Society Hill Society takes over the Artful Dodger tavern with a menu of Pennsylvania heritage fare
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.
“I grew up in Old San Juan and there’s something very familiar about these cobblestone streets, even though I’m a long way from home,” Yun Fuentes says of his new gig. He’s helming the stoves at Society Hill Society (40 S. Second St.), the newly opened tavern that replaced the Artful Dodger. It certainly wasn’t the move that anyone expected of the longtime Garces vet, who left Rosa Blanca in January.
When Fuentes and co-owner Reed Barrow first conceptualized the colonial tavern, they looked to the neighborhood. “Headhouse Square is a meeting place, a functioning European-style plaza,” Reed says, looking out on the square. Fuentes was set on embracing the history of the neighborhood as well as the seasonal farmers market across the street.
Fuentes’ newfound passion for Pennsylvania foodways is all over the Society Hill Society menu. Oysters, a onetime staple of Philadelphia dining, show up on the half-shell and in a salsify cream with caviar and chives. They’re also in a finishing sauce for a leg of lamb that is the final course on Fuentes’ “Supper,” a seasonally inspired tasting menu.
“It’s part the philosophy of how a tavern functions,” says Reed when asked about the tasting. “A lot of the taverns that were here early on, first they were drinking houses, but they [were] also a place that served one-pot meals. Whatever they had on hand is what they brought out and gave to their patrons as they were drinking.”
Even this early in the season, Fuentes is incorporating early spring produce into his Pennsylvania heritage-inspired menu. There are crisp-pickled asparagus stalks on top of grilled sourdough, spread with a lightly sweet, creamy house-made cheese, and a duck breast served with house-cured sauerkraut.
“It’s like doing Hollywood for a long time and then making an indie film,” is how Fuentes describes his move from the Garces Group into more intimate digs. But embracing the foods of Pennsylvania, both old and new, is something that moves him. “That’s part of the fun. We’re not going back in time, we’re going forward and putting them on today’s modern table.”
