Openings

‘Brisket Will Be King’ at Percy Street Barbecue

The school at 16th and Moore
The school at 16th and Moore Photo: City of Philadelphia

There are precious few details trickling out about Percy Street Barbecue, the upcoming barbecue joint from Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov of Zahav and Xochitl. We know the chef (Erin O’Shea, formerly of Marigold Kitchen) and the location (900 South Street, previously Crescent City) and the tentative opening (October), but not much else. We chatted with Cook yesterday to see if he was willing to share any more info and here’s what we came away with…

• The Percy team is about to embark on a research trip to Texas to firm up the menu, which Cook says will be concise, “We’ll keep it simple, something that everyone can understand and enjoy. It’s not going to be a huge menu, maybe six meats, six sides, six beers on tap, six desserts. But we don’t want to close our minds off to anything.” The barbecue is going to be “very Texan compared to the rest of the South. Brisket is going to be king and we’ll make our own sausage.”

• They’ve salvaged paneled sliding wooden doors with chalkboards inlaid into them from an abandoned school at 16th and Moore Streets (pictured). The doors (which we saw a photo of but Cook wouldn’t let us share) will be used to separate the kitchen from the dining room, with one of the chalkboard panels removed so that guests can see the smokers from the dining room.

‘Brisket Will Be King’ at Percy Street Barbecue