number is (856) 858-1700.

SOUP NAZI INSPIRATION OPENS IN CHERRY HILL

Al Yeganeh, the inspiration for the Seinfeld Soup Nazi, has opened a franchise of The Original SoupMan in Cherry Hill. Founded in 1984, the chain of restaurants uses recipes from Yeganeh’s famous New York City restaurant, Soup Kitchen International.

The company is run by John Bello, chairman and chief executive officer, the former CEO of South Beach Beverage Company, makers of the SoBe line of nutritional beverages, and Robert Bertrand, president and chief financial officer. The company plans to have 1,000 franchises up and running within the next five years.

The Original SoupMan features a variety of freshly made soups daily, including Cuban black bean, mushroom barley, lobster bisque, shrimp bisque, chicken vegetable, turkey chili, sausage gumbo, and Italian wedding. Chilled soups also are available in season. Cups of soup are $4.95 to $8.95, and bowls run $6.95 to $10.95. All soup selections are served with fresh bread, fruit, and chocolate.

Also on the menu are several salads, including goat cheese and fresh beet salad and create-your-own salad, gourmet sandwiches, cold wraps, and toasted panini sandwiches all for $5.95, and several creative smoothies for $4.95.

Soups also are available for take-out.

The Original SoupMan is located at Chapel Plaza, 512 Haddonfield Rd. in Cherry Hill. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The phone number is (856) 486-4848.

FORMER MAX’S FINE DINING IS TOKYO BLEU SUSHI

Max’s Fine Dining in Cinnaminson is now Tokyo Bleu Sushi Japanese Restaurant. The moderately priced menu features a large variety of soups, salads, sushi, noodles, and other specialties from the beautiful space on Route 130. Signature dishes include spicy mango soft shell crab, crispy red snapper, miso black codfish, and grilled sea scallops.

There also are many specialty rolls like the hot girls roll, filled with spicy tuna, salmon, and yellowtail with an avocado on top; the Philadelphia roll, stuffed with smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese; and the bleu roll, with lobster tempura and asparagus inside and eel and caviar on top. Entrees are all under $16.95, and specialty rolls are $7.95 to $13.95.

Open for lunch and dinner daily, Tokyo Bleu Sushi Japanese Restaurant is located at 602 Route 130 North, in Cinnaminson, and the phone number is (856) 829-8889.

FORMER FUJI NOW OPEN IN HADDONFIELD

After months of waiting, Japanese cuisine lovers can once again sample the exquisite fare created by sushi master Masaharu Matt Ito. Ito, the owner of award-winning Fuji in Cinnaminson for 27 years, was forced to close the restaurant in August to make room for the state development plan of Route 130.

The popular BYOB gained a loyal following for its impressive sushi bar, seven course kaiseki, a creative array of small plates, and Japanese favorites like pork loin teriyaki and lamb that sizzles on a hot rack at your table.

Originally planning to open in his new location in Haddonfield this past winter, Ito didn’t unveil his new restaurant until late April. The new Fuji has a 10-seat sushi bar and two whitetablecloth dining areas. Most lunch entrees are under $10, and the majority of dinner entrees are under $20. There’s also a large takeout menu.

Fuji is open every day except Monday. It’s located at 16 East King’s Highway in Haddonfield, and the phone number is (856) 354-8200. For more information, click on www.fujirestaurant.com.

PASTA VINO UPDATES ITS MENU

To celebrate its tenth anniversary, PastaVino Trattoria in Maple Shade has updated its menu. Part of the Lamberti group of restaurants, the 100 seater will keep some of its popular traditional Italian fare. New appetizers are Malibu shrimp with rum pineapple glaze, Mediterranean crab dip served with homemade crispini for dipping, and five new salads. New entrees are homemade tri-color gnocchi (spinach, potato, and sun-dried tomato), crabstuffed jumbo shrimp, crab lasagna, and coconut encrusted jumbo shrimp in a dark brown sugar honey glaze.

“Some of the new items have been very popular as specials, and our chef, Jeff Huminski, wanted to add them to the new regular menu,” says Lauren Echevarria, restaurant manager. “We also wanted to add some lighter items, such as more salads. You can get veal parmesan anywhere. You have to stay fresh and have new ideas to keep people coming back.”

PastaVino is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. It’s located at 124 Kings Highway in Maple Shade. The phone number is (856) 727-1001.

The Lamberti Family of Restaurants has twelve other locations in the Delaware Valley, including Forno Pizzeria & Grille on Church Road in Maple Shade, Luna Rossa in Turnersville, and Caffe Aldo Lamberti on Route 70 in Cherry Hill.

BRACA CAFÉ EXCELLENT OR CLOSE TO IT

Braca Café is part of a group of buildings along the shopping district in Sea Isle City. A friend spent many Summers in Sea Isle and dined often at Braca; he always spoke fondly of the bar experience and the food. Until the week prior to Memorial Day, we had never been there. We will also remember our experience fondly. All of our food was near or exceeding excellence quality: mussels soup, French onion soup, lettuce wedge salad, saltimbocca and crabcakes. The lettuce wedge was short on the dressing of Maytag blue cheese and applewood smoked bacon, and the saltimbocca, seemed a little dried out, but flavors and quality of everything was very impressive.

SOPHIE GIRGIS IS THE 20-YEAROLD WHO IMPRESSED OUR REVIEWER

We reviewed Barone’s Tuscan Grill in Cherry Hill in the 4/06 newsletter. The restaurant had been purchased by, and was owned by, Joe Palombo at the time, and he has since changed the name to Joe Palombo’s Mirabella Café. That is the correct spelling of his name by the way. It was spelled incorrectly in the review. There are other corrections in the “facts” section of the review. The restaurant is a BYOB; we said it had a liquor license; the correct phone number is (856) 354- 1888. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant has 125 seats, not 70 seats. There are 40 more seats on the veranda.

Palombo told us that the twenty year-old server that reviewer Dora Dunn praised is Sophie Girgis.

Palombo describes her as “a little sweetheart who has been working with me since she was 16.”

OBADIAH’S CLAMS CILANTRO IS A DELICIOUS TREAT

Try the cilantro clams on the half shell at Obadiah’s in Marmora. With mango, cilantro, basil, ginger, lime juice, and other delicious spices, it’s worth a trip from wherever you are reading this...Ted Briggs, brewer at Tun Tavern in Atlantic City, is leaving the area to start a new job at Ram Brewery in Seattle, Washington...Bill McGinnity and Norm Imber, owner of Nobil Foods, have purchased Cousins of Ocean City, First and Asbury Avenues...Neil Elsohn is now consulting chef at Mickey and Minnie’s in Galloway Township.

Elsohn is widely considered one of the most talented and creative chefs in the region, and for two decades operated the Water’s Edge in Cape May. He also battled a series of personal and health problems for the past few years...Bloody Mary’s Bar and Grill opened in the Atlas Motor Inn in Cape May this month in place of Yesterday’s Heroes Ballpark Café. Try a Bloody Mary shrimp cocktail in a martini glass.

We ordered a seafood diablo – shrimp, scallops, and lump crab - and enjoyed every flavor and texture...Busch’s in Sea Isle City is 125 years old. We know there are other restaurants with age records, Merion Inn in Cape May, for example, but we know of none that have remained in the same family for that long. See our related column in the Summer Hitzel magazine...High Street Grill in Mount Holly has a variety of events throughout the summer, including beer lunches and cooking classes.

Check the website...Maui D’Antonio, owner of Maui’s Dog House in Wildwood, has closed the business and sold the building and equipment, but not the name and recipes. He now works with Spelletich cellars of Napa Valley, where he is brand manager...Michael Chekanski has been named executive chef at Morton’s Steakhouse in Atlantic City. Chekanski is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and also a former chef at Morton’s in Pittsburgh...The Margate Stumpo’s closed and is now Steamers. The new owners are Marc McKinley and Rick Ranelli. They plan to open this month....The restaurant Pufferbelly Station, in Dorothy, is for sale. It was once called Happy’s. The facility, along 557 Tuckahoe Road, under at least two of its owners, was so busy that people limed up to dine there. Now Pufferbelly waits once again to be that busy place. Here’s a trivia question. Why is the sign significant?

BARTENDING AT SOFIA BENEFITS CHARITY

We enjoyed guest bartending at Sofia’s Restaurant in Margate. The event, crowded and successful, raised money for charity. Our bartending tenure, about a half-hour, consisted of straining to listen above the noise of the crowd, and then telling the real bartenders what drinks had been ordered, then asking them to operate the registers so the drinks could be paid for. My co-bartender was Robert Irvine, star of the Food Network show “Dinner Impossible,” who seemed to be more able at making drinks. Irvine was a guest on my radio show the following Saturday and said he has no clue until the taping begins what his impossible assignment is. Irvine says his new book, to be available this summer, will name some names concerning his employment experiences in Atlantic City. After the Sofia event, we attended the Chocolate Jamboree at Ocean City High School, another charity event, followed by a visit to the new Ma France Creperie in Ocean City. Ma France, which moved from Ventnor, opened in the same building as the Chatterbox along 9th street. It is owned by France Hyman and Donna McCafferty.

THE PERFECT PANCAKE? PERHAPS AT GILCHRIST’S

Gilchrist’s Restaurant has moved from its long time location on Maryland Avenue in Atlantic City to the White Horse Pike in Cologne. The site was the former Cologne Avenue Café, and several restaurants before that. The owners are Michael Barham and Denise Stamat.

Barham told us that the Atlantic City site would be rebuilt, and the new Galloway Township location would remain open. On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, there was a line out front, most likely because of those delicious blueberry pancakes.

Ed Hitzel is publisher of Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Magazine as well as Ed Hitzel's Restaurant Newsletter. He is also host of "Table for One" radio show, heard Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm on Newstalk 1400 WOND. You can access information about Ed Hitzel enterprises at edhitzel.com For more information about Ed Hitzel publications call 609-909-9755.