Big Big News: Tom Colicchio and Andrew Carmellini Coming to Philly
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.
Oh and there's a new casino too.
This afternoon we booked it up to the roof of a parking garage at 15th and Callowhill. Why? Well, it's the future site of Bart Blatstien's upcoming (no groundbreaking date announced yet) casino complex, The Provence.
A casino coming to Broad and Callowhill? Pretty big news, right? Well, it gets better. The Provence has eight restaurants planned and two of them are coming from huge name out-of-town chefs, Tom Colicchio and Andrew Carmellini.
Top Chef judge extraordinaire Colicchio is planning on a unique take on a steakhouse featuring antibiotic-free local beef and ingredients sourced as close to home as possible.
Carmellini, the chef behind a totally amazing mini empire of New York restaurants including Locanda Verde, The Lafayette and The Dutch had initially thought about opening up a South of France inspired restaurant but instead is leaning more towards inspiration from the sunny shores of the Italian Riviera.
Of course, all of this is a while off. Blatstien and company are presenting plans before the state gaming commission at the end of this month and their verdict on whether or not the project will happen isn't expected before the spring.
Either way, kudos to Blatstien for bringing these two dudes to Philly.
