A trio of young chefs launching their first brick-and-mortar spot are already thinking of ways to pay it forward for others getting started in the hospitality business.
Their restaurant, Paffuto, opens next week in the Bella Vista building once home to acclaimed French restaurants Bibou and Pif. This time Italian is the focus, with partners Daniel Griffiths, Sam Kalkut, and Jake Loeffler co-authoring breakfast and lunch menus full of panzerotti and housemade pastries.
They’re eager to eventually complement the dayside service by making the space available as a platform for up-and-coming chefs. That’s how they found their groove, Griffiths told Billy Penn. He described a Paffuto Valentine’s Day popup at Mish Mish on East Passyunk as transformative for the brand.
“Having an actual restaurant to be able to showcase what we can do was huge for us,” Griffiths said.
Italian for “plump,” the name speaks to both the cuisine the trio grew up with — plenty of tomato sauce made from chunky pomodoros — as well as the size of their dishes. “A little gluttonous” Kalkut said. “But people like that.”
Breakfast offerings will include an egg and cheese panzerotti (like a fried mini calzone) as well as a vegan option. The classic breakfast sandwich will be available in a Sarcone’s kaiser or hoagie roll, with Cooper sharp cheese and a choice of mortadella, bacon, or turkey sausage.
Lunch is sandwich-centric. The Paffuto Italian hoagie features mortadella, soppressata, coppa, and caciocavallo, while the chicken cutlet comes with bacon, Caesar aioli, and gem lettuce. There’s a beef and cheese, kind of like an Italian cheesesteak, served with pickled cherry peppers. A veg version has brown butter maitake mushroom, smoked burrata, and charred escarole. There are also meatballs, focaccia, charred vegetables, and bean and pasta salads.
And, of course, panzerottis, for which Paffuto became pop-up famous: plain and pepperoni for sure, plus rotating specials, including the wildly popular chicken vodka.
Pastries will be featured on both menus. To start, they’re planning cannolis, tiramisu, panettone muffins, and cream-filled maritozzi with a homemade jam. Beverages include Elixir coffee and local wine service during lunch, thanks to a partnership with Mural City Cellars.
‘An old-school Nonna’s house, with a modern touch’
The three chefs, all in their early 30s and graduates of the Culinary Institute of America, variously spent time in the kitchens at Fork, Kensington Quarters, and Tabachoy. They were most recently together at the Four Seasons Philadelphia, Loeffler as the on-site butcher and Griffiths and Kalkut chefs at the hotel’s high-end, top-of-tower restaurant Jean Georges.
When Kalkut went to Chicago for a year, Griffiths and Loeffler began laying the groundwork for a business. Once they got “the band back together,” the ball started rolling. Paffuto pop-ups began two years ago.
Menu discussions have been the easiest part, with decisions based on what they like to eat or an ingredient they’re interested in, Loeffler said. “And then one of us will kind of start conceptualizing on something, and it just branches out.”
Far more challenging has been the transition to brick-and-mortar, especially with the chefs embracing the same hands-on approach they bring to the kitchen. It’s been a lengthy process, encompassing paperwork, licensing, and “all of those city-based things you’ve got to wrap your head around,” Loeffler said.
Working from an initial concept by designer Cait Borkowski, the trio handled everything from plumbing and electrical work to painting and staining wood, transforming the venue into a space with its own identity while also paying respect to its previous iterations.
The result is a restaurant that aims to evoke “an old-school Nonna’s house with a modern touch,” Griffiths said.
Past a brightly-colored exterior — courtesy of Helen Steggall and Jeremy Trogstar, working with branding created by Ryan Evans — the 22-seat interior is cozy without being cluttered; a window counter ideal for people-watching.
Along one wall, shelves serve as a mini-marketplace for local brands, like Jawndiments’ cherry pepper mayo and varieties from Fishtown Pickles. It’s a continuation of the communal spirit that they say has been so integral to their success so far, from cafe and restaurant proprietors who provided an early platform for their pop-ups, to artists and suppliers who’ve helped bolster their identity and inventory.
“This city’s been so friendly,” Griffiths said. “It’s kind of like brotherly love in its realest way.”
Beyond the Dec. 6 opening, the partners are looking at Thursday and Friday dinner hours, set to launch in January and, with them, an expansion of their wine service program with Mural City.
For now, plans for staff include just one additional person for a front of house position. “Yeah, we’ll have long nights,” Griffiths acknowledged. “But we’re excited for it.”
1009 S. 8th St. | 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wed-Sun (subject to change) | $4-$20 | Opening Dec. 6 | paffutophl.com
