Hot dawg! (Or Haute Dog, perhaps?)
My husband and I chowed down at the new White Dog Café in Haverford Square Saturday night – a top-to-tail overhaul of the former Du Jour Market.
Humanely raised, sustainable and sourced within 50 miles, the grub was doggone good.
But what truly had us panting was the inspired doggie décor.
Call it Marty’s Adventures in WoofWoofland (“Marty” being owner Marty Grims). White Dog Haverford is a whimsical world where kitchen colanders become chandeliers
lampshades hang from ceilings
and big boys stand guard (licking their chops?).
Far fetched? Yes. Fetching? Absolutely.
(Décor is by Balongue Design; canines are courtesy of local painter Jay McClellan, flowers and plantings are by Pa. Horticulture Society winner Basia Kerner of Inspired Gardens.)
While White Dog Wayne sniffs of Chester County manor home and White Dog Philly reads quirky urban, Haverford conjures a-touch-more-tony Main Line estate.
The Dog’s three rooms have something for everyone: the Bar and backroom Den are all cozy and country clubby; the main dining room, aka “The Kitchen,” is b-o-l-d and b-r-i-g-h-t. (We’re diggin’ on the staff’s suburban-chic gingham shirts, btw.)
Only a third of the menu items at the other two Dogs pop up here. Haverford has more starters, sharing plates and vegetable dishes like Spring Pesto flatbreads, Pork Belly sliders and Korean style wings.
Now that he’s unleashed White Dog Haverford on the Lower Main Line, Grims is focused on a redo of the former Peppercorns (once Georges) in Wayne’s Eagle Village Shops. Look for an autumn opening and a Mediterranean theme with name, concept and delightful (Balongue Design) décor still TBD.
GO FOR IT! White Dog Haverford (379 Lancaster Ave. 610-896-4556) serves lunch Mon. to Fri. 11:30 – 2:30; brunch Sat. and Sun. 9 – 2:30 p.m; dinner nightly from 5; happy hour weekdays 4 – 6. Appetizers $9 – $18; salads and sandwiches $12 – $18; entrees $18 – $39.
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Proving once again there’s no such thing as bad publicity, the just-closed Devon Horse Show announces BOFFO box office.
Head honcho Wayne Grafton says this year’s show was “way ahead of last year” and when the barn dust settles, hints he “might have record-setting numbers” to report.
Attendance, Country Fair sales, show and Ladies Day Hat Contest entries were all up, up, up – despite a run of dastardly luck (including a tragic show-week suicide at the Devon train station, a horse death in the ring, a van crashing into show signage) and a succession of stinks over ousted leadership, booted box seat holders, a proposed historical marker and a new unaligned preservation alliance.
“Best show ever!” raved Polka Dots owner Susan Randels, a longtime fashion vendor.
“Over-the-top spectacular!” exalted Karin Maynard, Devon Country Fair co-chair.
Spectacular too (and spectacularly ambitious) are newly announced plans on the Devon drawing board. Among them: an $8 million capital campaign to create a stable full of moolah makers: more parking, more shops, more box seats, a new corporate and VIP sponsor section and a second Grand Prix-style event on Tuesdays.
All for the greater good of horse show beneficiary, Bryn Mawr Hospital.
Devon Forever, baby!
