Liberty Kitchen is Launching a New “Pop-Down” BYOB Dinner Series LK After Dark, Featuring Some of Philly’s Top Chefs
For the first year Liberty Kitchen was in business, Matt Budenstein’s “Sundee Gravy” dinners would always sell out, as guests would grab some wine and head to the basement of the Fishtown hoagie shop for their multi-course, community seating, ‘pop-down’ dinners. But when the pandemic hit, getting 20 people to gather in a basement wasn’t an option.
Nearly three years later, Budenstein, the chef/Co-owner of Liberty Kitchen, and Co-owner P.J. Hopkins (who also owns Brine Street Picklery), are bringing back the Sundee Gravy dinners, while also implementing some collaborative dinners in a new series dubbed “Liberty Kitchen After Dark,” which will feature some of the area’s top culinary minds.
Sundee Gravy dinners will be hosted twice per month moving forward, with 20 seatings per night generally starting early on a Sunday. Additionally, the “LK After Dark” collaboration series will kick off with two dinners on February 22nd and 23rd, with James Beard Foundation nominee Melissa McGrath of Sweet Amalia Market cooking at Liberty Kitchen located at 1244 N. Front Street. Seating is limited for both nights, and interested parties can email [email protected] to reserve their seats. All dinners are BYOB.
“We’ve been wanting to bring back these dinners in our basement for the longest time, but it’s just been very difficult to execute since everything changed,” said Budenstein. “We hosted one dinner with friends recently and it was so incredible to see a large group gather downstairs like old times. We’re thrilled to keep this up, and inviting someone as talented as Melissa to kick off our new dinners is also really exciting.”
The next LK After Dark dinner (date TBD) will feature Paffuto Philly, a chef team of Jake Loeffler and Dan Griffiths which serves up fine Italian eats and treats. Later on, Budenstein said he plans on hosting collab dinners with Chef Jacob Trinh of Càphê Roasters, Chef Randy Rucker of River Twice, and more of Philly’s best. Upcoming Sundee Gravy dinners will be announced online as well. Learn more about the new series and all events by visiting libertykitchenphl.com/popdown.
Liberty Kitchen is East Kensington/Fishtown’s locally-focused deli and market, serving fresh hoagies and salads, catering trays and house-baked goods, as well as a rotating selection of seasonally prepared foods.
