PHILADELPHIA RESTAURANT NEWS
February 2002

Billy Wong’s Restaurant – This intimate Old City restaurant named after owner Billy Wong serves Asian fusion cuisine in a casual setting. Moderately priced restaurant and bar. Serves dinner only. 50 S. 2^nd Street, (215) 829-1128

Bijou Restaurant – Tiny European bistro offers a small selection of appetizers and entrees and full bar service in a lounge atmosphere. Open Monday through Saturday evenings until 2:00 a.m., 11 S. 3rd Street, (215) 925-2623

Bleu Martini – Moderately priced Old City restaurant and bar serving contemporary American cuisine. Serves dinner only. 22 S. 2^nd Street, (215) 238-1115

Creed’s Seafood and Steaks – The Baron’s Inne has undergone a major renovation and name change. Now called Creed’s, the handsome restaurant features classic fine dining with live jazz on Friday and Saturday nights. 499 Gulph Road, King of Prussia, (610) 265-2550, www.creedskop.com

Illuminaire – Neighborhood Italian restaurant featuring an open kitchen with gas-fired, cooper-clad wood burning oven. The restaurant has a dramatic hand carved wooden interior as well as a courtyard and hand blown glass lights. 2321 Fairmount Avenue, (215) 765-0202

Indonesian Restaurant – Chinatown restaurant serving Indonesian cuisine. The menu includes mangos, coconut milk, rice, noodles and seafood. 1029 Race Street, (215) 829-1400

L2 – American cuisine is on the menu at this casual, romantic restaurant. Eclectic décor includes tilted bar shelves, red velvet curtains, a paperweight collection on iron shelves and oil paintings in antique gilded gold frames. Open for dinner only. 2201 South Street, (215) 732-7878

La Viola – Small, popular neighborhood bistro serving both Northern- and Southern-style Italian cooking. Good selection of pastas, chicken and veal. Serves lunch and dinner. BYOB, moderate prices. Cash only. The restaurant has little signage, so look closely on 16^th Street in order to find the entrance. 253 S. 16^th Street, (215) 735-8630

Morimoto - The much-anticipated, contemporary, Japanese restaurant officially opened in November. Chef Masaharu Morimoto, star of the popular cooking show Iron Chef, combines his talents with Philadelphia’s Stephen Starr, one of the country’s top restaurateurs, to create this new dining experience. Dinner served seven nights a week. 732 Chestnut Street, (215) 413-9070

N. 3^rd – World fusion tapas cuisine is offered at this new Northern Liberties neighborhood restaurant created by artist/designer Mark Bee. Exposed brick walls and deep oaks and mahogany furnishings define the dining spaces. 801 N. 3^rd Street, (215) 413-3666

Picnic – Chef Anne Marie Lasher, formerly chef/owner of Fork, has opened this prepared-foods takeout shop with small indoor and outdoor dining areas. Focus is on fresh, seasonal foods prepared in an American bistro style. 3131 Walnut Street, (215) 222-1608, www.picnic.biz

Sal’s on 12^th Street – A 40-seat neighborhood bistro serving southern Italian cuisine in an attractive room with exposed brick walls and an open kitchen. Full bar service. Lunch and dinner daily. Moderate prices. 200 S. 12^th Street, (215) 731-9930

iCevviche!, the cookbook by Guillermo Pernot, chef/owner of Pasion!, won the Gourmant World Cookbook Award for best Latino cuisine book in English. 211 S. 15^th Street, (215) 875-9895, www.pasionrestaurant.com

Chef/Owner Georges Perrier ended the year with national recognition for two of his three restaurants. Le Bec-Fin was awarded a Five Diamond Award from AAA while Le Mas Perrier was named "one of the best new restaurants of the year" in the December 2001 issue of Esquire. Le Bec Fin, 1523 Walnut Street, (215) 567-1000; Le Mas Perrier, 503 W. Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, (610) 964-2588

Local chef Jim Coleman has published his third cookbook, Jim Coleman’s Flavors. The book is a companion to Coleman’s national public television series, "Flavors of America" and includes recipes featured on his national public radio program, "A Chef’s Table." A portion of the proceeds from the book is being donated to Workstream, a non-profit organization that teaches job skills to disabled and disadvantaged young adults.

Philadelphia’s Old Original Bookbinders seafood restaurant located at 2^nd & Walnut streets closed for business in January 2002.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation is a non-profit organization dedicated to generating awareness of and visitation to Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the Independence Visitor Center at (800) 537-7676.

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Note to Editors: For photographic images of Philadelphia and its surrounding countryside visit the photo gallery section of www.gophila.com/pressroom/