Jan Dorfman in front of his shuttered store in Wynnewood Shopping Center.
On Thursday, October 27, Jan Marc Dorfman left his Wynnewood home at 1:45 a.m. – the usual time – and set off on foot for his business. There were bagels to bake and orders to fill.
Legally blind from Stargardt’s Disease, Dorfman, 70, walked carefully through the early-morning darkness though it was a route he knew well – he’d walked it for decades.
What he didn’t know: that starlit one-mile trek to Delancey St. Bagels, his 32-year café in Wynnewood Shopping Center, would be his last.
Nine hours later – with customers at the counter and six tables chatting over coffee – a sheriff and deputies walked in.
“We’re here to close you down and take possession of this property for your landlord,” Dorfman remembers them saying. “You have 60 minutes to gather your possessions and leave.”
Contents of refrigerators, freezers, shelves and cash registers were emptied and confiscated.
Furnishings were inventoried and tagged for a future sheriff’s sale.
Windows were covered in brown paper.
Dorfman surrendered his keys and left with only his computer, which had been specially outfitted to accommodate his handicap. He’d begged the sheriff to let him keep it.
He learned later that the landlord had also seized $35,000 from his business accounts at Wells Fargo.
Divorced with no children and locked out of his livelihood, Dorfman holed up in his home on Argyle Circle. A blind man, seemingly blindsided.
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Delancey St. Bagels first opened in Wynnewood on Thanksgiving Eve of 1987, moving to larger space three doors down in 1996. Business was steady: a mix of Lower Merion kids, local moms and in recent years, daily meetings of the ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out) Club.
Traffic didn’t ebb until neighbors had new places to grab coffee and a breakfast sandwich. The Giant around the corner added a café. Whole Foods and First Watch opened across the street.
Still, Dorfman managed to pay his monthly rent to his landlord, Federal Real Estate Investment Trust, which also owns Bala Cynwyd Shopping Center and Lawrence Park Shopping Center.
And rent kept rising. Delancey St. Bagel’s base rent was $5,400 in 1996. This fall, Dorfman’s full rent was $13,714, according to leases we reviewed.
“I was paying about $70 a square foot for bagels and cream cheese – higher than rents at 18th and Walnut,” Dorfman says.
“Triple-A tenants” with national track records like the DSW, Old Navy and Giant at Wynnewood Shopping Center are typically charged far less per square foot than mom-and-pops like bagel shops.
The competition had certainly nicked Delancey St. but COVID clobbered it.
Dorfman never closed the store – not even for a day – as he swiftly shifted to takeout and delivery only.
“We did business – it wasn’t huge but we did some,” Dorfman recalls. “It took a long time for people to come into the store and feel comfortable.”
Meanwhile, Uber Eats, Grubhub and Door Dash were taking some 35% of each order, in effect, eating him alive.
Strapped for cash, Dorfman admits to skipping regular professional cleanings and postponing store upgrades. He started working longer hours to keep payroll in check.
Despite the belt-tightening, he quickly fell behind on his rent. Through much of COVID he says he paid FRIT $6,000 to $8,000 per month, one month he managed just $4,000 and only one month, nothing at all.
By the fall of 2022, he was $70,000 in arrears.
Scared, Dorfmans says he tried to contact his landlord. The property manager was unavailable and he got nowhere with his leasing agent, he says.
“One day the rent-check lady called, asking me how I was going to pay back rent .. I didn’t have an answer. I guess I expected a little help from my landlord.”
His first attorney passed from cancer. A second attorney, James Cunilio, brokered a deal with FRIT that would have forgiven the debt but, acting against his advice, Dorfman refused to accept its terms. “I begged him to accept the deal,” Cunilio tells SAVVY.
And then the worst happened.
An envelope stuffed with legal documents dated Oct. 20 was sent to Dorfman, notifying him the Montgomery County Court of Common had entered two judgements against his business, Delancy St. Ltd.: one for $123,044.24, the other for possession of real property.” Those judgements directed the sheriff to take Delancey St.’s money and close the store.
Dorfman remains unsure whether the folks at FRIT or its new law firm, Zarwin Baum, even knew he was blind and would have trouble reading the documents.
Seven days after Oct. 20 the sheriff and his deputies came to lock him out.
Dorfman did have 30 days to file a petition to fight both judgements – an option he may not have known about or understood until it was too late. Last week, frantic efforts to find legal counsel by Dorfman and his friends failed.
As part of our research for this story, we confirmed the legality of the repossession timeline with Zarwin Baum attorney Kierstin Lange and SAVVY’s legal advisor, who reviewed the court filings.
And so, out of options and time, the contents of Dorfman’s store were set to be sold at a sheriff’s sale November 30.
As of this writing, Delancey St. is done. Thirty-two years of coffee, cream cheese and camaraderie expunged forever.
Customers, meanwhile, are decrying Dorfman’s treatment by his landlord. “I am heartbroken,” writes Joan Carella who tells us she’ll no longer shop at Wynnewood Shopping Center.
“COVID caused huge problems for all of us. Certainly small Mom and Pop stores were hurt the most,” Carella wrote. “Delancey Street Bagels was “like the TV show, Cheers, where everybody knows your name. Dorfman made everyone feel welcome: disabled children, toddlers running around in PJs, bus drivers and police officers, she writes, adding that “It was one of the few places around that was affordable.”
Michael Morris, a member of the ROMEO club and a Delancey customer for 26 years, talks about the “extended Wynnewood community” at this “social gathering place for conversation and food.” He calls the “forced closing of his shop “most tragic” [for Dorfman] and for all of his customers.”
Retired physician Richard Carella, a near daily visitor, says Dorfman “arrived early each day and worked quite hard despite having macular degeneration. I don’t feel he deserved to be treated in the manner he has been.”
Adds Sal Rosenberg, UPenn professor of Periodontics and Prosthodontics and a 20-year regular: “Shame on the powers that be that some compromise could not be reached to rescue this gem in our midst.”
Shortly after the shop was closed, true-blue customer Michele Kirkland, a retired cardiac anesthesiologist who would visit with her handicapped adult daughter, started a GoFundMe for Dorfman, who calls the GoFundMe “embarrassing” but admits he needs the help. He tells us he can afford to stay in his home for another year, tops.
“I’m a guy that loves to work. They took everything. I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.“
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Click here to view the GoFundMe for Delancey St. Bagels & Café owner Jan Dorfman.
Hop aboard The Pullman, a new retro-chic railcar restaurant and bar in Bryn Mawr
The “First Look” VIP party at The Pullman on November 15. Photos by Ali Waxman
Was there ever a spot that screamed “Main Line” more than The Pullman, long-awaited successor to Tango at the Bryn Mawr train station?
We think not.
The owners hail from Bryn Mawr.
Interiors were conjured by the Villanova design sorceress who brought us lookers like the White Dog Cafés, Rosalie, Will’s + Bill’s Brewery and Autograph.
And how about the vibe? The Pullman harkens back to halcyon days when train travel was actually elegant.
And then there’s the location: the former freight house for a key station on the “main line” of Pa. Railroad.
So yes, it all screams Main Line but in our trademark understated elegant way and with enough sassy surprises to keep things lively.
So, a tip of our top hat to Two Dames Dining Group – mother-daughter dynamos Roni and Jennifer Hammer – for resuscitating a historic property with a theme true to its roots and architecture.
And oh my, what a sexy, snazzy reincarnation it turned out to be.
Our design mantra was “to feel the Pullman,” designer Barbara Balongue tells SAVVY. “The interior fit-out is vibrant, yet balanced, sophisticated and fun!”
Sidetracked by old-building woes and supply chain snarls for two years, the Pullman pulled in late to the station but looks worth the wait.
The jaw dropper is the mahogany-paneled, double-sided canopied bar with floating wine bottles and embedded ambient lighting.
Booths in the “dining car” have windows with views of the train tracks.
A private dining nook features crystal chandeliers and antiqued-mirror walls.
Lounge lizards can kick back in plush velvet banquettes during “Social Hour” with a Small Plates menu. Ivories on the baby grand piano (painted “Pullman blue”) will be tickled on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The restaurant seats 145, the bar seats 21. Come spring, an alfresco “Bar on the Rails” will be open for cocktails and dining.
“Just about everyone we know has created wonderful memories of the previous restaurants that occupied this historic freight house,’” says co-owner Jennifer Hammer, who says she was a regular at early 90s inhabitant Central Bar & Grill. “These memories motivated us to obtain the property and bring it back with a reverence.” The Hammers also own Snook’s Bayside Restaurant and Grand Tiki Bar, a wildly popular waterfront venture in Key Largo.
The Pullman’s co-owner, Jennifer Hammer of Two Dames Restaurant Group with Executive Chef Corey Baver. Hammer leased the building that she frequented in the late 80s/90s when It was Central Bar & Grill. The whole place is new – from the kitchen and custom millwork to the fixtures and main bar.
A Pullman is a sleeper car. Naturally, its passengers would enjoy an elegant meal in the dining car.
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The menu features retro classics like Oysters Rockefeller ($19), Fois Gras ($26), Roma-style Escargot (18) and assorted steaks ($44-$52).
But there’s modern fare, too, like Tuna Nachos ($19) and tempura Lobster Bites ($19), Florida Grouper with Roasted Beets, Smoked Paprika & Fennell Purée ($36) and Braised Bone-In Short Rib ($38). Lesser appetites can order the Pullman Burger ($22) at dinner or the inevitable Caesar salad with chicken ($24) or shrimp ($28).
Executive Chef is Corey Baver, former investor/partner in Paradiso and Azumi in the Italian Market. He calls The Pullman’s cuisine “New American … that means I can do whatever I want: French, Italian, Japanese Spanish.” Bullish on the theme, Baver one day hopes to recreate menus from The Orient Express. Hammer envisions themed charity events like Great Gatsby nights and Top Hats & Tiaras parties.
ON THE MENU: Lunch $12 – $35; Small Plates (in the lounge) $14 – $19; Social Hour drinks $4 – $8 and select small plates $9; Dinner starters and salads $12 – $29; Mains $22 – $58; and Sides $8 – $14.
Editor’s Note: We’ve had drinks at The Pullman and plan to dine there soon. We’re giving the kitchen time to work through early kinks and any COVID-related staffing issues.
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The Pullman Restaurant & Bar, 39 Morris Ave., Bryn Mawr, is open for dinner from 5 p.m. (closed Mondays). Lunch Fri., Sat., Sun. noon to 3 p.m.; Social Hour 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays; Small Plates 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Live music Thurs. to Sat. Private dining for 25; Two private nooks for 8 to 10; Reservations recommended. Call 610) 727-0777.
Dua Mediterranean Kitchen: Bryn Mawr’s delish new dinner house
Chef/owner Bledar Istrefi at his new BYOB, Dua.
It opened without a whisper in early October but it’s time to make some noise for Dua Mediterranean Kitchen.
At the old Tin Lizard Brewery on Lancaster Ave., Dua is a tasty, bi-level BYOB with pasta bar, open kitchen and rooftop deck.
We reserved seats at the pasta bar (above), sipping Pinot Noir as we watched eggs, flour, water and turmeric being fed into the Ciao pasta machine, kneaded into dough, and emerging as linguini, rigatoni, campanelle and mafalde. Presto, change-o – like the Playdough gizmo but for grownups.
The menu is a Mediterranean mélange of Greek, Italian and Israeli dishes, fresh pastas and Kosher meats – a departure for Albanian-born chef/owner Bledar Istrefi, whose first restaurant, the popular Moma in Mt. Airy, is Italian.
“We’re deliberately not Italian. There’s already a lot of that in Bryn Mawr,” says manager Toni Burns. “We wanted to do Mediterranean flavors in an elegant, modern setting – upscale and different. This isn’t a Mediterranean grill either; it’s more of a destination.”
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We ordered two starters: The Israeli Duo (muhammara and hummus dips, $11) and the Melitzanes (a Greek eggplant parm, $11). Both were sensational.
After that, we tried the Mafalde (pasta ribbons with burrata, cream and pistachio, $23) – another winner, if a tad rich for our tastes.
Next came the tasty Orata, an Italian fish served over couscous with Mediterranean salsa for $29. Note: that’s half the price of the orata we had at the splashy Fiore Rosso down the road.
Our second main was the flavorful Lamb Shank, a kosher cut prepared with roasted walnuts and raisins for $33.
The finale was the baklava made that day by Burns, the manager. Nothing like the cloying, wet pastry we were used to, it was a revelation. We figured we’d take a bite or two but ended up cleaning the plate.
Portions for sides and entrées were on the generous side. We left laden with doggy bags, which we successfully resuscitated in the air fryer the next night. Two dinners for the price of one.
Hmmm. Could that be why they called the place “dua?”
Nah.
One thing’s for sure: we’ll be back.
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Dua Mediterranean Kitchen BYOB, 1000 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 484-380-2053, is open Tues. – Sat. from 5 p.m. Reserve on Tock.
Midterms on the Main Line: Why was it a blue-chip day for Democrats?
The local chapter of Red Wine & Blue, a new “suburban sisterhood,” says its “relational organizing” tactics help tilt local midterms. Here, the Boozy Banned Book Fair that the group co-hosted with Main Point Books at Teresa’s Café in Wayne Sept. 24. About 100 people bought 100 often-banned books, many for area libraries, at the event.
While the big red wave turned out to be a ripple nationally, a veritable blue tsunami engulfed the Main Line.
Dems won here and they won easily.
Josh Shapiro trounced Doug Mastriano in all three counties – by 24 points in Chesco, by 40 points in Montco and by 37 points in Delco.
John Fetterman smacked Mehmet Oz by 17 points in Chesco and by 28 points in both Montco and Delco.
U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (Chesco), U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (Delco) and U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (Montco) all cruised to double-digit wins.
In a face-off between two Conestoga grads in the newly drawn PA 157th (Easttown, Tredyffrin, Willistown and Schuylkill townships), two-term incumbent Pa. Rep. Melissa Shusterman (D) beat anti-mask mandate mom/educator Sarah Marvin (R) by nearly 20 points.
But the area’s most consequential race – one that helped tip the PA House to the Democrats for the first time in 12 years – was in the 168th District which now includes all of Radnor, Edgemont and Newtown townships and most Middletown. The last three townships have been reliably Republican. Radnor? Not so much.
Riding high name recognition as a five-year Radnor Commissioner, Lisa Borowski took the 168th, unseating three-term Republican incumbent Chris Quinn. It wasn’t even close – she won by 12 points.
Former Radnor Commissioner and newly elected Pa. Rep. Lisa Borowski with her campaign’s leaders pose with Pod Save America co-host Jon Lovett at an Oct. 8 canvass launch in Newtown Square. From left: field organizer Sarah Bishop-Stone, campaign fellow Robert Beck, campaign manager Amanda Hills; comedian/podcaster Jon Lovett; candidate Lisa Borowski; finance director Faye Fisher and field director Agostino D’Ancona.
What’s going on here?
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First, we should say that we tried to get Republican leadership to comment/reflect upon their losses. No dice. We get it: losing ain’t fun to talk about.
We sought comment from Raffi Terzian, chair of the Chester County Republican Committee, but he never responded to our repeated requests. We asked others to point us toward someone, anyone, who would talk, but were ghosted.
One of the few Republicans who spoke about his defeat on social media was Paoli’s Guy Ciarrocchi, who ran a hard-fought campaign. In his concession to U.S. Rep. Houlahan, he urged her to follow through on her campaign pledge to seek bipartisan solutions.
“Listen when neighbors express their fears about border security and our need for true energy independence and their anxiety due to inflation and the sinking economy,” Ciarrocchi wrote.
Second, Power to the She.
Women still aren’t filling half the chairs in corporate board rooms but in the halls of power that represent large swaths of the Main Line, it’s Wakanda Forever.
“PA Dems in the House in the majority!” an ebullient Rep. Melissa Schusterman texted SAVVY. “No more anti-election legislation. No more anti-choice legislation. The future of PA is looking bright!”
Lisa Borowski gave us several reasons for her victory.
First, the 250 volunteers who knocked on 36,000 doors from June through Election Day, re-knocking on 20,000 of them as November 8 drew near.
She also mentions running in a “much more competitive district” with roughly equal party affiliations: 41% Republican, 41% Democrat and 17% Independent.
What surprised her most? “How people underestimated the attack on women’s reproductive rights and undermining our democracy as motivators for voters, especially for our younger voters, We were hearing these as priority issues when out on the doors and I believe the concern over these issues drove voter turnout and the candidate choice. My opponent voted time and again for legislation to further restrict abortion access and take that decision away from women and their healthcare providers.”
As for her priorities in Harrisburg, Borowski mentioned protecting a women’s right to choose in PA, supporting the work of volunteer fire and EMS personnel which she learned from her time as a Radnor Commissioner have “pressing needs,” legislating to enhance access to behavioral health services for our schools and seniors, and setting up “a really good District Office” to serve neighbors of the 168th.
Borowski resigned at Monday night’s Radnor BOC meeting. Commissioners will name an interim commissioner as early as December 19. Voters will choose Borowski’s permanent replacement in the May 2023 primaries.
Now, about those Gen Zers.
Typically about 20 percent of people ages 18 to 29 vote in midterms. This year, about 27 percent cast ballots.
Yes, they responded to TikToks and Instagram reels (Fetterman and Shapiro campaigns were big users) but turns out they don’t much appreciate doom-and-gloom, negative TV ads, according to political observers.
And it’s simply not true that young people are turned off to politics. Many young people told pollsters they’re fed up. At Villanova, students helped other students register to vote and ran shuttle services to get students to the polls.
On the Main Line, Red Wine & Blue (R W & B), a new “sisterhood of suburban women,” also flexed its muscle for the midterms. The group teaches other women through “relational organizing” to use their voices to fight extremism and hosted regular Troublemaker Trainings in person and online. Archconservative Moms for Liberty these gals are not.
“We trained almost 500 women on the Main Line from June to November,” says Wayne resident Sherry Luce, a Red Wine & Blue regional organizer.
Luce teamed up with Main Point Books for a Boozy Banned Book Fair that drew 100 people to Teresa’s Café in Wayne in late September.
A R W & B Happy Hour Luce threw at the Wayne Hotel attracted women from up and down the Main Line.
R W & B held virtual “pajama party” values forums. It hosted SWEEP Salons. When Giselle Fetterman led a Troublemaker Training, thousands from across PA logged on.
“We are a nonprofit that organizes around values, not around a particular candidate or party,” PA Program Director Ronna Dewey tells SAVVY. Republican women are also involved in RW&B, she says.
A Red Wine & Blue core value is women’s reproductive rights. “One of our talking points was: ‘It’s not enough to elect Josh Shapiro.’ We need to elect state senators and state reps who would vote against SB 106, the proposed PA Constitutional Amendment that would further restrict abortions in the state.” (Amendments can’t be vetoed by governors.)
Did all those newly minted relational organizers fired up about SB 106 impact the midterms on the Main Line? Red White & Blue sure thinks so.
“We took for granted that our rights were protected,” Dewey explains. Women won’t be caught napping again, she says. “No one took Moms for Liberty seriously. They are the minority even here on the Main Line but it turns out they have deep pockets and they’re really loud.”
And Red Wine & Blue is just getting started, she says. With the 2023 school board and municipal races looming, they’ll be out organizing – one pajama party, one Troublemaker training – at a time.
Says Dewey: “We aren’t going away.”
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New Wayne shop sells all the fixins’ for a cut-above bash (with VIDEO)
Open since last Saturday in Wayne, Party with Peonies specializes in unique party goods, gifts, balloons and wrapping.
Party stores are so pedestrian. Aim higher with a party boutique.
If you want the bash to be as special as the person you’re throwing it for, check out Party with Peonies, the “premium party boutique” that just opened in Wayne.
Concierge party planner Hildret Boghosian has filled her little pink palace with her favorite things for all sorts of shindigs.
She’s also a killer wrapper and balloon maker and offers free local delivery for orders over $50.
Here’s a quick and fun tour:
Party with Peonies, 755 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, is open Mon. to Thurs., 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sat. 9 to 6, Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Some items also sold online.
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Rosette in Gladwyne: a caring family home for seniors who need help with day-to-day living
Residents relaxing over a classic movie in the living room at Rosette in November.
Tucked away in a lovely house in Gladwyne, the revolution that is Rosette is methodically and tenderly taking place.
Six seniors in wheelchairs or walkers – some in cognitive decline and all needing help with daily life tasks – are in the kitchen helping bake a cake.
And there’s room for two more housemates.
Rosette represents a new model for elderly care and the first licensed “personal care home” of its kind in Southeastern PA.
“Our biggest hurdle is confusion over what we are,” says founder Therese Southwell. “What we really are is a home for elderly people who are disabled and very dependent on others who just need attention, love and the safety of feeling like family is around them.”
The disabled elderly often don’t need 24/7 skilled nursing care but end up in nursing homes because there aren’t other options.
Southwell started Rosette in memory of her great aunt.
“When I could no longer take care of her, I just assumed there were homes like this where she could go sit on a porch, hear birds chirping and children playing in the neighborhood and cook in a kitchen.” Her only option was a small apartment in a facility, Southwell recalls. “If I didn’t visit her or she didn’t feel like doing an activity, she would be alone all day.”
Rosette’s resident-to-caregiver ratio is three to one and it’s not a revolving door.
“We have the same people here every day,” Southwell reports. “Our residents know who’s going to wake them up in the morning, they know who’s going to be there in the afternoon. They know Julie is going to cook dinner.”
Nutrition Director Julie Lichtman, formerly a dietician in a long-term care facility, jumped at the chance to create the personalized, health-driven meals that are standard at Rosette.
“A nursing home is typically about monitoring weight, giving Ensure or double portions if need be,” says Lichtman. “In a facility, it’s more about statistics, numbers and lack of resources. I appreciate the need to contains costs from a business aspect but the health aspect was being ignored completely.”
Nutrition Director Julie Lichtman serves lunch in the dining room at Rosette.
At Rosette, meals are tailored to individual health needs. Everything is scratch-made. Groceries come from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, not a giant delivery truck.
Indeed, food is central to the Rosette experience.
Lichtman and residents meet to discuss their biggest daily meal – lunch – and with the help of caregivers, can pitch in – even if that means stirring batter for two minutes.
All residents lived locally and their families – including pets and grandchildren – pop in regularly. Visitors aren’t cooped up in a small apartment but have the run of the 8,000 sq. ft. house, a large deck and backyard.
Each resident has her own room and bathroom. Men are welcome to move in, too.
A typical day includes a visit to the in-home “beauty parlor,” a post-breakfast chat about the newspaper, PT exercises and/or chair yoga and meditation, a group game, wind-down time in the afternoon, the evening news, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
Dan Mortimer leads a weekly chair yoga and meditation sessions.
Throughout the day, caregivers – who include Southwell and Lichtman – engage residents in conversation.
There’s an RN on staff. Physicians, podiatrists, dentists and lab techs all come to the house.
And all that TLC is paying dividends: Some residents have started to take a step or two, better control of their hands or become more outgoing.
“There’s a lot of stress that comes with disabilities and cognitive decline,” Southwell says. “We give them a home environment that eliminates that. It’s about quality of life but we do believe we’re prolonging lives here.”
And what’s the going rate for peace of mind and attentive care?
Cheaper than you might think, Southwell says. $10k to $14k/month depending on bedroom size. It’s a flat rate with none of the add-ons for extra services charged by typical facilities. Southwell calls it “a steal.”
Rosette is not trying to compete with or bash traditional senior living facilities, which are great options for the able-bodied, she says. “We’re not a senior living community; we’re a family for people who need the most care.”
And there may be more Rosettes en route.
“There’s a lot of interest on the Main Line,” Southwell says. “It appears we will have to expand and buy another property sooner rather than later. But for now, we want to put all our energy here and make this one thrive.”
Rosette, Gladwyne, [email protected], 610-632-ROSE.
NEW & NIFTY GIFTS with local ties, 2022 edition:
For home cooks who need a night off or anyone hungering for authentic goodness …. V Empanadas at the Wayne farmer’s market
Villanova’s Veronica Fitzgerald at her stall in the Lancaster County Farmer’s Market, where fellow Ecuadoran and Iron Chef José Garces, is a fan. A former marketing executive, stay-at-home mom and part-time yoga teacher, Veronica emigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was 15 in search of better schools. She uses her psychology degree and yoga training at the market, always asking customers, “How’s your day? Give yourself grace.”
“I never had this in mind,” admits the Main Line’s Accidental Empanada Queen. “I didn’t grow up making empanadas with my mother and grandmother in the kitchen. That would be a bunch of baloney.”
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In truth, Veronica Fitzgerald’s empanada adventures began when she was a newlywed trying to make friends in Charlotte, NC. Perhaps if she shared an authentic taste of her native Ecuador, she’d forge a fresh identity. She “played around with recipes” and perfected her stuffed pockets, which quickly became a hit at parties.
After she moved to the Main Line in 2011, she deployed empanada diplomacy again. “I felt alienated and lonely” as a stay-at-home mom, Fitzgerald recalls. She found kinship at the Upper Main Line YMCA and to thank her sweat sisters, made 300 empanadas and threw a giant open house at her Berwyn home.
And when the postpartum blues arrived with her third child, Fitzgerald’s doctor told her to “take this empanada thing and put more energy into it” because she thrived on “being busy and working under pressure.”
If her doctor planted the seed, the heavens nurtured it.
After tasting her empanadas by chance, Valley Forge Flowers’ owner Barbara King was so enamored, she started selling them in her café and urged Fitzgerald to think big.
Then the owner of Abuelita’s Empanadas went out of business and sold her his equipment.
And Sassano’s Catering in Paoli leased her kitchen space.
Last spring, V Empanadas opened in the Lancaster County Farmer’s Market and sold out in an hour. As a market vendor, Fitzgerald had to stay open until 4. “I was beyond embarrassed.”
These days, her stall stocks seven varieties of handmade empanadas, fresh shrimp/fish ceviche, exotic fruit mousses and two sauces. (At Fitzgerald’s suggestion we used her cilantro/lime sauce for fish tacos and her spicy sauce to marinated flank steak. Perfection.)
Her stand is busy but “what makes me most proud is being the first Latin woman to have a Latin food stand in this market,” Fitzgerald says.
Despite her exalted empanadas, Veronica insists she’s not really a foodie. She doesn’t relish her time in the kitchen or wax poetic over, say, a ripe tomato.
“That’s not me. What’s me is knowing I’m putting in time and effort to feed people and make them happy. I’m a caregiver. The empath in me is making sure people are taken care of. This has been a vehicle to be able to do that and at the same time, help me regain my identity.”
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V Empanadas, Lancaster County Farmer’s Market, Wayne, is open Wed. Fri. and Sat., 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beef, chicken, pork, vegetable, cheese empanadas $5.50. Can be frozen. Dulce De Leche and Guava dessert empanadas $4. Ceviche with plantain chips $15.99. Catering available.
For the sports nut … something, ANYTHING at Wayne’s Wheelhouse Cards
Sports fans of all ages are going weak in the knees at Wheelhouse Cards, now in shiny new digs – the old bellaDONNA gifts spot – in the heart of Wayne.
With comfy couches, a trading “floor,” and Friday afternoon giveaways that draw swarms of fanatical middle schoolers, Wheelhouse is a hub for trading cards, ogling memorabilia and scoring team merch.
The shop’s fitting tagline: Cards and Community.
When we struck out on Phillies gear during the World Series run, we hit a triple at Wheelhouse, taking home a vintage hat, a cool t-shirt and a fun “Ring the Bell” sweatshirt.
Berwyn dad Jon Spadaford tells SAVVY he opened Wheelhouse because he was tired of driving an hour to trade cards.
Banker by day, sports collector and fan 24/7, Jon Spadaford at his relocated store in downtown Wayne.
Spadaford’s timing was as uncanny as Bryce Harper’s.
Not only did COVID prompt a resurgence in sports-card collecting, but the Main Line was still missing Wayne Sporting Goods.
Wheelhouse Cards, 106 E. Lancaster Ave. Wayne, 610-890=7588, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays).
For the animal lover or anyone who enjoys nice local, uh, scenery … the Hunks for Hounds calendar
The calendar cover and (at right) Mr. October, aka Radnor Township Police officer Dylan Royce, who loses his shirt and sports his pooch for charity.
Cue the catcalls. Radnor policeman Dylan Royce and his pet pooch are Mr. and Mrs. October in the Hunks for Hounds (and Cats!) 2023 Charity Calendar.
A martial arts instructor on the side, Royce bares more than his biceps – yowza! – and Bridget stands on two paws for the cause: pet adoptions through the nonprofit Philadoptables. Order your $20 calendar here.
For the home entertainer … a handmade charcuterie board – or cool table – from Scorpion Woodworks
Lower Merion’s Michael Maggio in his Newtown Square woodshop and showroom. Once the director of operations for his family’s cheese business, he turned a longtime hobby into a woodworking business.
A scion of the Maggio cheese empire, Michael Maggio would rather be known for his creative carpentry than his creamy ricotta.
Scorpion Woodworks, his Newtown Square showroom/workshop, abounds with his wooden treasures – from charcuterie boards to coffee tables.
He cuts, planes, sands and seals ash, walnut, maple and catalpa from PA, NJ and Oregon forests, then mounts it with repurposed antique iron: sewing machines, grain grinders, milk jugs and such.
Wood is never stained; the natural color shines through flat to glossy finishes.
“Handcrafted, one-of-a-kind art for everyday living” is his tagline.
Maggio makes custom pieces, too, including golf, equestrian and nautical themed gifts and furniture.
Scorpion Woodworks, 3729 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square, view pieces online, showings by appointment, 610-329-0400, [email protected].
For the boho homeowner … Samsara Gear, because it’s meaningful
You know us. We have a soft spot for small, local, mission-driven businesses.
Three years ago we told you about Samsara Gear started by Wayne dad Frankie Rapoport to honor his late daughter’s 20-year battle with bulimia.
This fall the luxury boho Himalayan fashion line added a home goods collection: pillow covers, table linens, wall hangings and such.
Same Bhutanese weavers, same eco-friendly textiles, same donations to nonprofits that help prevent eating disorders and promote recovery.
Order here or visit the Wayne showroom at 302 W. Lancaster Ave., 2nd level.
For a gal who needs a lift … a handpainted piece of Altruesm for her closet
Altuesm’s Heather Dale and her daughter, Madeline, 3, and select Altruesm gifts.
Instead of her sleeve, let a special someone wear her heart on her back or her bag.
Started by Chester Springs mom Heather Dale, the unique online boutique, Altruesm, sells unique denim jackets, hoodies and bags emblazoned with empowering words handpainted by women artists impacted by domestic abuse and other challenges.
Not only does Altruesm give jobs to struggling artists, it gives hope to strangers.
Literally.
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For every purchase, a Hope Bag filled with toiletries, necessities and other goodies is put in the hands of a local woman in crisis. Recipients include Chester County Hospital Maternal Fetal Clinic, The House: Phoenixville Women’s Outreach and Better Days Ahead Outreach. A portion of sales from a line created for Domestic Violence Awareness Month goes to Laurel House.
Dale is open about her past struggles with an eating disorder, an abusive relationship and postpartum depression.
“I know what it’s like to be stuck in various situations and I want to help other women who might be there now.”
No wonder she calls her business “Altruesm.”
Order Altruesm online and look for popups in local boutiques.
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For someone who relishes his roots… an antique map, poster or print from Philadelphia Print Shop in Wayne
Philadelphia Print Shop owner David Mackey with SAVVY Main Line’s Caroline O’Halloran and Valley Forge Park Alliance Board President Amy Johnson at the shop’s 40th anniversary party on October 27.
Give the traditionalist what he wants most: a piece of his history or hobby, suitable for framing.
The Philadelphia Print Shop, now in its 40th year, contains a trove of antique maps of local counties and municipalities as well as cool old-timey posters, historic prints and rare books about whatever strikes her fancy: animals, train travel, fine art, botanicals, the Wild West, the World Wars, you name it,
Shop online or visit the downstairs shop at 106 E. Lancaster Ave, (below Wheelhouse Cards) Wayne, 610-808-6165.
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For loved ones facing life-threatening illness and medical pros who care for them…That Time I Got Cancer: A Love Story
Bala Cynwyd’s Jim Zervanos at his Nov. 22 book launch at Main Point Books in Wayne.
Sounds like a downer but Bala Cynwyd author Jim Zervanos’ new memoir is actually a great read: a suspenseful, bravely honest and ultimately hopeful account of his battle with a disease that stumped Penn Medicine’s brightest minds and strained his marriage. The story was sharpened by Devon’s master of memoir, Beth Kephart, so you know the words sing and the narrative sails along.
Here’s an abridged/edited version of our Q-and-A with Zervanos about That Time I Got Cancer:
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Was it hard for you to be so brutally honest in the book? Did it take a lot out of you?
I didn’t write a word until I felt healthy and fully recovered – a year after the illness struck and six months after I’d finished chemotherapy. At first, it felt presumptuous to think there was an audience for this story so I was motivated by practical concerns, to document the clinical story, for my own record and safekeeping. But it wasn’t long before the whole story came rushing out of me and it was cathartic. I remember writing for hours at a time and at a pace that my fingers could hardly keep up with, sometimes with tears streaming down my cheeks.
Did the book damage, challenge or improve your relationships with the “characters” in it: your parents and your wife, Vana?
It was hard for them to read the earliest drafts, if only because it meant revisiting painful memories, but as time passed and I took in their feedback and kept revising, they began to see the book, as I did, as a story that others might find enjoyable and even encouraging.
There are parts that were hard for my parents to read – especially for my father, who, as a doctor had often felt helpless in those weeks when a diagnosis was elusive and it seemed my life would be taken by an illness that would never be understood. But they never asked me to cut a word.
Vana appreciates, as I do, that we are not alone as a married couple who faced a traumatic experience and, at least for a time, grew apart, or at least separately, not necessarily realizing this fact until we discovered ourselves on diverging paths … It’s a myth that couples who suffer through a traumatic time together necessarily grow closer, that intimacy deepens in direct proportion to the depth of the pain of the shared experience. What saved us was realizing that we hadn’t actually shared the same experience; we’d had the opposite experience.
Fine artist, award-winning author and Little League coach Jim Zervanos has been teaching English at Penncrest High School for 28 years. His wife, Vana, is the Associate Dean of the business school at St. Joe’s, and his sons attend Lower Merion Schools. He’s the author of the novel, LOVE Park (also set in Philly) and a second memoir, Your Story Starts Here: A Year on the Brink with Generation Z (spring 2024) about his life as a teacher of high-school seniors. Also in the works: American Gyro, about a Greek-American kid who leaves his small-town restaurant family to go to New York to become an actor just before 9/11.
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That Time I Got Cancer is sold at local bookstores and on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound.org.
SAVVY Picks*
How’s this for a best-of-both worlds homestead: New, top-shelf construction in a PRIMO Main Line location that’s splendidly sumptuous yet filled with every modern convenience? May we present: 1150 Youngs Ford Rd, Gladwyne – though an estate this grand will surely get its own name one day. Seven bedrooms each with ensuite baths, 6-to-8 inch thick natural stone walls, slate roof, multiple offices, library, 700-bottle wine room, sauna, outdoor stone fireplace and built-in BBQ, flagstone and brick walkways. Feast on these photos in the BHHC/Fox & Roach listing. Offered at $4.8M.
SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR SAVVY READERS!!! Give the gift of health and longevity: a 12- or 24-pack of yummy Happy Being organic white teas in recyclable glass bottles. The healthiest drink out there, each tea is infused with antioxidants scientifically proven to decrease inflammation, boost immunity, improve gut health and promote longevity. No added sugar or caffeine. Three flavors: blueberry, peach or cucumber mint. Or buy the sampler pack. Because a healthy being is a happy being, right? SAVVY READERS GET 27% OFF WITH CODE “GIFT” UNTIL JAN. 1.
Why are you running around like a frazzled little elf wasting pricey gas and priceless time when you can accomplish most of your holiday to-do list under one roof? You simply can’t beat the convenience and quality of Wayne’s iconic Lancaster County Farmer’s Market. It’s like the Main Line’s town square, filled with friendly faces and goodies from around the world. You’ll find the freshest produce, the choicest meats and seafoods, the freshest prepared foods and party appetizers. (C’mon, those pigs-in-a-blanket. Need we say more?) You can even call most vendors to place advance orders. Gift ideas galore, too. Cut yourself a break and spoil your family at the market this December.
***SAVVY Picks are shoutouts & promos on behalf of our sponsors. To learn more about becoming a SAVVY Pick, email [email protected].
Main Line Fashionista peddles her fave finds in new Paoli boutique
Main Line Fashionista Boutique replaced the travel agent near Plato’s Closet and TJ’s in Paoli. Photos by Megan Tidmore.
When Berwyn’s Ashley Meyers, aka Main Line Fashionista, tells you her new Paoli store is for everybody, she’s not blowing stylish smoke: an 18-year-old and a 68-year-old were her first customers.
A culmination of what Meyers calls a “lifelong dream,” Main Line Fashionista Boutique opened with brisk traffic and free-flowing bubbles November 18.
The champagne was fitting: Meyers is as effervescent as she is talented – on her QVC segments, styling sessions, appearances and social media posts. Not for nothin’ was this blonde tower of power crowned Mrs. Pennsylvania in 2021. (Check out our story.)
“I wanted to give the Main Line a cute place to shop where they felt trendy and didn’t have to spend a lot of money,” Meyers tells SAVVY.
She also wanted to save them the schlep to the mall and the satisfaction of shopping small and local.
Ashley Meyers was thrilled to receive a painting for her store from Cloud Nine painter Susan Reiser at her VIP opening party. Photo by Megan Tidmore
“People think I’m crazy to open a brick-and-mortar in today’s world but that’s how much I love the Main Line,” says the Radnor High alum, noting that she’s a fifth-generation Main Liner.
Meyers has assembled select pieces and accessories from brands near and far. “It’s everything I love,” she says, bubbling over with joy.
Main Line Fashionista Boutique, 31 Paoli Plaza, Paoli Village Shoppes next to Plato’s Closet, is open 10 a.m to 7 p.m. Tues. through Sun. until Dec. 25, until 6 p.m. thereafter. Open Mondays by appt. for styling sessions.
‘I Want a Future!” Lower Merion students speak out to stop district from clearcutting Oakwell, offer a Plan B
Students dominate the start of the Nov. 21 Lower Merion School District board meeting, beseeching the board to re-think its plans for Oakwell. Students also offered a detailed alternate plan for the Villanova property which LMSD bought by eminent domain.
If you thought a lot of residents were fired up over Lower Merion School District’s plans to put ball fields for its new middle school at Oakwell (next to Stoneleigh), you should have seen the teenagers.
Twelve LMSD students took the podium at the Nov. 21 school board meeting, each offering impassioned reasons to save Oakwell’s floral, fauna and historic garden features from LMSD’s bulldozers.
Not only that, they outlined their own impressively detailed alternate plan: turn Oakwell into ACORNSE, Action Center for Organizing Resilience and Natural Sustainability Education. The acorn is a nod to the property’s historic Squirrel Inn.
“I want a future,” each student announced after sharing his or her name.
A++ plus for effort, young people. Pretty sure you got LMSD’s attention.
Small Talk: From Haverford to Broadway, late-blooming producer Laura Zambelli Barket
Editor’s Note: SAVVY Small Talks are quick Q-and-As with local luminaries. All interviews are edited for clarity and brevity.
Main Line-bred Broadway producer Laura Zambelli Barket (left) and admiring the poster outside her new holiday show, A Sherlock Carol.
A “theatre nerd” from childhood, Laura Zambelli Barket didn’t cross the proscenium until she invested in the Broadway smash, Dear Evan Hansen, at age 48– six years after the tragic death of her husband. Now a producer and investor, Laura’s projects include the six-time Emmy-winning TV show, After Forever The Series (Amazon Prime), Into the Woods (Broadway), Herding Cats (West End), and When Playwrights Kill (Broadway in 2023). This holiday season, she’s a lead producer of A Sherlock Carol, the Ebenezer Scrooge/Sherlock Holmes comedic musical mashup that opened to standing Os and rave reviews in midtown in 2021
After graduating from Shipley (Class of ’85) and Franklin and Marshall, you earned an MS from Villanova and worked in HR. How did you become a “theatre nerd” and the owner of “Theatre Nerd Productions?”
My love of theatre definitely came from my father. He was passionate about the arts: theatre, opera, orchestra, ballet, music, film … He loved sharing that passion with my mother, my sister and me. I did a couple of school productions at Shipley. I was the Artful Dodger in “Oliver Twist” in 7th grade because I could do a cockney accent. LOL. But I never pursued acting. My first Broadway shows were Annie, CATS and The King and I. I had no idea this was something you could do for a living unless you were an actor. Before COVID I would sometimes see three shows a week. I’ve seen almost every show in the new Museum of Broadway (I’m an investor). Seeing my name on the wall was a pinch-me moment for sure. So for me, being a nerd is sort of a badge of honor.
Laura Zambelli Barket and her sister, local blogger Carla Zambelli Mudry (right) with Philadelphia Orchestra conductors Riccardo Muti and Eugene Ormandy at a dinner party at the Zambelli home circa 1979.
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How did you get involved with Dear Evan Hansen?
When I saw it Off-Broadway, I was riveted by the story and the original music was so beautiful. Producer friends offered me the opportunity to invest… That part always makes me laugh: that there was a time they were trying to raise money to mount this show on Broadway. Can you imagine? Dear Evan Hansen went on to win six Tonys and gross more than $1 million a week (in NYC alone) for the next six years. The opening night here in NYC and attending the Tonys six months later were some of the most magical evenings of my life … I knew I had found my tribe.
You became a widow at age 43. How did that loss change you and affect your career trajectory?
My husband died in 2010, two weeks after he was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, caused by asbestos exposure at a summer job when he was 16. I’m still coming to terms with that loss. In addition to being completely heartbroken, I was left to raise our two young children by myself. I volunteered at the ASPCA for years and launched a nonprofit to match shelter dogs with U.S. veterans. Finding my life‘s work in the theater was always meant to be. It has given my life new levels of depth, meaning and an incredible sense of purpose. I think Keith would be proud of me. He is still my North Star, the voice in my head and the person I most want to make proud (along with my kids).
Why are audiences and theatre critics loving your latest production, A Sherlock Carol? What do you think makes it so special?
The tale begins many years after A Christmas Carol ends when a grown-up Tiny Tim hires the great Sherlock Holmes to investigate the mysterious death of Ebenezer Scrooge, who became his – and the town’s benefactor – after his awakening by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. It’s an original mystery and a heart-warming story of friendship, redemption and of course, Christmas. Audiences are delighted to see the characters in these two worlds – Dickens and Doyle – collide.
Have any dream projects on your vision board?
Well, in the TV world, we just wrapped our third and final season of “After Forever The Series.” My Manhattan townhouse served as the set. It’s where my 2019 Emmy [as executive producer} sits proudly on a shelf.
Barket (in green) receiving a 2019 Emmy for After Forever The Series, which is shown on Amazon Prime.
For me to get involved in a production, I have to LOVE it. I’m passionate about sharing a story. The energy exchange between the actors on stage is nothing short of magical. That’s the part that melts my butter. Theatre is an art form that can unite us. This is especially important to me now when I feel we are living a world that is SO very fractured.
I consider the team who worked with me on A Sherlock Carol my dream team and would consider myself lucky to do any future projects with them.
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A Sherlock Carol is playing at New World Stages in midtown NYC and making its West End debut at the new Marylebone Theater near Holmes’ famed Baker Street.
Don’t-miss holiday happenings: our rundown (in chronological order)
Santa at the Wayne Tree Lighting in 2021.
Another storybook Christmas in Wayne this Friday, Dec. 2, 5:30 – 7:30 pm with carriage rides, kiddie crafts, caroling by Notre Dame Academy singers and 6ABC’s Ducis Rogers emceeing the tree lighting at the train station. The next morning, lace up your sneakers for Radnor library’s Elves for Shelves 5K Run and Fun Walk at 8, then wave to Santa as he rolls down Lancaster Ave. to Wayne Presbyterian Church at 10. DIY photos in the church courtyard until 11:45. Details here.
Santa Claus is coming … to Bryn Mawr Dec. 2 at 7. He’ll be hitching a ride from Bryn Mawr Fire Company to the gazebo behind Ludington Library for the town’s annual tree lighting, carol singalong and music by the Main Line Trombone Quartet.
The Clauses make the rounds at Suburban Square, Dec. 3 and Dec. 4. Slots for selfies with Santa at the airstream are full (more might be added). But you can still see him arrive via fire truck at 9:30 a.m. both days or see him inside shops. Holiday music and Bill Kerwood magic Dec. 3.
Tredyffrin welcomes Santa and Mrs Claus to Wilson Farm Park at its 2nd annual Tredyffrin Tree Lighting Celebration, Saturday, Dec. 3 at 5. Free treats and beverages thanks to the township’s parks foundation. Philly Hots Food Truck will sell vittles to warm your tummy. You Know Who flicks the switch at 5:30.
All aboard Santa’s Express, a 75-minute ride with the jolly old elf through Chester County. Heated, decorated trains leave West Chester’s Market Street station Dec. 3, 10, 11, 17 and 18. Adults $30, children $25, toddlers $10.
After three years off, Phoenixville Candelight Holiday House Tour returns live and in-person Dec. 3, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.. This self-guided tour of the borough’s charming historic homes benefits four local nonprofits. Advance tickets here.
Be dazzled by the two-day PHestival of Trees at the King of Prussia Mall Pavilion Dec. 3 – 4, benefitting local animal shelters and rescues. Fall in love with the furry critters up for adoption, too. $5 – $10 tickets here.
“The Butterfingers Angel,” a heartfelt, zany take on the Greatest Story Ever Told runs Dec. 3 – Dec. 23 at Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center in West Chester, its first regional theatre production. Suitable for ages 9 and up, the play was penned by Tony-Award-winning playwright William Gibson. Tickets are $35.
Berwyn is Holiday Central this Sunday, Dec. 4. Celebrate the new Handel’s with hotdogs on the plaza, ice cream specials and tours of the new Betsy Daily Performing Arts studios. Shop at the Artisans Christmas Market behind StudioFlora from noon to 5. Tree lighting at 5:30 p.m. at the train station with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Ugly Sweater Contest hosted by always colorful Vern Burling of La Cabra Brewing, the Berwyn Rockettes (aka Betsy Daily dancers), snacks and cocoa, donations to Berwyn Fire Co. Drop off letters to Santa at Easttown Library’s Mailbox to the North Pole through Dec. 18. Personalized notes from the big guy when you include a return address or email.
Meet Scrooge and Tiny Tim at Narberth Dickens Festival, Sunday, Dec. 4, noon to 4. Enjoy carriage rides, crafts, carolers, food, a scavenger hunt, puppeteers and magicians. Details here.
Relish the sounds of the season at the Immaculata Symphony’s annual Christmas concert, Sunday, Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10, free for kids under 12. Buy online or at the door.
Shop local at the Historic Sugartown Holiday Craft Market, Saturday, Dec. 10, noon to 4. More than 40 local crafters and artisans will set up shop in the circa-1800 Malvern village. While you shop, enjoy the Biergarten with Locust Lane Craft Brewery, Chaddsford Winery and Manatawny Stillworks distillery. Nosh on Buddy’s Burger’s, East Coast Mini Donuts and a hot cocoa bar. Your $5 ticket (free for kids under 18) supports the preservation of the historic village. PS Santa will be shopping, too.
King of Prussia Town Center hosts its annual Winterfest and a Kids Christmas Wonderland, Saturday, Dec. 10, 1 p.m. to 4:00 pm. Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and partake in crafts, face painting, caricature artists, Candy Corner and more. Or stop by later for the first Winterfest After Dark: a holiday cocktail crawl, cool fire dancers and live music. Holiday outfits encouraged, including those ugly sweaters.
Wander around Willows Mansion’s Holiday Open House, Saturday, Dec. 10, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tours, holiday music, kids and adult crafts, gift vendors and snacks.
Step back in time at Historic Waynesborough Mansion’s Holiday Open House, Sunday, Dec. 11, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Take a candlelight tour with costumed guides, create Victorian-era holiday cards, pomanders and paper gingerbread hearts, and take home a special ornament for your tree. Tickets are $10, $5 kids and $25 for up to four people.
Ardmore Music Hall’s Funky Brunch & Market, Saturday, Dec. 17, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. is family-friendly and free but you gotta register. Local vendors, live music, beer and brunch.
Celebrate the Festival of Lights at the Annual Menorah Lighting in Suburban Square, Ardmore, Dec. 18, 4 to 5 p.m.
Sport your new jammies at the 34th Annual White Dog New Year’s Day PJ Brunch, Saturday, Jan. 1 at all four White Dog Cafés. Feast on a la carte brunch and sip mocktails or Hair of the Dog. Reservations encouraged.
Marlene Seggern contributed (mightily) to this report.
This and That
Chester County Commissioner Michelle Kichline won’t run for re-election in 2023. She told WHYY she’s a firm believer in term limits and will have served nine years when her term expires next year. Kichline says she’s most proud of the Chesco’s efforts to tackle the opioid crisis. What’s next? Unclear. She may return to practicing law or some sort of public administration post, she says. Former PA Rep. Eric Roe and educator David Sommers both hope to fill her seat. All three are Republicans. By law, the minority party – currently the GOP – gets a seat on the three-member board.
A whole ’nother kind of wellness joint is now operating at the old Topper’s Spa in Wayne: Ascend Cannabis Outlet. If legal weed ever comes to the Keystone State, there sure will be plenty of places to buy it on the Main Line.
After Dec. 1, Juice Dr. will no longer practice at 44 Rittenhouse Place in Ardmore. “You will still be able to purchase your smoothies, juices, and cleanses online through our subscription delivery program, as well as through our partner retail location, IM Health in Wayne,” reports proprietor FJ Leto.
***We interrupt this This and That to bring you this shameless appeal: We are social beings. We like making new friends. We trust you do, too. So give us a follow on our social channels, especially Instagram and Facebook. We just might throw a few seasonal giveaways your way on Instagram! You’ll miss the fun if you don’t join the party.***
A boon for kids who learn differently in Paoli. Delaware Valley Friends School was just awarded a $2.5 million grant for a new addition, café and stormwater upgrades. DVFS’ Head of School thanked Pa. Rep. Melissa Schusterman and Pa. Sen. Carolyn Comitta for helping secure a PA Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant. Schusterman co-chairs the House Autism and Intellectual Disability Caucus.
Score one for Radnor in its fight to keep CBD Kratom from opening in the old Wayne Starbucks. The Delaware County Court of Common Pleas has denied the company’s bid for a preliminary injunction. The township shut CBD Kratom down last February for failing to comply with multiple township permits. The war’s not won yet. It’s still possible a trail court will rule in the company’s favor.
A loss for the developer seeking to build multiple homes on Dodo Hamilton’s estate. Trustees of the estate were denied their appeal of Radnor Township Commissioners’ denial of their conditional use application to build 50 homes on two lots. The developer’s denial can be appealed to higher courts.
Chip off the old court. The son of former Nova hoops coach Jay Wright is interim head coach at Episcopal Academy. Taylor Wright worked in finance in NYC and pitched in the minors before coming to EA to teach history and coach. He graduated from EA (Class of 2011) and Brown (where he played baseball and basketball), then earned an MBA at Villanova and a doctorate in coaching basketball from dad. OK, we’re stretching it…
Former PA Lt. Governor Jim Cawley has a permanent gig at Rosemont College. After 15 months as interim president, Rosemont’s trustees named him its 15th president this fall.
Do Re Mi. After three years, Bryn Mawr Film Institute is reviving its Sound of Music singalong screenings. The first show is sold out but at press time, there were still a few seats at the 7:15 show on Dec. 14. Free popcorn with costume.
Bountiful times at Longwood Gardens, which reported record-breaking attendance during COVID. Catch this year’s Longwood Christmas,“Botanical Splendor,” through Jan. 8. There’s a new luminary display on the lake and a new light tunnel and 10-ft. lantern. Splendid.
In honor of the beautiful daughter she lost, Tredyffrin’s Leslie Holt is again collecting coats for struggling women and children in Kensington. Drop off coat donations to 1251 Wisteria Dr., Malvern or Holt Motorsports, 1315 West Chester Pike, West Chester. It’s Love, Lana Coat Drive’s fourth go-round; 450 coats were distributed in 2021. You may recall our story about Lana Holt’s too-short life and Leslie’s fearless crusades in her memory.
The sale of Picket Post Swim & Tennis Club’s Chase Rd. property in Chesterbrook has been put off until January 17. The club hopes to lease back the property for the 2023 tennis/pickleball season.
Sponsored by Malvern Bank, this year’s Rock ‘N Ride in Ardmore helped Narberth Ambulance pay for a new state-of-the-art vehicle to respond to 911 calls in Lower Merion, Narberth, Haverford, West Conshohocken and Conshohocken.
Tejas Yoga Collective in Berwyn is opening its doors to community professionals seeking space.
Vedge is venturing to the burbs. The former Innkeeper’s Kitchen at Dilworthtown will soon become Ground Provisions: Market & Dining, a plant-based restaurant and country store/wine shop, Proprietors are Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby, owners of Center City’s top vegan destination, Vedge.
Its practitioners are big on mindfulness but Berwyn’s Village Wellness sure doesn’t sit still. The wellness/acupuncture hub just added a Gestalt Life Coach, a yearlong Shamanic Apprenticeship, a daylong workshop in Land Stewardship and Ecological Gardening (Dec. 10) on Valley Forge Mountain, and enlightening notes about acupuncture for emotional and mental health. (Owner Lance Isokov led a recent class on the topic for Main Line School Night.)
And finally, in this season of gratitude and joy, we salute you, our dear readers, savvy subscribers, and social-media followers. THANK YOU for believing in our little experiment in lively, relevant local news. (Subscribe here if you don’t already.) A heartfelt shoutout to the local businesses (below) that supported SAVVY in 2022. Our content is 100% free: we rely solely on their kind sponsorships and ads. Hope you’ll show them some love. (Thinking about advertising with us? Email [email protected].) Happy and healthy holidays to all and we’ll see you in 2023!
Aether Medicine pain specialists/King of Prussia
Agile Motion Fitness, personal training
Andrea Tropeano/Impact Career Growth
Austin Hepburn Installs Windows and Doors
AbbeyFest, Paoli
Beatty Harris Sports Medicine, Newtown Square
CF Holloway III & Co. home builders/39 Montgomery condos, Ardmore
Claytor Noone Plastic Surgery
Deb Dorsey Team, BHHC/Fox & Roach Realtors
Deneen Marcel Lashes, Bryn Mawr
Devon Horse Show/Devon Fall Classic
Clark’s Manor/Elwyn
Fearless Restaurants (White Dogs, Autograph, Rosalie)
Forever Flowers, Tredyffrin
Grayson School for the Gifted, Radnor
HomeCooked, Paoli
Jackie Cunningham-Hill, BHHS/Fox & Roach Realtors
Jaguar Land Rover of the Main Line
John Neill Painting & Decorating, Ardmore
Lancaster County Farmer’s Market, Wayne
Lifestyle Changes/Dr. Janine Darby
Luxury Listings/BHHS/Fox & Roach Realtors
Lynise Caruso, Keller Williams Realtor
Lynn Feinman, naturopathic doctor
Main Line School Night
Main Line Haven, BHHC/Fox & Roach Realtors
Mason Grey, Newtown Square
Mojo Fitness, Tredyffrin
Mulholland-Peracchia Team at Berkshire Hathaway/Fox & Roach
Nancy LaCointe, BHHC/Fox & Roach Realtor
Pet Sitters Unlimited
Posh Boutique, Malvern
Rajant Corporation/World Music Benefit
Recovery Centers of America, Devon
Restore Health & Longevity Center, Wayne
Revitalize Aesthetics day spa, Ardmore
Rockwell Custom Luxury Home Builders
Rosette Senior Living Home
She Knows Fotos/Marianna Curran
Solutions 4 Health/Happy Being functional teas, Wayne/Tredyffrin
Sue McNamara, Long & Foster/Forbes Realtor
Tejas Yoga Collective, Berwyn
Valley Forge Flowers, Wayne
Vaughan Building Company, custom builders, Wayne
Village Wellness, Berwyn
Walter J. Cook Jeweler, Paoli
Wild Bird store, Wayne
Will’s + Bill’s Brewery, Berwyn
Your Organizing Consultants, Berwyn
Not one mention of anything Hanukkah or Kwanza related this season. I assumed your readership was as diverse as the Main Line. I guess I was wrong. Shame on you savvy.
Thanks for pointing that out. Believe me, the omission was not intentional. I just found a Menorah lighting at Suburban Square and added it to our rundown. We will try harder to find Hanukkah and Kwanza events next year. Several of our mentions were not Christmas specific – holiday tours and markets and such – but your point is well taken. If you know of any annual events for these holidays that we can save for next time, please email me at [email protected]. I can also add events to this year’s post. Thanks again.
Always so much better nformation! Linda be to keep up with everything!
Happy Holidays!
Linda
Happy Holidays to you, too, City Girl!
Another awesome issue, Caroline! I need to pop into a few of the shops you mentioned in the next few days. Thank you for doing the research on them!
You’re welcome. Lots of fun newcomers on the Main Line!
Another terrific edition of Savvy, Caroline. Thanks for all you do to keep Main Line goings-on in the spotlight and to share positive stories of Main Liners doing well. Happy Holidays to you and Cheers to a fabulous 2023 for the whole Savvy team.
Appreciate your very kind words about SAVVY, Annie. Wishing your and yours the very best!
Another excellent and informative issue—I always look forward to receiving it in my inbox!
Thanks for being such a loyal and supportive reader, Dennis!
Somehow you manage to keep your loyal readers informed about so many commercial comings and goings. Savvy is a must read. But after moving away a year ago I am back in the area and apparently the biggest change on the main line is the opening of multiple dispensaries-so many I lost count. Surely you know of these, and yet not a word in print. Who is behind these dispensaries and why so many in this area? Inquiring minds want to know….
Thanks, Deb. Happy to hear your find us informative. You are correct about all the new medical cannabis dispensaries but we actually have run several stories about them – we were the first to report on the Wayne family that started the area’s first dispensary in Devon. And earlier this year, this one about the explosion on the Main Line:
We also put cannabis distilleries in our most recent This and That column, too. And we will continue to monitor. Basically, the latest ones are coming from bigger companies, many of which are based out of state. They see an opportunity on the Main Line… they are practically tripping over each other in Wayne, for example.