University City: Newest dining destination?

A decade ago, when Barry Grossbach wanted to go out to dinner, he had only three options: Ethiopian, Indian or Center City.

"We had difficulty, I guess, attracting the higher end of . more eclectic dining spots," said Grossbach, a longtime area resident and board member of the Spruce Hill Community Association.

But with the addition of two of the city's highest-profile restaurateurs, Grossbach's dining plight may finally be a thing of the past.

Both Jose Garces and Stephen Starr have recently released details about the upcoming openings of two Mexican restaurants in the area.

Garces, whose other restaurants include tapas bars Tinto and Amada, plans on premiering a 9,000 square foot two-level restaurant this spring in the Hub at 40th and Chestnut streets. Called Chilango, the restaurant will showcase cuisine specific to Mexico City.

Starr is also planning on opening a Mexican restaurant on campus sometime next year, though he has yet to finalize his plans.

Taken together, the two establishments are only the latest sign of a changing culinary scene in University City that may eventually make the area a dining location in its own right.

Once an enclave of ethnic food, the area has seen top restaurants like Rx, Marigold Kitchen and Pod move in and thrive over the last few years.

Three years ago, a University City District marketing study found that non-residents were finally coming to the area for its restaurant scene.

The one obstacle to University City making full use of this asset was a lack of visibility, which UCD marketing manager Lori Brennan says UCD has tried to remedy by a marketing campaign and the introduction of University City Dining Days, similar to the Center City District's Restaurant Week.

Steven Cook, owner of Marigold Kitchen, an upscale BYOB west of campus, said Penn's expansion over the last decade and the revitalization of the western fringes of the neighborhood have also created a homegrown market for good dining.

This has produced a wider variety of dining options, from ethnic establishments like Dahlak's at 47th Street and Baltimore Avenue to more high-end destinations like Rae, located in the Cira Centre.

But despite these changes and the UCD marketing campaign, most agree that the area's reputation could do with some improvement.

There's "not a lot of destination-type eating," said April White, food editor of Philadelphia magazine.

Though she said that "there are some hugely attractive things in University City from a restaurant [and] tourist point of view," even the area's upscale restaurants lack the grandeur of a Buddakan or a Le Bec Fin.

Bringing the cachet of Garces and Starr into the neighborhood may finally put University City over the top.

"I don't think these guys are gambling," she said. "People will follow them when they prove it's doable."

In fact, Starr's own opening of Continental in Old City more than a decade ago may provide a good case study. Prior to its opening, the area was hardly the destination spot it is today.

As White put it, Starr "has made a practice of opening up in places he knows that are going somewhere."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.