Thanh and Chris Nguyen of Melody’s Grillhouse in Ambler have opened a downtown satellite on East Passyunk Avenue, where chef Thanh is cooking stunning renditions of contemporary Vietnamese dishes from her native Saigon, including a popular vermicelli platter with blood sausage and fermented dipping shrimp sauce, mini banh xeo crepes, and a fabulous whole branzino grilled in banana leaves.

Blood, smoke, and offal are at the core of this daring South Philly venture from chefs Scott Calhoun, David Feola, and their partner, general manager Gianna Spatoulas. The “root-to-snout” concept goes deep with a sweetbread-skate riff on “surf-n’-turf,” massive, curry-braised beef shins served for sharing, lettuce cups, and chocolate-blood pudding for dessert. The commitment to seasonality even makes its way into the local hay-smoked cocktails, some of the best of which contain no alcohol.

This all-day cafe from chef Nicholas Elmi and partner Fia Berisha has been created from the industrial bones of the old Pencoyd Iron Works into a lush riverside oasis for avocado toast, canned cocktails, and bocce. There’s a small dining room, but the big terrace has become a community hub for those arriving by car or bike to partake in the excellent breakfast sandwiches, stellar burger, fried chicken sandwich, and grain bowl. An upscale counterpart, Lark, is expected to debut soon.

After six years of renovations plus a pandemic delay, chef Belaynesh “Bella” Wondimagegnehu and her husband, Demelash Demissie, opened their tribute to traditional Ethiopian cuisine. This bi-level cafe has become a lively Cedar Park destination for herb-infused Ethiopian coffee, berbere-spiced kitfo tartare toasts, and broad injera bread platters topped with the wonderful stews, from oniony sweet doro wot to earthy bozena shiro chickpea pureée studded with spiced beef.

Restaurant and media entrepreneur Dan Tsao has brought a taste of Sichuan fire from his EMei in Chinatown to Susanna Foo’s former Suga space in Rittenhouse Square. His kitchen brings plenty of numbing heat to dishes like the standout cumin lamb with hand-ripped noodles, but there’s also a sweet overture to its targeted mainstream audience with a signature General Tsao’s chicken that, with its delicate crunch and saucy balance of sweetness, tang, and spice, should win a following.

This cozy Northern Liberties takeout storefront turns out a limited menu of excellent platters and sandwiches built around deeply savory pernil (pulled pork), rice and gandules beans, pasteles, and roast chicken. Also not to miss: the cream-soaked pastry dream of one of Philly’s best tres leches cakes.

Chef Patricia Massoud’s transformation of Porch & Proper into an exploration of Lebanese home cooking is a tribute to friends and family she lost in a pair explosions in Beirut in 2020. It’s a lovely BYOB with an easy Mediterranean vibe, but Massoud’s soulful cooking is the draw. From kibbeh to the shish taouk she grew up cooking alongside her grandmother, Suraya El Harouny, who also inspired her cousins’ namesake restaurant, Suraya El Harouny, who inspired her cousins' restaurant, Suraya.

Jollof rice and West African flavors are having a moment if this flavorful fast-casual newcomer in Northern Liberties from Nigerian-born Dera Nd-Ezuma, fiancée Sarah Jost, and chef Omega Dabale is any indication. (The Fudena pop-up, aiming for a location soon, is another jollof player.) Pick your yazi-spiced grilled protein or veg (chicken, beef, Brussels sprouts), choose a rice (spicy red jollof or white uto with sausage gravy), build a platter with plantains and cornbread, and dream of Lagos.

One of the region’s most elegant dining spaces, the oak-paneled Green Room in the Hotel DuPont has been restored to its 1913 grandeur and revived as an updated French brasserie by chef Tyler Akin (of Philly’s Stock and Res Ipsa). We enjoyed a memorable brunch here of a lobster omelette with beurre blanc, a three-cheese French onion soup, shrimp cocktail with berbere-spiced aioli, and a double-stacked smash patty riff on McDo’s — Le Big Cav — that's a contender for the region's best burger.

The owners of Cafe Ynéz on Washington Avenue have ventured north to Kensington’s American Street corridor with style, transforming an industrial shed and parking lot into a cozy dining room and expansive patio oasis. The menu is rooted in Mexican traditions reinterpreted with modern touches that emphasize local ingredients (heritage pork carnitas) and creative vegetable-forward options, from a cauliflower twist on “alt pastor” to a vegan feast steamed mixiote-style inside a banana leaf.