Last summer, we told you about plans for a new restaurant at 1646-48 S. 12th St. from Chris Scarduzio of the Table 31. This building had been home to Artisan Boulanger Patissier for quite some time, and sits across the street from such neighborhood luminaries as El Zarape, Mr. Martino’s Trattoria, and Cantina Los Caballitos. A year later, the croissant bakers have moved to a new location a few blocks away, but the building remains relatively unaltered.

The building

But change should be coming soon. According to Foobooz, Scarduzio and his partners received approval for this project last week from the ZBA. A year ago, we expected that the existing building would be retrofitted for the new restaurant, but it seems those plans have changed. Due to structural issues, according to the Passyunk Post, the existing building will be torn down and replaced with a new and fancy contemporary building. This structure will have a kitchen in the basement, a restaurant on the first floor, and three apartments above. The design, from Pomegranate Architects, looks super sharp, and is different from anything Passyunk Avenue has ever seen.

Wowza. Rendering from PhillyChitChat

In an interview with Passyunk Post this past winter, Scarduzio refused to pigeonhole the new restaurant concept coming to this space. Look for something affordable enough for the neighborhood, with a mix of Italian and French cuisines with a dab of Asian possible as well. With fifty seats inside and another thirty outside, this new spot will be larger than some of the other newer spots on the Avenue like Stateside but won’t be able to host the teeming throngs like POPE or Cantina.

We’re looking forward to both tasting the food at the new restaurant and seeing this excellent building go up. First thing’s first though- demolition. Look for that to get underway pretty soon.