Brewerytown has a brand new bring-your-own wine dining option — Philadelphia Magazine reports that Novak’s is the neighborhood’s newest addition, on West Girard Avenue.
It’s billed as French (and the rich-looking pheasant, buffalo, and boar terrine with a baked brie crust, pictured above, seems to fit that bill). But much of the menu comes with a solid spoonful of fusion — a jerk duck confit merges France and Jamaica, while Créole couscous with lamb merguez sits somewhere between the Caribbean and North Africa.
French-Caribbean fusion is a realm within which chef and owner Mark Solomon Evans has ample experience. He operated several restaurants in New York over the last few decades — Soho’s Red Strype, Ivo + Lulu in South Village, and Les Deux Lapins in Greenwich Village. He’s been mostly out of the restaurant world of late — this is his first foray into running an establishment in Philadelphia.
In a promising sign, NY Mag critics approved of the latter two, including menu items like grilled avocado and Port Royal prawns, some iteration of which appear on the menu at Novak’s.
