12:11 p.m.
A small ritual begins: Tickets from the night’s service are folded and carefully stacked throughout the evening. Ferreri begins each morning by clearing the tickets from the previous service as a small act of renewal.
Seven Hours at Irwin’s in Philadelphia
Published:
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like behind the scenes of a restaurant, this is for you. In Behind the Line, photojournalists take you inside the kitchen for a unique perspective on everything that goes into a single day of service, and the people who make it all happen.
In this edition, we get a glimpse into a day at Philadelphia’s Irwin’s, from chef Michael Vincent Ferreri, from photographer and journalist Clay Williams.
For the past five years, Irwin’s has served its singular vision of Sicilian cuisine from its perch on the rooftop of the Bok Building in South Philly. Running the show from the expo station is chef and owner Michael Vincent Ferreri. I first met Ferreri more than a decade ago when he was a line cook at George Sabatino’s Aldine in Center City, and in the years since I’ve gotten to know him as a friend and as a chef, profiling him in my Portraits of Philly series and joining him and his team last year on their annual sojourn to Sicily to connect with the food, people, and culture of the island.
Ferreri first rose to prominence with the opening of Res Ipsa, an all-day cafe near Rittenhouse, where he drew attention for dishes like his agrodolce chicken, which brings sweet and sour notes together in harmony. In a city known for great Italian food, he’s carved out his own lane, bringing North African and Middle Eastern cultural influences left behind in Sicily by centuries of invasions and occupations.
When Res Ipsa closed in the early days of the pandemic, the team found a new home in South Philly here at Irwin’s, honing the menu down to the essence of Sicilian traditions, and buoyed by annual research trips to the island.
This spring, as the restaurant’s fifth anniversary approached, I spent a day at Irwin’s with Ferreri and his team as they did their prep work, dreamed up specials for the evening, set up the dining room, and opened the doors for dinner service. As much as I’ve loved dining at Irwin’s over the years, seeing how it all gets put together was something I hadn’t yet experienced. I wanted to see how they do what they do, and what I learned is that they do this because they truly love it, and that’s what makes dining at Irwin’s so very special.
12:22 p.m.
Ferreri and chef de cuisine Ervis Kullolli discuss plans for the evening’s service, including potential specials based on ingredients on hand. I met Kulloli in the early days of Res Ipsa and have seen him step up as a partner in leading the team. Today, he ran the entire pasta station from end to end, hand-forming pasta and later firing each pasta course throughout service.
12:28 p.m.
Kullolli hand rolls gnocchi using the holes from a colander for texture. Irwin’s makes Sardinian-style gnocchi, using semolina flour from Green Meadow Farms in Hazlet, N.J. The style, one of the oldest types of pasta, is firmer than most.
12:35 p.m.
Dough for focaccia is set out in small cast iron pans. Every week, the kitchen team changes how the focaccia is served, but it’s always in this smaller round form. Originally, they made the bread in rectangles, as is more common, but the center pieces lacked the crispy edges that they felt was the best part, so they started baking them in these smaller rounds, to ensure everyone got the full experience.
12:39 p.m.
Kulloli rolls out trofie, one of the restaurant’s signature pastas and a holdover from the days of Res Ipsa. The shape, Michael’s favorite, needs no tools other than the pasta maker’s hands is a favorite for its versatility. Trofie appears on the menu throughout the year, topped with seasonal sauces and toppings. Says Ferreri, “It’s a fun shape, very versatile. Mushrooms in the fall, Sicilian pesto in the summer, primavera in the spring, mixed spring vegetables with whey makes it very light.”
12:58 p.m.
The fish delivery arrives, bringing in fluke from Local 138, a nearby purveyor focusing on fish caught along the 138 miles of coastline in New Jersey. The fluke is used for the crudo, a staple on the menu. “Being a Sicilian restaurant, we’re very seafood focused,” Ferreri tells me. “I try to adhere to Sicilian tradition: lots of veg, lots of seafood, and menus that change throughout the season.”
1:36 p.m.
Taking some time for R&D, Ferreri tests out a strawberry tarte tatin, using focaccia dough instead of puff pastry. The dessert will eventually be used as a dessert for Salvatore’s Counter, a regular ticketed dinner served at the bar that features original dishes that Ferreri develops individually for each service.
1:41 p.m.
Strips of swordfish belly get cut and flattened for one of today’s specials.
1:56 p.m.
Tonight, they’re serving a seafood version of a skewer they encountered when traveling in Palermo, Italy, last year. Here, Ferreri substitutes swordfish belly for pork belly, wrapping the strips around green onions.
3:23 p.m.
Micah Gillen and the front-of-house team arrive and begin setting up the dining room and prepping for service.
4:13 p.m.
The team gathers for staff meal and a side of gossip before the team meeting. They dine on grilled chicken fajitas with an avocado sauce made by some of the prep cooks.
4:26 p.m.
Kulloli plates his special for the evening, beans and greens, a classic dish in the Sicilian diaspora.
4:29 p.m.
A closer look at beans and greens, a regularly occurring special that’s on offer “whenever we get nice greens from the farm,” says Ferreri. This time, it features wild broccoli rabe, which has a sweeter, less bitter flavor than the sharp greens found on roast pork sandwiches around the city. Sautéed with garlic and, depending on the moment, anchovies, breadcrumbs, or cheese, the oil from the greens is combined with some of the cooking liquid from the beans and made into a sauce.
4:31 p.m.
When I traveled with the Irwin’s team through Sicily last year, we encountered the Vucciria, the medieval open-air market where, in addition to selling ingredients for locals to cook at home, they also grill skewers of meats and offal to snack on and wash down with a cold beer. That tradition continues here at Irwin’s, too.
4:33 p.m.
Here, the skewer is served on a peperonata sauce, made with grilled pickled peppers, garlic, and their housemade fermented chile paste.
4:38 p.m.
Caitlin Dagle, the lead server and events coordinator asks about the specials during the daily line up, a meeting where the front-of-house team prepares for the night’s service.
4:39 p.m.
Ferreri and Kullolli discuss dishes for the evening at line up with the staff.
5:33 p.m.
Ferreri serves guests at the bar in the spots where diners sit for Salvatore’s Counter each weekend.
5:53 p.m.
As both the pasta maker and the one working the pasta station each night, Kullolli handles the entire pasta process from start to finish.
5:54 p.m.
Dressing pork ribs with an agrodolce sauce. The sweet and sour blending of agrodolce is foundational to Sicilian cuisine. Here, it’s made with the pork braising liquid, a housemade chile crisp, along with brown sugar and red wine vinegar.
6:14 p.m.
Today’s focaccia is served with soppressata, prosciutto, an arugula pesto, and pecorino cheese, and it reminds me of a mini-muffaletta from New Orleans. The bread was light and airy, with a strong chew to it, and the oil and charcuterie inside left me feeling like I could put away a few of these over a lunch break.
6:40 p.m.
Ferreri expedites orders at the pass between the kitchen and the dining room.
