Overpriced Oasis or NoLibs Hotspot

Well, for those of you who are disappointed over the fact that almost all the galleries and restaurants that opened when The Piazza at Schmidts debuted two years ago are either gone, or have relocated within the same area, so are we. Not to mention we are still waiting for the Pathmark to open, but when word about the A&P Bankruptcy came out everyone wondered what that would mean for the project. In an article that was posted by PhillyNow back in December;

"Bart Blatstein, President of Tower Investments, who owns the property returned our call and assures us all plans for the 2nd and Girard Pathmark are on target. In fact, he says, the Pathmark on Girard is the “flagship for the company, at least as the company sees itself as. Work is continuing, it’s almost done and it’ll be open in a couple months.”

Less then a week away from March, and we haven't seen any progress at the site.

So this leads us to the latest news coming to NoLibs: Arrow Swim Club. According to the website, membership for the season which runs from May 1 - September 30 is $1,000.00. In this economy, one has to wonder if your target area really has this kind of $$$$ to just kick around. The application fee alone is $100.00, which if accepted goes towards your membership fee. Over 21 only, no children, no pets, so of course anyone 'undesirable' will be easily weeded out.

List of amenities:

1. 1,380 square foot, 4 1/2' deep pool
2. Live DJ & music entertainment
3. Courtesy flavor ices & refreshing cold towels offered by pool attendants throughout the day
4. Inside the cabanas, members & their guests are treated to:
   > 32" flat screen television
   > Blu-ray player
   > Mini-fridge
   > iPod dock with speakers
   > Lush modular furniture
   > Ceiling fan
   > Electronic gaming system
   > Laptop safe
   > Wireless internet
   > Moroccan-inspired ottomans & stools
   > Personal waitress service
   > Bottle service
   > Reserved lounge chairs
5. Valet or Complimentary Self-Parking
6. Luxurious locker rooms
7. Spa
8. Outdoor bar and patio seating
9. Gift Shop
   

According to Google maps this club will be located right across the street from the Piazza where some old abandoned buildings once stood.

Just a thought, maybe ole Bart Blat should try filling and finishing his other projects before everything comes crumbling down and takes NoLibs with it. #JustSayin

Featured Hot Spot: NORTH BOWL, NoLibs

Opened in July 2006, North Bowl is the ultimate hang-out Oron dreamed. The completely renovated former mechanics garage is now a 21,000-square-foot nightlife haven. From the retro benches from bowling alleys of the 50s to the sculptural bar and glass enclosed pod that overlooks the lanes from the lounge, North Bowl is a place that is truly unique to Philadelphia. Its not just about bowling, it's about the atmosphere and the overall experience.

Start your weekend off right, and escape the heat. North Bowl will open at 12 pm on Fridays during the months of July and August.

Happy Hour Bowling
Monday-Friday 5:00pm-7:00pm
$3.95/person/game $3 Shoe Rentals

SPECIALTY DRINKS:

ALL $6.00

The NoCowSki - ABSOLUT Vanilla, kahlua, and Silk Soy milk
Citywide - PBR and a shot of Powers Whiskey
John Daly - Sweet Tea Vodka and Lemonade
Acai Berry Ginger Martini - ABSOLUT Acai, ginger infused liquor, splash of cranberry, fresh lemon squeeze
Chocolate Espresso Martini - Espresso Vodka, Chocolate liquor, Tuaca and a touch of cream
Grapefruit Cosmo - ABSOLUT Ruby Red, Triple Sec, Grapefruit juice, Cranberry juice and Lime juice

Family Leagues

Bowling should never be an individual experience. The kids are out of school, so why not bring the whole family out to compete? All-ages are invited!

Teams can choose between Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Teams will include families of 4 or single parent/child teams will be paired with other single parent/child teams. League fees are only $10 per person per week. Trophies will be given out for highest male and female averages, highest team score, best child bowler, and best adult bowler.

The winning family will receive a kid's party at North Bowl Lounge n' Lanes, all expenses paid, for up to 15 kids!

Benefits also include the North Bowl League Rate of $2 on Sunday-Thursday for all family league members.

If interested, please contact Mary at events@northbowlphilly.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.northbowlphilly.com/index.php

Bad slice of Piazza

Well as we predicted we feel the downfall has started.
Yes we predicted it but did we really want it to happen? No.

The Piazza is not only a great social and gathering place but has allowed many small independently owned Fishtown and Kensington businesses to thrive and get lots of attention. For example; Bambi Gallery, Fresh Melt Water, and Fabric Horse have received great exposure and large increases in business. On the negative side The Piazza still has yet to fill the empty commercial spots and still has some duplicate stores from Liberties Walk, like the Delicious Boutique.

We feel that the first step in the downward spiral was canceling the wildly popular Sundae on Sundays at the Piazza. The Lee Jones dj/music event has been free and packed with people since the Piazza was finished being constructed. Sundae could actually get credit for exposing The Piazza to a large amount of people that would not normally venture out to it's 2nd and Germantown Ave location. Sundae has brought hundreds of people to The Piazza every Sunday for weeks now, all for free. This has spurred more artists renting tables in the courtyard, huge sales of food and drinks at Vino (formerly the official Sundae after party spot) and has increased awareness for all of the shops there. So what’s the problem?

A few weeks ago the official partnership between Vino and Sundae ended.

The business that Sundae brought to Vino’s after party helped keep the venue free and fun. Unfortunately that has ended, either from complaints from the other bars/restaurants losing Sunday business to Vino or just cause Sundae had done it's job of bringing the people into the Piazza and management now felt it was time to dump them. Whether it was for those reasons or for some unknown ones we feel it's a greedy mentality that has forced Sundae to the new club/restaurant on Delaware Ave. known as Octo. The vast open bar with a tropical feel is a great place for Sundae to switch to, it's not as easily convenient to get to, and is considerably smaller than the Piazza courtyard, but it's fun non the less and always crowded on Sunday.
So we feel as we did before; The Piazza management is only concerned with making money. Canceling Sundae before the agreement they had along with it's questionable half occupied commercial spaces can only lead us to believe that the Piazza will be a barren desert when cold weather arrives. This is much like Liberties Walk is and has been for years now. Liberties Walk started off the same way, and due to extremely high rent and lack of foot traffic in cold weather and daytime hours, 6 independent businesses closed up shop within a year in and half. We feel many of the small shops will do the same once their free monthly rent deals expire (especially since the Piazza and Liberties walk are run by the same people).

Only time will tell, but the recent addition of Tony Danza living at the Piazza apartments just seems like another gimmick to draw attention and will soon end much like Sundae. We really hope all the negative points we brought up don't occur, but if managed correctly, the Piazza and Liberties Walk can boost the neighborhood appearance, and business, along with bringing the much needed cleanup of Girard between 2nd and Front. Rumor has it that high-rise condos, a dog park, and a Wholefoods Market will soon appear on that corner of 2nd but we can only cross our fingers...

The Weekend

Other than the Wheat Beer Extravaganza we mentioned yesterday, a lot more is going on as we near the 4th of July (Which by the way the Roots are playing at for free at Penn's Landing!) This weekend is the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival (PIFF) in NoLibs and at 941 Theater, also the Bicycle Film Festival which is taking place at the Moore College of Art and Design along with a special Bicycle Exhibit. Also taking place on Saturday is the Big Art Show #11 at the 941 Theater, unfortunatly it was canceled due to the PIFF but they are having the Philadelphia Independent Craft Market on July 12th. Penns Landing is having a ton of events this weekend which include Taste of Philly all weekend, Angie Stone Concert tomorrow at 7:30 and fireworks later that night. Sunday as usual will feature the Sundae Concert at the Piazza, featuring Medina but since the recent death of MJ they will be spinning MJ tunes all night and day.

Should be Fun, and very hot!

Piece of duh Piazza

So were had some time to venture out this weekend and visit all the festivities going on in the NoLibs and Port Fishington spots. But we are going to concentrate on one thing.

The Piazza Revue:

We have seen these Piazza being worked on for months now finally we get to see it up-close and personal. The best way to describe it is: if you force-fed Liberties Walk those funny little pills that baseball players take and BAM its the Piazza! Anyway we couldn't believe all of the stores: 13 Galleries, 22 Retail shops and more, including and humungo courtyard with a big screen. Daily events are planned and bands play almost every night, and Phillies games on the big screen. The Piazza can hopefully bring a lot more fun to the area and hopefully it can maintain the traffic flow that Liberties walk was hurting for during the cold month or weekday work hours. A major goal to sustain traffic has to be creating awareness of the Piazza to people outside of our general area.

Weekends have been great at the Piazza, Sundae Philadelphia has been playing there religiously for the past few Sundays. Its a ton a fun and alot of people come out, they spin some awesome jams and guest DJ's stop by like Questlove and King Britt.

The Swift Half, a new venture from the people at the Good Dog has great food and a good selection of Tap and Bottled beer, with outdoor seating near the stage. Vino has some great specials on Sundays/Sundaes, which are 5 dollar flatbread pizzas (which are bangin) and great Sangria specials. Don't look for beer here though, none on tap and a very limited bottle selection.

We also wonder with so many galleries and boutiques why they would all group them together, at some point they will be competing and can all of these boutiques and galleries stay in business? We do think a lot of the places will do very well including the bars, Fabric Horse, and Bambi Gallery. We are also excited that this huge addition to the neighborhood can hopefully propel more businesses to venture further down East Girard into Fishtown. But will the business currently there go the way of the small business in Liberties Walk and close due to high rents and lack of traffic during the cold months? So far the Piazza has been a success but can it maintain its allure when the mercury drops and the DJ's go away and the people stay home? Deep down we want it to succeed and flourish, but in the back of our heads we always have the reality of the economy and how many T-Shirts or Handmade Prints do you have to sell to maintain the rent in the thousands when no one is around. Time will tell, for now Viva La Piazza!

A New Eye for Design in Budapest

Looks familiar... Northern Liberties??

Article from the NY Times:

By EVAN RAIL

Published: June 7, 2009

ON sunny afternoons, Budapest’s central square, Erzsebet ter, is bustling with skateboarders, tourists in open-top buses, guests from the high-end hotels nearby and visitors to the Godor Club, a cool cafe and performance space.

But even considering the square’s normally busy standards, I was surprised by the number of people when I arrived there one Sunday this spring. More to the point, I was surprised by what had brought them in: WAMP, which stands for Hungarian Design Market in Hungarian). The monthly design market features more than 100 vendors who sell local clothing, furniture and accessories in the shade of the square’s former bus depot.

“Every month we choose a topic,” said Bori Mester, one of the market’s organizers. “And it’s all different kinds of Hungarian design: toy designers, furniture designers, industrial, jewelry and fashion designers.”

Although cultured travelers have long had many reasons to visit Budapest — outstanding wine, glorious music, hip night life — it is probably safe to say the local sense of style was not among them. And yet the city has an emerging design scene unlike almost anything I’ve found in the former Eastern bloc. Beyond each monthly WAMP (www.wamp.hu), Budapest Design Week takes place in October and Budapest Fashion Week each April.

The city is also the base for The Room, an inch-thick international fashion and art magazine with texts in English and Hungarian, and up-and-coming clothing labels like Nanushka, which regularly pick up praise on English-language style blogs. There are creative industrial designers as well, like Ivanka, which just showed off its remarkably expressive and fluid home furnishings made from concrete at the Milan international design fair.

Read the rest of the article:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/travel/07journeys.html

Viva Mexico

Finally after living in Fishtown for a few years now we finally remembered to stop by Las Cazuelas when we had some hunger pangs. Las Cazuelas has been around since November 1999, and has been quite successful at its NoLibs location on 426 W Girard Ave. This is a perfect place for authentic Mexican food, we were very impressed by the food and we had flashbacks of a vacation to Ecuador while eating the delicious ceviche. This was the first place we were able to find ceviche made the authentic way in Philly. Las Cazuelas is a cozy BYOB wtih moderate prices, great authentic cuisine, with a relaxed cozy atmosphere.