The Insider

New restaurant on Spruce Street

A deal is on the table for the former Ernesto's 1521 Cafe.

5 comments

New restaurant on Spruce Street

POSTED: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 3:31 PM

Michael Klein, Philly.com

Filed Under: TableTalk

via Google

The i's have not been dotted, so it is a wee bit early in the game, but it appears that Ernie Salandria has a taker for his restaurant space at 1521 Spruce St., which for years was the destination Ernesto's 1521 Cafe.

The prospective owners are a very-well-traveled and -pedigreed husband and wife team who want to keep anonymous for now.

They'll keep everything fresh and local. His cooking will cover European techniques and the menu will draw from Italian, French and Spanish.

I'll have the name as soon as the lease is signed. It will be BYOB.

Salandria, one of the nicest guys in the game, says he's laying low for now.

5 comments

Comments (5)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:35 PM, 10/25/2011

James' new location?

— billtheamoeba

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:17 PM, 10/25/2011

Wasn't this place named 1521 Galleria restaurant in the late 90s?

— PhilMar

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:51 PM, 10/25/2011

Can't be James. Chef James is in NYC.

— CabooseWazgoose

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:08 PM, 10/25/2011

Maybe the Koo Zee Doo couple?

— BarryG

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:12 PM, 10/26/2011

Nice, this will be James. This is great news.

— FairmountFrank

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About this blog

Michael Klein, the editor/producer of philly.com/Food, writes about the local restaurant scene in his Inquirer column "Table Talk." Have a question? Email it! See his Inquirer work here. Reach Michael at mklein@philly.com.