Rooster Soup Co. Loses Its Chef

Rooster Soup Co., Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook’s Center City diner that donates all its profits to charity, is down a chef. George Sabatino, who just joined the restaurant in February of this year, is already gone, Philly Mag reports. Taking over for Sabatino is Jarrett O’Hara, who has been with Rooster Soup since it opened.

When Sabatino signed on at Rooster Soup five months ago, he had recently left Aldine, the Rittenhouse restaurant he opened in 2014 with then-wife Jennifer Conley Sabatino. Conley Sabatino kept Aldine when the couple split — but the city closed it in April over unpaid taxes. Helm, relocating from Pennsport, is about to move into Aldine’s former space at 1901 Chestnut (that’s the second Helm; the original is in Kensington).

Back to Sabatino: He gave a diplomatic statement to Philly Mag regarding his departure without sharing any details. Solomonov and Cook supplied a similar message, praising Sabatino’s talent without explaining what went down.

It’s unlikely customers will notice any immediate changes. O’Hara, now chef, was sous chef under Sabatino. Before joining Rooster Soup, he was sous chef at Abe Fisher, another member of Solomonov and Cook’s CookNSolo group.

Rooster Soup, at 1526 Sansom Street, opened in early 2017. The initial idea behind the retro-styled restaurant was to find a way to use discarded chicken bones from Federal Donuts, which Solomonov and Cook co-own. The community-minded restaurant gives its profits to the Broad Street Ministry’s Hospitality Collaborative.

Michael Persico