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(12/14/00 10:00am)
Come springtime, expect to find deli sandwiches, falafel, hot dogs and now tacos -- all on one street, as a Mexican grill becomes the fourth dining establishment to hit 40th Street in the past year.
The restaurant, which remains unnamed, will open on the corner of 40th and Locust streets -- likely in March -- in the spot formerly held by the convenience store Friendly Express.
Commonly known as Uni-Mart, Friendly Express left campus after 25 years when its lease expired this October.
According to restaurant operator Michele Leff, the grill will serve "classic Mexican street food [including] fresh tacos and anything wrapped in a tortilla."
The restaurant will feature a take-out area, outdoor seating and a large grill that Leff hopes will create a sense of "theatre," where people can watch their food being made.
"We want it to look like a traditional town square cafe of Mexico," said Leff, describing the environment as "informal," "bright" and "upbeat."
Meals will range in price from $5 to $12.
According to John Greenwood, a top University real estate official, the Mexican grill will close at around 10 p.m., similar to the closing time of neighboring restaurants.
Several students were pleased to hear that a new dining option will be joining the string of eateries forming on the 40th Street block.
"The more restaurants, the better," College sophomore Josh Dubin said. "[They're] generally cheaper than Penn dining, and the food is better."
But others said that the area would be better served by a new convenience store than by a restaurant.
"What we don't have in this area is a convenience store," said third-year Dental student Brad Pirok, one of many students angered by the departure of Friendly Express. "We need convenience. We don't need Mexican food."
According to Greenwood, who described 40th Street as a "restaurant row," the University did not try to find a convenience store to fill the spot.
"There are still going to be convenience stores in the area, with CVS and the opening of the [Freshgrocer] market," he said. Greenwood expressed confidence in the prospects for the Mexican grill, saying that local operators like Leff "are going to have a stronger commitment to the success of the location, as opposed to a chain where [the location] could be one of many."
Leff currently operates two other Philadelphia-area Mexican cafes with her husband David Fetkewicz.
Lease negotiations for the Mexican grill are expected to be completed in the next month, and construction will begin shortly after.
A few stores down from the Mexican grill, Papaya King -- originally scheduled to open by Thanksgiving -- will likely start serving its hot dogs and smoothies toward the end of January.
(12/08/00 10:00am)
After appearing in footage on a college humor Web site, six Chi Omega sisters are being forced to leave their house for breaking several national chapter rules during the taping.
Four Chi O sisters deactivated and two other members were made inactive last week. They must all move out of the sorority house, located at 3926 Spruce Street, by December 22. All four of the deactivatees were members of the chapter's executive board.
One student who deactivated said she and her sisters felt they had little say in the decision to resign.
"I didn't feel like I had a choice," she said. "It's more that they kind of made it seem like they were making this decision in my best interest and that this was the best thing."
Explaining that she is "bound by the rules," Chi O Chapter President Susan Kenney, a College senior, offered no comment on the situation other than saying "I have absolute confidence that this chapter will continue to be strong and that recruitment will be a success."
The chapter personnel board met with the sisters individually last Tuesday. Three were asked to deactivate while three others were asked to become inactive members as a result of violating national rules, according to sources close to the situation. While inactive sisters still pay dues, they are required to move out of the house and cannot attend functions for a certain period of time.
Chi O National President Mary Anne Fruge issued a written statement noting that "because the chapter quickly addressed the situation, the National Fraternity has not placed restrictions on the Beta Alpha Chapter."
The national organization did not return repeated phone calls for further comment.
According to the Director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Scott Reikofski, Penn has not been involved in the situation thus far, and is still investigating what happened and what actions have been taken.
"At this point, what we normally do is we work in partnership with the national and the alumni to work with the chapter," he said, adding that OFSA "would help support them in upholding their own rules."
The show, produced by SexViolenceCollegeHumor.com two months ago, featured three bikini-clad members taking a shower with the male host, two sisters kissing each other and three others raiding underwear from a neighboring house. The footage went online in November.
Several weeks later, the sisters featured in the video were individually summoned to meet with the chapter personnel chair, personnel adviser and Kenney. Kenney declined to comment on the proceedings of the meetings.
The three-person committee presented each sister with the specific charges against her, after which she was allowed to defend herself. The sister left the room while the group deliberated, and was then told what action would be taken and was asked to sign a contract. The deactivation or inactivity papers were ready for their signatures at the personnel meetings.
Charges stemming from the video shoot included allowing male guests above the first floor, publicizing the sorority in a questionable way, having alcohol in the house and engaging in conduct "unbecoming of a Chi O."
Some also violated the national chapter rule of inappropriately publicizing a Chi O song. Not all sisters faced the same charges.
The personnel committee asked three executive board members to "resign," which was clarified as stepping down from the board and deactivitating from the sorority as a whole. These three women had been filmed showering, in bathing suits, with the male host of the show.
The committee told the involved members of the executive board that their punishments were harsher because they were expected to be "role models" for the sorority, according to sources close to the situation.
Three others were told they must become inactive members for a certain period of time. Two chose to abide by this proposal while one -- also a member of the executive board -- instead chose to deactivate altogether.
While the committee presented the charged sisters with an option to appeal, one such sister said that the offer was ambiguous enough to be misunderstood and overlooked.
"When they asked me to resign, I guess it could have been no. But it didn't seem like that at the time," said the now-former Chi O sister.
By Chi O rules, a sister has three options when presented with such disciplinary action: accept the mandate to deactivate or become inactive, appeal the decision or take 24 hours to decide whether to appeal or accept.
The status of the other members involved in the video is unclear, although one sister did note that she thought 11 sisters in total had been punished in some fashion.
Sources close to the situation said that they had been encouraged by Kenney to participate in the filming. Kenney declined to comment on these allegations.
The sources said that back in October, Kenney announced that a Penn Chi O alumna -- a producer at the Web site -- had contacted her to see if any current Penn Chi O's wanted to be involved. According to some sisters, she did not warn them of possible consequences or impose limitations on their behavior.
Kenney, the chapter president, was out of town when CollegeHumor.com came to film the show.
"It was a way that we could help out a Chi O sister, and [Kenney] pretty much just endorsed it as a Chi O event," said a source close to the situation.
Entitled "Hangover Special," the online broadcast gave $50 to each of the five Chi O girls who participated in the shower dare and the kissing act. The three girls involved in the underwear raid were paid either $10 or $20.
(11/29/00 10:00am)
After four years of hungering for a 24-hour campus restaurant, students couldn't be more satisfied that the greasy spoon coming to Penn has promised to operate around the clock.
El Diner will open in less than two months in the spot formerly held by Eat at Joe's at 3925 Walnut Street. The cafeteria-style restaurant will offer traditional diner fare at cheap prices, ranging from $2 to $10 a meal.
After hearing yesterday's announcement, Penn students raved about El Diner's plans -- especially the 24-hour service.
"If this happens, we'll be able to get some real food as opposed to some junky snacks like chips [late at night]," Wharton sophomore Dan Ehrenstein said. He pointed out that Wawa is currently the only place where students can get a quick bite to eat around the clock.
"If it's not 24 hours, it's not a diner," College junior Evan Racine added.
Students hope that El Diner will not be another Eat at Joe's, the 1950s-themed diner that left campus this June after two years of poor service, high prices and overwhelming unpopularity.
Since 1996, the Undergraduate Assembly had lobbied Penn administrators for an all-hours diner, after conducting a survey that revealed that 97 percent of students wanted an on-campus, late-night greasy-spoon establishment.
UA members thought they got their wish answered in the summer of 1998 when the University announced that a new Eat at Joe's franchise would be open on campus around the clock.
But from day one, the diner closed its doors around 11 p.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends -- drawing criticism from students and the UA.
In an attempt to gain more customers, new management eventually extended the diner's weekend hours till 3 a.m. and began offering more discounted food options. But Eat at Joe's unfavorable reputation remained and the diner quietly left University City this summer.
UA members -- who met with the El Diner management to discuss student wants -- and students seem much happier with the new diner than they were with its predecessor.
"I think that it's just going to give us the option that we've been looking for, for a long time,"
said UA member Molly Siems, a College sophomore. "It's finally going to give us cheap food and 24-hour service, which right now is not possible."
In addition, several students applauded El Diner's plans to take orders at the counter, which they think will speed up service. Eat at Joe's customers long complained that the diner's sit-down service frequently caused delays.
A number of students were excited that El Diner will feature a well-stocked bar -- especially since the closing of Billybob this summer has made trips to the late-night hangout a thing of the past.
"I don't know if it can replace Billybob, but it would be nice," College senior Hamid Abdollahi said.
Students were also pleased with the menu's wide selection and thought the prices seemed reasonable.
"If it's good quality, [El Diner] is going to be a great success," said College sophomore Keren Mertens, who thinks basic diner food is "what Penn's campus is missing the most."
El Diner, operated by Goldman Properties, signed a lease with the University last week. Renovations are expected to begin shortly, although there is no exact starting date.
(11/28/00 10:00am)
Come January 15, students will finally have the 24-hour diner they've been asking for since 1996.
El Diner, operated by restaurateur Gary Farmer of Goldman Properties, will hit campus at the start of next semester in the spot formerly held by Eat at Joe's at 3925 Walnut Street.
And unlike Eat at Joe's -- which drew criticism from students for its lack of 24-hour service -- El Diner promises to operate around the clock from the day it opens.
"It's going to be different from Eat at Joe's in every possible way," said Farmer, who has opened five restaurants in New York and Miami Beach in the last 20 years.
According to Farmer, meals at El Diner will cost between $2 and $10. Breakfast, which will be available at all hours of the day, will run about $5.
Under the direction of Clark Gilbert, currently the chef of the Philadelphia steakhouse Saloon, the greasy spoon will offer traditional diner fare -- including omelettes, burgers, cheesesteaks, pizzas, sandwiches, caesar salads and fries -- and possibly international dishes.
Farmer added that the name El Diner, suggested by one of his colleagues, is meant to convey the idea of "a whole range of dishes."
"[El Diner] is not going to be gimmicky," said Donna Andrews, the liaison between the student body and Goldman Properties.
Currently in the process of obtaining a liquor license, the restaurant will feature a working 24-hour bar with "real bar stools," Andrews added.
A lease has already been signed, and work on the diner is expected to begin soon, though officials were unable to name the exact date renovations will start.
Last Tuesday, Farmer and two other Goldman Properties representatives met with a focus group of five Undergraduate Assembly members to discuss how to make El Diner a popular student hangout.
In response to their suggestions, Farmer decided to drop the original plan of a sit-down format in favor of counter service, similar to that of Billybob, a popular late-night eatery on 40th and Walnut streets that closed this summer.
Goldman Properties will conduct at least one more student focus group to taste the food before the diner opens.
Student demand for a greasy spoon was brought to the attention of Penn officials four years ago. In response to a UA survey showing that 97 percent of students wanted an on-campus diner, University officials brought Eat at Joe's to campus in the summer of 1998.
But the 1950s-theme diner's slow service, high prices and lack of around-the-clock hours couldn't have made it more unpopular.
And this summer, after two years of poor business, Eat at Joe's shut its doors for good.
But in less than two months, Eat at Joe's may just be a bad memory as wooden tables and flooring replace the chrome seats and pink fluorescent lights still glowing from the storefront's empty interior.
"We want it to be a place you can come in at any hour and feel like home," said Farmer, who describes the diner's planned environment as "easy and casual."
"We're going to get rid of that ugly car," Andrews added. "It looks like you're walking inside a refrigerator right now."
Goldman Properties officials added that they consider the 40th and Walnut area ripe for new development.
"I'm hoping that it will encourage other businesspeople to come and develop around 40th Street," Farmer said.
(11/16/00 10:00am)
The partnership backing the Sundance Cinemas complex at 40th and Walnut streets has unexpectedly collapsed, putting its future in question and forcing the University to take control of the project.
General Cinemas, which entered into a joint venture with Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas company three years ago -- and was providing the majority of funding for the long-awaited theater -- filed for bankruptcy last month. In recent days, Sundance officials told the University that they have been unable to find an alternative source of financing.
The theater complex was to be just one in a chain of independent movie theaters that Redford planned to open. Penn officials had expected that the 40th Street complex would be the first of its kind to open. Another Sundance theater, in Portland, Ore., is stopping construction with 75 percent of it completed.
But with the project's prime financial support gone and Sundance unable to find another source of funding, University officials must now hope they can find a new company to operate and help finance the 50,000-square-foot theater complex.
Admitting that the General Cinemas bankruptcy is a major setback, Penn Executive Vice President John Fry said that the project will move forward in some fashion.
"There is no backing away," Fry said. "This is something we're going to deal with and fix."
Redford and University President Judith Rodin announced plans for the project in the fall of 1998, expecting it to open last spring. But sluggish construction and architectural complications slowed the process, leaving the theater only half finished and not expected to open until January.
Though Sundance told Penn they would secure another partner after General Cinemas filed for bankruptcy, about 10 days ago they alerted the University that they were unable to do so.
Sundance's role in the project is now unclear. Though Penn officials have said they hope to keep Redford's organization involved, a source familiar with the situation said Sundance is essentially unable to proceed in the effort.
The University has already begun seeking out and meeting with possible replacement operators. According to Fry, the new financial partner will not be a national corporation like General Cinemas and hopefully will be determined within the next few months.
Meanwhile, Fry said that construction will slow down considerably and officials are looking at the cost of sealing the building off until they are ready to move forward. He said he expects Sundance and General Cinemas to provide the money to do that.
The concept behind the Sundance complex -- combining films with a restaurant and bar to enhance the moviegoing experience -- complicates the decision. Penn's goal of making 40th Street a destination spot for all Philadelphians rests on the movie theater housing a restaurant and other amenities.
In switching roles from the project's landlord to its leader, the University may end up investing considerably more money than the $15 million officials originally planned.
But before they commit to increasing University funding, Fry said officials will try to seek additional equity from third parties. If that doesn't work, officials may have to cut back on some of the complex's more expensive design features.
General Cinema's bankruptcy is part of the recent financial difficulties plaguing the entire movie exhibition industry.
Fueled by the emphasis in the late-1990s on bigger movie complexes, many film exhibitors throughout the nation overbuilt in the past five years, racking up debts they have since failed to pay off and which sent many of the nation's largest exhibition companies into Chapter 11.
General Cinemas spokesman Brian Callaghan estimated that the number of theaters in the country has increased by about 60 percent, from 22,000 to about 37,000, in the last decade.
In the past two months, General Cinemas has closed down about 53 of its 130 locations throughout the nation.
"No one... could have predicted how in three years the general movie theater market would have changed," Rodin said.
Fry stood behind Penn's decision to partner with Sundance and General Cinemas on the project, emphasizing that the current fiasco was out of Penn's control.
"We feel we did a really good deal two years ago," he said. "We felt the two of them together, with us, would be able to materialize something very special."
Penn's top real estate official, Tom Lussenhop, argued that though the industry as a whole is ailing, the unique nature of the Sundance idea will allow it to thrive in University City.
"The nation is still going to the movies," Lussenhop said.
He cited a feasibility study done before construction began that found Philadelphia to be "significantly underscreened" and the 40th Street location viable for a theater.
Communications Professor Joe Turow, who teaches a class on mass media, said that while the market for independent films is small, Sundance's location next to a university would increase its chances of success.
"Young adults and teenagers go to the movies more than any other age group," he added.
University officials hoped the theater and Freshgrocer, a neighboring supermarket expected to open in January, would serve as an anchor for the 40th Street corridor, drawing people from throughout the city.
But Fry admitted that the current state of Sundance might hinder development, though officials are still actively seeking out retail ventures for the area.
"This is right in the middle of all the things that we're trying to do with 40th Street," he said. "That we have something sitting there that's half completed does nothing for any of our other plans to create a vibrant 40th Street."
University City District Executive Director Paul Steinke said he did not think the upheaval will affect any of the neighboring businesses.
"There's no doubt in my mind that, given the commitment Penn has made to 40th Street and the community, they will find a way to make this happen," Steinke said.
While Steinke sees the Sundance name as an advantage, he said he believes the theater will do well without the name.
"I don't think Sundance is necessarily the only identity that it can have in order to be successful," Steinke said.
(11/10/00 10:00am)
Finally, Penn students might have the greasy-spoon diner they've been craving since 1996.
University negotations with a new diner operator are underway, and if they continue to go smoothly in the next few weeks, a 24-hour diner will hit campus January 15.
While University officials will not release the name of the operator until after lease negotiations are finalized, they have promised that the new operation will not be the franchise establishment Eat at Joe's was.
According to the University's top real estate official, Tom Lussenhop, construction on the diner's location at 3925 Walnut Street, formerly held by Eat at Joe's, will begin "within the next month."
Eat at Joe's, which closed June 30, was Penn's response to a 1996 Undergraduate Assembly survey that showed an overwhelming 97 percent of students wanted a 24-hour diner on campus.
But the 1950s-theme diner's slow service, high prices and lack of around-the-clock hours couldn't have made it more unpopular, and after two years, Eat at Joe's shut its doors for good.
"Eat at Joe's was a disaster," said Bob Christian, the president of the 40th Street Area Business Association. "Instead of getting a real diner, [the University] got this phony corporate diner, and it didn't work."
But the vacant lot, still glowing fluorescent pink behind its glass doors, may soon be a forgotten fiasco as a new diner comes to take its place.
Since its closing, the Undergraduate Assembly has been in talks with the University about possible replacement operators that can offer around-the-clock service.
"What we're looking for now is an independently owned diner operator... and not a generic concept meant to appeal to multiple markets," Lussenhop said.
"We are committed to opening a 24-hour diner as soon as conceivably possible," he added.
Lussenhop said he hopes the replacement diner, as an independent operator not recognized on a national level, will be able to respond to local needs better and more efficiently than the large restaurant chain could.
Eat at Joe's, which Lussenhop called "a somewhat cookie-cutter national franchise," was operated by CosCo Management. The company also owns La Pastabilities, Philly Steak and Gyro Co. and Salad Creations of the Moravian Cafes food court.
(10/30/00 10:00am)
The alcohol-free indie-rock club 4040 will soon be leaving its namesake location behind.
By Thanksgiving, the 4040 Locust Street music venue will permanently relocate to the Rotunda on Walnut and 40th streets, if all goes as University officials plan.
According to Penn's top real estate official Tom Lussenhop, officials must double-check that the Rotunda can safely hold enough people and can easily evacuate in case of emergencies.
Penn officials must also make sure 4040's concert schedule won't conflict with the plans of groups that currently use the Rotunda, such as the Foundation, a student-run, non-profit group that coordinates artistic and cultural events.
A number of students on 40th and Locust streets have impatiently waited for the club to pack up and take away its loud music and concertgoers from the residential block since the alcohol-free music venue opened last spring. University officials originally planned on relocating 4040 by tomorrow.
Lussenhop said he does not anticipate noise complaints from residents living near the Rotunda if the relocation goes through.
"The Foundation and other performances [have been] there for the last year and a half, and I'm unaware of any significant complaints," he said.
The Foundation has held concerts at the Rotunda, typically once a week, since last year.
4040 operator Sean Agnew believes the concrete walls of the Rotunda will insulate noise much more effectively than the windows and thin walls of the club's temporary building.
According to Agnew, 4040 will run acoustic tests to measure decibel levels outside the building and take care of any problems before opening its doors, possibly by installing a sound-reducing curtain.
A number of residents on the street said they don't expect 4040 to be too loud, adding that they've never had noise problems with the Foundation.
"It doesn't really worry me," said College junior Paul Yakulis, who has lived in the Sigma Phi Epsilon house next to the Rotunda for over a year.
Agnew said the Rotunda "would be an amazing place," remarking on the building's recess from the street.
"It's much more conducive to [concertgoers] hanging out without getting in the way of neighbors or traffic," he said.
At 4040's current location, several area residents have complained about concertgoers loitering in the street.
According to Agnew, the last month has been 4040's "best month ever" with sold-out tickets for five of the last 10 shows.
Agnew believes 4040 will not have problems coordinating its use of the Rotunda with the Foundation, which has fewer performances each month and usually sets its show dates far in advance. "We'd book around them," Agnew said. He expects 4040 to continue holding about 10 to 12 shows a month at its new location.
Andrew Zitcer, the Foundation's co-director and staff advisor, agreed that the two organizations would work very well together because they share the goal of bringing music to the wider community beyond Penn in an alcohol-free setting.
"We want to enhance both places rather than compete," Zitcer said.
Agnew and Zitcer, who consider themselves friends, emphasized that 4040 and the Foundation will always be kept separate, although they hope to collaborate for some shows in the future.
Agnew added that he would like to let student performance groups use the Rotunda for shows with the University's permission.
He said he is also considering offering half-price tickets with a PennCard or free shows to attract more University students to 4040.
But College sophomore Elyssa Fierstein, who lives two houses down from the Rotunda, doesn't think those measures will help draw more students.
"If you're interested, you're already going to go. If not, [a lower price] is not going to make it any more enjoyable," she said.
Agnew, who estimates that 4040 can relocate within a week of being notified, said the club will most likely change its name after it moves.
(10/26/00 9:00am)
The opening date for Freshgrocer, the specialty foods supermarket on 40th and Walnut streets, has been pushed back yet again and is now scheduled for January 10, six months after the store's original projected unveiling.
According to Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official, the delay is caused by "labor and material shortages due to the strong economy, the constant refinement of the design [and] the unique nature of the project."
The 32,000-square-foot specialty supermarket, tentatively scheduled to be open everyday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m, will feature freshly prepared foods, a coffee and juice bar, a deli and international menu items.
Freshgrocer, which recently dropped the "dot-com" from its name, also plans to provide a catering service, allowing customers to order hot and cold food from their homes via the phone or computer.
The store will feature two levels of indoor seating facing Walnut Street. Outdoor dining, equipped with heated gas lamps for cooler weather, will provide an additional 60 seats.
The Walnut Street entrance will lead to a circular coffee and juice bar on the right and a ready-to-toss salad section and sandwich deli on the left.
Further into the store, nine aisles will offer more traditional supermarket products, household supplies, bath and body products and a CD and video collection.
Toward the back of the supermarket behind the 10 cash registers, a conveyor belt will slide bags of food up to the second floor, allowing customers to pick up their groceries free of charge on the parking lot level. The 800-car parking garage that sits atop the supermarket opened a few months ago.
Students are hoping that the new store will fill an often-expressed need for convenient grocery shopping on campus.
"I think that it's going to be great.... There really is no grocery store here," Wharton sophomore Katie Schottenstein said. "I just hope it could get done more speedily."
Bob Christian, the president of the 40th Street Area Business Association, said he thinks Freshgrocer will be "one of the most important steps to reinvigorating 40th Street."
While students are happy about the prospect of a new supermarket on campus, many are wary of what they fear will be an upscale supermarket with high prices.
"It'll be a good thing if it's cheaper than Campus Market," said Engineering sophomore Marria Nazif, adding that she thinks students would prefer something "more practical."
Although the prices haven't been determined at this point, Freshgrocer owner and operator Pat Burns said that Freshgrocer's prices will be "more competitive than any shopping area here."
"[Students] will finally have an extremely upscale but very reasonably priced supermarket that they can feel safe in," he said.
According to John Greenwood, the top official for Penn's real estate company, Freshgrocer will have the quality and feel of Fresh Fields, an organic food market, but at lower prices.
Engineering junior Timur Aksoy said he believes Freshgrocer will do well regardless of price, since the campus currently has few places to buy food.
For years, students have expressed dissatisfaction with Thriftway on 43rd and Walnut streets, citing the inconvenience and questionable safety of its location.
Critical of Thriftway's appearance, slow service and smell, Christian speculated that Freshgrocer "might encourage Thriftway to improve their store, which they really need to do."
But according to Thriftway owner Steven Brown, the quality of food, the produce selection and the store's cleanliness have improved dramatically since he bought the store three years ago.
In response to safety concerns, Brown said he added a police officer about four months ago to watch over the store.
"In the longterm, [Freshgrocer] will not hurt my business," he predicted, citing Thriftway's low prices and his plans to further improve the store within the next year. Brown estimates that 20 percent of his business comes from Penn.
While Christian believes local convenience stores may have to adjust "to make themselves more competitive," he said he does not think Freshgrocer will ruin their business.
Greenwood denied that Penn is looking to drive out nearby convenience stores like Campus Market. Unimart, a convenience store at 40th and Locust streets, was shut down earlier this month.
(10/23/00 9:00am)
Guitars in hand, the bands for the Rock the Vote concert played for four hours, cut against a blue Saturday afternoon sky in the Wynn Commons.
To the side stretched a line of tables manned by Penn's political groups and cluttered with pamphlets, buttons and stickers urging young people to vote.
The only thing missing at this weekend's Rock the Vote concert were Penn students.
On Saturday, Penn became Rock the Vote's 22nd stop in its campaign targeted at encouraging youth electoral turnout. The Rock the Vote concert ran from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., featuring the bands Angry Salad, Big Gank, Weston, Smooth Approach and Waterface.
While many students called the event "a great idea," they expressed disappointment with the low turn-out. At any given time, the concert held no more than 35 people -- a large number of them being SPEC members who were directly involved in overseeing the concert.
Several students thought the event wasn't publicized enough.
"I didn't hear about it until I heard the music," said Engineering sophomore Dmitry Koltunov.
But College senior Micah Westerman blamed the poor attendance on "the general political apathy on campus."
"I think it's good that Penn is doing something like this. People need to know what's going on before they vote, but it's just too bad more students didn't show up," Westerman said.
According to SPEC Concerts Co-director Kyle Turley, SPEC put about 500 Rock the Vote posters on campus a week before the concert.
"It's a little disappointing, but we're definitely getting the message out," the Engineering senior said.
Co-director of SPEC Concerts and College senior Matt Dicker cited the lack of big-name bands and the time of the concert -- "right in the middle of exams" -- as reasons for the low attendance.
While students found the concert entertaining, most didn't think the event would change students' level of political activism.
"I don't think that anyone who isn't already interested in politics is going to be because of this event," Wharton sophomore Glen Cutler. "People are here for the the music."
At one point, in an interval between two bands, a Rock the Vote crew member urged the audience of about 20 students to "vote your conscience." Instead of tuning in, however, students filtered out within minutes.
But other people believed the event succeeded in informing people about the election process.
"I think it'll get more people to vote and actually get registered," College freshman Tonia Sabino said.
According to College senior Mona Mohajer, a member of Penn for Gore, a number of students didn't realize November 7 was election day before they stopped by the booths.
Sponsored by e-campus.com, the 2000 election tour began June on 25 and will continue "right up to election day," said Margo Stern, field coordinator for Rock the Vote.
(10/17/00 9:00am)
Since July, two new restaurants have hit Penn's campus -- or rather, the outskirts of Penn's campus.
Tucked next to the Comet coffee house on 41st and Walnut streets, the Italian deli and restaurant 2 Goodfellas opened last Friday morning to a considerably emptier campus than usual.
And the Pakistani grill Kabobeesh has been serving its kebobs on 42nd and Walnut streets for three months.
But while the presence of the two restaurants has so far been quiet, upperclassmen said they're happy to see more off-campus options for students on the west side of campus.
2 Goodfellas -- its opening delayed two months by construction and permit problems -- serves burgers and sandwiches at about $5 and dishes for two at around $9. The deli will be open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., noon to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. According to co-owner John Marcelline, dinner will be served by candelight.
"You get quality and quantity for a really good price," Marcelline said. "I understand there are a lot of high-priced restaurants on campus."
College junior Philip Riveron believes that the deli's broad menu options will make it "a better alternative to food trucks."
Kabobeesh, open from noon to 11 p.m. every day, offers kabobs and curry dishes for around $5.
Asad Ghumman, the owner of Kabobeesh, estimated that 40 percent of his business comes from Penn students, primarily upperclassmen in the area. Ghumman said he hopes to relocate Kabobeesh closer to campus next spring in the hopes of attracting more student business.
Wharton junior Amanda Abrams thinks both restaurants' low prices will not draw people away from on-campus options like Izzy and Zoe's on 40th Street.
"People do enjoy going off campus, but I think they tend to go to [restaurants] that are grouped together," she added.
Students eating at 2 Goodfella's last night praised the restaurant's reasonable cost and large portions -- "bigger than Izzy and Zoe's" College junior Stacie Zerdecki said. But some said the 650-square-foot shop is a little small.
"We would like [the restaurant] to be bigger, but we're fine," Marcelline said. Outdoor seating will add 10 more seats to the deli, which can currently hold 21 people.
Marcelline originally planned on establishing 2 Goodfellas at the location of the former Cool Peppers, a Mexican restaurant on 40th and Chestnut streets. But he said that construction in the area and distracting traffic from the nearby bus stop changed his mind.
In response to possible safety concerns about the location, Campus Apartments Property Manager Daniel Lord said that lights have been added to the restaurant's awning.
According to upperclassmen, Kabobeesh will suffer from students' safety concerns much more than 2 Goodfellas. Many said that they don't think Kabobeesh will be nearly as popular, citing the decrease in safety further away from campus and the number of inexpensive Indian-based restaurants already on 40th Street.
"Going from 41st to 42nd is kind of pushing the trust level," College junior Kelly Westphalen said.
(10/12/00 9:00am)
The blueprints are done, the construction is underway and starting tomorrow, prospective tenants and a curious public will get their first look inside the Left Bank luxury apartment complex.
Although the 32nd and Walnut streets building's official opening isn't slated until January, officials are looking for tenants to fill the luxury housing intended for Penn affiliated professionals and faculty.
Already over 70 people have contacted the Left Bank leasing office, interested in becoming tenants in the building University officials hope will be the eastern gateway to Penn's campus.
"I think we're going to out-Cambridge Cambridge," developer Carl Dranoff said.
In February 1999, Penn announced its plans to convert the former General Electric building into a 700,000-square-foot apartment complex, complete with retail, a day care center, on-site gated parking and a 4,500-square-foot glass-enclosed fitness center. The building was originally slated to be completed this fall.
"We've breathed life into the entire building," said Dranoff, famous for his transformations of old run-down buildings into attractive, contemporary housing. Left Bank, his 68th building conversion, is one of the nation's biggest building revitalization projects.
While Penn owns both the land and the 71-year-old building, Dranoff's company is paying for all of the renovations -- projected at $58 million -- and will manage the complex for 40 years, with an additional 10-year renewal option. The property will then revert back under Penn's management.
The 282 apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, will feature large bathrooms, 12-foot ceilings and windows that will either face out to the city or into the inner court yard.
Sixth-floor tenants will begin moving into housing units by the beginning of January. By then, the first floor -- including the lobby, two conference rooms and the library -- will also be completed. Each subsequent month, a floor of housing units, starting from the top down, will be ready for occupation. The entire building is expected to be completed by May.
According to Left Bank Marketing Director Paulla Baron, the apartment units will be priced competitively, with projected monthly rents at about $1,125 for studios, $1,440 for one-bedrooms and $2,070 for two-bedrooms.
Members of the Graduate Student Associations Council praised Left Bank as an impressive step toward increasing housing options for graduate students wanting to live closer to campus. But a few felt that the pricing -- while appropriate for graduate professionals and Penn faculty -- excluded Ph.D students on stipends.
"It's the quality of life of Center City without the transportation problems," said third-year student Jeff Casello, the GSAC vice president of communications. However, Casello said he would prefer more practically priced housing options.
Retail shops on the ground floor will line both the Chestnut and Walnut sides of the building, offering gourmet take-out, a bank, a drugstore and a La Calomb coffee bar.
GSAC President Eric Eisenstein said he thinks Left Bank will be successful because of the current lack of graduate housing near Penn.
He added that it will serve as a bridge between Center City and West Philadelphia. "It adds traffic and people to what is otherwise a deserted area," Eisenstein said.
Equipped with "smart wire" high-speed Internet access, Left Bank will also be wireless, allowing tenants to get online from anywhere in the building.
On-site gated parking, which will continue underneath the building, will offer 258 parking spaces.
And Dranoff Properties spent over four months removing about 18,000 cubic feet of concrete from the center of the building for what will become a landscaped atrium.
According to Baron, applications for occupancy must include evidence of at least one year of good credit history, a viable source of income to support rent and landlord verification. Co-signers will not be accepted.
These terms make it almost impossible for undergraduates to be approved.
(10/10/00 9:00am)
In about a month, Papaya King will open its doors at Penn, serving its hot dogs and fruit smoothies outside of New York City for the first time since the 1930s.
Replacing the Camera Shop on 40th Street, it will become the first Papaya King to hit a college campus -- and the third new restaurant to line 40th Street since Izzy and Zoe's opened in February.
Construction will begin as soon as the operation space secures gas use. Owner Daniel Horan said he hopes to open Papaya King a few weeks before Thanksgiving.
"I think this is a perfect thing for college," Horan said. "It's quick, easy and relatively inexpensive."
A typical meal at the hot dog joint will be priced at about $4. Franks, which come with toppings varying from sauerkraut to chili and cheese, will cost less than $2 each, and fruit juices and smoothies will run for about $2.50.
The restaurant may also be open until 2 or 3 a.m. on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights, making it one of few late night establishments on campus.
Many students applauded the expected low prices, several of them citing Izzy and Zoe's as too expensive.
"[Papaya King is] very affordable, and it's more of what we need on 40th Street," said College and Wharton senior Ben Greenblum, who added that many state universities do a better job than Penn of providing student-budget, late-night restaurants.
But while happy with the prices, several students questioned the limited menu, which centers almost exclusively around hot dogs.
"I think they might want to branch out more," said Wharton sophomore Katie Schottenstein. "I don't know if the market here is big enough for purely hot dogs."
"It depends how good [they] taste," added Wharton senior Minchu Cai.
College sophomore Jason Chinitz believes Papaya King should consider offering kosher options.
"It would serve a great majority of people who already frequent Irv's," Chinitz said.
While Horan said that he is thinking about providing kosher food items, he does not plan on expanding the menu, outside of possibly adding a Quaker Dog frankfurter.
"We don't try to do things we're not good at," he explained, citing the restaurant's expertise in making hot dogs and fruit drinks.
Although students were happy to hear of the late-night hours, none of them think Papaya King will satisfy the demand for an around-the-clock diner.
"Late night is not late enough," Engineering junior Jeff Wai said.
"We need a 24-hour place. The University should come together and promote that more," Schottenstein said.
Horan said he believes the Sundance Cinema, scheduled to open on the corner of 40th and Walnut streets sometime this academic year, will be great for all the businesses along 40th Street.
And he claimed that he feels no sense of competition with the bagel shop Izzy and Zoe's and the Mediterranean grill Bitar's. "It's not a zero-sum game," said Horan, predicting that the businesses will benefit from each other's success.
Audrea Hedman, a manager at Izzy and Zoe's, said she doesn't think Papaya King will hurt Izzy and Zoe's business at all.
"We're a whole gourmet Jewish deli. It's a different type of restaurant," Hedman said.
(09/29/00 9:00am)
By this spring, caffeine-cravers on the west side of campus may find their espressos a little closer to home.
Bucks County Coffee will be reopening on 40th and Locust streets on the ground floor of the new Dental School facility, hopefully by this February or March, Bucks President Rodger Owen said.
Bucks closed its store at 40th and Locust streets in 1998 soon after the University announced that Sundance Cinemas would be moving to the Hamilton Village complex.
The company currently has a shop at 3430 Sansom Street that will remain open.
The new coffee bar will be Bucks' largest coffee shop ever, covering 2,700 square feet and stretching 40 feet along Locust Street. Plans for its relocation to the corner of 40th and Locust streets were announced last winter.
"We [the University and Bucks] have been partners in the whole thing," said Owen, who said he wasn't upset to lose the store's previous incarnation in the area. He said he expected Sundance to help draw customers to his establishment.
While University and Bucks officials hope the store will be ready by spring, the opening date will ultimately depend on the construction progress of the new Dental School building that it will occupy.
College junior Elizabeth Gesas said she believes the new Bucks will be attractive to upperclassmen on the west side of campus.
"I think it will create an outlet for people to stay by their houses off campus... if [they] are at home and want to get coffee," Gesas said.
"There's no place to get coffee in the morning now so I think that's fabulous," said College junior Tiffany Williams, adding that the service and prices at Bucks are better than at Xando.
The new Bucks, expected to seat over 100 people, will be open from 7 a.m. to around midnight on weekdays.
The menu will extend beyond its regular coffee house products to include Breyer's ice cream, bagels and cookies made daily and a sandwich menu that will feature wraps and soups.
According to Owen, the price structure will be the same as that of the Sansom Street store. Coffee will be priced from $1 to $3, bagels will cost between $.60 and $1.50 and sandwiches will sell for about $5.95.
Done by the architectural firm that designed Xando, Bucks will feature a cyber area, television sets, a lodge space equipped with couches and a fireplace and outdoor seating. Owen said he is hoping to work with WXPN to develop a music format for the coffee bar's live entertainment.
(09/26/00 9:00am)
Friendly Express on 40th and Locust streets -- commonly known as Uni-Mart -- will close in less than three weeks due to an expired lease.
Popular among students for its convenience, low prices, and late-night hours, the mini-mart must vacate by October 31.
A number of students are angry, sad, and disheartened to see Friendly Express go.
"I think it's a huge loss," said College junior Michael Berens, who stops by the store "practically everyday."
"It's convenient to 40th Street to have something like Wawa up here," added College junior Josh Klein.
According to store employees, about 800 people, primarily students and local residents, have signed a petition to keep the store open.
But Rick Denton, the district manager of Friendly Express, has said that the petition -- which was started last Tuesday by a store employee -- "is not going to change anything." He added that they will abide by the lease "even though we feel it's unjust and due to no fault of our own."
In November, the Freshgrocer.com gourmet grocery store -- a key piece of the University's grand plan to change the nature of the 40th Street corridor -- will open down the street from Friendly's. Penn has a lot riding on the success of the grocery store, which is expected to carry higher prices than outlets like Friendly's Express or Brown's Thriftway.
According to the University's top real estate official Tom Lussenhop, Friendly Express' replacement will not be a food market. Instead, he said, it is possible that a restaurant will fill the corner.
"What we locate there will be a very convenient, student-oriented retail," Lussenhop said.
But many students said that is just what they are losing.
According to College senior Brett Taxin, the success and popularity of Friendly Express is "a testament itself to the fact that this is something students not only want, but something students need."
Lussenhop cited Freshgrocer.com as a place that can meet student shopping needs in the future.
But according to Taxin, "there's a big difference between a supermarket and a convenient store." He called a supermarket a "once-a-week-type place" and Friendly Express a place "to pick up daily necessities."
Citing the store's "charismatic" workers, College junior Patrick Clyde said he thinks the absence of the mini-mart will make the street "a little less interesting."
"It just seems to me like [Penn's] lost sight of what the students need," said Berens, who claimed that Friendly Express has been "serving campus needs more so than almost everything else that [the University is] recently installing."
According to Uni-Mart General Counsel Amy Marshall, Uni-Mart had been subleasing the property to Friendly Express since the mini-mart reopened as a Friendly Express about two years ago.
The store's lease was terminated this past January, when Uni-Mart sent a letter to the University asking to end the final five-year option on the lease.
But Denton of Friendly Express claims that the lease -- and the legal right to terminate it -- was assigned to Friendly Express when it purchased the Uni-Mart location. He believes that Uni-Mart was at fault for ending the lease without notifying Friendly Express.
According to Marshall, it was understood that Friendly Express was responsible for trying to renew the lease.
Lussenhop declined to comment about the status of the lease negotiations.
(09/22/00 9:00am)
It looks as if Starbucks is hoping to capitalize on the traffic of one of Penn's busiest intersections.
In a month, Starbucks will be relocating to the corner of 34th and Walnut streets, serving its famous frappuccinos in a considerably larger store, according to a top Penn real estate official.
Currently located on 34th between Walnut and Sansom streets, the three-year operator at Penn will replace the former Funderburg Information Center.
To accommodate Starbucks' new size, neighboring Roses Florist has lost about one-third of its space. Store owner Michael Toroghi said,"We are happy if we can maintain our place."
"If Starbucks is going to be next to us, that would help us bring in new customers," he added.
According to John Greenwood, a top official for the University's real estate company, the relocation of Starbucks will be "responding to the need to revitalize that corner." Talks with Starbucks about the move began several years ago.
"It's probably one of the busiest intersections on campus," Greenwood said. "That corner is a really terrific hub for activity."
The manager of the Starbucks on 34th Street and several Starbucks representatives declined comment due to company policy.
Students, many of whom are happy about a larger Starbucks, agreed that its bigger space on the corner should draw more customers.
"I have a lot of friends who like Starbucks, so if it's an easier location to go to... it might become more of a social hangout," College freshmen Sally Tedesco said.
But some students who frequent Comet and Xando -- two other area coffee shops -- have said they don't think they will stop going to their usual coffee spots.
Although many students said they felt neutral about a bigger Starbucks, some see it as a sign of an increasingly franchised campus.
And Engineering senior Melanie Gnazzo said that while the new Starbucks is "going to be very convenient," its presence at the major street corner will be blunt and visually overpowering.
"It's going to be the first thing people notice about Penn," she explained, referring to the corner as the entranceway to campus.
Local coffee shop competitors have said they believe Starbucks will not pose a threat to their own businesses.
Wendy Papadopoulos, owner of the independent coffee shop Comet, believes a bigger Starbucks will not hurt her business, citing the distance between the two coffee shops -- a full six blocks -- and Comet's small, personal atmosphere.
"I deal with people on a one-to-one basis," she said, calling Comet "a different cookie altogether."
And according to Rammy Harwood, marketing director for Xando, the company's coffee shop in Sansom Common offers a "very comfortable [space]... and unique design that is always going to make us stand out above our competition."
If anything, coffee shop competitors in the neighborhood believe the new Starbucks will help coffee shop business in the area overall.
President of Bucks County Coffee Rodger Owen said, "There seems to be room for us all."
"We consider coffee shops a promotion of coffee in general for students," explained Colleen Dolan, a Bucks spokeswoman.
According to Greenwood, the University is brainstorming whether the soon-to-be-vacant Starbucks and the neighboring location formerly held by University of Cards will be given to one or two new operators.
(09/21/00 9:00am)
In less than two weeks, expect a 6,000-pound wood-burning oven to be cooking pizzas at Penn.
Pizza Rustica -- Penn's newest pizzeria -- is scheduled to open September 30, on the corner of 36th and Chestnut streets at the location formerly held by Ace-Z 4 Pizza.
"Ace-Z 4 Pizza wasn't really catering to the University community," said John Greenwood, a top official for the University's real estate company. Greenwood believes Pizza Rustica will be "wonderful for that corner."
According to store owner Rosemarie Certo the 2,465-square-foot pizza shop and bar will be both "high-end and student-friendly."
The restaurant -- expected to be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. -- will serve pizzas, gelato, Italian sandwiches and espresso. All menu items will be available for take-out.
Certo believes that Pizza Rustica will cater to people looking for quality food on a student budget. Eight-inch pizzas are expected to cost $4.95 and 16-inch pizzas no more than $11. Sandwiches will run for about $5.
"We want to make the menu very accessible to students, pricewise and tastewise," Certo said.
Pizza Rustica's L-shaped interior will seat about 70 people, and an outdoor patio will provide an additional 48 seats. Inside, a free-standing bar will offer wines and espresso.
"I think this is in keeping with a real European high-end fast food pizzeria," said Certo, who described the environment as "casual and upscale at the same time."
Toward the center of Pizza Rustica, a wood-burning stove, valued at more than $18,000, will bake pizzas at about 700 degrees.
According to Certo, the oak, walnuts and fruit woods in the wood-burning oven will give the pizzas a "smoky flavor" that gas-fired brick-ovens, which most pizza restaurants use, cannot achieve.
In addition to serving traditional pizzas -- American, Mexican and European -- Pizza Rustica will offer more unusual pies, including a breakfast pizza -- served with an egg broken into its center -- and the El Oro, a pizza topped with 24-carat gold flakes.
The eatery will offer make-your-own-pizza nights and eventually provide students with pizza-cooking lessons.
Amid avant-garde music, a large projecting screen will run Italian and European films and -- added the Sicilian-born restaurateur almost reluctantly -- "some good American movies."
Certo acknowledged that the eatery's location was not her first choice, explaining that she would have preferred to be in a more lively area like Sansom Street. But, she said she thinks that Pizza Rustica will help re-vitalize Chestnut Street, which she says "still needs developing."
Although the lease was finalized early in the summer, construction was delayed several months due to the rebuilding of some of the ceiling pipes and the process of obtaining a liquor license.
"I'm very impatient; that's [an] Italian quality," said Certo, who claims that she would have liked the restaurant to be open as early as June.
(09/13/00 9:00am)
Stephen Starr never expected all of this to happen.
A former music promoter, he is known these days as the creative mind behind some of Philadelphia's most popular restaurants -- the Continental, Buddakan, Tangerine and Blue Angel, all completed within the past five years.
And in less than a month, Starr's latest creation, Pod -- a retro-futuristic restaurant serving Asian food -- will be opening on Penn's campus.
Initially named "Pop," Pod will feature a conveyor-belt sushi bar, seating areas, or "pods" that change color with the press of a button, a plasma-screen television and a giant monolithic sculpture in the bar-lounge that seats up to 50 guests.
With Pod, like all of his other restaurants, Starr intends to let his customers feast not only on the food but also on the elaborate decor.
"His restaurants are more than restaurants. They're like theatre or cinema," explained Bradley Bartram, Starr's director of culinary operations.
Cinema indeed. Starr has always considered himself an entertainer.
Twenty years ago as a music promoter, he was competing non-stop with the Electric Factory for concerts and artists. But when Electric bought him out, Starr had to find a new arena of entertainment.
According to Starr, the years of fierce competition with the Electric Factory -- his "biggest challenge" yet -- gave him an edge in the restaurant business by forcing him to always keep on top of the trends.
And while he's enjoyed designing and opening his restaurants, the eclectic Starr claims he doesn't "necessarily enjoy running them, but you have to do it."
Despite his claims, Starr attends to his restaurants almost obsessively.
Though no culinary expert, he insists on handpicking all his chefs and trying every one of his restaurants' dishes for himself.
"I really don't trust anyone," Starr admitted. "I have to taste it for myself."
According to Bartram, Starr operates a "democratic dictatorship where everyone has a say and he makes the final decisions."
With Buddakan, a trendy pan-Asian Center City restaurant, Starr recalled that the final decision changed everything.
At the last second, after the blueprint was already complete and the architect and designer already paid, Starr -- cleaned of $75,000 in designing fees -- realized it was "not what it should be." He scrapped the plan -- and started from scratch.
"It's scary how close I was to ruining the project," he said, grateful for the decision today.
Richard Roberts, general manager of the Continental, said Starr hasn't become complacent despite his string of past successes.
Explained Bartram,"He's extremely confident, and at the same time he's smart enough to know what he doesn't know. And when he doesn't know something, he has the drive to find someone who does."
Andre Guillet, director of operations at Philadelphia's top-rated Le Bec Fin, said he believes Starr has played a tremendous role in enhancing Philadelphia's reputation as a city of culinary art.
"He's a very creative man, and he has my respect.... I think all of us probably have to work harder because of [his restaurants], but it's a fun competition," Guillet said.
But another Philadelphia restaurateur, who asked to remain anonymous, is not sure that Starr will be able to hold onto all his restaurants in the next five years.
According to that operator, while Starr "certainly has the ability to open a restaurant one after another," the inability to apply one formula to run all five will make them difficult to manage.
"[Starr] can't transfer one staff from one restaurant to another because they're all different restaurants with different themes," the operator explained.
But according to Bartram, Stephen Starr has what it takes to maintain his success.
"At a certain point, this business wears people out, and out of self-preservation, people have to turn the other way. Steven Starr has been able to not lose his focus," Bartram said.
Starr, who has a history of revitalizing the areas surrounding his restaurants, expects Pod to do the same with University City.
"I think this is part of [Penn's] bigger picture... developing the campus, trying to make it more competitive with other Ivy League campuses. And I think other entrepreneurs will want to come," he said, calling Penn's campus "very under-served."
And Starr's ambition extends far into the future.
Washington, D.C., will soon be introduced to Buddakan, which Starr expects to be the only one of his restaurants to be replicated.
He also plans to open his first restaurant in Manhattan under the direction of Morimoto, better known as one of television's "Iron Chefs."
And in Philadelphia, he will open another restaurant with Morimoto -- a homey Southern-style eatery.
Said Starr, "You have to project confidence, even though you're scared."
But if Pod is as successful as it is predicted to be, Starr will have reason to be confident about the future.
(09/11/00 9:00am)
Every restaurant lets its customers choose what they want to eat and drink.
But Stephen Starr's new restaurant will give customers a different kind of choice --
what color lighting they want flooding their table while they eat their sushi.
Brought by the man behind some of Philadelphia's most popular restaurants -- the Continental, Buddakan, Tangerine and Blue Angel -- Pod will be landing on Penn's campus no later than October 3.
Located at 37th and Sansom streets, Pod will serve Asian-style cuisine in a retro-futuristic setting intended to conjure up a 1960s Japanese version of the 21st century.
Designed by David Rockwell -- one of the most famous in his field -- Pod is expected to seat up to 200 people.
Under the direction of Chef Naoki Uchiyama, a well-known Japanese chef from California, Pod will offer everything from Maki rolls to dim sum. And according to Starr, the dishes will be of the highest quality but for a lower price than his other restaurants, ranging from $20 to $40.
A conveyor-belt sushi bar -- one of four in the country and the first in Philadelphia -- will roll straight from the kitchen to offer a variety of sushi dishes on color-coded plates. Each color plate will have a different price.
The restaurant will feature two big "pods" -- each seating up to 12 people -- and seven "deuce-pods" for groups of two. Up to nine buttons will run along the wall of each of the two larger pods, allowing diners to change the color of their seating area.
Following the restaurant's light motif, even the seats in the waiting lounge will be "activated by your butt when you sit on them," Starr explained.
Even the unisex bathrooms -- "small, utilitarian," and designed like those in an airplane -- fit with Pod's retro-futuristic theme. As a humorous quirk, overhead each stall's door, an icon of a man sitting on a toilet will light up red when a bathroom is in use.
According to Starr, restaurants should provide a cinematic experience. And Pod will be no different.
"It's expensive to go out; you should be getting more than food," said Starr, who often refers to his customers as an audience.
Toward the center of the restaurant, a plasma-screen television will display video clips -- some "trippy and spacey" and others "tongue in cheek" -- interspersed with footage of the restaurant. The delayed timing of the cameras in Pod will allow diners to see themselves on the screen a few minutes after they enter the restaurant.
Throughout Pod, lights will project images and patterns of color on the floor. And overhead, fluorescent tubes encircling the restaurant will bathe the restaurant in a dim, pink glow.
In the back, a private dining place to seat 55 people will feature "Austin-Powerish" shag curtains and lights of pink, blue and red.
"In one sense it's a show, but at the same time, there are lots of layers of details that make up these scenes," said Bradley Bartram, Starr's director of culinary operations.
Everything within Pod, down to its custom-made chairs -- white, curved and minimal -- and its heating vents -- each a neat row of three white circles -- fits with the restaurant's decor.
Originally, Starr had been toying with several ideas for the restaurant, among them a family-style Italian eatery. But Starr dropped the idea early on.
"There's nothing compelling about that," Starr said. "I felt we really had to do something that would blow your mind, to get people from Center City and the suburbs to come."
Like Starr, University real estate officials believe the restaurant will be popular not only with Penn students but also with Philadelphia residents.
"Stephen has the ability to bring people from all parts of the city," said John Greenwood, a top official for the University's real estate company.
"I think Pod is going to blow people away," Bartram said. "The restaurants that [Starr has built] so far have generated a good deal of national attention, and Pod will definitely take its share.
(09/08/00 9:00am)
By the end of October, the indie rock club at 4040 Locust Street will be packing up for relocation, and it's fair to say that a number of residents on the block will be more than relieved.
4040, whose present location was meant to be temporary since its opening, will be moving "about two blocks away at the most," according to co-owner Sean Agnew. University officials would not release the exact location of the club's future home.
Students living near 4040 said last night that they were relieved that the club will be moving, citing problems with noise, trash and loitering concertgoers that have plagued the area since the club's opening last spring.
Agnew said that despite noise complaints, the club's popularity has soared, with the last three shows selling out and advanced ticket sales on the rise.
And according to Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official, "Hundreds of people have supported it. Lots and lots of students go to the shows, so I assume they're happy with it."
In response to noise complaints, Agnew had reported plans to install a theater curtain to reduce the noise level last March. But the plans fell through because it would have cost "several tens of thousands of dollars more than we thought," Agnew said.
Instead, guards have been placed by the door since the end of April to prohibit people from entering and exiting while bands are playing, Agnew said.
"Since that point, there have been little or no noise complaints," Agnew said. He added that if the new location is in a residential area, a curtain will be installed.
College senior Joanna Kasirer, who said she feels neutral about 4040 and its plan to relocate, agreed that the noise level has decreased.
"We actually haven't heard anything this past week. Recently, it's been pretty calm."
However, according to one resident who lived on Locust Street this summer, "It's been very loud. I don't think the noise has decreased."
Besides being unhappy with reportedly loud noise at night, residents on 40th and Locust have complained about harassment from concertgoers, loitering and trash left in the street.
"Students come at about 10 a.m. and stay till the concert and they make a mess. I don't understand why they're there all day," said a Wharton senior on the block, who wished to remain anonymous.
A household of College seniors, who also asked to remain anonymous, said they have called the police dozens of times in their two years of living on the street.
"They [the concertgoers] sit on our stoop. They chain their bikes to the front bars of our house. They leave beer bottles, food and bags in front of our house. This is a residential street, and is supposed to be a safe place, and we feel scared walking home at night."
But residents who are upset have emphasized that they are not against the club itself -- but its location.
"The club is a great place; it's just the location that's not appropriate. Penn students need to study," one student said.
"If there are people in the neighborhood who don't like it, [4040] should go somewhere else," nearby resident and College senior Jeremy Lawson said
(09/07/00 9:00am)
Negotiations for a new campus video store may not be preliminary anymore, but they're still far from complete.
The University's discussions with several big-name video store chains to bring one of them to Penn's campus are still underway.
Meanwhile, in less than a month, Harrison College House officials plan to open a late-night video library in the dorm's basement. The videos will be rented at first only to Harrison residents, according to former House Dean Art Casciato.
The University was hoping to bring one of the national chains to campus by this fall. Discussions with Blockbuster and Hollywood Video began last spring.
But according to the University's top real estate official, Tom Lussenhop, Blockbuster has expressed no interest. And while Lussenhop said Hollywood Video has shown minimal interest, the company's negotiation so far "is so aggressive, it's causing us to question their viability."
If the negotiations do go through, Lussenhop said he believes Penn will have a store open by the end of the year. He added that the intended location for the store is still the vacant spot next to the former location of Eat At Joe's.
Penn real estate officials have pointed to the ever-changing nature of the video store industry, especially in such a technological age, as a reason for the two companies' lack of interest.
"It's difficult for us [to see] how technology and video and music are evolving." said John Greenwood, a top official with the University's real estate company.
Added Lussenhop: "This is an industry under stress. They're not loose about opening up a four-to-five thousand square foot store, which is what we're asking them to do."
But even if negotiations with the two big-name companies made little headway, students may soon find the videos they want without leaving the University's residential system.
Harrison Late Night Video Library is expected to open in about three weeks. In the beginning, the library will be for Harrison residents only.
"Once we're up and running, it will be open to the whole Penn community," Casciato said.
While the library can only afford single copies of movies and so far does not house DVDs, Casciato said that there is room for expansion.
The video library will purposely be open when local video stores are closed, with a tentative closing hour of 2 a.m.
"We don't want people to have to scramble out for a video in West Philadelphia at the middle of the night," Casciato said.
Video Library on the 4000 block of Locust Street is currently the only video store on campus. It closes at 10 p.m. on weeknights and Saturdays.
Lussenhop expressed enthusiasm for the video library.
"We're not giving up [on a retail video store], but I'm happy to see that students' needs are being addressed through alternative means," said Lussenhop.
If the video library is successful, Lussenhop thinks it will "show the video stores that there's a high-volume video market in University City."
Within the next two weeks, the Undergraduate Assembly -- which has been actively pushing for a video store -- plans to meet with Lussenhop to discuss the video store initiative and other campus development issues.
