Table Talk: Manayunk restaurant scene is revving up again

 While working at Bourbon Blue the last few years, Joe Keough says,
he sensed the need for something a touch earthier in Manayunk: a
neighborhood-type tavern with decent food. But not too downscale,
either.
 "If you're not into Red Bull and vodka and walking on broken glass,
where do you go?" he asked.
 He and Bourbon Blue alum Jeff Bender took over the corner spot up
the block - at Main and Rector - that most remember as Main-ly
Desserts (followed by the short-lived Fish Tank on Main and Sole).
 *Manayunk Tavern* (4247 Main St., 267-335-2121), with Dennis
Selfinger in the kitchen, aims at mid-20s to mid-30s with two dozen
microbrews (six on tap), a decent wine list, and comfort food (all
but the twin filet under $20). It's open from 4:30 till 2 a.m.
weekdays, and noon to 2 a.m. weekends; lunch will start in the
spring. Kitchen is open late.
 Manayunk seems to be on an upswing again.

In 1997, the rehabbed
commercial strip off the Schuylkill seemingly was on fire after a
decade of installing hot, new restaurants. Overwhelmed residents
(supported by restaurateurs who felt that more competition was a bad
thing) implored their district councilman, a guy named Michael
Nutter, to press for a five-year moratorium on newcomers. Meanwhile,
many restaurateurs moved elsewhere - to Old City, Northern Liberties,
Queen Village and Collingswood.

Among projects now on the books:
 *Cactus Bar & Grill* (4243 Main St.) is planned as a Southwestern
restaurant/bar two doors from the Manayunk Tavern this spring. Owners
have the Bayou next door.
 Chabaa Thai will open *Mango Moon* (4161 Main St.), an Asian
fusion/small plater, this summer.
 Couch Tomato on Rector just off Main Street plans to expand this
summer with *Tomato Bistro*. It'll have 80 seats in a new upstairs
cafe, plus a liquor license.
 Bruce Cooper, who owns *Jake's*, is going next door (to 4367 Main)
with a wine bistro this spring.
 Also, *Winnie's Le Bus* (4266 Main St.) has developed a line of
homemade products (salad dressings, jams, corn bread, apple cake,
soups, salsa and "winn-ola" (granola) in a new to-go section.

What's coming...
 Neil Stein says his return to the restaurant life - now that it's a
year since he left federal prison after serving his sentence for tax
evasion - will be this summer with *Cabaret*, a bistro on the order
of his Rittenhouse Square landmark *Rouge*, at the Morris House on
Eighth Street near Spruce. The space, with a dandy garden, last was
Restaurant M. He is partnering with owners Gene Lefevre and Michael
DiPaolo, and Lindsay Ratkovich, a real estate developer. Meg Rodgers
will do the decor, incorporating 16 kinds of red. Red, as in rouge.

 ***Finn McCool's Ale House*, the onetime hole in the wall at 12th
and Sansom a few doors from the new Mims project, has been revived as
an Irish pub with 16 taps on the first floor and a nightspot (DJ
booth, bottle service) called *Prime Lounge* on the hitherto unused
second floor. Fling-out doors should add a nice touch in warmer
weather.

 Briefly noted
 The building at 114 Market St. that for a time housed DiPalma and
more recently Club One 14 is on the market for $2.4 million.
Michael Schulson, who was chef at University City's Pod before he
went to New York to open the Buddakan in Manhattan, has landed a
sweet gig with the Borgata in Atlantic City. He'll open what the
Borgata calls an "innovative Japanese restaurant and nightlife
experience" in the space on the hotel-casino's restaurant row that
formerly housed Susanna Foo's Suilan. There's no name yet, or opening
date.