Apothecary Bar + Lounge, the city's newest lounge, is right down the block from one of its oldest, the circa-1874 McGillin's Olde Ale House.

And while you can hoist a beer at McGillin's, you sip refined cocktails at Apothecary (102 S. 13th St., 215-701-4786), which joins neighbors Bindi, Lolita, Capogiro, El Vez and Vintage. Hours/days are being hashed out.

Apothecary's concept harks back to the old-fashioned apothecary as the place to find cures for what ails you. It's a literal and figurative take on the idea in both the food and drinks.

Bartenders (think of them as pharmacists) will whip up drinks such as a RustOleo ($12), consisting of Beleza Pura Cachaca, Flor de Caña Nicaraguan rum, honey liqueur, açaí, fresh blueberries, lemon, chocolate molé bitters, and European bilberry extract. The fresh blueberries are antioxidants, right? And RustOleum is an antioxidant-type paint, right?

There also are bottled cocktails ($46 to $58) - mixed ahead and sealed into bottles, which the menu says contain "enough to slake the thirsts of four wanton souls or six chaste spirits."

And yes, a few beers on tap. They're using Kold-Draft ice cubes, claimed to be purer and colder than regular cubes.

The food menu is similarly whimsically healthful-sounding: A panini called Dr. Cacao's Sweet Blessing ($9) contains hazelnut chocolate and marshmallow on grilled bread with olive oil and salt.

Owners Sam Shaaban, president of the design firm URBANSPACEDEVELOPMENT, partnered with restaurateur Bruno Pouget, brought in a duo known as the Tippling Bros. to create the cocktail list. Steve Cameron, chef at Blue in Surf City, N.J., set up the food.

Trzeciak adds another

Francis Trzeciak of Birchrunville Store Cafe, the highly regarded BYOB in the woods of Chester County, has added chef's duties at another spot in the woods of Chester County: the Inn at St. Peter's Village (3471 St. Peter's Rd., 610-469-2600; use 19470 as the zip for Mapquest). Trzeciak, with chef de cuisine George Cook, is doing a similar dinner menu of simple, modern French cuisine at the stunning restaurant overlooking French Creek; entree prices range from $21 for the semiboneless organic breast of chicken, Dijon mustard, fresh herb and hazelnut crust, up to $35 for the Black Angus strip steak, black peppercorn crust, roasted portobello. It's open Wednesdays through Saturdays, and for Sunday brunch.

Chat chat

Kinder Jit Singh, who has cooked at many Center City Indian restaurants (Passage to India, Taj Mahal, Minar Palace), last week opened Ashoka Palace at 38 S. 19th St. 215-564-6466). Interior is a shocking pink, result of a paint-store mix-up, Singh says. Menu runs the gamut. Shrimp dishes at $10 are the priciest, and most platters, say chicken makhani, are $8.50. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Minar Palace's return, in new quarters at 1304 Walnut St., is penciled in for the week of May 19. Minar did gangbusters business at 1605 Sansom St. until it lost its lease in July 2006.

Melograno on the move

Melograno, among the best-received of the recent crop of mom-and-pop BYOs, will move this summer, but it's business as usual at 22d and Spruce Streets till July 28, says Rosemarie Tran, who owns it with her husband, Gianluca Demontis. They're building out a long-vacant space at 2010 Sansom St. - around the corner from Tinto - and hope to be running in September, taking advantage of their August vacation. Same name, same concept. The spot is down the street from a future seasonal-American restaurant called Noble, which is to replace Gioia Mia at 2025 Sansom St.; Apothecary's Pouget and Cameron are among Noble's partners.

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Contact columnist Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com. For the latest restaurant news, photos and menus, go to http://go.philly.com/foodanddrinq.