When a chef formerly of one of the city’s most popular restaurant groups decides to open a coffee shop, pay attention. Such is the story with the newly opened Homeroom Coffee in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, run by chef Henry Morgan. Morgan, who used to work with Michael’s Solomonov’s famed restaurant group, has taken over the former Green Bean Coffee (notably the site of his first restaurant industry job) to create the neighborhood coffee shop everyone wishes they lived near. The menu highlights his culinary chops with simple, well-executed dishes like a Charred Eggplant Sandwich, Focaccia Caesar Salad, Yogurt and Granola with Orange Thyme Marmalade, and more.

In a true pandemic success story, Kismet owners Alex and Jacob Cohen started making bagels out of their home kitchen in 2020. Within weeks they began doing pop-ups, then expanded to sell wholesale bagels across the city. Now, just two years later, they’ve opened a bagel shop in Fishtown where they’re selling bagels, sandwiches, bialy, and schmears. Lines can stretch to significant lengths, but it’s worth the wait for what many will call Philly’s best bagel.

KPOD is Peter Serpico’s pandemic project in a new form. After closing his award-winning spot, Serpico, due the COVID, he used the space to do a busy takeout and delivery kitchen called Pete’s Place Kinda Korean, from where he served what we undoubtedly called the best chicken wings in the city, alongside a non-traditional menu of Korean dishes like soft tofu stew, all kinds of noodles, as well as bibimbap and more. Now he’s brought Pete’s Place to life inside the old Pod Restaurant space (understand the name now?). The space has been lightly renovated to preserve the color-changing group dining pods and the bar, but the menu is now a roving exploration of the Korean inventions of a very talented cook. A slate of Korean-style handrolls have been immediate hits, as are a variety of mandu, Honey Butter Fries, shareable ssam platters with proteins like Kimchi-Butter Shrimp and bone-in short rib, and more.

Alex Tewfik, the longtime food editor at Philadelphia Magazine, created quite the buzz when he took off to open his own restaurant in East Passyunk. The name comes from an Arabic expression that’s akin to “when pigs fly” because he never expected to open a restaurant of his own—but the menu proves his leap was worth the risk. It’s a tight list of dishes that covers broadly Middle Eastern fare in sharable portions, and many menu items are inspired by the things he grew up eating like Pomegranate-Lacquered Chicken with Soft Leeks and Lebnah and White Beans with Shaved Bottarga and Grilled Bread.