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| Scenes from the 2013 East Passyunk Flavors of the Avenue event |
On Saturday, April 27, in South Philadelphia, the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District (EPABID) launched the 6th annual Flavors of the Avenue event featuring 25 area restaurants. Down Passyunk Avenue on the same day, Crafty Balboa held their 5th annual artisan fair. Festival organizers confirm 1000 guests participated in the 2013 Flavors event under the tent, and estimate an additional 1500 people were at Crafty Balboa. Attendees included celebrities Jennifer Zavala and Jennifer Carroll, both Top Chef contestants, and some Crafty Balboa patrons did a double-take seeing Project Runway’s first winner, Jay McCarroll, manning a booth.
It was a day that showcased some of the area’s best-loved restaurants ranging from East Passyunk Avenue’s traditional Italian spots like Mamma Maria’s, Mara’s and Chiarella’s, to newer additions like Will BYOB (French-inspired), Izumi (Japanese), and Fond (Contemporary American), to one that hasn’t opened yet, the eagerly awaited Noord (Northern European) from Chef Joncarl Lachman.
The event also featured live entertainment, including a set from the band HOME (aka the Andrew Jackson School Rock Band); the mostly pre-teen players had the crowd on East Passyunk Avenue cheering for their cool covers of classics by bands including Guns N' Roses and The Hooters.
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| Members of the band HOME aka the Andrew Jackson School Rock Band |
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| Restaurant consultant Madison Alpern and Chef Jennifer Carroll |
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| Sam Sherman Jr. of the Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corp (PARC) |
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| Journalist A.D. Amorosi gets a Watermelon Feta Salad from the crew from Noir |
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| The sold-out crowd under the tent at Flavors of the Avenue 2013 |
Pictured in the collage at the top of this post, clockwise from top left: Tommy "Bones" DeFino with Dina DeFino in background, both from Chiarella's Ristorante; Flavors of the Avenue tent; Anthony Mascieri of Plenty; Tory Keomanivong, GM of Fond; shot of East Passyunk Avenue; Jesse Prawlucki of Belle Cakery. Center photo: Bob Moysan and Chef Joncarl Lachman of Noord.
All photos ©Glamorosi 2013
From A.D.'s archives: To read an A.D. Amorosi interview with Jay McCarroll in 1999 during his pre-Project Runway career, click here.
Posted on Monday, April 29, 2013
