50th Birthday Party

[Alonna Smith]

I have been lurking since I joined last August and am thoroughly enjoying this forum about my favorite topic: Philadelphia food.

I am planning a 50th Birthday party for my husband, ideally on Sat September 9 because we have people coming in from out-of-town. His actual birthday is the weekend before, but many friends are traveling and won't be able to join us. I would love to have this party at a BYOB because people like to bring something, and sharing their favorite bottle of wine would be fun. Also, it will lower my overall costs for the evening. I started with a neighborhood restaurant in Mt. Airy called Umbria. The food is quite good and I like supporting local folks as much as possible, but the logistics didn't work there.

Given that I think we will be around 20 to 24 people, and I would love to have a separate room, if possible, what BYOB do you recommend in this situation. I prefer not to travel too far afield from Philadelphia. I also wouldn't mind working with the chef on a special menu. Am I getting too greedy? Thanks so much for your thoughts on this.

[KatieLoeb]

I have been lurking since I joined last August and am thoroughly enjoying this forum about my favorite topic:  Philadelphia food. 

I am planning a 50th Birthday party for my husband, ideally on Sat September 9 because we have people coming in from out-of-town.  His actual birthday is the weekend before, but many friends are traveling and won't be able to join us.  I would love to have this party at a BYOB because people like to bring something, and sharing their favorite bottle of wine would be fun.  Also, it will lower my overall costs for the evening.  I started with a neighborhood restaurant in Mt. Airy called Umbria.  The food is quite good and I like supporting local folks as much as possible, but the logistics didn't work there.

Given that I think we will be around 20 to 24 people, and I would love to have a separate room, if possible, what BYOB do you recommend in this situation.  I prefer not to travel too far afield from Philadelphia.  I also wouldn't mind working with the chef on a special menu.  Am I getting too greedy?  Thanks so much for your thoughts on this.

←

Hi Alonna. Welcome to eGullet and the PA forum.

The logistical problem you will run into with this party is trying to have it on a Saturday night. And you're not greedy, I just think you aren't thinking it through. Since most BYOB's are quite small, you'll basically be taking up either all, or most of their seating. A party of 24 people is going to be there ALL night, tying up those seats. No restaurant is going to take even a guaranteed party of 24 if they could potentially turn those seats two to three times and seat 70 people instead. Not on their busiest night of the week. Not on any night do I see a sensible business person choosing to take in 1/3 of their potential business. Most places large enough to have a private dining room also have a liquor license, so the BYO aspect won't apply. You'd have to guarantee the restaurant the same amount of revenue they'd make on an average Saturday night, for them to close for you and only entertain your party. This is what's known "in the biz" as a BUYOUT.

The only alternative I could think of would be a larger ethnic restaurant that has a banquet room for weddings and events like one of the bigger restaurants in Chinatown. Herbacidal and I just had a fantastic meal at a Korean restaurant in Cherry Hill last night that has a banquet room and was really reasonably priced and BYOB. But that doesn't sound like what you're after.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance. Good luck with the party planning!

[Alonna Smith]

I have been lurking since I joined last August and am thoroughly enjoying this forum about my favorite topic:  Philadelphia food. 

I am planning a 50th Birthday party for my husband, ideally on Sat September 9 because we have people coming in from out-of-town.  His actual birthday is the weekend before, but many friends are traveling and won't be able to join us.  I would love to have this party at a BYOB because people like to bring something, and sharing their favorite bottle of wine would be fun.  Also, it will lower my overall costs for the evening.  I started with a neighborhood restaurant in Mt. Airy called Umbria.  The food is quite good and I like supporting local folks as much as possible, but the logistics didn't work there.

Given that I think we will be around 20 to 24 people, and I would love to have a separate room, if possible, what BYOB do you recommend in this situation.  I prefer not to travel too far afield from Philadelphia.  I also wouldn't mind working with the chef on a special menu.  Am I getting too greedy?  Thanks so much for your thoughts on this.

←

Hi Alonna. Welcome to eGullet and the PA forum.

The logistical problem you will run into with this party is trying to have it on a Saturday night. And you're not greedy, I just think you aren't thinking it through. Since most BYOB's are quite small, you'll basically be taking up either all, or most of their seating. A party of 24 people is going to be there ALL night, tying up those seats. No restaurant is going to take even a guaranteed party of 24 if they could potentially turn those seats two to three times and seat 70 people instead. Not on their busiest night of the week. Not on any night do I see a sensible business person choosing to take in 1/3 of their potential business. Most places large enough to have a private dining room also have a liquor license, so the BYO aspect won't apply. You'd have to guarantee the restaurant the same amount of revenue they'd make on an average Saturday night, for them to close for you and only entertain your party. This is what's known "in the biz" as a BUYOUT.

The only alternative I could think of would be a larger ethnic restaurant that has a banquet room for weddings and events like one of the bigger restaurants in Chinatown. Herbacidal and I just had a fantastic meal at a Korean restaurant in Cherry Hill last night that has a banquet room and was really reasonably priced and BYOB. But that doesn't sound like what you're after.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance. Good luck with the party planning!

←

Thanks for the advice Katie. I have never worked in a restaurant, so didn't have their perspective in mind. I will have to rethink my plans. Thanks again.

[KatieLoeb]

I have been lurking since I joined last August and am thoroughly enjoying this forum about my favorite topic:  Philadelphia food. 

I am planning a 50th Birthday party for my husband, ideally on Sat September 9 because we have people coming in from out-of-town.  His actual birthday is the weekend before, but many friends are traveling and won't be able to join us.  I would love to have this party at a BYOB because people like to bring something, and sharing their favorite bottle of wine would be fun.  Also, it will lower my overall costs for the evening.  I started with a neighborhood restaurant in Mt. Airy called Umbria.  The food is quite good and I like supporting local folks as much as possible, but the logistics didn't work there.

Given that I think we will be around 20 to 24 people, and I would love to have a separate room, if possible, what BYOB do you recommend in this situation.  I prefer not to travel too far afield from Philadelphia.  I also wouldn't mind working with the chef on a special menu.  Am I getting too greedy?  Thanks so much for your thoughts on this.

←

Hi Alonna. Welcome to eGullet and the PA forum.

The logistical problem you will run into with this party is trying to have it on a Saturday night. And you're not greedy, I just think you aren't thinking it through. Since most BYOB's are quite small, you'll basically be taking up either all, or most of their seating. A party of 24 people is going to be there ALL night, tying up those seats. No restaurant is going to take even a guaranteed party of 24 if they could potentially turn those seats two to three times and seat 70 people instead. Not on their busiest night of the week. Not on any night do I see a sensible business person choosing to take in 1/3 of their potential business. Most places large enough to have a private dining room also have a liquor license, so the BYO aspect won't apply. You'd have to guarantee the restaurant the same amount of revenue they'd make on an average Saturday night, for them to close for you and only entertain your party. This is what's known "in the biz" as a BUYOUT.

The only alternative I could think of would be a larger ethnic restaurant that has a banquet room for weddings and events like one of the bigger restaurants in Chinatown. Herbacidal and I just had a fantastic meal at a Korean restaurant in Cherry Hill last night that has a banquet room and was really reasonably priced and BYOB. But that doesn't sound like what you're after.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance. Good luck with the party planning!

←

Thanks for the advice Katie. I have never worked in a restaurant, so didn't have their perspective in mind. I will have to rethink my plans. Thanks again.

←

Alonna:

I hate being the bearer of bad news, but the "greedy" ones are the restaurateurs that are going to try and maximize their business on any given evening. Can't be faulted for that.

Have you considered having the party catered at home or at the home of a friend or family member? That might be a better alternative that would allow you to do it on any night of the week and many caterers will allow you to buy your own wine/liquor/beer if you aren't hosting the event at a "rentable venue". Might be a better way to achieve a similar end result - a personalized menu you can help tailor and reasonably priced high quality beverages of your own choosing. The cost for catering will be the food and staffing.

[herbacidal]

I'll heartily agree with everything Katie said.

With regards to the party, there's an extent to which it comes down to which is more important to you:

A) Saturday night

B) BYOB

C) special/private room

If the BYOB part is most important, many would be willing to let you have the entire place on a Tuesday or even Wednesday.

Few are likely to have private rooms though.

If Saturday is most important for you, than the only places that are likely to let you bring your own wine AND allow a group that large to stay that long are the normally unmentioned BYOBS like Balkan Express (22nd and South St./Grays Ferry Ave.), whichever Korean restaurants don't have liquor licenses, certain Chinatown restaurants, etc.

If the private room aspect is most important, then you most definitely

will be paying significantly more than either of the above options.

All things considered, my own recommendation would be the non fine-dining BYOBs like Balkan Express, Fatou and Fama (new location on Christian in Graduate Hospital area!!), or Korean restaurant without liquor license option (like specifically the one Katie and I were at).

Another option would be one of the many gastropubs---bars that serve restaurant quality food (still, some better than others)---that we're blessed with in the area.

Standard Tap, Abbaye, N 3rd, New Wave Cafe, Bridgid's, TenStone, Good Dog, etc. This would only help you with the cost portion of the equation, not the Saturday nor BYOB parts.

However, as mentioned by Katie, neither seems to be what you're looking for right now.

Catering seems to be a reasonable option although the costs there might be a concern, depending on what level of service you want.

Silver trays, nice glassware, hors d'oeuvres, petit fours, etc.

would be prohibitively expensive.

On the opposite end, you can get all kinds of food, from gourmet, to your favorite "ethnic" delivered to your home in that volume.

Then, separately hire one or two people to serve & heat up food, tend bar, etc.

[mrbigjas]

Have you considered having the party catered at home or at the home of a friend or family member? 

mark vetri will do it for a mere $750 a head, according to last month's philadelphia style magazine...

[shacke]

Tre Scalini in South Philly has an upstairs room that I used for a brithday party of that size. It is BYO andI always enjoy their food. They are really good people and will set a tailored menu.

That's my vote!

Evan

[philadining]

I suspect Shacke's suggestion might be the best one, if Tre Scalini happens to have the room free the night you want it.

I assume that in order to get everyone together, it would need to be a Saturday night. As others have mentioned, if you could do it on another night, you might have more options. Occasionally a restaurant will be happy to turn the whole place over to you on a night they're normally closed, as the Dangerous Dining Club has taken advantage of more than once.

I don't know if the offer still stands, but shortly after their re-opening, Jonathan at Marigold Kitchen told us they'd open on a monday for a group of 20 or so. I wouldn't assume thats still true, but it could be worth a phone call.

[Diann]

I don't know if the offer still stands, but shortly after their re-opening, Jonathan at Marigold Kitchen told us they'd open on a monday for a group of 20 or so. I wouldn't assume thats still true, but it could be worth a phone call.

←

Marigold might be worth a try, especially since they have several rooms upstairs now. And their food is great!

[Jeff L]

I suspect Shacke's suggestion might be the best one, if Tre Scalini happens to have the room free the night you want it.

I assume that in order to get everyone together, it would need to be a Saturday night. As others have mentioned, if you could do it on another night, you might have more options. Occasionally a restaurant will be happy to turn the whole place over to you on a night they're normally closed, as the Dangerous Dining Club has taken advantage of more than once. 

I don't know if the offer still stands, but shortly after their re-opening, Jonathan at Marigold Kitchen told us they'd open on a monday for a group of 20 or so. I wouldn't assume thats still true, but it could be worth a phone call.

←

In that vein, I am hosting the next DDC dinner at Mandoline where Chef Todd Lean is closing his place 2 consecutive days to accomodate our group on a Monday and Tuesday.

[herbacidal]

I don't know if the offer still stands, but shortly after their re-opening, Jonathan at Marigold Kitchen told us they'd open on a monday for a group of 20 or so. I wouldn't assume thats still true, but it could be worth a phone call.

←

Marigold might be worth a try, especially since they have several rooms upstairs now. And their food is great!

←

Yea, those two are actually good options. I couldn't think of any that had separate rooms at least, but those definitely do.

From what little I recall of Tre Scalini's upstairs room, it'll seat that number easily.

Even so, what you might want to do is schedule arrival time for 8:30 or so, making it potentially easier for them if they can turn over half the upstairs room beforehand, and therefore they're more willing to accomodate.

Having never been upstairs in Marigold I'll defer to others, except to say that some houses have many small rooms, with no one room being able to accomodate a party of that size.

On the other hand, having been in my fair share of West Philly houses in my student (past) and realtor (present) days, the front room on the second floor would probably be able to seat 24 if they are using it as a dining room.

[Diann]

Having never been upstairs in Marigold I'll defer to others, except to say that some houses have many small rooms, with no one room being able to accomodate a party of that size. 

On the other hand, having been in my fair share of West Philly houses in my student (past) and realtor (present) days, the front room on the second floor would probably be able to seat 24 if they are using it as a dining room.

←

Marigold does use the front room as a dining room -- I glanced in there recently and I'm sure you could seat 20-odd people.

Alonna, here's their website with a menu, contact info, etc.:

http://www.marigoldkitchenbyob.com

[Roonytunes]

Aden in Northern Liberties has a private room that can seat that size party. They are BYO too. I've seen them host family parties on Sat nights before.

[Alonna Smith]

Thanks so much for all the advice. Thought I'd give you my call list based on food, location, byob, private rooms, parking, etc in order of my preference:

Pif (Zagats listed a private room?)

Marigold Kitchen

Mandoline

Allison at Blue Bell

Ravenna

Cin Cin

Nan

Tre Scalini

L'Angolo

Cucina Forte

Bisto St. Tropez

Some of them are a stretch, but the worst thing I will hear is no. Thanks again for all the ideas. I'll keep you posted.

[shacke]

Pif holds only 8-12 in the back. Can't imagine L'angolo holds 20 people - period!

[herbacidal]

Thanks so much for all the advice.  Thought I'd give you my call list based on food, location, byob, private rooms, parking, etc in order of my preference:

Pif (Zagats listed a private room?)

Marigold Kitchen

Mandoline

Allison at Blue Bell

Ravenna

Cin Cin

Nan

Tre Scalini

L'Angolo

Cucina Forte

Bisto St. Tropez

Some of them are a stretch, but the worst thing I will hear is no.  Thanks again for all the ideas.  I'll keep you posted.

←

Definitely give them all a shot. Report back. It'll be good to know where we can try for 20 person parties on a Saturday in the future.

[jelly]

Pif would have been my first choice but their private room only holds 12 people.

[Alonna Smith]

Pif would have been my first choice but their private room only holds 12 people.

←

Thanks for the info Jelly. Saves me a call, but it is nice to know for the future and a smaller party. MY birthday? Hmmmh! Better start planning now.

[Alonna Smith]

Thanks so much for all the advice.  Thought I'd give you my call list based on food, location, byob, private rooms, parking, etc in order of my preference:

Pif (Zagats listed a private room?)

Marigold Kitchen

Mandoline

Allison at Blue Bell

Ravenna

Cin Cin

Nan

Tre Scalini

L'Angolo

Cucina Forte

Bisto St. Tropez

Some of them are a stretch, but the worst thing I will hear is no.  Thanks again for all the ideas.  I'll keep you posted.

←

Now that my plans are on the books, I wanted to report back on what I decided, thanks especially to Katie, herbacidal, and everyone else that chimed in. I hit the right solution on my first call which was to Marigold Kitchen. They have everything except easy parking. I wanted a BYO, very good food, a weekend night, reasonably central location, AND a private room for 20, so I am very happy. GM Brett Meier-Tompkins was willing to work with me on a Friday night, so I am looking forward to working with him on a great menu. If anyone has had dishes there that I should insist upon that would make sense in mid-September, please pass on your suggestions.

As is turns out, they have the honor of cooking at the James Beard House this weekend, or next week?, so their working on that right now.

Thanks again for all your help and I will report back in September, after the "do" is done.

[KatieLoeb]

Alonna:

That's great news! Sounds like you've gotten everything you asked for. The food and service at Marigold is fabulous. I'm certain that you, your guests and the guest of honor will have a wonderful time. I worked with Brett back in our days at Rouge. He is very gracious and helpful I'm certain he'll make it all happen for you.

[Diann]

Alonna --

I'm glad Marigold worked out for you! Two things:

1) I don't remember if this was when Steven Cook was chef or if I had it when Michael Solomonov was working there, but they had this incredible smoked paprika pasta (maybe tagliatelle) with wild mushrooms -- great starter or vegetarian entree, perfect for fall.

2) Parking is actually easier than you'd think; it's mostly residential around there and I've never had a problem finding a spot a block or two away. You might have to circle around for five or ten minutes but I definitely prefer parking there to parking in Center City.

Diann

[Alonna Smith]

Since I settled on Marigold Kitchen for my husband's 50th birthday in September, I wanted to finally get there, try the food and check out their private rooms. We went last Friday with another couple so that we could try more dishes.

We chose the 5 course tasting menu and weren't disappointed. We loved everything we had:

Corn Vichyssoise with Warm Foie Gras

Olive Oil-Poached Salmon with Honshimeji Mushrooms and Pickled Shallots

Leg of Lamb with Roasted Eggplant and Turkish Coffee

Selection of 5 Artisanal Cheeses

Mocha Float with Almond Cream & a fruit tart

I am hazy about the dessert details because we came fully fortified with Chairman's Selections and by that time . . .

The highlights for me were the corn and foie gras app, the roasted eggplant side was amazing (I am not a big eggplant fan), and the cheese course was fun, with each cheese having an additional accompaniment. My only quibble is that I would offer water crackers or sliced baquette rather than a flavored cracker which competed with the cheese.

GM Brett Meier-Tomkins took great care of us and we are looking forward to our party for 24 in September. Thanks to everyone who help me choose this restaurant.

[Alonna Smith]

Our 50th Birthday party for my husband was last Friday at Marigold Kitchen. It was a magical evening. GM Brett and the two servers dedicated to our party of 24 bent over backwards to make sure everything went off without a hitch. 24 people was decidedly a squeeze for the 2nd floor dining room (previously a bedroom), but it created an energy and forced people to visit with each other, so it wound up being great.

I chose the 3 course menu so that our guests could choose from several choices for each course. The 5 course menu would have meant that everyone would have had the same thing. We made the right choice with that decision because there was plenty of food.

The dessert of Coconut Panna Cotta with Coconut Ice Cream and Champagne Grapes was inspired and I would go back just for that. Everything else was delicious and our guests "loved every bite."

We will definitely go back to this restaurant, whether entertaining or dining for two.

[KatieLoeb]

Alonna:

That's great! So glad it all worked out exactly as you wished it to. Those boys over at Marigold are doing a great job.

Sounds like a cozy party and a good time had by all. Most importantly, did the Guest of Honor enjoy himself??