Philly Loses a Bake Shop and a Seafood House Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Last week, two Philadelphia restaurants closed their doors for good. The first to go down (on November 23) was Anastasi Raw Bar, the Manayunk counterpart to Anastasi’s Seafood in the Italian Market. Philly.com writes, “Co-owner Frank Kemp said he and partners Tommy and Mia Anastasi had planned to close after the holiday but a recent meeting with their accountant showed a poor financial picture.” The Raw Bar was the latest in a series of efforts by a few restaurateurs to make something of the bi-level space at 4146 Main Street. Before it was Beast & Ale (by the Taqueria Feliz guys), Bisou and Gamelli on Main (both by Clark Gilbert), and Mango Moon by the Manayunk trendsetter Moon Krapugthong.

On November 25, Kermit’s Bake Shoppe closed. Owner Adam Ritter, who also owns Kraftwork and Sidecar Bar & Grille, took to Facebook to thank the Kermit’s supporters and fans. In a Billy Penn report of the closure, a former employee alleged that the management gave their employees unclear notice of the shutdown. Ritter disputed those claims in a separate Facebook post two days later: “many of the details of the stories in the media came from a former employee with a grudge and don’t reflect the facts of the situation. We have offered work at our other businesses to many of our talented employees and in just a couple of days, we’ve been able to re-employ many members of the Kermit’s staff.”