Featured photo courtesy of Betsy Barron Photography. Photos of Wegmans and Silverspoon Café courtesy of Courtney Apple Photography. Dig In and Win logo design courtesy of Corey Weber Pontz Design Studio.

The Pub at Wegmans is part of Main Line Restaurant Week for the first time with both Collegeville and Malvern restaurants offering $20 dinner menus!

Main Line Restaurant Week, Philly’s largest suburban dining event, returns with dozens of the region’s top restaurants across the Main Line and western suburbs participating. Main Line Restaurant Week, celebrating its first anniversary, is being sponsored by Main Line Health and welcomes OpenTable back as its reservation partner.

Founded by AroundMainLine.com CEO Sarah Lockard in 2010, Main Line Restaurant Week kicks off Monday, September 26th and runs through Sunday, October 2nd. “I am thrilled to be celebrating our first anniversary with Main Line Restaurant Week. The response from the community over the past year has been exceptional and our amazing participating restaurants have embraced it 150%. When we launched last fall, the feedback we immediately heard was ‘Why didn’t someone think of this before?’ And we took that opportunity and really ran with it. Since then, our social media audiences have championed for us to keep the ball rolling and grow this event. Last fall was such an outstanding success we decided to make Main Line Restaurant Week a biannual event-our run this past spring was also very encouraging. Now, here we are with a year under our belt and another phenomenal group of restaurants and chefs to honor,” enthused Lockard.

Participating restaurants across the Main Line and Philadelphia’s western suburbs will offer special, prix-fixe menus showcasing their chefs’ greatest dishes. Menus will feature discounted, three-course dinners (e.g. appetizer, entrée and dessert) priced at $20, $30, or $40 per person.

Sponsored by Main Line Health

This Fall, Main Line Restaurant Week has welcomed a corporate sponsor—Main Line Health. “Main Line Health is a phenomenal, community-based health system and we are extremely proud to have their support of Restaurant Week. As a company, the community is everything to us and what makes us tick and having MLH with us is a true honor,” said Lockard.

Gluten-Free Menus

Silverspoon Café in Wayne offers several gluten-free options on their exciting, 3-course $30 Main Line Restaurant Week menu. Pictured here is their gluten-free entree: Crispy Salmon – potato and leek soubise, roasted tomato basil compote

New this fall for foodies is a focus on gluten-free menus and a fun promotion called ‘Dig In and Win.’ “We listen very closely to the valuable feedback of our Facebook fans and Twitter followers as we continue to evolve Main Line Restaurant Week and requests for gluten-free options were at the top of that list. With a nutrition background, I am cognizant of the importance of catering to celiacs and those with dietary restrictions who want to dine out and still enjoy phenomenal, gourmet cuisine. Many of our restaurants are offering several gluten-free options with their dinner menus or the opportunity to adjust those options for gluten-free customers. Silverspoon Cafe in Wayne, one of our exciting new restaurants, has a huge focus on gluten-free cuisine on a regular basis and their Main Line Restaurant Week menu reflects that,” explained Lockard.

‘Dig In and Win’

In addition, Dig In and Win is a new concept that rewards Main Line Restaurant Week fans and participating restaurants in a fun, interactive manner. Local foodies are encouraged to take a picture of their dining experiences at local restaurants who are listed on MainLineRestaurantWeek.com, upload a photo and caption to MainLineRestaurantWeek’s Facebook page and earn a chance to win a gift certificate to a participating Main Line Restaurant Week restaurant as their reward.

“We are so thankful to our restaurants who have embraced Main Line Restaurant Week and recognized the phenomenal exposure it offers them—so I’m constantly looking for additional ways to celebrate this group of chefs and restaurateurs. Our restaurants are the crème de la crème of the suburban dining scene and our amazing Facebook and Twitter fans are equal participants in this success. So, Dig In and Win brings them both together in an interactive fashion. Our fans have already started uploading photos and experiences on our Facebook page. For our restaurants, this is an awesome value that we are placing them on an permanent, prestigious radar of where to dine on the Main Line and around the western suburbs—not only during Restaurant Week-but throughout the year. As we evolve we are letting the community know that these are the best restaurants the burbs have to offer-bar none,” said Lockard.

Visit MainLineRestaurantWeek.com for a complete list of restaurants and menus participating this week!

Come be social with Main Line Restaurant Week!
Become a fan on Facebook
Follow Main Line Restaurant Week on Twitter

Photos courtesy of Courtney Apple Photography

Chef Nicholas Farina’s Verdad has thrived as one of the Main Line’s most popular restaurants over the past two years!

It’s a birthday party you do not want to miss! Bryn Mawr’s popular Verdad Restaurant and Tequila Bar will celebrate its second anniversary in style this Thursday, August 11th. Chef Nicholas Farina is welcoming all Main Line foodies to join in the party with $2 margaritas and complimentary paella!

Verdad is the first quality Euro-Latin restaurant on the Main Line which has thrived over the past two years. With Chef Farina at its helm, one of the region’s most beloved culinary talents, Verdad has successfully carved out a niche for those who seek and appreciate a unique and sophisticated suburban dining experience.

Verdad returns for Fall Main Line Restaurant Week with an exciting 3-course dinner menu for only $30. Main Line Restaurant Week kicks off Monday, September 26th and runs through Sunday, October 2nd.

Verdad Restaurant and Tequila Bar is located at 818 West Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, PA. Visit their website, verdadrestaurant.com, call 610.520.9100 and be sure to become a fan of their Facebook page here.

Photos of White Dog and Kaya’s courtesy of Courtney Apple Photography
Photo of Susanna Foo’s courtesy of Belle Vie Photography

Wayne’s popular White Dog is offering a three-course Mother’s Day brunch for $40.

It’s one of the most popular Sundays of the year to dine out: Mother’s Day! Here at AroundMainLine.com we’ve compiled a comprehensive dining guide of top choices around the Main Line and western suburbs. To my mom and all the mothers and great women in our lives, Happy Mother’s Day!

Sarah Lockard
AroundMainLine.com

White Dog Wayne
www.whitedog.com/wayne.html
200 West Lancaster Avenue
Wayne, PA
Call for reservations: 610-225-3700
White Dog will accept walk-ins but highly recommends reservations.
Mother’s Day Brunch Hours: 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
$40 for 3 course tasting menu
$15 for kids, 2 course menu
Their regular dinner menu will be served from 4-8p.m.

Lotus farm to table
lotusfarmtotable.com
112 West State Street
Media, PA
Call for reservations: 610-565-5554
Mother’s Day Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
3 courses for $30, bloody mary mixer bar, fresh squeezed orange juice / BYOC (Champagne) for mimosas
Menu selections include: oysters, smoked turkey rillet with red beet jam, house cured gravlax (cured salmon) with watercress and deviled egg, johnnycakes with blueberry syrup, iron skillet baked eggs, huervos rancheros, and more. Lotus can accommodate children with smaller portions. Read the full story

Photos courtesy of Courtney Apple Photography

Tequila University at Verdad coincides with Cinco de Mayo-with lots of great food and drink specials.

Tequila University is back! The Main Line’s only evening devoted to an appreciation of tequila held on the first Thursday of every month, courtesy of Bryn Mawr’s Verdad, returns Thursday, May 5th. “I think there is an under appreciation of the complexity of tequila. People who enjoy it—and are avid tequila lovers—are cognizant you have to be educated about the varieties, just as wine enthusiasts. But the majority of the public is not aware you can pair food with tequila, and that was the reason we started Tequila University. The classes have been very popular,” enthused Verdad executive chef Nick Farina.

It’s the final class of Spring (classes will resume in the Fall) and Verdad’s own popular bartender Pablo “Papi” Hurtado will emcee the dinner. Papi is considered a tequila expert and is on the Main Line’s most beloved personalities behind the bar. Read the full story

By AML Publisher
Photos Courtesy of Belle Vie Photography

In the past 50 years, Shipley Shops has had 80 chairs that have helped raise over $2 million dollars for the school. Pictured are the chairs for Shops 2010. L to R: Courtney Bullitt Daly, Marin Smith, Larisa Bevan

In 1961, the world was introduced to the electric toothbrush, the cost of a first class stamp was $.04, Patsy Cline released “Crazy,” Audrey Hepburn starred as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, President Kennedy established the Peace Corps, Barbie got a boyfriend named Ken, and across the pond Lady Diana Spencer entered the world. In Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania that same year, a two-day shopping event created by Shipley alum Zoe V.A. Wells was the beginning of, what is now, one of the Main Line’s most popular traditions.

Fifty years later Wells’ progressive concept, The Shipley Shops, has grown from a two-day event featuring 15 local and out-of-town specialty stores to a four-day event with 40 vendors. Before the King of Prussia, Springfield, and Plymouth Meeting Malls, ‘Shops’ was an innovative shopping approach with various vendors all under one roof.

The 50th annual Shipley Shops fundraiser will be held October 21-23 at The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr. Read the full story

Photos by Courtney Apple Photography

Main Line Restaurant Week is Philadelphia’s largest suburban dining event!

It was most certainly a week of culinary delights to remember! 38 restaurants participated in the inaugural Main Line Restaurant Week, organized by AroundMainLine.com. This incredible celebration of the region’s finest chefs proved to be the most successful restaurant event to date in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Main Line Restaurant Week, which offered fixed price dinner menus for the entire week of September 27th through October 3rd, brought tens of thousands of locals out to support the western suburbs’ tastiest restaurants. “I’m so proud to have worked closely with so many of the area’s best restaurants. There has never been a dining event of this magnitude in the suburbs and I felt our area was long overdue. Many restaurants are reporting they had record weeks or were sold out several of the nights, so I know we have a good thing going here. I am thrilled everything turned out so well!” enthused Main Line Restaurant Week founder Sarah Lockard. Read the full story

Photos courtesy of Courtney Apple Photography

Saffron Indian Kitchen, a popular BYOB with locations in both Bala Cynywd and Ambler, has received a tremendous response for reservations for Main Line Restaurant Week starting September 27th.

It is the Philadelphia suburb’s largest dining event ever—Main Line Restaurant Week! Created and organized by AroundMainLine.com, a week of culinary delights awaits thousands of foodies across the western suburbs starting tomorrow night, September 27th and running through October 3rd, 2010.

I have been a huge fan of the Main Line and western suburb dining scene having grown up here. And, we have some of the best chefs in the region and the most successful restaurants right in our own backyard. To me, it was due time to bring Main Line Restaurant Week to life this fall. When I announced the launch in early May, the immediate and enthusiastic response from our 2,200 AroundMainLine.com Facebook fans proved that we were on our way to a very successful event.

Here’s how it works. Our restaurants offer a prix fixe, three course dinner menu for one of the four tiers: dinner for $15, $20, $30 or $40. In addition, starting Monday night September 27th, we will kick off the first of eight special events that are a part of Main Line Restaurant Week with a ‘Monday Night Meetup’ at The Desmond in Malvern! Read the full story

By AML Publisher

Nectar’s beautiful outdoor deck overlooks an Asian garden.
Photo courtesy of Courtney Apple Photography

Ardmore

Plate
www.platerestaurant.com
Ever since Reese (Witherspoon) decided to dine frequently at Plate last summer while filming her movie with Paul Rudd, Plate has enjoyed a very sweet flurry of activity. For those wishing a meal outdoors, Plate offers a full-service outdoor dining area that seats 75. Their chic cedar pergola and café tables and chairs allow diners to savor a good meal while basking in the beautiful weather. Afterwards, take in all the great shopping Suburban Square (Lilly Pulitzer, Blue Mercury, and Ann Taylor) has to offer.

Read the full story

By AML Publisher
Photos courtesy of Belle Vie Photography

Bryn Mawr’s Verdad was the sophisticated setting for Wednesday Night Whinos’ successful launch party.

AroundMainLine.com kicked off an exciting new ladies social club, Wednesday Night Whinos, at Bryn Mawr’s Verdad on the evening of March 3rd! Over 40 ladies from our AML Facebook fan page and Twitter group came out to Verdad to connect and celebrate the launch of Whinos, enjoy wonderful tapas food and Spanish wine and win fantastic prizes.

Verdad head chef Nick Farina, formerly of Bryn Mawr’s Blush, is a good friend of the AML family. In October of 2008, AML hosted our emagazine’s launch party at Blush and have been working with Farina ever since. Verdad proved the perfect central location for the Whinos kickoff party with delicious tapas food served all night long in the bar area. Read the full story

By AML Publisher
Photos courtesy of Belle Vie Photography

The great Narberth Leprechaun Hunt has been rescheduled for this Saturday March 20th from 1 to 4pm.

Great Narberth Leprechaun Hunt
RESCHEDULED for Saturday March 20th from 1pm to 4pm
Narberth, PA
Downtown Narberth, Corner of Haverford Avenue and Forrest Avenue
www.narberthonline.com
email: info@narberthonline.com

The third annual Great Narberth Leprechaun Hunt has been rescheduled to take place Saturday, March 20th, from 1pm – 4pm. The annual event, courtesy of The Narberth Business Association, is an anticipated Main Line family tradition. Local kids, young and old at heart, can get St. Patty’s Day started early with this free family event. Kids hunt all over downtown Narberth for leprechauns, and collect treats along the way. Find them all, and get a prize at the end. The hunt goes until 4 pm or until prizes are gone.

This fun, challenging scavenger hunt allows kids to search all over town to find thirteen leprechauns. Children start the hunt by getting a map and a game card and an empty pot o’ gold from the Blarney Booth at the corner of Haverford and Forrest Avenues. They get treats as they find the leprechauns, who are hiding in shops all over town. Once they’ve found all thirteen leprechauns, they return to the booth for a prize. The hunt lasts until 4pm or until all prizes are gone.
Read the full story