SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

ANEU Approach in Paoli; Haverford’s new Incline Running; Main Line at the Oscars; SAVVY swag; ‘Nova crosses; Paoli on track & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Wait ’til you see what Main Line culinary queen Meridith Coyle’s cooked up this time. The gal who brought us Meridith’s Market, Binnie & Flynn’s (Take 2), Fresh Ideas Market and Aneu Catering has come up with, yup, a fresher idea.

Call it “ANEU Approach” to eating, dining, and throwing parties. (She does.)

In expansion mode, she just bought a whole shopping center – near Del Chevrolet and the Van Cleve Pavilion in Paoli.

A scant three weeks later, she opened her re-tooled, three-pronged food biz.

Read More See More

Remembering Adam Wright (Stoga ’13, Dartmouth ’17); Spicy spots heading to Devon; Big loss for Tredyffrin cops; Debut of Glo-Barre; Must-see dance video & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

In every way, the stunning death of Adam Wright was wrong.

He was far too young, too gifted, and too, well, good, to go so soon.

And yet his 21 glorious years on our patch of earth – on Margo Lane in Berwyn, at Conestoga High School (Class of ’13), and at Dartmouth College (Class of ’17) – will forever be remembered.

And remembered with a smile, if Adam has his way.

Throngs of mourners attended “A Celebration of the Life of Adam Wright (June 29, 1995 – Jan. 30, 2017)” at Paoli Presbyterian Church last Saturday.

It was a sendoff for the ages – a testament to a life that was brief, but so brightly lived.

Read More See More

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!

Read More See More

Luxurious Life Time Athletic, DryBar coming to Ardmore; White Manor Country Club sold; local ‘FADD’ to fight ODs; a Broadway good-bye & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The elite health & fitness company likes the Main Line so much, it’s putting not ONE, but TWO of its mega clubs here.

Our first Life Time – a scratch-built, 140,000 sq. ft. whopper with a “resort-like” outdoor pool and waterslides – will debut in June on Swedesford Rd. in Tredyffrin. (Life Time’s calling it King of Prussia, but the map says it’s Wayne, if only by a hair.)

And just announced: our second Life Time will be in Ardmore – an exclusive “diamond” level club (a notch above KOP’s “onyx premier”) in the former Macy’s building, one of two Grand Dames of Suburban Square. (The tall Times building is the other.)

Read More See More

More hazing fallout: Stoga accuser sues T/E Schools & football coaches; Bryn Mawr’s new Turning Point and Solidcore; Lost ladies of Lithe & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The criminal case against Conestoga football players was settled last week, but the dispute is far from over.

SAVVY Main Line has learned that the alleged victim and his father have filed a federal civil lawsuit against the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, Conestoga High School, former head coach John Vogan and his five assistant coaches.

The 22-page lawsuit, obtained by us this week but filed Nov. 2, 2016, alleges that the plaintiff (aka the then-freshman football player) was subjected to a “hostile educational environment” where he suffered “sex-based harassment and sexual abuse” … “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” that it denied him the educational opportunity or benefit provided by the school.”

According to the suit, the plaintiff suffered “severe and permanent injuries” and his civil rights were violated. He and his father are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Read More See More

Stoga football hazing scandal settled: Players admit to harassment, nothing more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The football hazing/sodomy scandal that rocked Conestoga last year won’t be going to trial after all.

The three accused ex-players today admitted in court only to harassing their freshman teammate.

In exchange for that admission, the really nasty charges – assault, making terrorist threats, conspiracy, unlawful restraint, possession of an instrument of crime – were all dropped. (Their trial on those charges was to have begun this morning.)

And remember the DA’s vile account of what went down in the locker room in October 2015?

Well, that’s been dropped, too. Or at least radically revised.

Read More See More

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,

Read More See More

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.

Read More See More

Election aftershocks, T/E drug use/mental health update, Wayne’s new BYOB, Firepoint in N. Square & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

No matter how you voted, you have to feel sickened by the reported assault of a black female student by a group of white male students on Villanova’s campus last week.

Here’s what reportedly went down: The young woman was walking through the SEPTA tunnel around 9 pm Thursday when a group of guys en route to an off-campus formal approached and knocked her down, shouting “Trump! Trump! Trump!” The student’s face and head hit concrete. According to her friend, she was badly shaken, suffered nausea, vomiting and dizziness and was reluctant to report the attack at first.

Read More See More

La Cabra Brewing & other hot new spots, L. Merion’s PR problems, a fond farewell & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

In a word: wow.

We’re blown away by what a bunch of brewpub newbies just pulled off in downtown Berwyn.

They took a drab old furniture store across from the train station (RIP Pearl of the East), gutted it, and turned it into rustic-chic La Cabra Brewing, suddenly the hippest spot in town.

OK. Not so suddenly.

Read More See More