SL-PL TopChefs1115-FINAL-REG1_Feature11/10/152:28PMPage1 Making culture dynamic up Inspired PHILADELPHIA LIFE/SUBURBANLIFE Turney andMark Twersky—about world-class pizzas,primesteaks, just aboutthefolkswithfamous disparate backgrounds—Ricardo Franco, DavidMarques, Timothy Solomonov, Vetri, etc.We spoke in thecountry. We’re nottalking AND destination onparwithanycity cutting-edge vegandishesand on whatmakesthelocaldining the hardworkandcreativityto with sixmenandwomenfrom Philadelphia Area offeroptions inspirations andtheirthoughts Mexican toMediterranean,the great meals,ofcourse,arethe master chefswhohaveputin the Thomas, Habib Troudi, Marcie to suitanytasteimaginable— BY much more.Behindallthese last names—Garces,Sbraga, From Italianto American, make ourregionaculinary restaurants oftheGreater their establishments, scene shinesobrightly. 40 LEIGH STUART BILL DONAHUE NOVEMBER 2015 area’s

chefs

dining Cut

spice the

Marques’Via proprietorSalvatoreCarratta. inHorsham,ownedbyBuona Mediterraneo the states,hestartedworkingat Ristorante to had hisownrestaurant.Upon return live inhisparents’nativePortugal, wherehe restaurants. HelatercrossedtheAtlanticto College, cuthisteethatnotablePhiladelphia from TheRestaurantSchoolatWalnut Hill cording toMarques. with “twobigbars”andageneralstore,ac- kitchen,along a rawbarandsemi-open Marques says.Thenewrestaurantwillinclude OregontoFlorida,” across thecountry—“from cuisine” influencedbyregionaldishesfrom Fontana,La 58York willfeature“Americana simply, 58York. Hatboro, anAmericanbarandgrilldubbed, Buona Viaexpandstoasecondrestaurantin require someadjustments,astheteambehind New Year, however, hisschedulewilllikely asexecutivechef.Bythestartof serves Buona ViaItalianSeafoodandGrill,whichhe S Chef Marques, whoin1991graduated Opened onthesiteofshutteredCafé experience forcustomersofHorsham’s themenuand ing hisdaysperfecting ince 2008,DavidMarques hasbeenspend-

DAVID MARQUES

new restaurant’sopening,whilemaintaining great dealoftimeandenergypreparingforthe have beensomethingofablur—spending even Marques canadmitthepastsixmonths eversince. of thegrowthcurve and therestauranthasbeenonrightside obvious choicetoleadBuonaVia’skitchen, skill infreshfishandseafoodmadehimthe The restaurantbusinessisalwaysbusy, but

Marques photograph by Jody Robinson SL-PL TopChefs1115-FINAL-REG1_Feature11/10/152:29PMPage2

Turney photograph by Jason Varney | Thomas photograph by Jody Robinson exciting todosomethingnew, designsome- kind oflikeaweirdaddiction, Ithink.It’s she answerssimply, andwithalaugh:“It’s and sparkingnewentrepreneurial ventures, ward, continuallycreatingnew restaurants at leastayearortwo. restaurant, Turney says,likelywon’topenfor into arestaurant.Thisnew they willturn along with,ofcourse,aground-floorspace South Phillywheretheyintendtomove— recently boughtanewsecond-floorspacein have livedaboveJamonerafor10yearsbut there isstillmoretocome.SheandSafran sane,’” shesays. we have,I’mjustkindof,like,‘Wow, that’sin- Ihearhowmanyplaces Ripon, Wis.“When Bud andMarilynBriese,inherhometownof neighborhood, whichnowincludesfiveof of 13thStreetinPhiladelphia’sMidtownVillage C end. year’s pects thenewrestauranttoopenitsdoorsby completely differentthanBuonaVia’s.Heex- Marques says58York’s personalitywillbe dulge” atthenewplaceinHatboro,though mosphere we’vecreatedhere.” the food,haveagoodtimeandenjoyat- to comehereandindulgealittle—experience and otherexcitingthings.…We wantpeople and blackmozzarella,differentkindsofpastas people mightnotseeelsewhere,likeprosciutto “We’ve continuedtointroducenewitemsthat especially withalltheholidayparties,”hesays. to expectfromBuonaVia. the levelofexcellencecustomershavecome When askedwhatkeepshergoing for- As ifthisweren’tenough,Turney says Soon enough,localswillbeableto“in- timeofyeargetsreallybusyasitis, “This Valerie Safran,haveledthetransformation restaurant empire.Sheandherpartner, Turneyhef Marcie helmsanenviable MARCIE TURNEY grandparents, ney’s rant ownedbyTur- therestau- eled after Marilyn’s, ismod- restaurant, Bud& Artisanal Chocolates. Blaine name Marcie sweets underthe has herownlineof Chef Turney and Verde—and launched in2002, House, whichwas shops—Open owns twoboutique In addition,thepair Nonna’s andLolita. Jamonera, Little cluding Barbuzzo, their restaurants,in- Their newest

always keeplearning.” that’s what’sexciting. all, butthenallthesedifferentflavors.Ithink throughthem have asimilarthreadthatruns or awayofgrindingspices.[Therestaurants] cuisine“hasapastaornoodle she saysevery may jumpfromMexicantoMediterranean, to differentrestaurantswithintheempire, chefs, wholiketotakeeducationalsojourns them all—“bigflavors,”shesays.Whileher there isatleastonecommonalityamong Turney’s restaurants asunique,shenotes thing thatwillbeawesomeinPhiladelphia.” known tomanand,ofcourse,the legendary Prime—homeofthefineststeaks Barclay Restaurants familyasexecutivechef ofStarr’s 2014, whenTwersky totheSTARR returned the Hamptons,aswellinCalifornia. clients inManhattan,upstateNewYork and extensively asaprivatechef,cookingfor Le restaurants, includingDosCaminos,Isabella’s, work inanumberofrenownedNewYork Philadelphiaandwentonto world, heleft gain experienceandexpandhisviewofthe the illustriousBuddakaninPhiladelphia.To in ofrestaurants,ascheftournant “family” Twersky beganhiscareerinStephenStarr’s relate, toadegree. Huntingdon Valley nativeMarkTwersky can Then comebackandwe’llseewhathappens.” somethingelse. something elsefirst,learn parent tellstheadultchild,“Gooffanddo ensure asmoothtransitionoccurswhenthe to leadthebusiness.Oneofbestways I generation intothefamilybusiness,even business ownerwantstobringthenext Cirque, Per SeandAlfama.Healsoworked propositionwhena t canbeatricky butyoucan “I’ll neverknoweverything, While manymightlookateachofChef in careercamefullcircle His culinary Institute, A graduateoftheFrench Culinary MARK TWERSKY Prime’s menuofsignatureitems. while lendinghispersonaltouchtoBarclay excellence, upon STARR’s legacy ofculinary house Square.Hehassincebeenbuilding Primecheesesteak—inRitten- $120 Barclay cake, sugarrollsanddessertempanadas. trio of“boardwalktreats”—namely, funnel playful desserts.”Inparticular, heenvisions a one ofthecourses.He’dalsoliketo do“some he hopestointroducearawvegan optionas the four-course,prixfixemenu. For starters, technique andincorporatenewitemsinto ground beefinamoretraditionalrecipe. the “meatiness”thatwouldbeprovidedby combination oflentilsandmushroomsprovide onthemenu, pie, anotherdishcurrently chicken andwaffles.Likewise,withshepherd’s dish: was inspiredbyapopularSouthern thyme wafflewithgoldenraisinchutney— menu—spicy cauliflowerwingsandlemon- the vegetabledish.” vegansaucestocomplement menting flavorful dowithmeat,andinimple- would otherwise in substitutingvegetablesdishesthatI challengecomes who launchedFlora.“The intown restaurantownedbythesamefolks ously ledthekitchenatForcella, anotherJenk- time doingvegan,”saysThomas,whoprevi- dining, gastropubs—butthiswasmyfirst sports arenas,hotels,French andItalianfine menu. he quicklyappliedhisuniqueflairtothe Thomas tookoveraschefinJuly2015,and onlyseasonalvegetable-basedcuisine. serving intown thatopeneditsdoorslastNovember, the kitchenofFlora,a16-seatBYOB inJenk- together onaplate.It’salsowhatledhimto different culturesandgettingthemtowork style ofcuisine,becauseitrequiresbalancing T Thomas intendstocontinuallyrefinehis autumn One examplefromthecurrent “I’ve workedinalotofdifferentvenues— American”hispreferred siders “modern a challenge.That’spartiallywhyhecon- imothy Thomasneverbacksdownfrom PHILADELPHIA LIFE/SUBURBAN LIFE TIMOTHY THOMAS 2015 NOVEMBER | 41 SL-PL TopChefs1115-FINAL-REG1_Feature11/10/152:29PMPage3 says. “We usedtomakeourownheadcheese.” fromscratch,”he used tomakeeverything chefs.“Wehis skillsbesideMichelin-starred beeline forNewYork City, wherehehoned artsandmadea forge acareerintheculinary 42 S

the UnitedStatesinlate1970sto was raisedinBrazilandItaly. Hecameto outh Americanbybirth,RicardoFranco RICARDO FRANCO | NO PHILADELPHIA LIFE/SUBURBAN LIFE VEMBER 2015 VEMBER MAKING THECUT Travel—one mightsayfate—broughthimto restaurant inSouthCarolinatheearly’90s. lead thekitchenatAzieonMaininVillanova, he ranfor10years.In2012,signedonto own restaurant,Atrio,inStockton,N.J.,which richness. Uponrelocating,heopenedhis mediately fellinlovewithitsquaint,historic area,and heim- the NewHope/Lambertville An invigoratedFranco openedhisfirst but ifyousenditoutwithlove, … storm be almostliketheperfect night,because ithasto ple every You’re notgoingtoplease250peo- 200to250people. night, we’llserve down. OnaFriday orSaturday day isanewchallenge,upand ing tofindsomeplaceelse.Every something extrathatyou’renotgo- not beingcheapwe’reproviding Franco. “We’re notcheap,butby the bestwaywecanmakeit,”says toofferthebestfoodin and wetry where heremainstoday. for itssushi,whichisrolledtoorder, beback.” they’ll “We workclean,weneat, Although AzieonMainisknown hot spotforexcitingnewrestaurants.Thanks the form ofPanachethe form Wood-Fired Grill. to HabibTroudi, it’sabouttogetonemorein O come complacent.” youdon’tbe- and ifyoudon’tstoplearning, day,in thisbusiness:It’sachallengeevery and NewYork toseewhat’snew. Onething doing.IalsogetintoPhilly see whatthey’re Mikado, “soI’mfortunatetogoaroundand sister restaurantsAzieinMedia,Teikoku and says Franco, toAzieonMainandits referring lightful surprise. before dinedatAzieonMainareinforade- the globe,hesaysguestswhohavenever background, influencedbycuisinefromacross the MainLine.”Consideringhiswide-ranging fried rice,whichheconsiders“thebeston from thewok,kobebeeffriedriceandcrab listincludetheAzierockshrimpand, order” other dishesFranco wouldputonthe“must Carved outofthebuildingthathad been Carved “We havefourrestaurantsinthecompany,” Blue Bellhasbecomesomethingofa CountybetweenHorshamand gomery ver thepastfewyears,tractofMont- HABIB TROUDI

Franco photograph by by Dallyn Pavey SL-PL

Troudi photograph by Rob Hall TopChefs that people you every kept the kitchen he from Pike. just tination popular in where his and a education, business. cloths look building folks, best,” open iron those 10,000-pound one complete, and fired pizzas says, based that home French addition splits craft business up then, “I’m Troudi “We’re offer other closed of has skillets. educating and oven, At 1115-FINAL-REG1_Feature Troudi’s offering families, its pizzas single he here.” to on before cooked which the both will and serving Ristorante down in doors kept L’Angolo his an Although says. a restaurant good after a the road is new as he to casual restaurants aiming old-school earlier tying come. restaurants, “simple time and side. Troudi day. striking a well Panache, me will mind, learned so thin-crust “We oven a space coming myself, by in food veteran from bit. American northern cook I’m down going.” Blue, between

year’s theme—no as he a I’ve also

Castello, to this want That’s It wood-burning, in out needed prime Troudi’s in expects had Panache concept,” trying will will have on and other in always to an house guy,” he a the his any of year, on end. no good Neapolitan-style to have America, Miami the Italian have owns Italian I’m n the menus the steaks, overseeing the cuisine. his native to a cater formal loose dishes he 250-seat to pen,

job—first, Panache the on Panache white humble an still own. setting, best felt only restaurant two as says. restaurant the and crisp Skippack to industrial

cuisine, massive originate ends learning seafood 11/10/15 Tunisia culinary though honing Troudi in that casual of Today, Once wildly table- thing coal- bars, else- “I’ve cast- des- the the up the the on to is at if

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