kitchenplay

it's okay to play with your food

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Lucky Old Souls: Local Food and Local Music Coming to Newbold

kitchenplay is proud to announce Lucky Old Souls, a bar/restaurant/music venue coming to the Newbold neighborhood of South Philadelphia. Proprietor Matthew Feldman is a local jazz promoter and host of the Lucky Old Souls radio show on Gtown Radio. He’s also a friend of mine from college so I’m particularly excited to be sharing the news about his new spot for quality local music and local food.

A chef is yet to be hired so the menu is far from finalized, but the food philosophy at Lucky Old Souls will be based around local, sustainably-produced ingredients. Feldman plans on consulting with
Fair Food Philly in establishing relationships with local food vendors and farmers. Ben Merkel, currently a server and manager at Rx, will manage at Lucky Old Souls.

Lucky Old Souls will start out with a seasonal menu consisting of small plates, sandwiches and entrées, all served in the evening. Possible future plans include adding weekday lunch and/or weekend brunch. As with the food menu, the emphasis at the bar will be on local products, with six draft beers on tap from nearby breweries. Bottled beers, wine and soft drinks will round out the selection.


The building, on the 1700 block of McKean Street, has been vacant for over 25 years and will be completely rehabbed. Cicada Architecture/Planning, the firm behind West Philly's Lovers & Madmen Coffee Lounge, is in charge of the venture. Look forward to a two-story space with balcony-type seating on the second floor overlooking the bandstand. I don’t know about you, but it makes me think of the set-up at Johnny Brenda’s.

And of course, there will be the music. Feldman’s main interest is jazz but he plans on programming a wide variety of musical styles, including blues, “world” music and classical chamber music.

Feldman knows two things very well: good music and good food. You can trust that both will be in abundance at Lucky Old Souls. He’s hoping for an opening in early 2010. Expect updates at kitchenplay as Lucky Old Souls becomes a reality.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hurrah! Lucky Old Souls rocks and I'm sure the food and beer will be great! Yea for more bars in Newbold!

kitchenplay said...

I'm glad folks are excited!

Phoenixvillian said...

Any idea what happened to this project? Are they still opening?

kitchenplay said...

@Holly H. It's definitely still happening but the time table has changed. Stay tuned for updates!