Grace & Proper En Route to Bella Vista

Today, we gave you a glimpse into the new South Street Mexican restaurant by restaurant power-couple Chris Fetfatzes and Heather Annechiarico. And while that's all good and exciting, here's a reminder about their other restaurant currently in the works: Grace & Proper, another extension of their "neighborhood restaurant" expertise.

The property on the corner of 8th and Carpenter Streets was bought by Fetfatzes and Annechiarico almost four years ago, and they did it the old-fashioned way, "I'd walk by the building and yell into the window 'I want to buy your building!' and [the woman who lived in the deli] would yell back, 'It's not for sale, come back tomorrow!'" And after many attempts, it finally worked. Now in the beginning stages of construction, the space will be turned into what Fetfatzes calls an "old-school Italian taproom", but more akin to the neighborhood beer-bar Fountain Porter, off East Passyunk Avenue. While the building needs a lot of work, the two plan to keep the interior's historic integrity intact, even keeping the original tin-work. "Enough with the f***ing earth-tones," says Fetfatzes, describing today's exhausted trend of Edison bulbs and reclaimed wood.

The food at Grace & Proper will be neighborhood classics: casual red-gravy Italian, homemade fennel breads, muffaletas, cheese and pâté, and much like the offerings at their other establishments, they're going for the affordable, come-in-weekly route.

Estimated opening is sometime in Spring of 2016.