Chef Joncarl Lachman is a Philly guy. Though he left us to go live and work in Chicago, where he opened his famed Home Bistro, Lachman came back last year to open Noord off East Passyunk Avenue. The Northern European BYOB — think smoked fish, hearty stews and mustard soup — will participate, for the first time, in this year’s East Passyunk Restaurant Week, taking place Feb. 23 to March 1.
What are your thoughts on doing a restaurant week in this neighborhood?
They did them in Chicago, but I never did a restaurant week there because I didn’t want to deal with it. But this one feels more like a celebration of the street and everything that’s happening over here. I don’t want to sound like some stupid Pollyanna, but there’s a lot of positive energy over here.
Anything you can tell us about the menu for East Passyunk Restaurant Week?
I’ve had great success with a goat dish called cabrito asado. I’m a stew maker at heart, and this is a great goat stew.
You’re from Philly originally. What part?
Southwest. I think there was a GC Murphy’s or something over there that my mom used to take us to for sandwiches. I haven’t been back yet to that area because I want to preserve those memories.
What neighborhood are you in now?
I live upstairs from the restaurant.
Oh wow, so you live and work right on East Passyunk. When you have a day off do you just hang around that area?
We’ve had a lot of support at the restaurant, so I like to go out and re-support the restaurants who’ve come to visit us. My partner and I also like to go on walks through the city. I love to just get out and see the city by walking around. And I think back to walking all those streets years ago when I lived here and seeing how much has changed.
When you’re done work, do you grab a drink on East Passyunk?
Yep, usually at Fond. When you have a restaurant you tend to drink at your own bar, but when you’re a BYOB you become hangers-on somewhere else.
Do you have a favorite ingredient to work with?
I have a few: caraway and apple cider vinegar. And butter, of course.
