As more food service workers are getting the vaccine, many restaurants around the city that had previously only allowed outdoor dining are beginning to open their doors again. Zahav, the award-winning Society Hill Israeli restaurant that held an American Express-branded “Yurt Village” all winter, will open again for limited indoor dining on April 6. The restaurant had stayed closed indoors since the beginning of the pandemic.

The yurt village isn’t going away just yet; a representative for the restaurant sats the four-person tents will stay until Saturday, May 1, and it’s still a five-course tasting menu at $90 a person in there. Reservations, which always book up fast, are now open for indoor dining at Zahav on Resy.

A reminder that studies indicate that there is a lower coronavirus exposure risk when outdoors, but the level of risk involved with patio dining is also contingent on restaurants following strict social distancing and other safety guidelines. And cases in Philly are on the rise this week. For updated information on coronavirus cases in Philadelphia, please visit the city’s tracker. Restaurant workers can sign up for vaccine appointments at Centennial Pharmacy in Fishtown, in partnership with Save Philly Restaurants.

In other news...

• After a five-year run in Port Richmond, Riverwards Cafe will become a ReAnimator Coffee after the cafe undergoes a “dormant period” in April. This will be the fifth dedicated location for ReAnimator (with its coffee also available at Hello Donuts in East Kensington). With Riverwards Cafe right down the street from Tinys Bottle Shop and the Lunar Inn, are more businesses bound to open on that stretch of Richmond Street? If you know something we don’t, get in touch.

• The People’s Kitchen, the mutual aid project organized by community collaborative 215 People’s Alliance and South Philly Barbacoa’s Cristina Martinez and Ben Miller, started raising funds yesterday to keep the project sustainable in the long term. Every day, rotating chefs cook 215 free meals out of the former El Compadre restaurant to distribute to food-insecure folks in the city; it costs about $25,000 a month to keep the project going. Contributions — one-time or monthly — can be made here.
• Could it be? A John’s Water Ice truck??

• How to Send a Tip to Eater Philly [EP]
• A Running List of Philly Bars and Restaurants Reopening After a Cold Weather Pause [EP]
• Where to Find the Best Water Ice in Philly [EP]