Coquette Bistro & Raw Bar
photo: Ryan Charles
Locals are already packing into Coquette Bistro & Raw Bar, the new South Street French brasserie from Sansom Street Oyster House’s Cary Neff, who’s installed Loie alumnus David Gilberg and his wife, Carla, in an airy, corner space that evokes NYC’s Balthazar. The big hit is the raw bar, where master shucker Davis (like Madonna, he eschews a last name) oversees an assortment of oysters and clams over crushed ice – the $85 seafood plateau, by the way, is a best-seller – but there's also house-baked breads with chicken liver pâté, chilled beet soup, duck rillettes, coquilles St. Jacques, rainbow trout, a cheese plate and the like. It’s awaiting its liquor license, so BYO (but call first).
700 S. Fifth St.; 215-238-9000