Openings

The Bar Will Be Suspended at Square 1682, Opening Mid-October

The publicity machine behind Square 1682, the restaurant in the not-quite-finished Hotel Palomar at 17th and Sansom Streets, has ramped up and more details about the space are trickling out. Helmed by famed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter’s longtime second-in-command Guillermo Tellez, the menu is still being hammered out, but we’ve weeded through the PR hyperbole to bring you the salient points. Read on for hanging bars, exhibition kitchens and the exciting hours of operation!

The Food: Vaguely described as “new American with world flavors.” Asia, Mexico and India are all referenced. Tellez plans to source products sustainably, locally, etc. Various PA farmers are namechecked, including Seven Stars Farm in Phoenixville and Shady Brook Farm in Yardley. Only seafood vetted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program will be served. (As for seafood, Tellez was also executive chef of Striped Bass during the Starr years).

The Drinks: Jacques Bezuidenhout, a cocktail consultant, will be creating the drinks list with “a shout-out to local Philly flavors” (we hope this means a birch beer cocktail and not some sort of hideous vodka and Whiz combo). Master Sommelier Emily Wines will handle the wine list, which will include organic selections. Local craft brews will be emphasized.

The Space: The two-story space seats 90, with the bar and an ‘exhibition’ kitchen on the first floor and the main dining room on the second. Art Deco-inspired interiors by Hollywood designer Dayna Lee include a sculptural bar made from staggered walnut suspended by satin bronze chain links, a two-story glass wine display and full floor-to-ceiling windows in the second floor dining room.

The Rest: The restaurant will be accessible from both inside the hotel and through a separate entrance at the corner. It’s also a LEED-registered restaurant (the entire hotel is LEED-registered as well), which means it’s adhering to a more sustainable, “green” design, construction and operation.

The Hours: Breakfast, lunch and dinner, served seven days a week. Breakfast hours will be 7:00-10:30 a.m. daily, and lunch from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily. Dinner will be served from 5:30-10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 5:30-11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. The bar will be open from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 a.m. daily, with the bar menu available until midnight.

Square 1682, Hotel Palomar, 121 S. 17th Street.

The Bar Will Be Suspended at Square 1682, Opening Mid-October