Icepack Illustrated: Mob Wives, Pancho, Bart Blatstein, Dobbs, Snooki, etc.
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.
"The owner has shown himself to be unpleasant and unwelcome in the neighborhood for some time."
I always hand it to Bart Blatstein. Back in October, he and I sat down to informally (and off the record) shoot the breeze about all matters of The Provence, his intended casino/hotel for Broad Street’s old Inquirer Building. There we talked about the caliber of all manner of operators he had at his ready — from restaurateurs and chefs to clothier, spa and entertainment operators — before he had ever squared the project. So it’s swell to see that Blatstein has hooked up with two of the best that Manhattan has to offer by way of Tom Colicchio and Andrew Carmellini, and was willing to bring it to the press’ attention the other day. That’s chutzpah.
As of Feb. 1, South Street’s Legendary Dobbs will welcome new partner/playmate/owners Nina Kelley-Rumpff and Gary Rumpff for current CEO Heshey Schlachterman to play with. Nina and Gary have produced shows there in the past (Ninja Bull Entertainment) so they know what they’re getting into. The trio host a meet-and-greet at Dobbs on Feb. 8. Go see them. Before that date, check out local producer David Ivory (The Roots) as he hosts his Flextone label launch party at Dobbs on Ja. 17 with Sidney Joseph, Ashley Leone, BlackRue and more.
Last week, I gave you news of Philly’s Mob Wives Natalie Guercio and Alicia DiMichele hanging out at Lit Ultra Bar with Ryan Banks, as well as dolling it up at Guercio’s funeral parlor. Just days after that, the Wives wound up at Lit again filming a video of Guercio’s upcoming single “Delicious” (her series catch phrase) with Banks on its rap, and DiMichele as part of the action. Celebrity boxing operator Damon Feldman was on hand for the fun at Lit, which reminds me — Feldman is at it again. He’s hosting a press conference/casting call for models and wrestlers (how about Terry Southern?!) on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Chickie and Pete’s on Packer Avenue. He’ll talk up an up-coming battle royal with ECW legend Sandman and two-time World Heavyweight Boxing champion Tim Witherspoon for the first-ever heavyweight championship of World Xtreme Entertainment (another of Feldman’s co-creations). To insure that no cheating ensues, Feldman will retain the services of ex-Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive tackle Hollis Thomas as its enforcer referee. Is that really a thing?
The last time I spied chef Jason Cichonski, it was the first nights of winter’s cold snap and he was letting his bar staff at Ela on Bainbridge do the talking, while showing off new cocktails. He must have been inspired: He’s taking over the bar on the corner of the block I once lived on — Letitia and Market’s Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant — with its co-owner Charlie McMaster and will re-name it The Gaslight. PB&R will close on Jan. 18 with the new Gaslight set to open within a month — unless they’re gaslighting us.
There’s more than a little Queen memorabilia floating around town, thanks to We Will Rock You at the Academy of Music. While a guitar autographed by Queen’s Brian May is at the Cherry Hill Guitar Center (right off Route 38) the Academy of Music’s lobby holds one of Freddie Mercury’s kimonos along with song lyrics from each member of Queen.
The Red Owl Tavern at the Hotel Monaco in Old City welcomed its new executive chef Jorge Chicas to the fold. Rather than just celebrate him, GM Natalie Pineda, and the klatch of invited guests had Chicas cook for them at Red Owl’s re-opening this week.
Three Philly film shout-outs are in order. The first is for Bradley Cooper for scoring an Oscar nom as Best Supporting Actor for his curly-headed role in American Hustle (man, we’re sorry that SW Philly’s Lee Daniels got ZIP for The Butler). The second should come on Monday when Kevin Hart’s Ride Along (with Ice Cube) makes more money than the Jack Ryan flick upon opening this weekend. That’s the predictions from the Hollywood Reporter. The last item is geared toward the small screen. Philly’s first lady of hip-hop, Eve, has a semi-autobiographical romantic sitcom in pilot mode at the ABC network for the 2014-15 season.
Things must really be coming to a head at Pancho’s Grill on Passyunk at Seventh. The Passyunk Post just ran something on how Pancho’s hot spot, run by the owner of the late, great Baja Room has no liquor license, but serves liquor as part of Pancho’s seemingly looong-ass soft opening as a complimentary part of a pricey meal (perhaps the liquor license from Baja is being transferred to Pancho’s? That takes a minute). Still, two weeks ago, I got several tips from a woman who works with a longtime resident on the block (all of who wish to remain anonymous) claiming that Pancho’s is a bit more of a nuisance than just selling over-priced Mexican fare, questioning in fact if the whole space’s build out is NOT on the up-and-up. “The owner has shown himself to be unpleasant and unwelcome in the neighborhood for some time,” went one note “He’s made some unpleasant comments to some of the neighbors over the last year and they’re pretty uncomfortable around him. Neighbors have been fighting this with the city through all the proper channels, but work continued to happen late at night. L&I claims to be on it, but clearly aren’t. Food is being sold and one neighbor thinks they also saw a drug transaction happen.” Now, the latter claim is pretty bold, and I certainly would not take it at face value. What does a drug transaction look like? Plus, what do they got and how much is it? Anyhow, I’m simply using it though as an illustration of what is going down in Pancho’s name and how the neighbors are getting angrier by the moment.
You know NJ Governor Chris Christie once gave MTV’s Jersey Shore stars grief about how they gave his state a bad name. Now look at who is respectable and who is not. Christie has turned into a bully and a suspected misappropriate-or of funds, while Snooki, Nicole Polizzi, just became a mom and wrote a nice book about the experience, Baby Bump, that she is doing a tour for (one stop being Bookends in Ridgewood, New Jersey). Now, who is the asshole?
There had been rumors (and not just mine) that the Four Seasons Hotel in Philly would shift to another location from where it is now at Logan Circle. Hell, it pretty much became a fact in the retelling. All we needed was a location. To discover then that it was “up” — the top floors of 1800 Arch’s towering next Comcast Technology and Innovation Center — is pretty slick indeed. Just one question (and this shows you how I roll): What’s going to happen to 4S’ top-tier, much loved Fountain restaurant? Several Philly-food sites have already stated that The Fountain won’t make the move to the CTaIC, but why not? Is it too heavy for the top o’ the tower? What could be better for a new hotel than to have one of Philly’s few remaining four-star restaurants on board? Discuss.
