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V Street to add a casual eatery next door in Rittenhouse

Rich Landau says the new shop will serve chef-driven vegan sandwiches, salads, fries, along with cans of beer and draft wine.

Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby are venturing next door to their casual vegan street-fooder V Street (126 S. 19th St.) to add a fast-casual eatery with a counter.

It's not an expansion, Landau said. V Street will remain where it is.

The new, yet-unnamed space - now home to an eyeglass shop at 124 S. 19th St. - will house a whole new kitchen and dish area.

In the front, they'll set up a counter for the new fast-fooder, which will serve what Landau calls chef-driven vegan sandwiches, salads, fries, along with cans of beer and draft wine. There will be a ledge for eating. (He's working on a "cheesesteak" of mushrooms topped with the cheese-like rutabaga fondue he serves at Vedge.)

In sum, the setup will resemble Abe Fisher and Dizengoff's - sitdown restaurant on one side, fast-casual and takeout on the other.

Meanwhile, V Street's current kitchen will be removed and new seating will replace it. Upshot: V Street is enlarged.

Landau says plenty of chefs are moving into the fast-casual realm to attract customers who have limited time and budgets.

"Vedge is becoming so serious," he said of his crosstown flagship. "We just want to be chefs having fun. We opened V Street, thinking it would be a bar. It became a foodie place, too."

V Street will remain open while the kitchen is built. They get the keys Aug. 1. Eventually, they will cut through the wall.

As for opening, "Thanksgiving would be nice," Landau said.