Inside Pleased Hour at Expensive Daphni, Philly’s Flashy New Skewers Spot

Welcome to Scene Report, the place Eater takes the heartbeat of a buzzy new restaurant at a selected time of day.

On a drizzly Monday night in early April, one bougie block of Philly was clearly popping.

With a while to kill earlier than my 8 p.m. practice again to D.C., I checked out joyful hour at Rittenhouse’s hottest new restaurant Expensive Daphni (125 S. twentieth Avenue). The polished Mediterranean undertaking from Michael Schulson debuted in December on the bottom flooring of the Laurel — certainly one of many fancy residential towers going up round city lately.

Tierney Plumb/Eater

Tierney Plumb/Eater

Expensive Daphni’s ridiculously large Cerulean-blue door off Sansom Avenue is difficult to overlook. Simply previous 5 p.m., the prolonged place was filled with rows of well-dressed diners snacking on silver saucers of dips for days. Vegetable-heavy mezzes like eggplant, cucumber salad, and smoked beets added pops of shade to an already maximalist eating room.

It was shortly evident why Expensive Daphni’s every day joyful hour (4 p.m. to six p.m.) is so standard; my quartet of lamb-stuffed Turkish dumplings surrounded in tomato sauce ($7) have been half the worth as regular. I lucked out on the curved bar within the again with the last-remaining solo seat, plopping down subsequent to a pair of 20s-something ladies duking it out about whose respective journey to Tokyo was extra spectacular final yr. (I had no alternative however to eavesdrop, as leather-backed stools are lined up right here like sardines.)

As my two next-door counterparts have been perusing the menu, one audibly dissed the entire fish — saying she doesn’t do a dish “that stares again.” Charcoal-grilled mains like that branzino ($63) don’t come low cost, however the price ticket does embody mezze, pilaf, and comfortable serve. Chef Ryan Lloyd additionally sends out Moroccan meatballs, tuna tartare, an array of kebabs paired with pilaf, and Tunisian lamb shank.

Tierney Plumb/Eater

Hospitable and attentive servers in nautical stripes added to the Grecian-getaway vibe at a bar glowing with glassy emerald tones. Regardless of my semi-awk seat (a kind of lower-level conditions), it was immediately snapped up by a hoverer behind me as quickly as I signed my verify. Even its lesser-desirable part of window-facing seats have been all referred to as for by the point I left.

I ended up doing a double-header deal on the identical strip. Neon-lit Wilder was calling my title throughout the way in which, with its retro soundtrack spilling out into the road (2009 Sansom Avenue). The hip hangout, which simply turned three in March, was filled with equally trendy patrons sporting the likes of Commes des Garcons Converse kicks.

Like its months-old Mediterranean neighbor, Wilder has nice specials at its bar lined with leopard-printed stools (4:30 p.m. to six:30 p.m.). My tab pleasantly got here in below $20 for one satisfying duo: a goblet of orange wine and attractive ‘nduja toast.

My Monday evening sport plan may very well be the most recent back-to-back transfer alongside Sansom Avenue; I noticed the identical trendy couple cozying up at each locations.