Icepack: A.D. Amorosi on the news, nightlife and bitchiness beats
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
There are a lot of old friends in this week’s Icepack. On the silly side, our ex-Gov. and Mayor Ed Rendell spoke at a “Ready for Hillary” (Clinton) money grab where he encouraged attendees to continue partying at the “G-spot,” rather than the G-Lounge (on 17th Street). Who doesn’t love it when Rendell slips sex in the conversation? ™Speaking of cash grabs, area director M. Night Shyamalan and his Sixth Sense/Unbreakable star Bruce Willis will reunite in Philly come September (according to Deadline) for Labor of Love, a script Shyamalan sold to 20th Century Fox in 1993. I see desperate people.
The happiest Icepack news is that Randall Hoppmann, a majordomo at Philly’s Restaurant School and former Le Bec-Fin staffer, is opening a restaurant at 1708 Lombard St., the ex-address of Astral Plane. Hoppmann is popping the top on Keen with two of her favorites chefs from the Restaurant School — “a young married couple I introduced to each other, Christopher and Caitlin Rorer” — and a simple, green-based concept. “No foam, no sous vide, no tricks,” she says. “I want to bring back hospitality, comfort and less pricey dishes. Affordability is missing in the local restaurant scene.” Along with offering American cuisine and homey dishes (“I’m a big fan of Friday Saturday Sunday”), Hoppmann wants to make Keen nifty. “And not snooty. I want to have tables upstairs for board games, get Joe Barker to do a painting. This should be fun — for you and me.” Look for Keen to open within three months.
There’s sad Icepack news as well. The world stopped on Sunday when it was reported that Philly-born playwright David Katz (son of Harry Jay) discovered the body of his friend, actor/director Philip Seymour Hoffman, dead from an apparent heroin overdose. My heart breaks at the thought of one talented man dying senselessly and another finding his friend in that state. Condolences.
In preparation for the release of its next album, Interrupt (on Feb. 25) and a tour with fellow Philly noise-pop janglers Hunters, Bleeding Rainbow will open for new wave icons Mission of Burma at First Unitarian Church on Feb. 8. B-Rainbow drop their video and single “So You Know,” just so you know.
Everybody likes Letto Deli (at 13th and Chancellor) until they get there. Philly restaurateurs Stephen Starr and Jose Garces made advances, even creating projects around pizza (Starr) and wieners (Garces) to no avail. Now, several in-the-know locals are rumoring that the tony Umami Burger empire is staring in the Letto’s direction. We’ll see.
More at citypaper.net/nakedcity.
