January 31, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Lafayette Hiller the next Stephen Starr?
His ‘Mission’ to provide great Southwestern cuisine
by LEN LEAR

Co-owner Brian Harrington, of Mission Grill, is a resident of Lafayette Hill. His wife, Molly, is a Flourtown native and Mount St. Joseph alumna.

Watch out, Stephen Starr, four young Philly guys are gaining on you.

While Stephen Starr is the undisputed king of independent, upscale restaurants in Philadelphia with showcases like Morimoto, Barclay Prime, Striped Bass and Buddakan, and nobody outside the restaurant business has ever heard of Gary Cardi, Brian Harrington, Frank Falesto and Chris Coco, this quartet of local thirtysomething entrepreneurs is definitely moving up quickly along the rail.

While their business, P.H. Investments, does not have a very romantic name, banks supplying millions in loans must be finding them pretty sexy. While others may have been offering season’s greetings, they have been offering season’s eatings, and there have been lots of takers.

Early in 2005 the quartet opened Public House in the former home of Dock Street Brewery at 1801 Arch St. in Logan Square. It offers a new modern-meets-traditional decor and an American comfort food menu to appeal to all ages and tastes. I hear that at Happy Hour, their 77-foot-long granite bar is a real meat market (or you might say “meet market”). It is said that money talks, but if all yours is saying is “goodbye,” then perhaps you should try their enormous salads, which are a meal in themselves for about $8.

About their only losing effort has been to label themselves the city’s “official headquarters of Notre Dame football.” (Notre Dame had a disastrous season last year, losing eight out of their first nine games, but since no one at Public House played quarterback, we can’t blame them for that.) For more information, call 215-587-9040 or visit www.publichousephilly.com

Two entrees created by Chef Ernie Fortino — hickory-grilled ribs with a guava barbecue sauce and a filet mignon/lump crabmeat combination — are ambrosial. (Photos by Len Lear)

In February of last year, the enterprising quartet opened Mission Grill, a gorgeous, huge operation (140 seats and three private rooms) with a Southwestern ambience on the ground floor of the old Bell Telephone Building at 1835 Arch St. And on Dec. 21 they opened Field House, a sports bar in the Reading Terminal’s old Independence Bar & Grill location. It seats 315, thus making it the biggest restaurant in center city.

Partnering with Gabe Marabella, a lifelong Chestnut Hill resident who formerly owned the Marabella’s chain of Italian restaurants in the city and suburbs, the quartet will also be opening Nona, a restaurant at the Dover Downs Racetrack in Delaware, in the spring or summer of this year. As if that’s not enough, they also own three restaurants in New York City and one in Denver.

Someone in the restaurant business once said that some days it just doesn’t pay to gnaw through the leather straps, but this quartet of entrepreneurs apparently experiences many of the non-gnawing days. “It’s exciting to open restaurants,” said Brian Harrington, a Lafayette Hill resident who learned the business while working for McFadden’s, a chain of pubs, for seven years.

“But the only way you will last for 20 years is to concentrate on good food. You will not make it over the long haul on just beer and music.” (Brian, 36, a graduate of Germantown Academy, has been married for seven years to the former Molly Foley, of Flourtown, a Mount St. Joseph alumna. Brian started out as a sportscaster in Baltimore, but he says the $7-an-hour salary quickly made the restaurant business seem more tasty.)

Just a few days before Christmas, we had dinner at Mission Grill, which really is a delightful place to dine with its abundance of sandstone and terra cotta, giant plants, recessed lighting and comfortable booths. The chef, Ernie Fortino, is a charming young guy who does not ration his smiles. At age 27 (he looks even younger), he has a lifetime of experience; the graduate of the prestigious French Culinary Institute has already apprenticed under three of the nation’s greatest chefs at three of the best restaurants — Andrea Soltner at Lutèce and Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin, both in New York, and Jean-Marie Lacroix at the Four Season Hotel in Philadelphia.

“I loved it at the Four Seasons,” said Ernie, “because I was able to work with so many talented chefs utilizing some of the best products in the world. It was a great stepping stone, but like most chefs, I was waiting for the day when I could finally run my own kitchen, and that’s what I’m doing now.”

It would not surprise us in the least if Ernie Fortino becomes a household name some day. Everything from the homemade guacamole to the homemade cornbread and strawberry butter to the salsas and sauces was wonderful, albeit pricey. An appetizer of cut-up spicy jumbo shrimp with tequila and coriander, redolent of lime juice and peach, was spectacular ($12). A grilled steak appetizer was like cheesesteak in spring rolls ($10).

A rack of hickory-grilled ribs with a sublime guava barbecue sauce were so tender ($27), they really did fall off the ribs with almost no urging. They were accompanied by sweet potato fries and Southwestern cole slaw. And a filet mignon/lump crabmeat combination was ambrosial, and considering the price of just filet at downtown steakhouses (about $35 to $45, not including side dishes), the $28 price tag seemed quite reasonable. A dessert of molten chocolate, like a soufflé, with ice cream was decadent.

Our server, Cathy London, who obviously had lots of experience in the industry, was very personable and knowledgeable. A server like her definitely enhances the dining experience.

Mission Grill is open for lunch and dinner every day but Sunday. For lunch, starters run from $7 to $14 and sandwiches/entrees from $9.95 to $21.95. For dinner, starters run from $6 to $12 and entrees from $18 to $28. There is an extensive list of wines, cocktails and tequilas.

Those who read this column regularly know that one of my restaurant pet peeves is the loud din — or supersonic music — that is so commonplace these days. I wouldn’t even return to Buddakan, as great as the food is, because it always sounds like there’s a cat-strangling competition at the next table.

On the other hand, Mission Grill was a pleasure because both the background music and conversation at other tables were hardly noticeable. Another pet peeve is the outrageous markups on wines and cocktails, with a glass of wine often costing as much as the entire bottle in a wine store. The same applies at Mission Grill, although a “Mission Sunset,” with Stoli vanilla and other juices and liqueurs was quite good ($12). The best deal is undoubtedly the Sangria ($8), a large glass not overloaded with ice (as is often the case) and very sweet, not sour. It was as good as — and possibly better than — any Sangria we have ever had.

For more information, call 215-636-9550 or visit www.themissiongrill.com.