Chili Szechuan, newly resident in the former Green Garden space at 4626 Baltimore, neatly fills the gap between the takeout-only, bulletproof Lucky’s (4710 Baltimore Ave) and the popular, pricier Han Dynasty (3711 Market St). With its varied menu, fresh-tasting ingredients, reasonable prices, and central location, Chili Szechuan will soon be doing brisk business.

I went for eat-in dinner with the family one night, then ordered delivery with co-workers for lunch the next day. The “Chef’s Special” menu offers Szechuan favorites like Dan Dan Noodles ($5.95), spicy/crisp Szechuan Style Cucumber ($5.95), and Mapo Tofu ($9.95), each of which rivals the Han Dynasty versions. Cumin Lamb ($14.95) is just lots of thinly sliced, tender, spice-crusted meat with onion slivers, and the Dry Pot Flavor Jumbo Shrimp ($14.95) packs enough heat to cause temporary but not unpleasant paralysis of the tongue. You can also get the Dry Pot treatment for Fish, Rabbit, Lamb, Frog, Beef, or Chicken, or choose from other Szechuan styles like Pickled Chili Flavor, Salt Backed Flavor, and Tofu Pudding flavor.

If you don’t like flaming spice, there’s the “Americanized” menu. The Sesame Chicken ($11.95) is sweet and gloopy, and the Chicken Lo Mein noodles ($7.25) are dark and tasty. Of the appetizers not marked with hot peppers, the kids liked the flavorful, crispy House Special Chicken ($6.95) and the good quality Boneless Spare Ribs ($5.95), with dipping sauce on the side. The chefs do not skimp on the proteins – there are no extraneous filler vegetables taking up space on your plate. So you’ll want to order a vegetable dish (each $8.95). My co-workers and I tried Eggplant with Garlic Sauce: plump, purple, creamy, perfectly cooked. For lunch, order from the regular menu or get one of the “Combo” specials ($7.25): smaller portions of “Americanized” dishes with a choice of three soups and white, brown, or fried rice. There’s also an eggroll option. My co-workers tried Szechuan Chicken and Cashew Chicken lunch specials – each delicious and a terrific deal.

As with all new ventures, there are some logistical kinks. At the online order portal (www.chiliszechuan.com) I couldn’t input all the variables of the Lunch Special Combos, so I gave up and called it in. My advice for now is to phone or fax. Also you might want to specify that you want rice – we had to ask for it after our eat-in food was served, and it was left out of the lunch order altogether, so we called back and the delivery guy made a second trip.

As for the ambiance of the dining room, I think it’s perfect. Nothing fancy: just clean, warm and pleasant. New, white Ikea dishes. Nice waiter. No music, but I like hearing the drama and clatter beyond the kitchen door. People are coming and going, getting their take out, so wear a sweater for the drafts. Unlike Lucky’s it’s only open ‘til 10:30, and unlike Han Dynasty, there’s no bar, but you can BYO. Be sure to BYO corkscrew or bottle opener, and don’t be surprised to find yourself drinking wine out of ceramic cups. All of these things are good things, in my opinion: at Chili Szechuan, you are paying for the food, and it’s totally worth it.

– Jen

So in case you hadn’t noticed there is a food truck – sorry, “mobile food” – revolution happening around the country. Mobile food has become serious business. If you ever thought about starting a mobile food business you need to get to a free day-long workshop at Penn Law School in a couple of weeks.

The Mobile Entrepreneur Workshop will feature guidance on financing a business, copyright and trademarks, regulation and licensing and managing risk and growth. Penn Law’s Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic and the Philadelphia Mobile Food Association are sponsoring the workshop, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 16. Even lunch is free. But there is limited space and an RSVP is required.

For more information and the full schedule, visit the workshop’s Facebook page here or call 215-898-8044.

Great news for café lovers. The space on the 4300 block of Locust Street that used to house Café Clave will soon be reborn. Its new name, fittingly, is Café Renata (“reborn” in Latin).

The café will begin a soft opening next week and have an opening celebration on Friday (more on that next week). Co-owners Kate Steenstra and Yasser Aiq, both West Philly residents, will run the show. Café Renata will serve a wide selection of coffee along with a wide selection of food, including Mediterranean, South American and American fare with “a little more emphasis on breakfast,” said Aiq. Another welcome addition will be a rotating selection of soups. Down the road Steenstra and Aiq hope to add brunch.

Stay tuned for more from Café Renata.

Yasser Aiq and Kate Steenstra.

Hibiscus Juice Bar has Caribbean decor and limited seating. (Photo by Jen Horner)

At Hibiscus Juice Bar, which opened a few months ago at the corner of 49th and Catharine streets, owner Sarah Scandone and manager Jessica Matluck combine Caribbean flavors and healthy ingredients in a bright yellow decor. Drawing on experiences operating a juice bar in Belize, and driven by their passion for healthy foods, the longtime friends opened their shop just around the corner from where Scandone once lived.

A dozen or more blends and smoothies will please the most dedicated juice lovers. The magenta “Detox” blend of beets, celery, parsley, kale, pineapple and honeydew (small $4.29, large $5.29) is sweet with a sharp little bite. In addition to an array of vegetable, herb, and fruit choices, you can enhance your smoothie (small $3.99, large $4.99) with bee pollen, Irish Moss, and other healthy stuff. Hibiscus also sells a variety of snack breads, cookies, and cakes, baked on-site.

Savory foods include vegetarian and vegan wraps, quesadillas, salads, a few fish dishes, daily specials and soups. Everything I tried was saturated with flavor – the nutritional equivalent of sunshine. The spicy Jamaican Jerk Tofu wrap ($6.99) included chard, rice, and okra. Salads are served individually or in combination ($3.99 for one, 7.99 for two, and soon). Kale salad with nutritional yeast dressing paired with tuna salad made a crunchy, filling and satisfying lunch. Veggie quesadillas ($6.99) come with your choice of standard or vegan mozzarella cheese. If you want a small snack with your juice, try the veggie “chicken” empanada ($1.50). Most items on the menu can be prepared vegan, and if you avoid gluten, ask for rice tortillas instead of wheat.

At first glance, there are similarities between Hibiscus and Atiya Ola’s Spirit First Foods, located a half-mile east on Baltimore at 45^th street. Because of the focus on take-out, the seating is sparse at Hibiscus, while Atiya Ola’s provides table service. Hibiscus mixes a wider variety of juices on the spot, and Atyia Ola’s offers more different food choices, plus breakfast served all day. Both satisfy the growing demand for healthy, raw, and vegetarian foods in our neighborhood.

– Jen

This upcoming weekend Milk & Honey Market is throwing two holiday celebrations: a Holiday Pop-Up Shop on Sunday at their West Philly store at 45th and Baltimore and Winterfest on Saturday at their Center City location at Sister Cities Park (18th St. and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway). Annie Baum-Stein, the owner, invites her West Philly neighbors to both events.

Winterfest will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes a lot of fun holiday activities for the whole family – a Treasure Hunt, Karaoke sing-a-long with Frosty the Snowman, and holiday arts and crafts. The event will kick off with a choir performing songs of the season. Throughout the day children will enjoy Story Art, Snowflake Science, Cold Weather Creatures, and cookie decorating. This page has a full schedule.

For Sunday’s Pop-Up Shop held at 11:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. in West Philly, Milk & Honey partnered with local artist/craft team Fennec Designs (many will recognize their wares from VIX Emporium or Go West Craft Fests) who have invited their neighborhood artisan friends to participate. In addition to the pop-up gift shop, Build-Your-Own gift baskets and Cookie decorating kits will be on tap at the event.  You can purchase anything in the store for a gift basket and receive the gift packaging and a custom gift card free.

And here are some examples of locally grown or made gift items:

Urban Apiaries Honey, unusual bitters, shrubs and syrups for cocktailers, Beer Kits for Home Brewers, local artisan made kitchen accessories, art works and beeswax candles, a great assortment of cookbooks and of course lots of delicious edible gifts!

OK. Here’s a way to help neighborhood kids without getting out of your chair. Neighborhood Foods is a food growing and distribution run by kids and overseen by Urban Tree Connection. You might have seen these kids selling their produce near the 46th Street El stop or elsewhere in West Philly.

The folks from this great program have a chance to speak on a very large stage. They are among the five finalists in the TEDxManhattan Challenge. The winner gets to speak about their organization at TEDxManhattan, which this year will focus on “Changing the Way We Eat.”

Here is more about Neighborhood Foods from their entry:

“This dynamic model empowers disadvantaged youth from low-income neighborhoods to run an array of food-focused programs, from urban farming production, to value-added food product development, to distribution and retail through farm stands, farmers markets and a low-income CSA program. The result is a complete local food system that drives revitalization of high-need neighborhoods by 1) increasing access to fresh and healthy foods in designated food deserts and 2) developing a local food economy that accelerates small food businesses and retains food dollars in the immediate region.”

To vote for them, go here. To see other entrants, go here.