Michael Klein: Three nights of Le Bec at Vetri

Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin know that the building that houses

Vetri

at 1312 Spruce St. had a storied past as the first home of

Le Bec-Fin

, which Georges Perrier operated on that spot from 1970 till its move to Walnut Street in 1983.

With the closing last week of Le Bec Fin (a year after Perrier's own departure), Vetri wanted to pay homage to Perrier.

"I just think Le Bec and Georges' legacy should be celebrated," said Vetri. For three nights (July 18, 19, and 20, which have already sold out), Vetri's shingle will read "Le Bec-Fin." Vetri will set Perrier loose in his old kitchen. Perrier started in that tiny kitchen in 1967 when it was La Panetiere, owned by Peter Von Starck.

The prix-fixe dinners (selling for Vetri's tariff of $155 a head) will include favorites from Le Bec, including galette de crab.

Vetri, meanwhile, has signed a lease for one of the old guardhouses at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. Vetri expects to open the Brig, a casual bar-restaurant, in about a year. He is moving his corporate offices to the Navy Yard, which offers tax benefits. Vetri also has Pizzeria Vetri opening this summer near 20th and Callowhill Streets and a version of Osteria up for late this year at Moorestown Mall.

Engineer-turned-shepherd Craig Rogers has opened a stand at Reading Terminal Market specializing in the lamb he raises at Border Springs Farm at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.

The stand, which replaced Basic 4 vegetarian, sells butchered cuts of lamb as well as prepared foods, such as lamb potpie, pulled shoulder sandwiches, smoked leg sandwiches, lamb sausage, lamb burger, and lamb kebabs. Border Springs also sells a sandwich billed on the menu board as "Name this sandwich." For all intents and purposes, it's a gyro. But because the Terminal limits the sales of certain items (cheesesteaks, pizza) to certain stands, Border Springs can't advertise it as a gyro.