LoBianco

2 Powell Lane (at Haddon Avenue), Collingswood, 856-854-4500; www.restaurantlobianco.com

Nick and Stephanie LoBianco have transplanted their longtime Margate eatery to a pleasant storefront bistro in downtown Collingswood, where the New American menu adds a welcome note of variety to a scene with mostly Italian on the menu. The service is warm and personal, the ambience is neighborhood casual, and while the food may not be overly inventive, the flavors are well-wrought with good ingredients and solid cooking. Reviewed Nov. 30.

Maia

789 E. Lancaster Ave., Villanova. 610-527-4888; www.tastemaia.com

How quickly things seem to have unraveled at Maia, which debuted this summer with a stellar three-bell review as one of the most ambitious Main Line projects in years. This big-box culinary complex, built into the sleekly redesigned shell of a former supermarket, has a gourmet cafe-market and boisterous bistro downstairs, and a serious contemporary seafood dining room upstairs outfitted with a major wine and beer cellar. Shortly after the review, however, the talented opening team dissolved, with the departures of the sommelier, a senior manager, and, most recently, Terence Feury, the former Striped Bass chef who ran the kitchen with his brother and co-chef, co-owner Patrick Feury.

It was a decline in the kitchen that was most vivid on a return visit upstairs. The dinner menu showed scaled-back ambition, and was cooked with far less finesse and attention to detail. Items that should have been warm were cold, from the cheese-filled gougères to the mulled cider that came with the tepid bread pudding. The lobster pot pie came with rubbery meat and a burnt crust. The mushrooms alongside the overcooked truffled scallops were incinerated to a black crisp. The corned duck with celery root and a Domaine Serene pinot noir were two bright spots. A restaurant shouldn't drop more than one rating rung based on a single return visit, but Maia is heading in the wrong direction - fast. Hopefully, Here's hoping the half-extinguished lights I saw in the restaurant's front sign weren't an omen. Reviewed with three bells Aug. 10; revisited in December.

Max & David's

8120 Old York Rd., 150 Yorktown Plaza, Elkins Park, 215-885-2400; www.maxanddavids.com

Elkins Park has landed the area's first gastro-glatt eatery, where owners Robin and Steven Katz (with consultant Aliza Green) show that kosher cooking can go creatively upscale. This promising pioneer still has rough spots to polish, but the lively space and ambitious meat menu are a boon to the strictly kashrut crowd, and also has crossover potential for mainstream diners with too few good options nearby. Reviewed Jan. 27.

Memphis Taproom

2331 E. Cumberland St., 215-425-4460; www.memphistaproom.com

An aging corner taproom has been transformed into a hip gastropub and craft-beer bar that could become a magnet for Kensington's gentrification. The updated regional pub fare (fried pickles, rarebit, Polish platter) balances ambition and fresh ingredients with moderate prices. The serious beer list is destination-worthy. Reviewed Aug. 3.

Misso

1326 Spruce St., 215-546-2355

Former Sushikazu owner Bruce Kim has brought his crunchy-spicy sushi rolls and classic, deftly cooked Japanese fare to a comfy room just steps from the Avenue of the Arts. The space is somewhat obscure, but worth seeking out for a flavorful and reasonably priced theater-district meal. This is easily one of the most solid of Center City's myriad sushi newcomers. Reviewed May 4.

Nicholas

2015 E. Moyamensing Ave., 215-271-7177; www.nicholasphilly.com

Two guys named Nick have brought a fresh taste of New American cooking to Italian-rich South Philly in this lively little Pennsport BYOB. The chefs are both alums of Striped Bass and Morimoto, but opt for considerably simpler dishes here (sometimes too simple), with a focus on seasonal ingredients and affordable prices targeted more to a neighborhood crowd than destination diners. Desserts still need lots of work. Reviewed Oct. 12.

Northbrook Marketplace

1805 Unionville-Wawaset Rd.,

West Chester, 610-793-1210; www.northbrookmarketplace.com