SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

New Mistral, a bold move at KOP Mall; $$ for Stoga’s accused; Gravity Vault rocks Radnor; Queen of Soaps’ new memoir; Retail ups & downs & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

You’ll never guess what just blew in to the King of Prussia Mall.

Legitimately hip dining.

We kid you not.

Twice we visited the new Mistral – named for the stiff “mistral’ winds that clobber the coast of south France.

Twice, we were, well, blown away.

While the usual suspects – Cheesecake Factory, Grand Lux Café, California Pizza Kitchen – are corporate, aka manufactured for the masses, Mistral is:

  1. privately owned
  2. relatively intimate
  3. chef driven. (A fancy way of saying that an onsite chef creates and executes the menu. No corporate recipes.)
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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.

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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.

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Radnor’s new resort spa, a BYOB for Wayne, Savor-ing KOP, T/E ups & downs & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

We’ve got a new name for The Radnor Hotel: Beauty Central.

Essent Spa, an ambitious, luxury day spa, has moved in next to Jay Michael Salon in the old Bernie Robbins space.

Although separately owned, Essent and Jay Michael are a match made in beauty heaven. With a shared reception desk and booking website, you can get your hair styled and your face Botoxed in a single trip.

One stop, multiple ways to get gorgeous.

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Murder in Berwyn; Another life lost to addiction; Radnor’s new Harvest Seasonal Grill & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

It’s not often that violent crime comes knocking on the Main Line’s door.

But last week’s brutal murder in Berwyn reminds us that evil can strike anywhere, anytime.

Police are investigating the homicide of a 62-year-old woman in Daylesford Estates, an upscale Toll Brothers’ development that sits between Routes 252 and Route 202 in Tredyffrin.

On June 17, a relative came to check on Denise McDonald Barger and found her beaten to death inside her home.

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The kids AREN’T alright: A Prep ’12 grad’s searing story; Bluefin in Bala (!); DELSETTE’s Ardmore debut; Willows update & LOUSY lax luck

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

If life-sucking depression has a Main Line face, surely it couldn’t belong to tall, athletic, bright and charming Drew Bergman.

But more and more, the 2012 St. Joe’s Prep grad who had everything to live for – but tried twice to end it anyway – has become that face.

His demons at bay, Drew now makes the rounds of area schools, one of 11 speakers for the Rosemont-based Minding Your Mind (MYM) Foundation.

In two years, he’s told his story 250 times – to your son or daughter, perhaps.

And he’ll tell the abridged version again this Thursday at the inaugural MYM fundraiser he’s organized, “A Celebration of Life: Philadelphia.”

When Drew speaks at schools, 15 to 20 students typically line up afterward, seeking a private word with the 22-year old who just gave a public face to the anguish they’ve long felt.

Who just told them it’s OK to speak of the unmentionable.

Who gave them warning signs and coping strategies.

Who bared his soul, shared everything, so they might, too – to someone who can help.

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New Autograph Brasserie’s a stunner in Wayne’s Eagle Village Shops, iFly over K of P, a Stoga video you gotta see & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Jaw-dropping, trippy and altogether original, Autograph Brasserie is like nothing the Main Line has ever seen.

And see it you must.

Not since the 2004 debut of Nectar’s big-boy Buddha has a suburban restaurant arrived with such flash and splash.

After a yearlong total makeover, Autograph is now open in the former Peppercorn/georges/Le Mas Perrier space in Wayne’s Eagle Village Shops.

So sign up now, chowhounds; reservations are going fast.

Autograph is the latest head-turner from Main Line-bred restaurateur Marty Grims, the EA/Cornell grad behind White Dog Cafés in Wayne, Haverford and West Philly, and a pack of other places.

While the Dogs are playful romps with man’s best friend, Autograph is an homage to Man himself.

Specifically, to the stars, men and women, who’ve shaped our closets, our iTunes libraries and, yes, our kitchens.

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Devon Yard Downsized (!), SAVVY Spring Break Style Guide, Speaking up re: Stoga hazing, Gateway’s unlikely new BYOB

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Developer Eli Kahn’s 60-foot high hopes have been officially and forever dashed.

After huddling with disgruntled Devon neighbors, he’s just unveiled a new plan that lops off the top floor of his proposed Devon Yard apartments and cuts the number of units from 135 to 100.

Was it the blue yard signs that sprouted like spring weeds along adjoining streets after that very vocal public meeting?

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Bold, hip & rockin’, new Bulldog Yoga romps into Villanova (will yoga ever be the same?), plus a new Zavino, Besito blasted, shoutouts & fond farewells

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Take every notion you’ve ever had about yoga, then flip it – like your best downward-facing dog.

What do you get? Bulldog yoga.

Debuting its flagship this Friday, Feb. 19 in stunning space in the new Villanova Center, bulldog aims for Top Dog status. If it hits the bull’s eye, it will become nothing short of the SoulCycle/FlyWheel of yoga.

A breed apart AND a breed above.

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Main Line welcomes Maya.J (yum); dueling over Devon Yard; hazing alleged at Stoga & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

A new H-O-T spot for your restaurant radar: Maya.J.

After cooking his way ’round the world, Main Line native Craig Wilson has brought his sizzling sauté pans home.

Lucky us.

Open since Feb. 3, locals are flocking to Wilson’s Maya.J in Manayunk. (The ‘Yunk being where the Main Line schleps when we’ve had enough Estia chips already).

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