Fourth & Cross: A corner diner for Pennsport

Andrew Michaels, who knocked around local kitchens for 20 years and previously owned E's coffee shop on East Passyunk across from the Acme, had been retired from the restaurant business.

He sold cars, worked for the ACLU, ran campaigns for Oxfam.

"Then a friend got it back in my head," Michaels said.

On Monday, June 15, he opens Fourth & Cross, a tiny bruncherie on the corner of -  how about that? - Fourth and Cross Streets in Pennsport (1527 S. Fourth St., 215-551-5200). It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a bright, cheery dining room topped with counter seating at Michaels' grill. Dining room accommodates 34, and there are 12 seats outside.

To hear Michaels describe Fourth & Cross, the concept is as simple as the name: "I'm not reinventing the diner. Think of the great restaurants that have been around, like Dmitri's and Sabrina's. This is not overcomplicated - if there are more than five ingredients, put a bullet in my head."

The breakfast menu includes a variety of eggs, house-made yogurt, pearl barley porridge, biscuits, zeppoli, and pancakes. The dinner menu will change frequently. Ingredients, he said, will be sourced locally as much as possible.

Figure on $7 to $14 for breakfast and $8 to $14 for lunch. Dinner entrees top out at $22.

Decor includes tables and flooring made from reclaimed wood, whitewashed walls, turquoise banquettes, and a portrait on the rear wall of a pretty young woman in a gown. She's Michaels' mother, Eileen, who was painted at his uncle's bar mitzvah in the mid '60s. Andrew Michaels found the painting and told his mother he would use it at Fourth & Cross.

"She just said, 'Don't put it in the bathroom.' "

Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.