SAVVY MAINLINE

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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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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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Now clean, sober & thriving, Conestoga ’10 grad Reilly McCloskey calls out area parents (ouch), Stoga hazing update & sunnier stuff

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Reilly McCloskey is clear-eyed. At last.

An addict through his teens, Reilly, 23, is clean and sober, his vision fixed and in focus, the grayscale blur of his Conestoga days turned radiant.

And like Dorothy in Oz, Reilly is relishing every last pixel, capturing them with his Canon D in all their Technicolor glory.

Indeed, the first show of his photography (“Interaction of Color” at Bryn Mawr’s New Leaf Club through March) is an explosion of hue and light.

A celebration of seeing. For the first time.

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New whisky pub in Wayne, a Gateway center surprise, the CYO guy you WANT coaching your kids & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Wayne is getting its first whisky bar and pub. The Goat’s Beard, a hit since it opened in Manayunk a few years back, will open in the old Xilantro space on N. Wayne Ave. in May.

Owners are Wayne guy, Sean Coyle (whose family owned the old Binni & Flynn’s in Gateway), and biz partner Michael MacCrory.

Expect the same locally sourced pub menu, small-batch craft cocktails and no fuss vibe. Xilantro went dark last week.

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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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Smashing debut for Cotoletta BYOB, a new Nudy’s, our first First Watch (yum!), Haverford School star’s tragic death & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The eastern Main Line is pouring into the 100-seat BYOB in the former Mel’s Italian in Belmont Hills. (Even Mel himself showed last weekend to toast a pal’s 70th!)

The draws: rustic Italian fare and allegiance to owner Beth Amadio, the Penn Valley mom whose last culinary caper, Homemade in Narberth, closed in 2014.

“People really love Beth and missed her excellent food at Homemade,” says Nicole Dresnin Schaeffer, one of many FOBs dining at Cotoletta last Saturday night.

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Can Strafford’s old Covered Wagon Inn REALLY be saved? Plus, a new use (at last) for Bryn Mawr’s FoodSource & aftermath of an Academy Ball gone bust

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

You drive by it all the time, barely taking note: a charming, undoubtedly very old shop on a bustling, modernized stretch of Rte. 30 in Strafford.

Next time, do a double take.

For this is The Little Building That Could – all 1,200 sq. feet of it.

The Little Building that could stop a big-time developer in its tracks.

That could force a multibillion-dollar corporation back to the drawing board.

That could be the engine that pushes a certain Main Line township to add muscle to its wimpy historic preservation laws.

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SoulCycle spins to Ardmore, T/E tops in U.S., Paoli gets a Devon Donut & Drums Alive, a bang-up new workout

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

SoulCycle – the coolest workout on one wheel (just ask ’em) – is rolling our way.

The indoor cycling company with the celebrity-soaked clientele will open in Ardmore this spring, its first Philly location after recent debuts in DC, Boston, Miami and Chicago.

Soul’s signature yellow bikes will be installed in the 3,400 sq. ft. former Corner Bakery space in Suburban Square across from Ruby’s Diner. (Still no takers for the rest of the building’s first floor, vacant now that the holiday pop-ups have departed.)

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Taste of downtown Philly coming to “wave of the future” King of Prussia Town Center (near Wegmans)

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Bring it on! A hipper, more community-oriented cousin to our sprawling mall, the King of Prussia Town Center is finally beginning to take shape next to Wegmans.

When the construction dust settles next summer, get ready for a 21st-century dining, shopping and hangout hub unlike any the area has seen.

The idea is to bring a downtown experience – with lots of outdoor noshing, free entertainment and upscale retail – to the boring old burbs.

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