Two "Roundeyes" Raising Money to Open Noodle House

Ben Puchowitz, executive chef at Matyson, and Shawn Darragh, restaurant marketer extraoridinaire, are throwing a pop-up Ramen party to make their restaurateur dreams come true. On January 29, the Roundeye Noodle House will make an appearance at the normally white-tableclothed BYOB Matyson in Rittenhouse Square. There are no reservations accepted, and they're looking for landlords, backers, and hopefully a few fans.

"Believe it or not, I got the idea to raise money this way from How to Make It in America," Darragh joked. "I saw that people were making investment connections by doing these parties all over the U.S., but not here. So, we're giving it a shot."

Darragh said that he and Puchowitz, longtime friends, were having lunch at A.Kitchen when they discussed what restaurant they wanted to open together.

"We eat Asian noodle soups of some kind a few times a week, and Ben has a lot of Asian influence in his menu at Matyson. We left the restaurant and saw the old Pad Thai Shack on 18th was for rent, and we started developing the concept."

Darragh said the menu would rotate often, including smaller bites like pickled veggies, but that noodle soups would be the star of the show.

"There's a gaping void in the Philly food scene, and that's ramen. You can't get any here," said Darragh. "We need to remedy that. The only thing left to do is raise money and awareness, and hope this works out. It's a way of thinking that hasn't been prevalent in Philly yet, and maybe we can start a new trend." [EaterWire]