Table Talk

Ellen Yin and chef Eli Kulp of Fork and High Street on Market have joined David Fields as partners at Rittenhouse Square's a.kitchen and its oyster-bar sibling, a.bar.

Kulp becomes executive chef, filling a long-vacant slot. New menus - to be executed by a to-be-determined chef de cuisine - will begin in March.

"All three restaurants will have a clear identity," Fields said.

Michael Dombkoski (ex-Timber, Susanna Foo Gourmet Kitchen, Starr, !Pasión!) recently was named a.kitchen's general manager. This will be the start of other collabs for Yin and Kulp, under their newly formed High Street Hospitality Group.

It's looking like any day now for the opening of Paris Bistro inside the Chestnut Hill Hotel (8229 Germantown Ave., 215-242-6200).

That's Paris as in the city and in chef Albert Paris. He and partners Robert and Benjamin Bynum went for a '30s-era Parisian look, and the pressed-tin ceiling, zinc bar, and well-worn period furniture fit beautifully inside the circa-1894 building's ground floor. This space was occupied last by the Melting Pot.

Paris and the Bynums also run Heirloom, Relish, Warmdaddy's, and Green Soul. The project reunites Paris with chef Eric Hall, whose resumé includes the late Circa and La Campagne.

The menu is classic French, with most entrées in the high teens, low $20s. Open for dinner only (closed Mondays) for the first few weeks. Lunch and a lower-level jazz cafe to follow in February.

Suppa, an American BYOB, has taken the corner spot at Liberties Walk in Northern Liberties (1040 N. American St., last occupied by A Full Plate before its move to Fishtown, where it is now Cedar Point Bar & Kitchen.

Chefs Angelo Polito and Georgeann Leaming offer a wide-ranging menu that includes tacos, curried spring rolls, vegetarian bahn mi slathered with mushroom pate - even a throwback sloppy Joe. For brunch, you can get the usual as well as a hair-of-the-dog sandwich with house-made bacon and sausage on onion brioche.

Leaming, incidentally, is teed up for an appearance this spring on Food Network's Chopped.

Suppa, 1040 N. American St. (but it's really at Bodine St.), 215-644-9324, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday (brunch served weekends).

The 14-year run of the Dmitri's location on Fitler Square is winding down, with the building on the corner of 23d and Pine due to be sold next month, resulting in what owner Dmitri Chimes calls "much higher rent" for his Greek seafood spot. He's on a month-to-month deal now.

Chimes still owns the liquor license, worth north of $85,000. His flagship location at Third and Catharine in Queen Village is going strong since 1989, as is his BYOB at Second and Laurel in Northern Liberties. Neither would be affected.