Stephen Starr To Open 2 New Restaurants In Atlantic City — His First There Since The Pandemic

The Philly restaurateur, who grew up going to the Jersey Shore, says preparing the establishments at Ocean Casino Resort is a 'full circle moment.'

Stephen Starr plans to open two new restaurants this summer in Atlantic City — one that serves Thanksgiving fare year-round and another with a menu centered on steak frites.

The restaurants, located inside the Ocean Casino Resort on the boardwalk, are the restaurateur's first in Atlantic City since he closed his Buddakan and Continental locations there during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those restaurants — offshoots of two of his best-known Philadelphia restaurants — operated at the former Playground Pier from 2006 to 2020.

The names of Starr's new restaurants, which will replace the Ocean Casino's former Sky Cafe and Harper's, and their opening dates have not been announced. The menu for his Thanksgiving-themed restaurant also includes comfort foods like pigs in a blanket, tuna tacos, pierogis and home-style meatloaf, a spokesperson for Ocean Casino Resort said Thursday.

"It feels like a full circle moment for me to work on restaurant projects in Atlantic City, a place where I formed some of my finest childhood memories, both at the beach and on America's most popular boardwalk, where I worked as a teenager," Starr said in a news release.

Starr, who built an eclectic empire of restaurants in Philly over the last three decades, has ventured outside the city over the years to open restaurants in New York City, Washington and a handful of locations in Florida.

Ocean Casino Resort previously had planned to open four new restaurants from Philadelphia restaurateur Michael Schulson last summer. But Schulson — known for Double Knot, Harp & Crown, Sampan and nine other restaurants — backed out of the arrangement months after the announcement.

"It has become more of a haven for me and my family — a place where we escape, reconnect, and relax together," Schulson told the Philadelphia Business Journal in July. "It was a difficult decision but with closer consideration and after talking more with my family, we won't be opening our concepts there this summer."

Ocean Casino Resort, formerly the Revel casino, has 1,860 guest rooms and suites after completing an $85 million renovation in recent years. In addition to the Gallery Bar Book and Games lounge and Balcony Bar, the hotel's restaurants include the Jose Garces concept Amada, Italian restaurant Linguini by the Sea and Ocean Steak.

Starr, who owns 18 restaurants in Philadelphia, has two more on the way in Center City. Borromini, an Italian restaurant, will open this summer in the former Barnes & Noble at Rittenhouse Square, and Starr also is planning to open another next year at the former Devon Seafood Grill at 225 S. 18th St.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/staff-contributors/michael-tanenbaum/

Food From Philadelphia's Iconic Parc Will Be Served To First-Class Travelers On Amtrak's Acela Trains

Riders can order the restaurant's beef bourguignon, as well as two other options from Stephen Starr's eateries.

One of Philadelphia's ritziest restaurants is hitting the rails through a partnership with Amtrak.

Parc will soon be featured on the first-class menu of Acela trains traveling from Boston to Washington, D.C. The French restaurant's beef bourguignon — made with roasted carrots, pearl onions, bacon, cremini mushrooms, braised beef and red wine jus — is one of three new dishes rotating on the menu every three weeks this fall and winter.

All of the featured items come from restaurateur Stephen Starr's various properties. Amtrak announced a partnership with Starr back in May, rolling out select dishes from Buddakan, The Continental Mid-Town, Pizzeria Stella and Adrian on its spring and summer first-class menu. The Continental Mid-town will be included again in the fall and winter edition, this time through its lobster mac and cheese.

The other newcomer is Starr's D.C. restaurant Le Diplomate. Amtrak will feature the eatery's tropeze salad, a Mediterranean medley of cucumbers, chickpeas, couscous, lentils, shaved carrots and feta cheese.

Parc has received many accolades since it opened in 2008. On top of making many "best of Philly" restaurant lists, it's also been called one of the most romantic and scenic in the nation. In 2017, it was one of the top 50 highest-grossing independent restaurants in America.

Source: https://www.phillyvoice.com/staff-contributors/kristin-hunt/

Philadelphia Earns Top National Honors At James Beard Awards

Best-In-Nation Awards For Chef, Restaurateur & Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic Go To Philly

     

Philadelphia chefs Stephen Starr ("Outstanding Restaurateur" winner, left), Michael Solomonov ("Outstanding Chef" winner, center) and Greg Vernick ("“Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic" winner, right) all won big at the James Beard Foundation Awards on May 1. 

Credits: Photo courtesy the Starr Restaurant Organization (left), by M. Persico (center), and by Clay Williams (right)

It’s called “the Oscars of food,” and this week in Chicago, three Philadelphia culinary stars brought home gold. At the James Beard Foundation Awards on May 1, Michael Solomonov of Zahav won the very top prize of “Outstanding Chef.” Stephen Starr of Starr Restaurant Organization also won the top-in-nation honor of “Outstanding Restaurateur.” And Greg Vernick of Vernick Food & Drink won “Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic.” These wins do more than merely showcase Philadelphia’s emergent culinary talents: They cement the city’s status as a culinary destination.

Michael Solomonov is the chef and co-owner of Philadelphia’s Zahav, along with Rooster Soup Co., Abe Fisher, Federal Donuts (several locations), Dizengoff and just-opened Goldie. His 2017 Outstanding Chef award makes him a four-time James Beard winner. In 2011, he won “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.” Last year, he and business partner Steve Cook shared “Book of the Year” and “International” Foundation Book Awards for Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking. Solomonov and Cook have a second Dizengoff in New York City’s Chelsea Market and both Dizengoff and Federal Donuts opening in Miami this spring.

Outstanding Restaurateur winner Stephen Starr is the owner of 35 restaurants, starting with Old City, Philadelphia’s groundbreaking Continental and Buddakan, and now 18 more Philadelphia restaurants, plus destination eateries that span New York to Florida to Paris, including Le Diplomate in Washington, DC and New York City’s Le Coucou, the 2017 winner of the James Beard Foundation’s “Best New Restaurant.”

Greg Vernick, Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic is the chef and co-owner of Rittenhouse Square’s New American Vernick Food & Drink. He’s also a Philadelphia-area native, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and former protégé of Jean-Georges Vongerichten.