Palizzi Social Club, South Philly’s Members-Only Hot Spot, Is Releasing an Italian Cookbook

Joey Baldino, the South Philly-bred chef famed for Palizzi Social Club and Zeppoli, is releasing his first cookbook. Dinner at the Club: 100 Years of Stories and Recipes from South Philly’s Palizzi Social Club will feature recipes from the nationally acclaimed members-only restaurant, tucked into a South Philly rowhouse at 1408 S. 12th Street.

The book is due out October 29.

Baldino also plans to start selling Palizzi memberships again in March. He stopped not that long after the restaurant opened in 2017 and was immediately flooded with attention. Memberships go for $20 and are good indefinitely.

Palizzi Social Club first opened in 1918 as a hangout for immigrants from the Italian town of Vasto in the Abruzzo region. In the 1950s, ownership of the club landed in the hands of Ernest Mezzaroba, Baldino’s uncle.

Chef Baldino inherited Palizzi a few years ago. He kept the look and feel — the black-and-white checkerboard floors, the colorful bar seats, the club charters on the wall, even the cigarette machine — but opened up membership criteria, turning the place into something between private club and public restaurant.

On the menu: the Italian-American dishes Baldino grew up with, like crabs and spaghetti, calamari and peas, and stromboli with pepperoni and mozzarella. The book will include 70 of his recipes.

Baldino’s co-author for Dinner at the Club is Philly-based writer Adam Erace. Erace has been busy: He’s also working on a Laurel cookbook with Top Chef winner Nick Elmi, out in September.

Provided

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