TableTalk: A spirited new restaurant at Loews

The operators of the Loews Philadelphia went far beyond the mere idea of swapping out restaurants as part of a renovation of the hotel.

Designers cut a front entrance to Market Street and created a new lobby lounge out of part of the former SoleFood restaurant. This space has a large-screen TV and a bar that backs into the new restaurant, Bank & Bourbon (1200 Market St., 215-231-7300), which opened officially this week.

Bank & Bourbon - the "bank" refers to the building's past as PSFS and the "bourbon" refers to a neat spirits program - is a contemporary, tastefully done showplace for chef Tom Harkins, whose American menu is built on local sourcing. From the open kitchen, Harkins produces his own charcuterie, too.

B&B also has the services of a bourbon master, Brian Bevilacqua, whose barrel-aging program allows customers to blend and age their own bourbons; there's a tasting room tucked behind a hidden door.

Saturday is the grand opening of Society Hill Society (400 S. Second St., 267-273-1434), a tranquil tavern replacing the longtime Artful Dodger. Reed Barrow and partners intend it as a neighborhood dinner/late-night place, with locally sourced food from Garces Group alumnus Yun Fuentes and the requisite specialty cocktails.

Any day now, Jill Weber and Evan Malone (Jet Wine Bar and Rex 1516) will open Cafe Ynez, a small Mexican BYOB inside Malone's NextFab Studio at 2025 Washington Ave. (215-278-7579). It will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner during weekdays with a brunch option on the weekend. Jet's executive chef, JC Piña, a Mexico City native, is serving some of his mother's recipes. Specialties include Mexican coffees and rotisserie chicken.

Dallas-born Penn grad Audrey Chang was in private equity two years ago when, pretty much as an experiment, she started baking macarons and selling them at Suburban Station.

The novelty caught on quickly. Macarons - those airy, round, creme-filled pastry sandwiches - are French. Chang's are packed with Asian flavors.

Her business turned into a mail-order enterprise that morphed into a wholesale line, in which she'd supply local coffeeshops. Sometime around then, as she gave up her corporate job, Yelpers discovered Audabon Bakeshop, a play on her name.

"People thought I was a real business," she said. Now she is a "real business" with the recent opening of a storefront at 145 N. 11th St. (215-625-2803) in Chinatown, which she runs with her boyfriend, Henry Chow.

At any one time, the shop has at least a half-dozen varieties of macarons ($1.50 each) in flavors such as Meyer Lemon Key Lime Pie, Strawberry Daifuku, and Green Tea Passion Fruit. There are also a few kinds of pudding.

Pudding?

"The macarons," usually made with almond flour, "just use egg whites," Chang said. "And I had all these egg yolks."

All are gluten-free except for the banana pudding, which has cookies in it.

Hours are 2 to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sunday.