The Foodery makes first pitch to Roxborough civic group

Owners of The Foodery offered their potential neighbors a sample — literally — of the business they’d like to bring to Ridge Avenue during a preliminary presentation at Thursday night’s meeting of the Central Roxborough Civic Association.

Tony M. Rim, a city restaurateur who co-owns The Foodery with family members, gave residents an early taste of a proposed new site at 6148 Ridge Ave., the current home of the Roxborough Development Corporation offices. Rim said the Foodery has an agreement of sale on the property good for 120 days, contingent upon them getting community approval.

“We are not in the market to sell 40-ouncers of beer, or malt liquor,” he said, offering a selection of the Foodery’s offbeat beer selections. No beer was consumed at the meeting, which took place inside Leverington Presbyterian Church, but Rim did leave several bottles behind for CRCA members to take home.

Rim, who also owns the popular RAW Sushi and Sake Lounge at 1225 Sansom St., also said a fourth Foodery location is in the works for 17th and Sansom Streets in Center City.

If the Ridge Avenue plans go forward, Foodery owners will need a Class E retail liquor license, and Rim said his attorneys have identified a few available for purchase from current holders. Under conditions of that license, the establishment may only sell beer and must have at least 30 chairs for on-site food and beverage consumption.

Rim also brought along “beer guru” Kyle Sebring, to talk about how Foodery workers see themselves as knowledgeable experts who can help customers choose beer based on flavor preferences, country of origin, or for pairing with various foods.

Each Foodery location sets its hours of operation based on feedback from local community groups, and Rim said the Ridge Avenue site would be no different. He said if neighbors approved and the building purchase goes through, he would return to a later CRCA meeting with more detailed designs and architectural plans for the space.

“We feel like Roxborough is a really up-and-coming area, you have a lot of young professionals and families here,” Rim said in an interview. “We’ve been doing research, and we feel like this is someplace we really want to be.”

So far, it seems CRCA members would welcome the establishment, and none of the two dozen neighbors in attendance spoke in opposition to the plan. The Foodery sells more than 800 varieties of local, craft-brewed and exotic import beer at two current locations, in Northern Liberties and Washington Square West.

For the Roxborough location, a 9,000 square-foot space once home to the Roxborough Farmer’s Market, Rim said he envisions it as part beer museum, part retail store and part restaurant, where cooking demonstrations and beer-pairing workshops could be held.

—

Contact Amy Z. Quinn at azquinn@planphilly.com