CookNSolo Just Opened Jaffa Bar Featuring an Oyster Bar and an Extensive Cocktail Menu
On Tuesday October 22nd the acclaimed Philadelphia restaurant group co-founded by Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook and best-known for Zahav — opened Jaffa Bar at 1625 N Howard Street at the fork-in-the-road of Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Turner Street (four blocks from Kensington favorite Laser Wolf, CookNSolo’s kebab house). For seafood lovers, you’ll be happy know that Jaffa Bar is an oyster bar showcasing the flavors of Israel with the spirit of Philadelphia. Reservations for dinner are now available and can be made through Resy; ample seating will be available for walk-ins, both at one of the restaurant’s three bars, and at dining tables.
If you’re familiar with the neighborhood then you certainly came across the 19th century firehouse that Jaffa Bar has taken over. The firehouse which was operational until the 1960s was transformed by Boxwood Architects — a CookNSolo collaborator since 2012.
Boxwood Architects’ design focuses on enhancing the existing character of the historic two-story building. The ground floor houses two bars (a 10-seat oyster bar and 15-seat cocktail bar), with glazed, sand-colored brick walls accented by sea-toned bar tiles, and low lighting. The ground floor bar also features earth-toned booth seating and high top tables across 32 seats. The second floor dining room (with an 11-seat bar and 60 seats at dining tables) focuses on prominent windows that flood the space with natural light, and citrus tones to further accent that warmth.
The dinner menu at Jaffa Bar features a combination of oyster bar classics, Israeli-inflected seafood preparations and timeless bar-food. From the Raw Bar, a rotating selection of oysters is focused on the best-of the East Coast, and served with three house-made sauces — Schug Mignonette, Passion Fruit Mignonette, and Jaffa Cocktail Sauce (spicy). After oysters comes Cold seafood dishes including Yellowtail Pastrami with Grilled Cucumber; Raw Scallops with shipka powder and citrus salt; and Pickled Mussels with pine nut tarator. For enjoying the fullest raw bar selection, the Jaffa Tower features Oysters, Clams, and Shrimp Cocktail. Salads and bar snacks include Broccolini Caesar with fresh horseradish, and Charred Sweet Peppers with harissa labneh.
Hot seafood includes Shabazi Shrimp with schug and arak; Scallops & Merguez, NJ scallops with “cocktail” lamb merguez,potatoes and Harissa; Crispy Tuna, in brik (classic Tunisian pastry) with avocado and Turkish esme salad; and Whole Sea Bream in chraime (North African tomato fish stew). Hearth-baked Moroccan Frena Bread with matbucha is the accompaniment for any dish. The Jaffa Burger with green chiles, grilled onions, American and shabazi mayo on a potato roll is best with a side of CookNSolo’s signature French Fries with tehina ketchup (known in Fishtown from Laser Wolf). For dessert, Jaffa Bar offers two: Chocolate Mousse with coffee-chocolate crunch, and Funnel Cake with passionfruit caramel.
The Jaffa cocktail bar offers an extensive menu of drinks befitting a proper Philadelphia bar, plus those with influence from Jaffa’s citrus-rich Mediterranean coast such as the “Frozen Jaffa Orange” — a creamy, orange blossom-scented riff on the Orange Julius. For classics, martinis include the Gibson, 50/50, and Vesper; shaken cocktails include the “Green Eyed Lady,” with blanco tequila, green chile, cucumber, coriander and lime; stirred cocktails include the “No Call, No Show,” with Askur gin, Melleti amaro, and Fernet Branca; and spritz, like the “Sketches of Spain,” with Massaya arak and sparkling wine. The wine list focuses on seafood-friendly, natural and effervescent wines from the Levant and Eastern Europe, plus local selections like Kensington’s own Pray Tell Wines and Mural City Cellars.
Jaffa Bar is spearheaded by a team of CookNSolo veterans with decades of combined hospitality experience with the restaurant group: Jaffa Bar general manager/partner Kailey Jenkins, chef/partner Andrew Henshaw, bar manager Sean Byrne, and CookNSolo beverage director Steven McAllister.
“It’s just been such a privilege to live and work in Fishtown while leading the Laser Wolf team for the last five plus years,” said Kailey Jenkins, general manager/partner of Jaffa Bar. “Now getting to be a part of this departure for the company, doing seafood and a cocktail bar in my favorite neighborhood, is a thrill. I’m especially excited to see some of the same regulars, plus new neighbors since we’re just north on Howard.”
Jenkins and Henshaw are the five-year opening general manager-chef team of Laser Wolf; Jenkins and Henshaw are also devoted Fishtown residents. Sean Byrne was most recently founding bar manager at the reinvented Dizengoff, and previously on-bar at Abe Fisher for six years, where he oversaw the restaurant’s signature and extensive amaro program. CookNSolo Beverage Director Steven McAllister, too an Abe Fisher alumn, is also sommelier of Zahav. Ryan Mulholland — CookNSolo’s Director of Operations best known for leading the hospitality team at Vernick Food & Drink for eleven years — is a restaurant partner.
Jaffa Bar hours are Sunday – Thursday, 5-10 pm with raw bar/bar until 11 pm; and Friday & Saturday, 5 – 11 pm with raw bar/bar until midnight.
