Table Talk: Lowdown on the new Sotto

Luigi Basile (Radicchio Cafe, Laceno Italian Grill) has made good on his long-ago promise to open a trattoria on out-of-the-way, almost-impossible-to-find South 24th Street as it passes under the Walnut Street bridge.

Like Basile's other spots, Sotto Ristorante Italiano (151 S. 24th St., 215-496-9222) is an unpretentious BYOB with pastas, pizza, and sensational branzino. It's open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday, and for dinner Tuesday through Sunday.

Chefs Al Paris and Georges Perrier have been friends for at least two decades and have even cooked together on occasion. Perrier has more time on his hands since he sold Le Bec Fin, and he has been itching to get back into the kitchen. (His latest project has been working at his Art of Bread in Narberth, teaching staff how to make soup.) Paris invited Perrier to do a one-nighter at his Chestnut Hill BYOB Heirloom (8705 Germantown Ave.), and on Nov. 14 they will prepare a six-course meal (seatings at 5:30/6 p.m. and 8:30/9 p.m.). Much of the menu, including the mussel soup and roast pigeon, is from Perrier's cookbook. It's $125 plus tax and tip, BYOB (there's a State Store next door).

Tony Clark - who raised eyebrows six months ago when he landed as chef at Serafina off Rittenhouse Square - has moved on to Valley Forge Casino Resort as executive chef of its showcase restaurants Pacific Prime and Viviano. Clark's background includes the Four Seasons; his eponymous restaurant at Broad and Sansom Streets; a 10-year private-chef engagement; and a very short stint at Harry's Savoy Grill. He also still owns the Old Grange in Cape May, but he said it is closed for the season.

House-made pasta, mozzarella, and doughnuts, salads made tableside, wood-fired pizzas: Lots of hot buttons are being pressed by restaurateur Scott Morrison, who is planning a casual but high-minded Main Line spot called Avero. It's being teed up for an early 2013 opening in Devon Square Shoppes (821 W. Lancaster Ave., Devon), where a Wine & Spirits Shop was, in the same center as the Whole Foods. Morrison, who had a hand in some big projects such as Chelsea Tavern, Nectar, and Maia, is working with Vince Schiavone on the fast-casual restaurant. Morrison said it would be affordable.

The Chestnut Hill Hotel - now undergoing a major spruce-up that includes a November reopening of the farmer's market in the rear - has a tenant to fill the prime restaurant space previously occupied by the Melting Pot. Bardea ("bar-day-ah") will be Italian-leaning American with a wood-fired pizza oven, salumi bar, fresh pasta, wines/cocktails, outdoor dining via newly installed huge windows on Germantown Avenue. "Affordable sophistication" is how operating partner Scott Stein describes it. Chef/partner is Jay Caputo, the James Beard best-chef award nominee and former executive chef at Tangerine, who now owns the chic Espuma and more lively Cabo in Rehoboth Beach, Del. They're talking about an early spring opening.

The branch of Northern Liberties' Honey's Sit IN Eat at 21st and South Streets is shooting to open in early December.

Hogfish, which opened in summer 2011 in the former Osaka space next to Flavor, at 372 W. Lancaster Ave. in Wayne, is closed - according to the answering machine, "temporarily."

The Ambler branch of Rosey's BBQ has shuttered its smaller shop after 16 months. Owner Chad Rosenthal is being really tight-lipped about his plans, other than to hint that he'll resurface on Butler Pike. Which brings to mind one vacant spot: the former Shanachie, around the corner.