The January Hit List: Alpen Rose, Middle Child, Zahav, and More

Walking into this 12-table steakhouse is like a movie moment. The noise and neon of busy 13th Street fades away as a host greets you through a speakeasy-style cutout in the door and escorts you into an intimate space with sleek, dark wood walls and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Inside, elaborate chandeliers make the room sparkle and glow while servers carve dry aged steaks tableside. This petite, Michael Shulson-owned restaurant is the place to impress a date or close a big deal. The menu leans throwback, with wedge salads served on vintage china and baked Alaska — flambéed on the table — for dessert.

Michael Solomonov’s restaurant first opened in Philly in 2008, on its way to launching the Israeli and Middle Eastern dining craze nationwide. In 2019, it was named the best restaurant in the country by the James Beard Foundation — the first time a Philly restaurant earned that major honor. So while this isn’t the easiest Resy to score, jump on it eight weeks in advance — or keep a keen eye out this generally slower month — or come early to snag a bar seat or walk-in-only outdoor table.

All meals start with fluffy, warm Laffa bread alongside the country’s best hummus and an array of tiny vegetable dishes called salatim. Spend the extra $10 to get the four-course Mesibah tasting menu that includes the pomegranate lamb shoulder with crispy Persian rice. Yeah, you’ll be full, but the lamb and rice fry up beautifully with an egg cracked on top for breakfast the next day.

The best cheesesteaks in the city. Convince us we’re wrong. Danny DiGiampietro makes the rolls fresh every morning. Is there any other cheesesteak joint in town doing that? Angelo’s is also the first place that we can remember employing Philly’s own melty, creamy Cooper Sharp cheese. Others, including Citizens Bank Park, have cribbed this smart move. DiGiampietro is obsessed with making perfect sandwiches and pizza. Thanks to plenty of national attention, this small Italian Market shop always has a line down the block, but it’s a line of happy people. Happy pizza people. Happy cheesesteak people. The kind of people who will offer your toddler a slice as you walk to the playground; which is a random, totally made-up example, we assure you.

More info here.

It doesn’t matter if you’re vegan. Go to Vedge. Richard Landau and Kate Jacoby’s iconic brownstone restaurant inspired a wave of vegan fine dining that’s since spread across the nation — another trend traceable back to, ahem, Philly. Since 2011, they’ve wowed diners by centering vegetables, not meat substitutes. Here, rutabaga becomes a cheese-free fondue with a Philly-style soft pretzel for dipping, smoked portobellos get the carpaccio treatment, and dessert doesn’t miss a beat with ice cream, budino and cheesecake.

Longtime restaurateur Ellen Yin made Philly proud when she brought home the award for Outstanding Restaurateur at last year’s James Beard Awards. Her flagship restaurant has seen a few excellent chefs come and go in its 25-year history, but the quality always remains. That is rare today. The Old City mainstay has been supporting local farmers and serving regional ingredients long before it was cool. Whether a whole Pennsylvania trout or a dry-aged burger, everything on this seasonal, contemporary American is solid. Fork’s sophisticated bar is also a perfect stop while museum hopping around Independence Mall.

Call 215-625-9425 for more info.

Brothers Benjamin and Robert Bynum grew up in the jazz club business and have carried their family legacy forward with their own collection of restaurants and clubs. South is a supper club style venue with a Southern menu. This is rare in Philadelphia, and sad, because who doesn’t like a skillet of cornbread, buttermilk fried chicken, and pineapple brown sugar bread pudding? Even better is the music coming from the stage, which draws top jazz artists from around the region and nationwide. You can dine here with or without tickets to a show, but if you want to see some live music, make sure to book a table in the jazz club, not the dining room.

What more can we say about the James Beard Award-winning restaurant known for its appearance on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table”? Mexican chef Cristina Martinez is a wizard with lamb. Her barbacoa tacos and soul-warming consommé draw visitors from all over the country, but equally as revolutionary is her work as an activist for fellow immigrants and those facing food insecurity. Line up at her sunny, casual Italian Market eatery and be patient. This meal is worth the wait.

More info here.

Little Fish is that ideal Philly restaurant of yesteryear. It’s a chef-driven neighborhood BYOB with blow-you-away food. As national attention has rained down on our fair city, restaurant culture has shifted toward liquor license holders in busy parts of town. It’s different at Little Fish, and we love it. Anyone who loves seafood should come through for Alex Yoon’s $90 five-course prix-fixe that runs from raw treats — like scallops and chili oil on buttery sesame toast — and pasta to seared fish, and a dessert of the day.

In Center City, Middle Child’s friendly original shop makes some of the best sandwiches anywhere. Owner Matt Cahn brings cheffy sensibilities to each menu item, with careful thought toward balancing flavors, placement of ingredients, and sourcing. It’s why these sound like regular sandwiches, but stop diners in their tracks on first bite. We can’t pick favorites, but try the Surfer with turkey and blueberry chutney on ciabatta. (Vegetarians love Middle Child’s Phoagie and classic Italian hoagie fans will want to order the So Long Sal!)

And there’s more: The team then brought this commitment to excellence to its clubhouse-style restaurant and bar in Fishtown that’s open from breakfast — think: an 8 oz. malted buttermilk pancake made with freshly milled flour — and as late as midnight on weeknights, when you can split a 40 oz. bottle of Negronis with friends.

Grace & Proper is a real bar. Not a restaurant with a good bar. Not a dive bar. It’s a bustling bar giving off European vibes in a South Philly residential neighborhood. The space is more than 100+ years old —and shows it, with peeling wallpaper, a mosaic tile floor, and a tin ceiling. It looks like it’s always been there. Owners Chris Fetfatzes and Heather Annechiarico have become known for their solid neighborhood restaurants and bars, but this concept might be their coolest. You order everything — cocktails, wine, cider, and Portuguese bar snacks — at the bar from busy, yet organized, bartenders. There’s outdoor seating and a small back room for groups.

More info here.