SAVVY MAINLINE

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Local beer boom; Stunning news @ aging skin; Academy Ball Ever After; Gucci crimes; Bridal tidings; Saluting newsman Tom Murray & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Suddenly, the Main Line is soaking in suds.

Sure, we have locally-owned brewpub faves like Ardmore’s Tired Hands, McKenzie Brewhouses in Berwyn and Malvern, newbie La Cabra Brewing and, slithering soon to Bryn Mawr, Tin Lizard.

And yes, we’ve got a few, but not nearly enough, cozy gastro-pubs like The Goat’s Beard and Teresa’s Next Door in Wayne.

And of course, restaurants far and nigh (Biga, Savona et. al.) have been beefing up their beer lists.

No, the BIG news in brews is this: a brand-new law permits PA peeps to take home beer by the bottle.

Holy Heineken!

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Dishing on Eatnic in Paoli, drug rehab in Devon, the area’s 2nd pro theatre group, Polka Dots lives on & SAVVY holiday shopping

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Ah, how to describe Paoli’s new Eatnic?

Sure, we could tell you it’s a farm-fresh, morning-til-night BYOB and be done with it.

But there’s more to it than that.

Much more.

Because Eatnic comes from the same fertile brain that 30 years ago spawned the world’s first Saladworks, and with it, the now ubiquitous fast-casual dining category.

And what John Scardapane did with Saladworks – more than 100 franchisees, many millions in sales (before selling in 2015) – he just might do with Eatnic.

And it all will have started here.

In little old Paoli.

Which means this modest eatery on a non-descript stretch of Route 30 is a pretty big deal,

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SoHo chic in Bryn Mawr, Paoli’s cool new corner, standout Stoga grad’s stunning OD & lots more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

It will be fascinating to see how the Main Line responds to Kirna Zabête, just open near La Colombe in the new Bryn Mawr Village.

Because its 3,000 square feet are unlike anything we’ve seen in these parts. (And you know we get around.)

Kirna Zabête (KEER nah Zah BETT) is an exuberant paean to high fashion.

A boutique for serious fashionistas that – with touches of warmth and whimsy – doesn’t take itself too seriously.

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T/E teacher/coach LeRoi Leviston (Stoga ’06) finds his voice as Roi Lush. Plus, hot news around town

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

If anyone’s story can blot out all the bad press that came out of T/E schools last year, surely LeRoi Leviston’s can.

His journey from starting Stoga quarterback to Mr. Lev, Valley Forge Middle School teacher, to Roi Lush, full-time rapper, is as improbable as it is inspiring.

The odds against LeRoi, 28, were stacked from the start.

He was born on Long Island to parents who “were very into hardcore drugs,” LeRoi tells SAVVY.

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La Colombe is here! More hip spots to follow in suddenly chic Bryn Mawr; A lupus miracle & Dad’s Day ideas

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Coffee geeks are bouncing off the walls this week.
And not just from caffeine.
They’re jazzed because the Main Line’s first La Colombe Café has opened.
At last.

The place is a knockout – a hip makeover of the old Bryn Mawr Garage with soaring ceilings, skylights, original brick and handcrafted wood seating.
Industrial chic done right.

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The Goat’s Beard debuts in Wayne; Remembering Polka Dots’ Susan Randels & other news around town

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The Main Line never really warmed up to Xilantro, its cold, neon vibe better suited to South Beach than Central Wayne.

But its North Wayne successor, the new Goat’s Beard, well, he’s a whole ’nother animal.

Warm. Fuzzy. Friendly.

Upscale but not uppity.

It helps, too, that the guys behind the Goat are local lads Sean Coyle and Mike “Mac” MacCrory, pals since their Malvern Prep days.

The food biz in his blood, Sean handles operations. (His parents had the TexMex mainstay Binni & Flynn’s; his sister, Meridith, owns Aneu Catering and Paoli’s Fresh Ideas Market.)

Mac’s the money guy – commercial real estate exec by day, goat-herder by night.

The two buddies think they’re onto something.

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Hat hijinks at Devon Ladies Day, Sizing up the new SoulCycle Ardmore, A Gateway getaway & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Smashing, surreal, sublime or silly, the hats turned more heads than the horses at Devon Ladies Day Wednesday.

So, deepest apologies to the dedicated riders in the ring; our eyes were elsewhere.

A record number of hopefuls sashayed before a nine-judge panel.

The maddest hatters told us they’d been perfecting their ensembles for months; others claimed they’d just rustled something up that morning.

Sure, if you say so.

The parade was a study in stunning artiface. A few talked about rising at 4 a.m. for hair and makeup calls – beauty rest be damned.

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Handicapping the hats for Devon Ladies Day contest; Racial Justice Town Hall & scoops around town

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The Greatest Show on Turf is right around the corner.

Not the Devon Horse Show Grand Prix – although that night’s exploits are pretty swell, too.

No, the spectacle of which we speak comes on Grand Prix Eve when gals from far and wide converge on Devon for the Ladies Day Hat Contest.

What began as a homespun affair with a handful of hopefuls in horsey-trimmed straw toppers (extra points for Devon Blue!) has exploded into a paparazzi-packed proceeding of the first order.

Judge Carson Kressley Presiding. per usual.

(A blue-ribbon Saddlebred competitor as well as a style savant, Carson will be upping his hat game this year, sporting a custom design by la-di-da milliner Christine A Moore. Hey, if she’s good enough for J. Lo and Katy Perry, she’s good enough for our guy, Carson.)

Truly, the whole hat show has vaulted way over the top.

But that’s the fun of it.

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Who’s Coming, Who’s Going, Who’s Growing in Wayne, Stoneleigh in Nova saved for ALL & Mom’s Day ideas

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Turning the page on Bryn Mawr, Main Point Books is heading west to Wayne.

Score one for Wayne in the Main Line Downtown Showdown.

Dusty, down-at-the-heels and now officially defunct, Wayne’s old-timey Reader’s Forum will get re-incarnated as Main Point Books in mid-summer.

“I wouldn’t have moved if I hadn’t been offered this specific space,” says bookseller Cathy Fiebach, a Wynnewood mom who will pack up Bryn Mawr after a three-year run and open on North Wayne Ave. the last week of July.

‘Cause Wayne’s got what Bryn Mawr’s still pining for: foot traffic.

“People understand how to park in Wayne and how to walk around town,” she tells SAVVY. “Bryn Mawr doesn’t quite have that worked out.”

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3 New Spots You Need to Try: Biga in Bryn Mawr, Brandywine Branch Distillers & Wayne’s Christine Shirley, plus Covered Wagon Inn SAVED!

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Hallelujah! It has been SAVED!

A few months ago, we told you about the fire ’n brimstone fight to spare Strafford’s old Covered Wagon Inn from CVS’ wrecking ball.

Well, Praise Be: preservationists’ prayers have been answered.

CVS’ developer has submitted a new plan to Tredyffrin Township that keeps the small circa 1780 building – once the Covered Wagon Inn, now Thomas Moser Fine Furniture – standing tall at the corner of Old Eagle School and Lancaster.

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