Jansen adds white-tablecloth elegance to Mount Airy
David Jansen is cooking in the stone building at Germantown and Gowen Avenues in Mount Airy, most recently the Mexican restaurant Cantina Avenida and previously Cresheim Cottage Cafe.
The stone building at Germantown and Gowen Avenues in Mount Airy, most recently the Mexican restaurant Cantina Avenida and previously Cresheim Cottage Cafe, has undergone a dramatic makeover over the last several months.
David Jansen, who was the Four Seasons Hotel's longtime chef de cuisine, led a move to swank up the place into an upscale (white tablecloth) but not stuffy contemporary American restaurant called Jansen.
It opens Friday, April 29 at 5:30 p.m. Seating is by reservations only for now, via OpenTable or by phone (267-335-5041). It's open Wednesday to Sunday for dinner. Valet parking will begin next weekend, though there's plenty of on-street parking.
The change is apparent from the moment you walk in. The bar is smaller, after workers removed part of a 19-inch-thick stone wall behind it to improve access to the cozier of the two ground-floor dining rooms, shoring up the building with a steel I-beam in the process.
Upstairs is a private dining room as well as an intimate dining room with a cheese/charcuterie counter that will start serving next weekend.
The outdoor patio, which backs up to the New Covenant Church, is tented. It will be ringed by vegetable and herb gardens.
Jansen is backed by chef de cuisine Derek Dietz, general manager Simon Dean, and his partner and righthand, Casey Drucquer.
Menu is studded with Four Seasons-ish plates, and with a pastry chef by the name of Eboni Peartree, the desserts should be right up there. (Peartree, a Johnson & Wales alumna, lists Aureole on her resume.)
Wine list is here.